Robert Janson-La Palme *76 Lecture | “Through a Glass, Darkly” – Leonardo da Vinci as an Innovative Creator of Religious Paintings

Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, Salvator Mundi, ca. 1500, oil on walnut, 25.8 × 17.9 in., Private Collection.

Innovation and progress are the driving forces in art history. Based on this assumption, I will address the following questions in my lecture: to what extent did Leonardo demonstrate innovation in responding to the requirements of his commissions for religious paintings? How and where did he distinguish himself as an artistic pioneer within the expectations of his contemporaries? Taking Leonardo’s Madonna of the Rocks as an excellent example of his innovative approach to composition, I examine the creative power embodied in that work and draw comparisons with the Salvator Mundi, attributed to Leonardo, to propose a consideration of the pictorial theory that may have informed such a sacred painting.