Paintings

Most of the great masters made sketches before embarking on a major work and Leonardo Da Vinci was no exception. Some of his sketches have become as important to those who appreciate beauty as his oil paintings.

Here are three notable examples of Da Vinci sketches, all portraits of young ladies:

Testa di Giovanetta

Testa di Fanciulla

Testa di Donna di Profilo

The artist was also interested in technology, much of which was highly advanced for its' time and, in some cases, drew derision from his peers but has since come to be seen as the work of a genius. Some of his ideas were extraordinarily advanced. This fifteenth century artist dreamed up the helicopter, although it would be almost half a millennium before anyone actually built such a machine.

This was a man who was truly ahead of his time in some ways but whose art was rooted in classical traditions. Leonardo da Vinci's 1492 oil painting of 'The Last Supper', depicting the biblical scene in which Jesus Christ is seated at a long table with his twelve disciples, is one of the best-known of his works - the Mona Lisa is probably his most famous painting - a project to restore the painting was led by Pietro Marani, probably the greatest living expert on the life and works of Leonardo Da Vinci.

No serious student, collector or appreciator of Fine Art can ignore the extraordinary works of Leonardo da Vinci.