The Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was the founding figure of the High Renaissance, and exhibited enormous influence on subsequent artists. Only around eight major works—The Adoration of the Magi, Saint Jerome in the Wilderness, the Louvre Virgin of the Rocks, The Last Supper, the ceiling of the Sala delle Asse, The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist, The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, and the Mona Lisa—are universally attributed to him, and have aroused little or no controversy in the past. Ten additional works are now widely attributed to his oeuvre, though most have previously incited considerable controversy or doubt: the Annunciation, Madonna of the Carnation, The Baptism of Christ (with his teacher, Verrocchio), Ginevra de' Benci, the Benois Madonna, the Portrait of a Musician (with possible studio assistance), the Lady with an Ermine, La Belle Ferronnière, the London Virgin of the Rocks (with studio assistance), the Portrait of Isabella d'Este, and Saint John the Baptist.
Other attributions are more complicated. La Scapigliata appears to be attributed by most scholars, but some prominent specialists are silent on the issue. Salvator Mundi's attribution remains extremely controversial, and the extensive nature of the restoration may never allow a definitive resolution. The small number of surviving paintings is due in part to Leonardo's habit of disastrous experimentation with new techniques and his chronic procrastination, resulting in many incomplete works. It is thought that he created many more works that are now lost, though records and copies have survived for some.
In addition to his paintings, there are eleven surviving manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci's notes and drawings, amounting to thousands of pages in total. There are numerous other works with disputed attributions to Leonardo, which have failed, as of yet, to achieve thorough scholarly approval.
Key: † Collaborative work · ‡ Possibly collaborative work
Universally accepted | Unanimously accepted works |
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Widely accepted | Accepted by large majority of modern scholars; controversial in the past |
Generally accepted | Accepted by most modern scholars; still controversial |
Title and image | Date | Medium | Dimensions[1] | Location[1] |
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1472–1476[d 1] | c.Oil and tempera on poplar panel | 98 cm × 217 cm 39 in × 85 in |
Uffizi, Florence | |
Madonna of the Carnation | 1472–1478[d 2] | c.Oil on poplar panel | 62 cm × 47.5 cm 24.4 in × 18.7 in |
Alte Pinakothek, Munich |
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1474–1478[d 3] | c.Oil and tempera on poplar panel | 177 cm × 151 cm 70 in × 59 in |
Uffizi, Florence | |
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Ginevra de' Benci | 1474–1480[d 4] | c.Oil and tempera on poplar panel | 38.8 cm × 36.7 cm 15.3 in × 14.4 in |
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. |
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Benois Madonna | 1478–1481[d 5] | c.Oil on wood panel, transferred to canvas | 49.5 cm × 33 cm 19.5 in × 13.0 in |
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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The Adoration of the Magi |
1478–1482[d 6] | c.Oil (underpainting) on wood panel | 240 cm × 250 cm 94 in × 98 in |
Uffizi, Florence |
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Saint Jerome in the Wilderness (unfinished) |
1480–1490[d 7] | c.Tempera and oil on walnut panel | 103 cm × 75 cm 41 in × 30 in |
Vatican Museums |
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Madonna Litta † | 1481–1495[d 8] | c.Tempera (and oil) on poplar panel | 42 cm × 33 cm 17 in × 13 in |
Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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Virgin of the Rocks (Louvre version) |
1483–1493[d 9] | c.Oil on wood panel, transferred to canvas | 199 cm × 122 cm 78 in × 48 in |
Louvre, Paris |
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Portrait of a Musician (unfinished) ‡ |
1483–1487[d 10] | c.Oil (and tempera?) on walnut panel | 45 cm × 32 cm 18 in × 13 in |
Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan |
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Lady with an Ermine | 1489–1491[d 11] | c.Oil on walnut panel | 54 cm × 39 cm 21 in × 15 in |
Czartoryski Museum, Kraków |
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La Belle Ferronnière | 1490–1498[d 12] | c.Oil on walnut panel | 62 cm × 44 cm 24 in × 17 in |
Louvre, Paris |
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Virgin of the Rocks (London version) † |
1491–1508[d 13] | c.Oil on parqueted poplar panel | 189.5 cm × 120 cm 74.6 in × 47.2 in |
National Gallery, London |
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1492–1498[d 14] | c.Tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic | 460 cm × 880 cm 180 in × 350 in |
Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan | |
