CATALOGUE OF THE WORKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI.

A Treatise on Painting by da Vinci Leonardo, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here. CATALOGUE OF THE WORKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI.

CATALOGUE OF THE WORKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI.

ARCHITECTURE.

Many designs for plans and buildings, made by him in his youth.

A model made by him for raising the roof of the church of St. John, at Florence.

The house of the family of Melzi at Vaprio, supposed by Della Valle to be designed by Leonardo.

MODELS and SCULPTURE.

Some heads of laughing women, modelled by him in clay, in his youth.

Some boys’ heads also, which appeared to have come from the hand of a master.

Three figures in bronze, over the gate on the north side of the church of St. John, at Florence, made by Gio. Francesco Rustici, but designed with the advice of Leonardo da Vinci.

A model in clay, in alto relievo. It is a circle of about two palms in diameter, and represents St. Jerom in a grotto, old, and much worn out by prayer. It was in the possession of Sig. Ignazio Hugford, a painter at Florence, who was induced to buy it in consequence of the great praises which in his youth he had heard bestowed on it by the celebrated Anton. Dominico Gabbiani, his master, who knew it to be of the hand of Leonardo. This model appears to have been much studied in the time of Pontormo and Rosso; and many copies of it, both drawings and pictures, are to be found throughout Florence, well painted in their manner.

The equestrian statue in memory of the Duke of Milan’s father, which was not only finished and exposed to view, but broken to pieces by the French when they took possession of Milan. It has been said by some, that the model only was finished, and the statue never cast, and that it was the model only which the French destroyed.

Vasari, p. 36, mentions a little model by Leonardo in wax, but he does not say what was its subject.

DRAWINGS.

Vasari, p. 24, says, that it was Leonardo’s practice to model figures from the life, and then to cover them with fine thin lawn or cambric, so as to be able to see through it, and with the point of a fine pencil to trace off the outlines in black and white; and that some such drawings he had in his collection.

A head in chiaro oscuro, in the possession of Vasari, and mentioned by him as divine, a drawing on paper.

A carton of Adam and Eve in Paradise, made by him for the King of Portugal. It is done with a pen in chiaro oscuro, and heightened with white, and was intended to be worked as tapestry in silk and gold; but Vasari says it was never executed, and that in his time the carton remained at Florence, in the house of Ottaviano de Medici. Whether this carton is still existing is unknown.

Several ridiculous heads of men and women, formerly in Vasari’s collection, drawn in pen and ink. Aurelio Lovino had, says Lomazzo, a book of sketches by Leonardo, of odd and ridiculous heads. This book appears to have contained about 250 figures of countrymen and countrywomen laughing, drawn by the hand of Leonardo. Card. Silvio Valenti had a similar book, in which were caricature heads drawn with a pen, like that engraven by Count Caylus. Of these caricatures mention is made in the second volume of the Lettere Pittoriche, p. 170. The passage in the Lettere Pittoriche here referred to, is part of a letter without any name or date, addressed Al Sig. C. di C.; but a note of the editor’s explains these initials, as meaning Sig. Conte di Caylus, and supposes the author to have been the younger Mariette. The letter mentions a collection of heads from Leonardo’s drawings, published by the Count; and the editor, in another note, tells us, that they are caricature heads drawn in pen and ink; that the originals were bought in Holland, from Sig. Cardin. Silvio Valenti, and that the prints of which the letter speaks, are in the famous collection of the Corsini library. The author of the Letter supposes these caricatures to have been drawn when Vinci retired to Melzi’s house, that he invented them as a new sort of recreation, and intended them as a subject for the academy which he had established at Milan.

In another part of the same Letter, p. 173, 174, this collection of drawings of heads is again mentioned, and it is there said, that it might be that which belonged to the Earl of Arundel. This conjecture is founded on there being many such heads engraven formerly by Hollar. In fact, the number of the plates which he has done from drawings of this painter, are near one hundred, which compose different series. The author of the Letter adds, that, if a conjecture might be permitted, we might affirm, that this is the collection of heads of which Paul Lomazzo speaks; at least the description which he gives of a similar collection which was in the hands of Aurelio Lovino, a painter of Milan, corresponds with this as well in the number of the drawings as their subjects. It represents, like this, studies from old men, countrymen, wrinkled old women, which are all laughing. Another part of this Letter says, it is easy to believe that the collection of drawings of heads which occasioned this Letter, might be one of those books in which Leonardo noted the most singular countenances.

