The Leonardo’s 500th Anniversary
500 years ago, on May 2 1519, Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest geniuses in humankind history, died in Amboise, France.
It’s hard to enclose in a single definition the greatness of a personality like Leonardo Da Vinci. I want to remember this artist sharing this image, a detail of his beautiful Adoration of the Magi, a painting on wood kept in the Uffizi Gallery, a work of extraordinary beauty as can be seen from the many details – among these it is enough to see the astonishing group of the Madonna with child that, got its iconic nature, could be an altarpiece in itself. It is a painting with many details. Many. Lots. Sometimes in less than a metre, the “genius of Vinci” composes a gorgeous essay of a varied humanitas which, just as variedly, reacts before the manifestation of divine, said better, before the Epiphany of the Lord – a term of Greek origin – ἐπιϕάνεια, that is manifestation – a word with which the painting should be correctly named.
500th Anniversary of Leonardo
Leonardo did not complete the work, commissioned by the Augustinian monks of San Donato in Scopeto. But it can certainly be said that this was something good the fact that the artist did not complete the painting, because in this way today we can enjoy so many details of his accurate study that, otherwise, would have remained covered forever under the layers of color – see for example the magnificent study of the horse’s head at the top on the right.
The masterpiece in the Uffizi Gallery
Visiting the Uffizi, you could stay for hours in front of this work to get lost in its extraordinary details. For instance, take notice on how different are the faces of the people all around the central group of the Virgin. If you visit the museum, do not miss this magnificent contemplation of divine⟣
