The Virgins and Madonnas by Leonardo da Vinci
The evolution of a theme: from Florentine tenderness to large compositions where the gesture already announces the Passion.
Leonardo never repeats a formula. He transforms the Virgin and Child into a laboratory of movement, emotions, light and landscape - while leaving behind certain paintings, lost projects and studio works with debated status.
How is the theme evolving?
At first, Leonardo starts from a familiar type of the Florentine Renaissance: Mary sitting in an interior, holding the Child near a window open to the landscape. In the Madonna with carnation, architecture and fabrics still remain very present. But Jesus' gesture towards the flower already introduces what will become his mark: an apparently everyday object carries the presentiment of the Passion.
With the Madonna Benois, the scene tightens. Marie is no longer a distant icon; she plays with her son, observes his curiosity and reacts to his movement. In Milan, the Virgin of the rocks then expands the duo into a system of four figures connected by hands, looks and blessings. The landscape is no longer a setting behind a window: it envelops the characters and gives them an almost cosmic origin.
Around 1500, the symbol became action. In the Madonna with a spindle', the Child tears himself from his mother's arms to grab the cross-shaped object. In the Saint Anne, he embraces the sacrificial lamb while Mary tries to hold him back. Tenderness does not erase destiny: it makes it humanly painful.
A timeline of the invention
The dates sometimes remain discussed, especially when the painting involves the workshop. The sequence nevertheless shows a clear progression: interior, game, group, symbol, landscape then fusion of generations.
Madonna with carnation
Still close to Verrocchio: interior, vase, jewel and window. Oil becomes a field of experience.
Benois and the cat
The Child's game enlivens the group. The drawings explore an infinity of twists and takes.
Rocks, Louvre
Four figures form a gestural organism in a humid and luminous cave.
Madonna Litta
A more stable image of breastfeeding, designed by Leonardo but whose execution is debated.
Madonna with a spindle
The toy becomes a cross; several versions transmit a probably lost invention.
Saint Anne
Mary, her mother, the Child and the Lamb fit together in a long-replayed composition.
The Madonna with the Carnation: learning and already moving tradition
The Virgin is installed in an elegant room opened by two windows. The columns, the balustrade, the cushion, the crystal vase and the garment enriched with a clasp still connect it to Florentine studio painting. However, the distant, almost humid landscape announces Leonardo's blue horizons.
The psychological center is tiny: the red carnation that Mary holds and that the Child seeks to grasp. The flower can evoke love but also the blood of the Passion. Jesus does not solemnly bless the viewer; he reacts like a baby attracted by a color. The theological symbol comes through natural behavior.
The technique is also experimental. The layers of oil allow more flexible transitions than traditional tempera, but certain passages have suffered: the face of the Virgin and the skin tones today present a network of cracks. The work remains that of a young painter who quickly tests the possibilities of the medium.
The Madonna Benois: a mother who laughs with her child
Leonardo abandons the pageantry of the first panel. The background becomes dark, the window narrows, the dress loses its rigidity. Mary leans with an open smile towards Jesus and offers him a small flower. The Child touches her, turns her and focuses his attention on her.
This interaction transforms religious painting into an observation of infantile development. Hands no longer serve only to identify or bless: they grasp, hold, offer and test. Jesus' body pivots between his mother's arms, creating a modest spiral that brings the group to life.
The flower remains symbolic, but the scene is not reduced to a code. Mary knows the future meaning of this sign while the Child seems to see only one object. Leonardo makes two levels of consciousness coexist in the same exchange of glances.
The Cat Madonna: inventing by variations
About six leaves are linked to a composition of the Virgin, the Child and a cat. No certain picture remains. The importance of the file lies in what it shows: Leonardo is not looking for a perfect pose all at once. It changes the angle of the bust, the position of the legs, the direction of the head and the way in which Jesus hugs the animal.
The cat acts like a spring. He wants to escape, the Child squeezes him, Mary frames the whole thing. The movement circulates from the animal to the baby then to the maternal body. The British Museum emphasizes the speed of the line: it is less a copy from nature than a flow of ideas put on paper.
This method prepares all the following great Madonnas. In the Virgin of the rocks, the gestures will connect four figures; in the Saint Anne, the lamb will replace the cat and transform the game into an announcement of sacrifice.
The Virgin of the Rocks: from duo to total world
Commissioned in 1483 for a brotherhood of the Immaculate Conception, the composition brings together Mary, Jesus, little Saint John and an angel in a cave. A payment dispute leads to two close but not identical paintings.
More flexible and mysterious: the angel looks at the viewer and points to Saint John. The figures emerge without obvious halos from a darkness crossed by water, plants and rocks.
Colder and more hieratic: halos and the cross of Saint John clarify identities. Leonardo resumes the diagram after abandoning another composition revealed under the painting.
Hands build invisible architecture
Mary extends her right hand around Saint John and suspends her left above Jesus. The angel stabilizes the Child, who blesses his cousin. No material line closes the pyramid, but the gestures draw a circuit: protection, presentation, blessing, recognition.