In p. 198 of the same Letter, Hollar’s engravings are said to be about an hundred, and to have been done at Antwerp in 1645, and the following year; and in p. 199, Count Caylus’s publication is said to contain 59 plates in aqua fortis, done in 1730, and that this latter is the work so often mentioned in the Letter.

Another collection of the same kind of caricature heads mentioned in Mariette’s Letter, as existing in the cabinet of either the King of Spain or the King of Sardinia.

Four caricature heads, mentioned, Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 190, as being in the possession of Sig. Crozat. They are described as drawn with a pen, and are said to have come originally from Vasari’s collection of drawings. Of this collection it is said, in a note on the above passage, that it was afterwards carried into France, and fell into the hands of a bookseller, who took the volume to pieces, and disposed of the drawings separately, and that many of them came into the cabinets of the King, and Sig. Crozat. Others say, and it is more credible, that Vasari’s collection passed into that of the Grand Dukes of Medici.

A head of Americo Vespucci, in charcoal, but copied by Vasari in pen and ink.

A head of an old man, beautifully drawn in charcoal.

An head of Scarramuccia, captain of the gypsies, in chalk; formerly belonging to Pierfrancesco Giambullari, canon of St. Lorenzo, at Florence, and left by him to Donato Valdambrini of Arezzo, canon of St. Lorenzo also.

Several designs of combatants on horseback, made by Leonardo for Gentil Borri, a master of defence, to shew the different positions necessary for a horse soldier in defending himself, and attacking his enemy.

A carton of our Saviour, the Virgin, St. Ann, and St. John. Vasari says of this, that for two days, people of all sorts, men and women, young and old, resorted to Leonardo’s house to see this wonderful performance, as if they had been going to a solemn feast; and adds, that this carton was afterwards in France. It seems that this was intended for an altar-piece for the high altar of the church of the Annunziata, but the picture was never painted. However, when Leonardo afterwards went into France, he, at the desire of Francis the First, put the design into colours. Lomazzo has said, that this carton of St. Ann was carried into France; that in his time it was at Milan, in the possession of Aurelio Lovino, a painter; and that many drawings from it were in existence. What was the fate this carton of St. Ann underwent, may be seen in a letter of P. Resta, printed in the third volume of the Lettere Pittoriche, in which he says, that Leonardo made three of these cartons, and nevertheless did not convert it into a picture, but that it was painted by Salai, and that the picture is still in the sacristy of St. Celsus at Milan.

A drawing of an old man’s head, seen in front, in red chalk; mentioned Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 191.

A carton designed by him for painting the council-chamber at Florence. The subject which he chose for this purpose was, the history of Niccolo Piccinino, the Captain of Duke Philip of Milan, in which he drew a group of men on horseback fighting for a standard. Mariette, in a note, Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 193, mentions this carton, which he says represented two horsemen fighting for a standard; that it was only part of a large history, the subject of which was the rout of Niccolo Piccinino, General of the army of Philip Duke of Milan, and that a print was engraven of it by Edelinck, when young, but the drawing from which he worked was a bad one. In the catalogue of prints from the works of Leonardo, inserted Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 195, this print is again mentioned and described more truly, as representing four horsemen fighting for a standard. It is there supposed to have been engraven from a drawing by Fiammingo, and that this drawing might have been made from the picture which Du Fresne speaks of as being in his time in the possession of Sig. La Maire, an excellent painter of perspective.

A design of Neptune drawn in his car by sea horses, attended by sea gods; made by him for his friend Antonio Segni.

Several anatomical drawings made from the life, many of which have been since collected into a volume, by his scholar Francesco Melzi.

A book of the Anatomy of man, mentioned by Vasari, p. 36, the drawings for which were made with the assistance of Marc Antonio della Torre, before noticed in the present life. It is probably the same with the preceding.

A beautiful and well-preserved study in red and black chalk, of the head of a Virgin, from which he afterwards painted a picture. This study was at one time in the celebrated Villa de Vecchietti, but afterwards, in consequence of a sale, passed into the hands of Sig. Ignazio Hugford.

