Best Known Paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was a famous Renaissance artist who created many paintings, sculptures, and inventions. I have been writing about the best-known artworks of various artists according to the art styles through the centuries. I believe that da Vinci is the one artist that most people knew about, and he worked with many types of media, among them paint, bronze, wax modeling, and sculpting marble.

As we begin looking at his best-known artwork, can you guess which painting the whole world knows about?

Leonardo da Vinci painted a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo, who was the wife of Francesco del Giocondo. He began creating the portrait around 1503 and finished it in 1519. This portrait is better known as the Mona Lisa. Today, the painting can be seen at the Louvre in Paris, France, but the image of Mona Lisa can be seen practically everywhere.

The Annunciation is a creation made of oil and tempera on wood. It is at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. Da Vinci was still working at the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio when he completed this painting. In this artwork you can see a lot of symbolism and hidden meanings. The divine forces symbolize holiness and divinity associated with the angels who visited Mary.

Lady with Ermine was created when Da Vinci was commissioned by Ludovico Sforza’s mistress, Cecelia Gallerani, for her private collection. Supposedly the lady also posed for the portrait. The painting depicts a lady seated with her hand over her lap and with her other hand holding an ermine.

Another of the artist’s popular artworks is The Last Supper. It is a masterpiece in art history and culture and one of the earliest frescoes ever made. Da Vinci preferred to use oil paints because they dried slowly, and as they did, he could make adjustments to his creations. On this painting, he used a second coating of gesso, mastic, and pitch so that the artwork would be well preserved. As it is today, very little of the original top coat of oil paint remains as a consequence of both environmental and deliberate deterioration.

Saint John the Baptist is an oil painting on walnut wood. It was completed in 1516. In the painting, the figure seems to emerge from the darker background. Saint John is clothed in furs, has long curly hair, and smiles enigmatically.

Salvador Mundi is an artwork that dates from about 1500. It had been lost to history for more than 200 years, had been damaged and poorly repaired, and had been sold and resold as a minor work. It was sold for $450 million to Saudi Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al Safadi at Christie’s auction in New York City on November 15, 2017.

The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist is a large charcoal and black and white chalk drawing created on eight pieces of paper stuck together to form one large drawing. It is at the Royal Academy in London, which is situated in Burlington House.

Virgin of the Rocks was painted in two versions. The version that was created first hangs in the Louvre, and the second in the National Gallery in London. They were both done as an oil on wood panel. The paintings depict the Madonna and child along with the baby John the Baptist and an angel with a rocky background.

A recognizable drawing is the Vitruvian Man. (pictured above) It has been reproduced on many different objects, including posters. It is an ink-on-paper drawing of a man in a circle and square illustrating proportions of the human body. The drawing was made between 1487 and 1490 and was discovered in 1500 in one of the artist’s notebooks. The drawing is named after Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, the author of De Architectura, who wrote about human proportions while comparing them to architectural principles. It can be seen at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, Italy.