The cave gives the Marian theme an unprecedented depth. The rocks are not a simple fantasy; they evoke a world prior to human history, while water and plants suggest germination and creation. Mary appears at the heart of this nature as the mother planned before time, in accordance with the program of the Immaculate Conception.
Between the two versions, Leonardo not only "corrects" details. He reviews the readability of the story, the temperature of the light and the relationship between mystery and doctrine. The second version was carried out over a long period with the participation of the workshop, but the National Gallery cataloged it as a work by Leonardo.
| Detail | Louvre | London |
|---|---|---|
| Dating | 1483 -1486 approx | 1491/92 -1499 then 1506 -1508 |
| Angel | Look at the viewer and point towards Saint John | A more inner look, without gesture of designation |
| Attributes | Identities rendered by gestures and relationships | Halos and the cross of Saint John reinforce the reading |
| Light | Warmer, very melted transitions | Lighter and colder, more separate volumes |
| Status | First panel, probably sold after the conflict | Replacement intended for the Milanese altar |
The Litta Madonna: famous image, author discussed
Mary breastfeeds Jesus in front of two windows overlooking a blue landscape. The composition is frontal and tight, almost heraldic. The Virgin's gaze falls gently; that of the Child turns towards the viewer. The small opening of the dress, sewn back to the left, reminds us that Mary had decided to wean her son before giving in to his request.
The Hermitage presents the painting under the name Leonardo, but many historians distinguish an invention of the master and an execution largely entrusted to the workshop. Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio is often proposed. A head study at the Louvre and preparatory drawings clearly bring Leonardo's conception closer; certain rigidities of the Child's body and the drape seem less characteristic of his hand.
The transfer of the panel to canvas in the 19th century and ancient interventions further complicate the judgment. It is therefore more honest to write "Leonardo and/or his workshop" than to present the work as a definitively settled case.
The Madonna with the Spindle: a symbol that has become action
A letter from Fra Pietro da Novellara to Isabella d'Este precisely describes Leonardo working in 1501 to a Virgin whose Child grasped a spindle in the shape of a cross. The original work is not identified with certainty; several versions transmit the composition.
Marie advances a hand towards her son without grasping him. The Child leans towards the cross zone with an energy that slides his body out of the maternal lap.
The Metropolitan Museum catalog "Leonardo da Vinci and workshop". The landscape and several details differ, but the dramatic core remains the same.
From toy to cross
A four-branched spindle is used to wind the thread. In the hands of Jesus, its shape announces the cross. The Child does not shy away from this sign: he embraces it and contemplates it. Mary seems to understand. His hanging hand simultaneously expresses maternal protection and the impossibility of diverting destiny.
The landscape now opens without architecture. Mother and child sit in an immense world, crossed by rivers and atmospheric mountains. The geological depth broadens the intimate drama: the Christian event is part of a history of the Earth.
The existence of numerous copies does not prove that each comes from the hand of the master. It proves the power of an invention that circulated in the workshop. Reflectography, repentance and quality of execution make it possible to distinguish the versions closest to Leonardo's process.
Object
A domestic tool linked to thread and women's work.
Shape
Four branches organized like a small cross.
Desire
The Child voluntarily recognizes and grasps the sign.
Restraint
Marie extends her hand, without interrupting the movement.
Acceptance
Maternal love becomes awareness of Passion.
Four figures in a single collective body
This life-size drawing is made up of several assembled sheets. Saint Anne almost carries her daughter on her knees; Mary leans towards Jesus; the Child turns to Saint John. The heads form a curve and the bodies a network so tight that it becomes difficult to know where one ends and the other begins.
Anne raises her index finger to the sky, a gesture which indicates the divine origin and the necessity of the plan of salvation. Jesus tickles or blesses his cousin. Mary, focused on the Child, remains caught between the stability of her mother and the mobility of the two boys.
The National Gallery today dates the cardboard to around 1506 -1508, while its exact relationship with projects described around 1501 is still debated. It could be a stand-alone presentation work or the memory of a lost painting. This is not the cardboard directly transferred for the Louvre painting.
Saint Anne: acceptance in motion
In the final painting, Saint John disappears and the lamb enters the composition. Jesus embraces him vigorously; the animal seeks to escape. Mary rises from her mother's knees and extends her arms to hold her son. Anne remains seated and smiles, silent witness to a destiny that she accepts.
The group forms a pyramid, but no figure is still. Mary's pelvis rests backwards while her bust and arms advance. Jesus responds with a reverse twist. Leonardo thus obtains a continuity which almost no longer depends on the demonstrative gestures of the cardboard.
The landscape merges with the scene. The blue folds of the mantle extend into the waters and valleys; the mountains seem as old as the maternal gesture. Atmospheric perspective not only serves to create depth: it connects human generations to geological time.
