After his death, many of Leonardo's papers were lost to the world; some were never recovered. Many believe that had they been shared or published, they might have changed the course of scientific discovery because his observations prefigured the work of Newton, Galileo, and Kepler.

Sponsor Message.

Leonardo's Paintings

Although Leonardo produced only a small number of paintings, his revolutionary technique and style made him one of the most influential artists of the Renaissance. One measure of the visceral emotion that his works continue to inspire is that they are the most vandalized paintings in the world.

One of Leonardo's first commissions was to paint a mural of The Last Supper (1495-1498) in the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. Depicting the final meal of Jesus with his disciples, The Last Supper is celebrated for its ingenious composition and use of perspective, as well as for its psychological depth. Unlike previous artists, Leonardo skillfully uses shadow to reveal the betrayer Judas' character with subtlety.

Unfortunately, Leonardo executed the image in an experimental fresco technique, and it had deteriorated within fifty years of its completion; yet even in its severely compromised condition it has had a profound influence on the history of art.

Leonardo returned to Florence in 1500 and in 1501 began work on an altarpiece for a community of Servite monks titled Virgin and Child with Saint Anne. He left the painting unfinished in 1502 to accept a position as military engineer to the ruthlessly ambitious Cesare Borgia. During this time he became friends with the most celebrated political writer of his day, Niccolo Machiavelli.

Disgusted by Borgia's vicious tactics, Leonardo left Borgia's service after only nine months. However, he did not return to Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and the painting remains incomplete.

Leonardo's mature years are filled with some of his most recognizable works. It is impossible to date these with any certainty, but many believe Mona Lisa was painted first, followed by Leda, and then his final painting, Saint John the Baptist.

Mona Lisa (or La Gioconda as it is known in Italy), now in the Louvre in Paris, is Leonardo's most famous and most ambiguous painting. Although the painting purports to be a portrait of the wife of a merchant, Francesco del Giocondo, some scholars have speculated that it is an idealized version of the artist's mother or even a self-portrait en travesti.

The identity of the woman remains uncertain, but her enigmatic smile, hinting at a secret joke or private knowledge, has haunted viewers since it was first shown. The painting was never completed or delivered to its owner, and Leonardo carried it with him throughout the last years of his life.

Although only sketches remain of Leonardo's Leda, it remains one of the most perplexing works in his oeuvre. His only female nude and his only picture inspired by classical mythology, Leda depicts the union of Zeus, disguised as a swan, with Leda, Queen of Lacedaemon.

The result of this union was two sets of twins hatched from eggs: the divine Castor and Pollux and the mortals Helen and Cytemnestra. This myth inspired countless artists, but Leonardo's vision is unique in that it highlights the grotesqueness of the rape.

He imbues the image with terror rather than eroticism, yet he also makes the encounter tantalizing and memorable. Fascinated by the natural world and committed to pushing its boundaries, Leonardo was no doubt intrigued by this aberration of the natural order.

In 1507, Leonardo entered the service of King François I of France, first in Milan and then later in France itself. Most of his last years were spent in intellectual and scientific pursuits at the court of the king. However, he did complete one major painting during this period, the St. John the Baptist. The model for St. John in this beautiful yet curiously disturbing painting may have been the "lamb of Satan" himself, Gian Giacomo de' Caprotti.

The artist died in Cloux on May 2, 1519.

The various cultural patterns, especially the conditions of artistic production and the types of subjects and themes represented, provide a great deal of evidence about Renaissance sexuality and art.

Throughout much of history, the nude male figure was virtually the only subject that could be used to articulate homoerotic desire in publicly displayed works of art, as well as those works of art intended for private "consumption."

One of the most innovative Italian painters of the sixteenth century, Corregio (Antonio Allegri) devised a highly original manner than anticipates the Baroque style of the seventeenth century.

One of the most influential artists of the twentieth century, Marcel Duchamp desired to break down all linguistic, sexual, and social restraints.

The founder of psychoanalysis and the discoverer of the unconscious, Sigmund Freud initiated a fundamental transformation in the self-understanding of Western men and women, including especially the role of sexuality.

The most famous artist who ever lived, Michelangelo left an enormous legacy in sculpture, painting, drawing, architecture, and poetry; while the artist's sexual behavior cannot be documented, the homoerotic character of his drawings, letters, and poetry is unmistakable.

One of the most original and fascinating artists of the Italian Renaissance, Pontormo played a decisive role in helping to define Mannerism.