ARTNET NEWS
By Coline Milliard
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| Leonardo da Vinci, Virgin of the Rocks (1483-86)
Courtesy the National Gallery, London |
UNITED KINGDOM---The clue is in the daffodils. New research published by geologist and art historian Ann Pizzorusso suggests that inaccurate vegetation in the version of Leonardo da Vinci's Virgin of the Rocks (1483-86) held in the National Gallery in London could prove that the piece is not actually the work of the Renaissance painter. As first reported in the Guardian, such an error would be surprising coming from an artist who considered an almost-scientific faithfulness to nature to be a foundation for art making—all the more so since the other version of the painting, which is part of the Louvre collection in Paris, is very precise in its depictions of rocks and plants. [
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| Leonardo da Vinci, Virgin of the Rocks (detail, 1483-86)
Courtesy the National Gallery, London |