Leonardo kept the painting and reworked it for years, until late in France. Certain areas - notably the clothing of Saint Anne - remained at the underlay stage. This visible incompleteness belongs to the very history of the work.
Five decisive developments
Madonnas do not form a simple series of decorative variations. They record the profound changes in Leonardo's method.
| Question | Early works | Milanese works | Late works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mother-child relationship | Presentation and discovery of a flower. | Protection within a hierarchical group. | Remember, understand and then accept the Child's choice. |
| Movement | Small gestures still contained by the frame. | Circulation between four bodies and several gazes. | Chain twists; the group almost becomes a single organism. |
| Symbol | Eyelet or flower held as a play object. | Gestures, blessing, cave and vegetation build meaning. | Cross spindle and lamb are actively seized by Jesus. |
| Space | Interior opened through a window. | Cave which completely envelops the figures. | Cosmic landscape without architecture, open to water and mountains. |
| Technique | Rapid oil experimentation and still contrasting transitions. | Sfumato, colored shadow, botany and revised sub-drawings. | Very slow glazing, continuous recovery, incompleteness assumed or suffered. |
Why does the catalog remain open?
The success of Marian inventions multiplies copies, variants and workshop participations. An image of "Leonardo" can designate a conception of the master, without every centimeter having been painted by him.
Document
An order or letter can attest to the subject without identifying the preserved table.
Drawing
An autograph study proves the invention, not necessarily the final execution.
Repentance
Changes under the paint signal a search rather than a mechanical copy.
Matter
Supports, pigments and layers make it possible to distinguish period, workshop and restoration.
Quality
Modeled, hands and transitions are compared to certain works, without automatic verdict.
A journey between five museums
The paintings are scattered, but each stage illuminates a distinct phase: Florence, Milan, the workshop and the last years.
| Museum | Work | What to look at |
|---|---|---|
| Alte Pinakothek, Munich | Madonna with carnation | The red object, the windows, the vase and the first attempts at oil modeling. |
| Hermitage, Saint Petersburg | Madonna Benois and Madonna Litta | Comparing a mobile interaction to a more frontal and debated breastfeeding image. |
| Louvre, Paris | Virgin of the rocks and Saint Anne | Measure the passage from the group in the cave to the group open to a total landscape. |
| National Gallery, London | Virgin of the rocks and cardboard from Burlington House | Compare painting, hidden underdrawing and life-size composition with charcoal. |
| Metropolitan Museum, New York | Madonna with a spindle, Lansdowne version, on loan | Observe the repentances, the landscape and the joint participation of Leonardo and the workshop. |
Replace the Madonnas in the entire work
The Marian theme links drawing, anatomy, landscape and the collective functioning of the workshop.
Check dates and assignments
All images in the article are served from Shopify. The links below lead to the institutional records used for dates, dimensions and attribution statuses.
Official notice: around 1475, poplar, 62 × 48.5 cm, Florentine context and oil experimentation.
Consult the instructions →Official catalog: dating 1478 -1480, dimensions, provenance and reading of the flower as a symbol of the Cross.
Consult the catalog →Notice of the first panel, dated 1483 -1494 in the catalog and exhibited in room 710.
See the work →Order, second version, technique, hidden underdrawing and chronology until 1508.
Consult the instructions →Leonardo's only large preserved cardboard, dated around 1506 -1508 by the museum.
See the box →Genesis from 1503 to 1519, transformations of the composition and unfinished state.
Read the full instructions →Lansdowne version cataloged "Leonardo da Vinci and workshop", circa 1501, currently on loan.
Consult the instructions →Sheet from 1478 -1481 and explanation of the project probably never painted.
See the drawing →Summary of the payment dispute and the creation of the replacement London version.
Read the summary →Leonardo's Madonnas in six answers
How many Madonnas did Leonardo da Vinci paint?
The number depends on the level of attribution. There Madonna with carnation, there Madonna Benois, both Virgins on the rocks and there Saint Anne form the strongest core. There Madonna Litta and the versions of the Madonna with a spindle involve more workshop or remain discussed.
Why are there two Virgins on the rocks?
The first version, today at the Louvre, was probably sold after a payment dispute with the sponsoring brotherhood. A second version was made for the Milanese altar and completed over a long period until 1508.
Is Madonna Litta really by Leonardo?
The Hermitage displays it under its name, but many scholars attribute much of the execution to one student, often Boltraffio. Its design clearly depends on Leonardo's research.
Where is the original Madonna in the Spindle?
He is not identified with certainty. The Buccleuch version and the Lansdowne version are among the most important witnesses of a composition described in a letter from 1501.
What is Leonardo's last Madonna?
The Virgin, the Child Jesus and Saint Anne from the Louvre is its great Marian achievement. Designed at the beginning of the 16th century, it was taken up until the last years of its life and remained unfinished.
What does the spindle held by Jesus mean?
Its branches form a cross. The Child voluntarily seizes him, announcing his Passion, while Mary's suspended gesture expresses maternal love and progressive acceptance of destiny.
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