Two heads of women in profile, little differing from each other, drawn in like manner in black and red chalk, bought at the same sale by Sig. Hugford, but now among the Elector Palatine’s collection of drawings.

A book of the Anatomy of a horse, mentioned by Vasari, p. 36, as a distinct work; but probably included in Leonardo’s manuscript collections. See the account before given of them.

Several designs by Leonardo were in the possession of Sig. Jabac, who seems to have been a collector of pictures, and to have bought up for the King of France several excellent pictures particularly by Leonardo da Vinci.

A drawing of a young man embracing an old woman, whom he is caressing for the sake of her riches. This is mentioned, Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 198, as engraven by Hollar, in 1646.

A head of a young man seen in profile, engraven in aqua fortis by Conte di Caylus, from a drawing in the King of France’s collection.

A fragment of a Treatise on the Motions of the Human Body, already mentioned in the foregoing life.

In the Lettere Pittoriche, vol. ii. p. 199, mention is made of a print representing some intertwisted lines upon a black ground, in the style of some of Albert Durer’s engravings in wood. In the middle of this, in a small compartment, is to be read, “Academia Leonardi Vin.” Vasari, it is there said, has noticed it as a singularity.

In p. 200 of the same work, a similar print is also noticed, which differs only in the inscription from the former. In this last it is Academia Leonardi Vici. Both this and the former print are said to be extremely rare, and only to have been seen in the King of France’s collection. It does not however appear from any thing in the Lett. Pitt. that they were designed by Leonardo.

The Abate di Villeloin, in his Catalogue of Prints published in 1666, speaks, under the article of Leonardo da Vinci, of a print of the taking down from the Cross; but the Lett. Pitt. says it was engraven from Eneas Vico, not from Leonardo.

Two drawings of monsters, mentioned by Lomazzo, consisting of a boy’s head each, but horribly distorted by the misplacing of the features, and the introduction of other members not in Nature to be found there. These two drawings were in the hands of Francesco Borella, a sculptor.

A portrait by Leonardo, of Artus, Maestro di Camera to Francis I. drawn in black lead pencil.

The head of a Cæsar crowned with oak, among a valuable collection of drawings in a thick volume in folio, in the possession of Sig. Pagave.

The proportions of the human body. The original of this is preserved in the possession of Sig. Pagave. At the head and foot of this drawing is to be read the description which begins thus: Tanto apre l’Uomo nelle braccia quanto è la sua altezza, &c. and above all, at the head of the work is the famous Last Supper, which he proposes to his scholars as the rule of the art.

The Circumcision, a large drawing mentioned Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. 283, as the work of Leonardo, by Nicolo Gabburri, in a letter dated Florence, 4th Oct. 1732, and addressed Al Sig. Pietro Mariette. Gabburri says he saw this drawing, and that it was done on white paper a little tinted with Indian ink, and heightened with ceruse. Its owner then was Alessandro Galilei, an architect of Florence.

A drawing consisting of several laughing heads, in the middle of which is another head in profile, crowned with oak leaves. This drawing was the property of the Earl of Arundel, and was engraven by Hollar in 1646.

A man sitting, and collecting in a looking-glass the rays of the sun, to dazzle the eyes of a dragon who is fighting with a lion. A print of this is spoken of, Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 197, as badly engraven by an anonymous artist, but it is there said to have so little of Leonardo’s manner as to afford reason for believing it not designed by him, though it might perhaps be found among his drawings in the King of France’s collection. Another print of it, of the same size, has been engraven from the drawing by Conte de Caylus. It represents a pensive man, and differs from the former in this respect, that in this the man is naked, whereas in the drawing he is clothed.

PAINTINGS.

A Madonna, formerly in the possession of Pope Clement the Seventh.

A small Madonna and Child, painted for Baldassar Turini da Pescia, who was the Datary at Lyons, the colours of which are much faded. It is not known where this now is.

A Virgin and Child, at one time in the hands of the Botti family.

The Virgin sitting in St. Ann’s lap, and holding her little Son, formerly at Paris. This has been engraven in wood, in chiaro oscuro, by an unknown artist. The picture was in the King of France’s cabinet, and a similar one is in the sacristy of St. Celsus at Milan.

