by Matthea
Status: 07.04.2025
Works of art by Leonardo da Vinci
Key points at a glance
- Leonardo da Vinci’s world-famous works of art, such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, combine perfect painting technique, sfumato, geometric compositions and anatomical accuracy to create masterpieces of the High Renaissance. This article explains how his paintings, portraits, sculptures and notebooks demonstrate his versatility as a universal genius and continue to inspire art, science and technology to this day.
- Particularly interesting for art enthusiasts, collectors and beginners who wish to understand Leonardo’s most significant works and their influence on art history.
- Here you can learn more about the background to his most famous paintings and focus specifically on perspective, lighting and symbolism.
The Life of the Artist
Leonardo da Vinci is one of the world’s most famous artists. He is regarded as a Renaissance polymath and worked as a painter, sculptor, architect, mechanic, engineer and natural philosopher. However, Leonardo da Vinci is best known for his works of art, such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. The artist was born on 15 April 1452 in Anchiano near Vinci, a small village in Tuscany, Italy, as ‘Lionardo di ser Piero da Vinci’, (son of Messer Piero of Vinci). However, he himself later used the signature ‘di Leonardo de Vinci’ – that is, Leonardo of Vinci – on his artworks, which gave rise to the name by which he is so famous today. From an early age, da Vinci showed exceptional talent and interest in art and science.
His apprenticeship began at the age of 17 in 1469 in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio in Florence, who was a prominent sculptor and painter. After three years, his apprenticeship was complete, but da Vinci continued to work in his master’s workshop, thereby contributing to many of his master’s works. With his unique painting technique and early works, he quickly made a name for himself through the artworks of Leonardo da Vinci. Later, he was drawn to the court of the Sforza family in Milan, where he created groundbreaking works such as *The Last Supper* and devoted himself to anatomy, architecture and mechanical engineering. da Vinci lived alternately in Florence and Milan until, in 1516, he accepted an invitation from King Francis I to move to France, where he spent his final years. He died there on 2 May 1519.
Leonardo da Vinci’s artworks continue to fascinate us to this day. But he was more than just an artist; his notebooks are full of sketches and ideas that were far ahead of their time – including flying machines, military equipment and even early designs for a helicopter. Da Vinci dreamt of flying throughout his life. He was also a brilliant thinker and inventor. Yet many of his technical visions remained merely on paper. Nevertheless, he left behind an impressive, multifaceted legacy that continues to inspire the worlds of art and science to this day.
da Vinci’s Artistic Work
With the onset of the Renaissance following the Middle Ages, the worldview underwent a fundamental shift. Humanity, human thought and human existence took centre stage. Interest in rational disciplines, such as science and mathematics, grew. These attitudes were also reflected in art – and thus in the works of Leonardo da Vinci – in the form of mathematical constructions and geometric shapes, lifelike depictions of people, and central perspective, in which all lines in the picture converge at a single point.
Da Vinci’s creative period and his works fall within the High Renaissance (c. 1500–1530), which is regarded as the heyday of the Italian Renaissance. Da Vinci embodied the spirit of the Renaissance in his person and his works through his keen powers of observation, a keen intellect and a wealth of knowledge. As a painter, he rendered the human form with great three-dimensionality and skilfully used the canvas as a space in which to play with light and shadow. His handling of the effects of colour and perspective testifies to a profound scientific understanding and talent, which is clearly evident in Leonardo da Vinci’s artworks.
Leonardo da Vinci’s artworks established him as a master of his craft. He perfected his painting technique to such an extent that his style is clearly recognisable in his works. This is why it is possible to determine with a high degree of certainty which elements in the works of his teacher, Verrocchio, are attributable to him. In addition to his paintings, da Vinci also created sculptures and architectural works. Whilst he regarded painting as the highest form of art, sculpture was also a constant companion throughout his life. Unlike classical sculptors such as Michelangelo, he did not wish to create marble sculptures using a hammer and chisel, as he found this work dirty and noisy. Da Vinci preferred the technically challenging process of casting figures in bronze.
Paintings by Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci’s works of art consist primarily of portraits and religious scenes. The quality of da Vinci’s paintings remains unrivalled to this day. What makes Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings so special is the fusion of perfect painting technique with elegantly integrated geometric compositions, resulting in perfect harmony, hidden symbolism and optical illusions, as well as anatomical accuracy. Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings are unmistakable thanks to a perfect painting technique in which no brushstrokes are visible. In Leonardo da Vinci’s famous works, the colours literally flow into one another. The artist called this technique, which he invented, ‘sfumato’, which in Italian means ‘smoky, blurred’. The colours in Leonardo da Vinci’s artworks are applied layer by layer, allowing for the skilful use of light and shadow. In this way, the artist achieved a three-dimensional effect and a fascinating depth in his works.
