Leonardo da Vinci - Madonna with a Flower. Madonna Benois 1478
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Madonna with a Flower. Madonna Benois 1478
49x33cm oil canvas, transferred from panel
Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
The image is only being used for informational and educational purposes
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Madonna and Child with Flowers, otherwise known as the Benois Madonna, could be one of two Madonnas Leonardo da Vinci had commented on having started in October 1478. The other one could be Madonna of the Carnation from Munich.
It is likely that the Benois Madonna was the first work painted by Leonardo independently from his master Verrocchio. There are two of Leonardo's preliminary sketches for this piece in the British Museum. Studies of these sketches and the painting itself suggest that Leonardo was concentrating on the idea of sight. At that time it was thought that human eyes exhibited rays to cause vision with a central beam being the most important. The child is thought to be guiding his mother's hands into his central vision.