Another Virgin with her Son, St. John, and an Angel, mentioned by Du Fresne, as at Paris.

A Madonna and Child, in the possession of the Marquis di Surdi.

A Madonna and Child, painted on the wall in the church of St. Onofrio at Rome.

A Madonna kneeling, in the King’s gallery in France.

An Holy Family, with St. Michael, and another Angel, in the King of France’s collection.

A Madonna, in the church of St. Francis at Milan, attributed to Leonardo by Sorman.

A Virgin and Child, by Leonardo, in Piacenza, near the church of Our Lady in the Fields. It was bought for 300 chequins by the Principe di Belgioioso.

A Madonna, half length, holding on her knee the infant Jesus, with a lily in his hand. A print of this, engraven in aqua fortis by Giuseppe Juster, is mentioned Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 196. The picture is there said to have been in the possession of Charles Patin, and was supposed by some to have been painted for Francis I.

An Herodiade, some time in Cardinal Richelieu’s possession.

The daughter of Herodias, with an executioner holding out to her the head of St. John, in the Barberini palace.

An Herodiade with a basket, in which is the head of John the Baptist. A print of this in aqua fortis, by Gio. Troven, under the direction of Teniers, is mentioned Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 197, and is there said to have been done from a picture which was then in the cabinet of the Archduke Leopold, but had been before in that of the Emperor.

Another picture of the same subject, but differently disposed. It is also an half length. A print from it, in aqua fortis, by Alessio Loyr, is mentioned Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 197; but it is not there said in whose possession the picture ever was.

The angel in Verrochio’s picture before mentioned.

The shield, mentioned by Vasari, p. 26, as painted by him at the request of his father, and consisting of serpents, &c.

A head of Medusa, in oil, in the palace of Duke Cosmo. It is still in being, and in good preservation.

A head of an angel raising one arm in the air, in the collection of Duke Cosmo. Whether this is a picture, or only a drawing, does not appear; but as Vasari does not notice any difference between that and the head of Medusa, which he decidedly says is in oil, it is probable that this is so also.

The Adoration of the Magi: it was in the house of Americo Benci, opposite to the Portico of Peruzzi.

The famous Last Supper, in the Refectory of the Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie. A list of the copies made from this celebrated picture has, together with its history, been given in a former page. A print has been engraven from it under the direction of Pietro Soutman; but he being a scholar of Rubens, has introduced into it so much of Rubens’s manner, that it can no longer be known for Leonardo da Vinci’s. Besides this, Mariette also mentions two other prints, one of them an engraving, the other an etching, but both by unknown authors. He notices also, that the Count di Caylus had etched it in aqua fortis. The print lately engraven of it by Morghen has been already noticed in a former page.

A Nativity, sent as a present from the Duke of Milan to the Emperor.

The portraits of Lodovic Sforza, Duke of Milan, and Maximilian his eldest son, and on the other side Beatrix his dutchess, and Francesco his other son, all in one picture, in the same Refectory with the Last Supper.

The portraits of two of the handsomest women at Florence, painted by him as a present to Lewis XII.

The painting in the council chamber at Florence. The subject of this is the battle of Attila.

A portrait of Ginevra, daughter of Americo Benci.

The portrait of Mona Lisa, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, painted for her husband. Lomazzo has said, she was a Neapolitan, but this is supposed a mistake, and that she was a Florentine. In a note of Mariette’s, Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 175, this picture is said to have been in the collection of Francis I. King of France, who gave for it 4000 crowns.

A small picture of a child, which was at Pescia, in the possession of Baldassar Turini. It is not known where this now is.

A painting of two horsemen struggling for a flag, in the Palais Royal at Paris.

A nobleman of Mantua.

A picture of Flora, which Du Fresne mentions as being in his time at Paris. This is said to have been once in the cabinet of Mary de Medicis, and though for some time supposed to have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci, was discovered by Mariette to have been the work of Francisco Melzi, whose name is upon it. In the supplement to the life of Leonardo, inserted in Della Valle’s edition of Vasari, this picture is said to have been painted for the Duke de S. Simone.

A head of John the Baptist, in the hands of Camillo Albizzo.