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Sala delle Asse | 1497–1499[d 15] | c.Tempera on plaster | Castello Sforzesco, Milan | |
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The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist |
1499–1508[d 16] | c.Charcoal, black and white chalk on tinted paper, mounted on canvas | 142 cm × 105 cm 56 in × 41 in |
National Gallery, London |
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Portrait of Isabella d'Este | 1499–1500[d 17] | c.Black and red chalk, yellow pastel chalk on paper | 61 cm × 46.5 cm 24.0 in × 18.3 in |
Louvre, Paris |
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Madonna of the Yarnwinder (The Buccleuch Madonna) † |
1499–1508[d 18] | c.Oil on walnut panel | 48.9 cm × 36.8 cm 19.3 in × 14.5 in |
Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh[b] |
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Salvator Mundi ‡ | 1499–1510[d 19] | c.Oil on wood panel | 65.6 cm × 45.4 cm 25.8 in × 17.9 in |
Unknown |
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Madonna of the Yarnwinder (The Lansdowne Madonna) † |
1501–1508[d 20] | c.Oil on wood panel (transferred to canvas and later re-laid on panel) | 50.2 cm × 36.4 cm 19.8 in × 14.3 in |
Private collection, New York City |
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1501–1519[d 21] | c.Oil on wood panel | 168 cm × 112 cm 66 in × 44 in |
Louvre, Paris | |
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Mona Lisa (unfinished) |
1502–1516[d 22] | c.Oil on cottonwood (poplar) panel | 76.8 cm × 53 cm 30.2 in × 20.9 in |
Louvre, Paris |
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La Scapigliata (unfinished) |
1506–1508[d 23] | c.Earth, amber and white lead on wood panel | 24.7 cm × 21 cm 9.7 in × 8.3 in |
Galleria Nazionale, Parma |
Saint John the Baptist | 1507–1516[d 24] | c.Oil on walnut panel | 69 cm × 57 cm 27 in × 22 in |
Louvre, Paris |
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Title and sample image | Dates | Abbreviation(s)[38] | Pages | Location |
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Codex Atlanticus | 1478–1519 | C.A. | 1,119 | Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan |
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Codex Windsor | 1478–1518 | W. | 153 | Royal Collection, Windsor |
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Codex Arundel | 1480–1518 | B.L., Arundel MS. or Br.M. | 283 | British Library, London |
Codex Trivulzianus | c. 1487–1490 | Triv. | 55 (originally 62) |
Biblioteca Trivulziana, Castello Sforzesco, Milan |
Codex Forster | 1487–1505 | Forster I, II and III (including I1, I2 and II2); formerly known as S.K.M.I, II and III | 354 | Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
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Paris Manuscripts | 1488–1505 | A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H (including H1, H2 and H3), I (including I1 and I2), K (including K1, K2 and K3), L and M | more than 2,500 | Bibliothèque de l'Institut de France, Paris |
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Codex Madrid | 1490s–1504 | Madrid I and Madrid II | Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid | |
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Codex Ashburnham | c. 1492 | Ash.I. or B.N.2037 (formerly part of MS.B.); Ash.II or B.N.2038 (formerly part of MS.A.) | Bibliothèque de l'Institut de France, Paris | |
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Codex on the Flight of Birds | dated 1505 | Turin | 18 | Biblioteca Reale, Turin |
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Codex Leicester | 1506–1510 | Leic. | 72 | Collection of Bill Gates, Seattle (tours internationally) |
Codex Urbinas and libro A | c. 1530 | Urb. and L°A. | Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana | |
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Title, and image of derivative work[57] |
Date[57] | Type[57] | Last known location[57] |
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Adam and Eve (unfinished) |
c. mid 1460s – early 1470s | Watercolor cartoon for a tapestry | In the collection of Ottaviano de' Medici during Vasari's lifetime (1511–1574) |
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Dragon shield | c. 1472 | Painted shield | Unknown |
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The Head of Medusa | Youthful work | Oil on panel | In the collection of Cosimo I de' Medici during Vasari's lifetime (1511–1574) |
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San Bernardo Altarpiece (unfinished) |
Commissioned 10 January 1478 | Oil on panel | Unknown |
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The Battle of Anghiari | Commissioned 4 May 1504 | Mural painting | Still visible in 1549 |
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Leda and the Swan | c. 1504–1508 | Oil painting | Recorded by Cassiano dal Pozzo as being at the Palace of Fontainebleau in 1625. |
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Angel of the Annunciation | c. 1510–1513 | Oil painting | In Duke Cosimo I de' Medici's palace during Vasari's lifetime (1511–1574) |
