Madonna in the rocks, Leonardo da Vinci

Description of the picture:

Madonna in the mountains – Leonardo da Vinci. Around 1491-1509 or 1506-1508. Canvas, oil. 189.5×120

   Apparently, the works of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) are doomed to endless discussions about their content, the history of creation, the next fate, writing technique, genesis and impact. Picture “Madonna in the rocks” – not an exception: is it connected with the earlier Louvre work (1483-1484 / 85), why did the master decide to re-write this story, make it the second version (severe scholars do not call this painting a copy)?

   In the original, the painter developed a plot commissioned by the Franciscan monastic Brotherhood of the Sinless Conception of the Virgin Mary for the chapel of the church of San Francesco Grande in Milan (documentation on the criteria and all stages of work has been preserved). The painter portrayed the Madonna, the Kid of Christ, raising his hand in a blessing gesture, the little Saint John and the archangel, most likely Uriel, associated with him. The State Gallery has two panels for this plot depicting musician angels, but at first they belonged to the Louvre painting.

   The iconography of the canvas is rich and complex. Maybe the Madonna is shown in the mountains in connection with Franciscan theology, because St. Francis received his stigmata by praying to Christ near the mountain with cracks and crevices. And this is only one hidden meaning of a single element, of which there are a huge number in the work."