The Conception of the blessed Virgin, for the church of St. Francis at Milan. This was esteemed a copy, and not worth more than 30 chequins, till an Englishman came there, who thought a large sum of money well employed in the purchase of it.

St. John in the Wilderness, said to be at Paris. In Lett. Pitt. vol. ii. p. 197, mention is made of a print of St. John the Baptist, half length, by Sig. Jabac, who had the original picture, which was formerly in the King of France’s cabinet.

Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, which Mons. de Charmois, secretary to the Duke of Schomberg, had.

A portrait of Raphael, in oil, in the Medici gallery. This is mentioned in Vasari, p. 47; and though not expressly there said to be by Leonardo, is so placed as to make it doubtful whether it was or not.

A Nun, half length, by Leonardo, in the possession of Abbate Nicolini.

Two fine heads, painted in oil by Leonardo, bought at Florence by Sig. Bali di Breteuil, ambassador from Malta to Rome. One of these, representing a woman, was in his first manner. The other, a Virgin, in his last.

A Leda, which Lomazzo says was at Fontainebleau, and did not yield in colouring to the portrait of Joconda in the Duke’s gallery. Richardson says it was in the palace Mattei.

The head of a dead man, with all its minute parts, painted by Leonardo, formerly in the Mattei palace, but no longer there.

A picture containing a study of two most delicate female heads, in the Barberini palace at Rome.

A portrait of a girl with a book in her hand, in the Strozzi palace in Rome.

The Dispute of Jesus with the Doctors, half length, in the Panfili palace.

Five pictures in the Ambrosian library at Milan, the subjects not mentioned.

Some in the gallery of the archbishopric at Milan, the number and subjects equally unnoticed.

One picture in the sacristy of Santa Maria, near St. Celsus at Milan.

A small head of Christ, while a youth, mentioned by Lomazzo. Probably this may be the study for the picture of Jesus disputing with the Doctors, at the Panfili palace.

St. Michael with a man kneeling, in the King of France’s collection.

A Bacchus, in the same collection.

The fair Ferraia, in the same collection.

A portrait of a lady, there also.

A Christ with a globe in his hand. A very fine picture, half length, now in the possession of Richard Troward, Esq. of Pall Mall. This was engraven by Hollar in 1650, in aqua fortis.

The Fall of Phaeton, in the gallery of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, of which Scannelli speaks, but it is mentioned by no one else.

St. Catherine with a palm-branch, in the gallery of the Duke of Modena.

The head of a young man armed, in the same collection, very graceful, but inferior to the St. Catherine.

A portrait of the Queen of Naples, which was in the Aldobrandini gallery, but afterwards to be found in a chamber of portraits in the Panfili palace. It is not equal in colouring to the Dispute of Jesus with the Doctors.

A portrait in profile of the Dutchess of Milan, mentioned by Richardson as being in a chamber leading to the Ambrosian library.

A beautiful figure of the Virgin, half length, in the palace of Vaprio. It is of a gigantic size, for the head of the Virgin is six common palms in size, and that of the Divine Infant four in circumference. Della Valle speaks of having seen this in the year 1791, and says he is not ignorant that tradition ascribes this Madonna to Bramante, notwithstanding which he gives it to Leonardo.

A laughing Pomona with three veils, commended by Lomazzo. It was done for Francis I. King of France.

The portrait of Cecilia Gallarani, mentioned by Bellincione in one of his sonnets, as painted by Leonardo.

Another of Lucrezia Cavelli, a celebrated performer on the lute, ascribed to him on the same authority. Copies of both this and the former may be seen at Milan.

Our Saviour before Pilate, in the church of S. Florentino, at Amboise. It is thought that the carton only of this was Leonardo’s, and that the picture was painted by Andrea Salai, or Melzi.

A portrait of Leonardo by himself, half length, in the Ambrosian library at Milan. Della Valle has inserted a copy of this before the Supplement to Leonardo’s Life, in his edition of Vasari, for which purpose Sig. Pagave transmitted him a drawing from the original picture. But Leonardo’s own drawing for the picture itself, is in the possession of his Britannic Majesty, and from that Mr. Chamberlaine has prefixed to his publication before mentioned, a plate engraven by Bartolozzi.

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