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Key: Supposedly collaborative work
Title and image | Date | Medium | Dimensions | Location |
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Madonna and Child with a Pomegranate (The Dreyfus Madonna) |
probably c. 1469[66] | Oil on wood | 15.7 cm × 12.8 cm 6.2 in × 5.0 in |
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. |
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Tobias and the Angel † | c. 1473[68] | Egg tempera on poplar | 83.6 cm × 66 cm 32.9 in × 26.0 in |
National Gallery, London |
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The Holy Infants Embracing | c. 1486–1490 | |||
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Portrait of a Lady in Profile | c. 1493–1495[69] | Tempera and oil on panel | 51 cm × 34 cm 20 in × 13 in |
Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan[70] |
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La Bella Principessa | 1495–1496 (Kemp) | Bodycolour (pastel) on vellum | 33 cm × 22 cm 13.0 in × 8.7 in |
Private collection, Switzerland |
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Virgin of the Rocks Chéramy † | c. 1495–1497 (Pedretti) | Oil on wood panel, transferred to canvas | 154.5 cm × 122 cm 60.8 in × 48.0 in |
Private collection, Switzerland |
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Madonna and Child with St Joseph or Adoration of the Christ Child | between 1495 and 1500 | Tempera on panel | Diam. 87 cm (34 in) | Galleria Borghese, Rome[74] |
Young Christ | c. 1496 | Terracotta | Private collection | |
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Portrait of Luca Pacioli † | c. 1495–1500 | Tempera on panel | 99 cm × 120 cm 39 in × 47 in |
Museo di Capodimonte, Naples |
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Christ Carrying the Cross † | c. 1500 | Oil on poplar | Private collection, San Francisco | |
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Isleworth Mona Lisa † | Oil on canvas | 84.5 cm × 64.5 cm 33.3 in × 25.4 in |
Private collection, Switzerland | |
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Horse and Rider | Beeswax | Private collection, London | ||
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Lucan portrait of Leonardo da Vinci | c. 1505–1510 | Tempera grassa on poplar | 40 cm × 60 cm 16 in × 24 in |
Museo delle Antiche Genti di Lucania, Vaglio Basilicata |
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Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk | c. 1512 | Red chalk on paper | 33.3 cm × 21.6 cm 13.1 in × 8.5 in |
Biblioteca Reale, Turin |
Bacchus | Oil on walnut panel transferred to canvas | 177 cm × 115 cm 70 in × 45 in |
Louvre, Paris | |
Mary Magdalene | 1515 | 58 cm × 45 cm 23 in × 18 in |
Private collection, Switzerland | |
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Fig 111 and 112 Unpublished fragmentary wax model of an equestrian portrait of Charles d'Amboise attributed to Leonardo, said to have come from the Melzi estate at Vaprio d'Adda. London, Private collection (formally Sangiorgi collection in Rome).
Carlo Pedretti: In my opinion, this wax model is by Leonardo himself, and to my knowledge it has not been seen by other scholars.
no existing sculpture can be attributed to him with any certainty. [... the Bust of Christ as a Youth] was unfortunately placed in the exhibition next to a bizarre object, a wax statuette of a rider on a bucking horse never before seen in public. In the explanatory label, the statuette was said to have belonged to Francesco Melzi, a student and companion of Leonardo, a provenance unfortunately based on hearsay. [...] I fail to see the point of presenting to the uninformed visitor highly debatable hypotheses as if they were confirmed.
CONTROVERSIAL WORK: Whether Leonardo made this small wax figure is a source of contention among experts. Although the piece is unsigned, it is attributed to him in the exhibit.(subscription required)
at least one of the two sculptures on display in the art gallery at Science Park beginning March 3 have caused grave doubts among some art historians. [...] The labels on the paintings, Ackerman warned museum officials, were simply too generous, linking dubious and contested works from private collections too closely with Leonardo and other Italian masters. [...] after weeks of struggling over wording, museum officials altered some of the labels to introduce more skepticism [... The Wax Horse] is "attributed to Leonardo." Not so fast, said Jack Wasserman, an art historian at Temple University in Philadelphia. "There is no single work of sculpture which Leonardo worked on that survived to today," Wasserman said. "Yes, it could be 'attributed to' Leonardo, but you need to have a compelling reason for doing so. Since nothing survived, there is no way to judge a piece of sculpture like this."(subscription required)
Presentata come una rivelazione esclusiva, è contestata da molti esperti. [...] Vittorio Sgarbi non nasconde i suoi dubbi sull'attribuzione al maestro toscano [...] Pietro Marani: Non ci sono evidenze, né si possono fare confronti poiché non esistono dati d'appoggio, esemplari sicuri.