What is interesting about Leonardo da Vinci’s artworks is the fact that the actual authorship of many of his works is disputed. But why is that? For one thing, da Vinci did not sign his works, as was customary during the Renaissance. Furthermore, there are very few reliable contemporary accounts or documents relating to Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings, and those that do exist are usually very vague. Furthermore, there is no effective scientific method for unambiguously dating Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings and portraits from before the 18th century. Only through the physical radiocarbon dating can the period in which Leonardo da Vinci’s artworks were created be narrowed down to plus or minus 50 years. Furthermore, da Vinci rarely produced preparatory sketches for his paintings. It was only for The Last Supper and the Battle of Anghiari that he jotted down preliminary thoughts in his notebook. His great talent meant that the style of Leonardo da Vinci’s artworks was repeatedly copied, making it even more difficult for art historians to identify the original artist with certainty.
Madonna in the Rock Grotto
The Madonna in the Rock Grotto is one of the most fascinating of da Vinci’s paintings and a prime example of his mastery of composition and symbolism. Between 1483 and 1486, he was commissioned to create the work by the ‘Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception’ at the Franciscan church of San Francesco in Milan. However, the first version of the painting did not meet the Brotherhood’s expectations: instead of an idealised, sacred depiction, da Vinci depicted Mary, the infant Christ, the young John the Baptist and an angel in a sombre, lifelike cave. They were particularly displeased that Jesus and John were depicted without halos. Consequently, the work was never handed over to the patrons; instead, it found its way to France in 1499 and can now be seen at the Louvre in Paris.Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci’s sculptural works
A universal genius? – Scientist, architect and engineer
It is not only Leonardo da Vinci’s outstanding works of art that are remembered, but also his role as a visionary scientist, architect and engineer. His anatomical studies demonstrate a profound understanding of the human body, which placed him far ahead of his time. Using precise drawings, he dissected organs, muscles and bones to understand how they functioned. He also carried out detailed observations in botany and geology, identifying connections that were only scientifically confirmed centuries later. He also had a keen interest in the principles of physics. His notebooks are filled with studies on fluid mechanics, the refraction of light and astronomy – evidence of da Vinci’s insatiable thirst for knowledge.
Alongside his scientific studies and da Vinci’s paintings, the artist also devised innovative machines and architectural concepts. He sketched flying machines inspired by the anatomy of birds and designed war machines such as catapults and armoured vehicles. His ideas for hydraulic systems and bridges were revolutionary, yet some of Leonardo da Vinci’s structures only found practical application in modern times. As an architect, he planned idealised cities with sophisticated drainage and ventilation systems to improve hygiene and quality of life. Although many of his technical designs were never realised, they laid the foundations for later developments and bear witness to his extraordinary foresight.
Leonardo da Vinci is remembered as one of the greatest universal geniuses in history. His groundbreaking ideas, his tireless curiosity and his visionary thinking continue to influence art, science and technology to this day. In particular, his great artistic talent and his famous works of art secure him a prominent place in history. Although many of his inventions were not put into practice during his lifetime, they served as inspiration for later generations. His anatomical studies advanced medicine, his technical sketches inspired engineering, and his artistic masterpieces continue to set the standard to this day. Da Vinci embodies the ideal vision of the Renaissance in the form of a fusion of art and science – a man who, with his inexhaustible spirit of inquiry, continually pushed the boundaries of knowledge.
FAQs about Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci arbeitete mehrere Jahre lang an der Mona Lisa, von 1503 bis 1506. Das Gemälde blieb zeitlebens in dem Besitz des Künstlers und ist heute im Louvre in Paris ausgestellt. Es gilt als eines der berühmtesten Kunstwerke der Welt.
Viele sind überrascht, wenn sie hören, dass es wahrscheinlich nur um die zehn Gemälde von da Vinci gibt. Um 1900 wurde noch von 100 seinen Gemälden ausgegangen, heute sind es eher 20, deren Authentizität jedoch umstritten ist. Nur fünf bis sieben der angenommenen da Vinci Kunstwerke können ihm anhand historischer Quellen und seines Stils eindeutig zugeordnet werden.
Sicher ist, dass da Vinci die Mona Lisa, Die Felsgrottenmadonna, Das Abendmahl, Anna Selbdritt und Johannes der Täufer malte. Die Dame mit dem Hermelin und La Belle Ferronière gelten ziemlich wahrscheinlich als da Vinci Werke, es gibt bei den beiden Werken jedoch auch Zweifel an ihrer Originalität.
Leonardo da Vincis künstlerische Schaffenszeit erstreckte sich von den frühen 1470er Jahren bis zu seinem Tod im Jahr 1519. Während dieser Zeit arbeitete er in verschiedenen italienischen Städten und schuf zahlreiche bedeutende Werke. Seine Karriere begann in Florenz, wo er in der Werkstatt von Andrea del Verrocchio tätig war. Später arbeitete Leonardo abwechselnd in Mailand und Florenz bevor er 1516 nach Frankreich zog, wo er bis zu seinem Tod 1519 am Hofe von König Franz I. arbeitete.
Frequently Asked Questions
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