INTRODUCTION
Leonardo da Vinci is deservedly considered to be the most well-known art master of the Renaissance. Examining almost all important spheres of human life, from physics to anatomy, Leonardo, however, left a substantial trace in the history of arts. His paintings, all perfectly performed and delivering a deep meaning by every detail, are now the absolute examples as well as the mysterious enigma. In fact, St. John the Baptists is considered by some to be the last work of the master, therefore, it is still considered to be one of the most controversial. Anyway, this painting represents the genius of Leonardo da Vinci and proves his mature art personality by representing the evolved style and manner.
St. John the Baptist is a work by Leonardo da Vinci, created between years 1513 and 1516 (this is the last work of Leonardo). It is an oil painting on walnut wood. Its size is a size of his average portraits, 69 centimeters in height and 57 in width. Such size is probably chosen because it gives an opportunity to deliver a well-painted and detailed half-length portrait (which is, in fact, St. John the Baptist).
The painting depicts a man, who is St. John the Baptist. In fact, what is interesting is that the character of the picture does not look like an average man. His appearance reminds of androgyny or even has the bright features of a hermaphrodite. Such statement is logical according to the hair and face of the man. The hair on the head is long and curly while there seems to be no facial or body hair. At the same time, the face does not have any special distinguishing features of any gender.
The man is surrounded by darkness (traditionally, this work is called “St. John the Baptist in wilderness”). He is dressed in the animal skin. St. John also has the required requisite as in his left hand, he holds a reed cross. The right hand is pointing to the heavens in a manner, typical for Leonardo’s da Vinci artworks (such a gesture appears in his painting “The Last Supper”).
The painting is delivered in a style, called sfumato. As in most of the works of Renaissance artists, Leonardo blurred shapes and lines as he described it himself, sfumato is painting “in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane” (Earls, 263). In fact, the contrast of dark wilderness on the background, the blurred lines on the face and body of St. John create an extremely holistic image.
Light and darkness also create a special contrast. The background is in dark-brown and black while. The character seems to appear from the shadow in flaxen and soft brown shades, some parts of the face or body still covered in dark tones. In fact, it is almost impossible to identify where the body definitely originates as its bright zones just emerge from the darkness.
The axis of the painting is not simply diagonal; the hands of St. John are crossed, which is an allegory of a religious cross. Such a composition is one of the hidden symbols, referring to the deep religious meaning of the painting.
In fact, the religious background of the painting and its meaning is quite doubtful. While the contrast of shades, the composition and the image itself refer to a religious scene, the appearance of the character and his features actually refer to Leonardo’s personal intentions and fantasies.
HISTORIC BACKGROUND
The painting St. John the Baptist is considered to be the last one of Leonardo da Vinci. It is believed to be created at the beginning of sixteenth century, actually, between years 1513 and 1516. However, the idea and the sketches of the work could appear much earlier.
In the year 1499, Leonardo da Vinci together with a couple of his assistants and friends left Milan and fled to Venice, as Milan was invaded by French troops during the second Italian war. There, Leonardo obtained a status of a military engineer. The next year, tired of his stressful war duties, the painter decided to turn back to his hometown Florence. On the way to Florence, he stayed in Servite monks’ residency. Probably, it was a truly religious environment and god servants surrounding him, who inspired him to work on the cartoons of The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist.
In fact, the first historical appearance of the painting is identified to be the year 1517 in Leonardo’s workshop in Clos Luce (detected by Antonio de Beatis) (Farago, 66). However, some people claim for some features of this particular work to appear even earlier, around the year 1509 in Codex Atlanticus (Zöllner, 428).
The special characteristics of the painting’s shade are, in fact, Leonardo’s idea totally. In fact, the contrasting darkness of the wilderness and the lightness of the figure, as well as the blurred lines of sfumato style, represent the evolution of Leonardo’s technique. The experts claim for such representation to be a reflection of Leonardo’s own ideas about the life of alive and death. Some change in Leonardo’s view is also supported by the fact that St. John is not looking like a martyr here (like on the traditional paintings of him).
When talking about the historical context of the painting, there hardly is a political or social resonance, which made Leonardo da Vinci create the work. More these were the monks who made him think of god or maybe it was Salai (his assistant) to inspire Leonardo to present the other side of St. John. Actually, at that period Leonardo was not so influenced by general flows; in his art, he concentrated on the inner issues. Moreover, this position can explain the androgyny of the St. John, who looks like Salai. Even though it is not scientifically proven that Leonardo was a homosexual, the similarities between woman-like Salai and St. John seem to prove this idea to be true.
The motives of the painting are not understandable as Leonardo da Vinci left rare evidence to support one or another state or idea. However, in one of his diaries, there is a mention of St. John the Baptist. If believing these ‘pieces’ of information, Leonardo depicted the borders between the earthly and the divine (with the last one predominating). In his own words, the shapes and shadows were to support his idea of St. John leaving (or entering) the world of wilderness.
VALUE JUDGEMENT
The picture of St. John the Baptist is a vitally important painting due to a number of reasons. First of all, it represents the harmony of style and technique of shades and lines, which were to represent St. John as a mystical (divine) creature. Moreover, sfumato and the soft shades of body create a strong distinguishing element between the figure and the background. Taking into account a wide experience of Leonardo da Vinci in working with sfumato and his own manner of creating, the painting should obtain an important place near the well-known Mona Lisa.
The second reason for the usefulness of its presence is the content is closeness to the people of the time. Leonardo represented St. John, a religious personality because the concept of religion was an integral part of those human lives of their time. In these terms, the painting is not hard to feel or understand. What is more, the idea of a contrast between the divine and the earthly is easy to accept.
The most considerable reason for the painting to be famous is its value as Leonardo’s da Vinci piece of art. In fact, there are not a lot of original works of Leonardo left to examine. In fact, such controversial issues as the role of model for the character of St. John (Salai), and, therefore, the relationships between Leonardo and his assistant.
Finally, the painting has a lot in common with Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, the picture which is the most mysterious enigma of the painter’s story. The technique of the painting, very close to the one of Mona Lisa, and some particular details (for example, the smile) are present in St. John the Baptist as well.
Conclusion
The oil painting “St. John the Baptist” is the last famous works of Leonardo da Vinci. It represents the mature manner of the painter, for example, his abilities to work in sfumato and to make the contrasts look convincing. Leonardo da Vinci is a true genius and his depiction of this religious scene is important to save and even rank in line with Mona Lisa. It seems to be evident that Leonardo’s St. John the Baptist is a masterpiece, created by a talented genius.
Works cited
Earls, Irene. Renaissance Art. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987. Print.
Farago, Claire J. Biography And Early Art Criticism Of Leonardo Da Vinci. New York: Garland, 1999. Print.
Zöllner, Frank. Leonardo Da Vinci, 1452-1519. Köln: Taschen, 2004. Print.
