Existing comment:
The Painting's Technique & History
The unfinished painting shows us that Leonardo did not proceed in a systematic way; some portions are highly developed while others are not. Infrared reflectography, a noninvasive technique that penetrates the layers of pigment, reveals that he was particularly interested in creating a detailed, anatomically correct under drawing for the saint's body. He added color principally in the upper left portion of the composition, using his fingers to distribute the pigments and create a soft focus effect; Leonardo's finger prints are visible in the paint surface there.
Scholars have proposed various reasons, for the painting's unfinished state. It is possible that the perfectionist Leonardo became dissatisfied with it (even as he continued to work on it); or perhaps his patron abandoned hope that it would be completed and canceled the project.
The panel has prominent cuts and rejoining soft the wood around the head of the saint. It appears to have been finely sawn into pieces at an unknown date, probably in order to extract the most commercially valuable portion. Although unrecorded by Leonardo's biographers, the work was acquired sometime between 1787 and 1803 by the Swiss painter Angelica Kauffmann (1741-1807), then living in Rome. After her death, legend has it that Cardinal Joseph Fesch (1763-1839), Napoleon's uncle, found the separated parts in an antiques shop and at his shoemakers. The painting entered the Vatican collections on September 5, 1856. |