Virgin Of The Rocks

By: Leonardo Da Vinci

Chris Lee
Chris Eiswirth
 Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the most renown artists of all time.
He was born in the year 1452, and lived till the year 1519.
He is also thought to be one of the most brilliant minds if all time.
Not only was he an Artist, but also a very famous writer and inventor.
He created many influential and beautiful pieces that are still an inspiration to people
today.
He thought of many inventions that were later brought to life through the thoughts of
other inventors many years down the road. For example he thought a detailed flying
machine, and many war machines such as one of the first ideas for the design of the
modern tank.
His works have become known very well recently because of the fictional book “The Da
Vinci Code” which explains how there are many sacrilegious messages in his paintings
that hint towards many things that the Christian church does not believe in
 Virgin Of The Rocks

There are two versions of this painting that are on

display today.
They were both painted on wood panels.
The first version was painted in the Louvre. It was
originally painted in 1483-1486.
The other is in the National Gallery in London. It
was painted most likely before 1508. It is ascribed to
Leonardo Da Vinci
 Virgin Of The rocks

This painting draws the legendary meeting of Jesus, and

John the Baptist while on their flight to Egypt to escape
from the slaughter of the Holy Innocents
It depicts Jesus and John the Baptist as young children
meeting for the first time, with Mary and Uriel there to
guide them.
John the Baptist is kneeling to Jesus who is making a
gesture that looks like he is blessing John, which is
Leonardo’s way of showing that Jesus’ divinity was evident
even when he was a young child.
 Louvre Version

It was originally painted on a wood panel just like the London version, but was
then later transcribed onto Canvas.
It is also about 8cm taller than the London version too.
This one unlike the other was completely Leonardo’s own individual work.
This is a painting that perfectly exemplifies leonardo’s “sfumato” technique.
the word “Sfumato” is an Italian rooted word which means “to tone down”.
This refers to Da Vinci’s subtle transitions from light to dark, and his fine
shading that he uses in many of his paintings to give them and illusionistic
atmosphere.
There is one thing in this version of the painting that was not included in the
London version, and that is the fact that Uriel is pointing at John the Baptist
while looking at the audience.
 London Version

This version of the painting was drawn sometime before the year 1508.
Unlike the other work it was a collaborative effort that was painted by
most likely the De Predis brothers, and there is much debate over
whether or not Leonardo actually took part in painting this version too.
There are multiple aspects of this version of the painting that are not
included in the other version. First John the Baptist is holding his
traditional cruciform stick, which is put in to make it more
distinguishable between the two children. The other is that mary, and the
two children have Haloes over their heads.
There are also many noticeable differences in the texture and style of the
two paintings. This could have to do largely with the fact that the second
painting was painted by multiple artists.
 Controversy

It is believed by some that the second version of the painting was actually painted
to deal with many problems that people had with the first painting.
One of which being that people thought that John was actually Jesus because he
was with Mary. This angered many faithful Christians because that would mean
that Jesus was being blessed by John when it shoul be the other way around.
So to fix that they gave John the staff that he is holding in the London version.
There was also much controversy over what Uriel was doing in the painting. Some
people claimed that it seemed as if Mary was holding up an invisibe head, and
uriel was gesturing slicing its throat with his finger. Also others said that it also
brought to much attention to John and made him look more like Jesus.
So to fix this they just took out the pointing all together, so now Uriel is just
posing next to the baby Jesus.
Louvre London
 Personal Opinions
We believe that Virgin of the Rocks is a very beautiful
work, that depicts the meeting of John and Jesus very
well.
•• We like how Leonardo uses his form of dark shading and
lively colors to depict a very realistic and detailed
painting.
•• We believe too that the controversy over the first painting
is completely false, and is the result of people looking too
far into the work, and trying to tarnish some of its
credibility as an amazing painting and as well as its
majesty.