To about the year 1472 belongs the small picture of the
"Annunciation," now in the Louvre, which after being the subject of
much contention among European critics has gradually won its way to
general recognition as an early work by Leonardo himself. That it was
painted in the studio of Verrocchio was always admitted, but it was
long catalogued by the Louvre authorities under the name of Lorenzo di
Credi. It is now, however, attributed to Leonardo (No. 1602 A). Such
uncertainties as to attribution were common half a century ago when
scientific art criticism was in its infancy.
Another painting of the "Annunciation," which is now in the Uffizi
Gallery (No. 1288) is still officially attributed to Leonardo. This
small picture, which has been considerably repainted, and is perhaps
by Andrea del Verrocchio, Leonardo's master, is the subject of Plate
II.
To January 1473 belongs Leonardo's earliest dated work, a pen-and-ink
drawing--"A Wide View over a Plain," now in the Uffizi. The
inscription together with the date in the top left-hand corner is
reversed, and proves a remarkable characteristic of Leonardo's
handwriting--viz., that he wrote from right to left; indeed, it has
been suggested that he did this in order to make it difficult for any
one else to read the words, which were frequently committed to paper
by the aid of peculiar abbreviations.
Leonardo continued to work in his master's studio till about 1477. On
January 1st of the following year, 1478, he was commissioned to paint
an altar-piece for the Chapel of St. Bernardo in the Palazzo Vecchio,
and he was paid twenty-five florins on account. He, however, never
carried out the work, and after waiting five years the Signoria
transferred the commission to Domenico Ghirlandajo, who also failed to
accomplish the task, which was ultimately, some seven years later,
completed by Filippino Lippi. This panel of the "Madonna Enthroned,
St. Victor, St. John Baptist, St. Bernard, and St. Zenobius," which is
dated February 20, 1485, is now in the Uffizi.
That Leonardo was by this time a facile draughtsman is evidenced by
his vigorous pen-and-ink sketch--now in a private collection in
Paris--of Bernardo Bandini, who in the Pazzi Conspiracy of April 1478
stabbed Giuliano de' Medici to death in the Cathedral at Florence
during High Mass. The drawing is dated December 29, 1479, the date of
Bandini's public execution in Florence.
In that year also, no doubt, was painted the early and, as might be
expected, unfinished "St. Jerome in the Desert," now in the Vatican, the
under-painting being in umber and _terraverte_. Its authenticity is
vouched for not only by the internal evidence of the picture itself, but
also by the similarity of treatment seen in a drawing in the Royal
Library at Windsor. Cardinal Fesch, a princely collector in Rome in the
early part of the nineteenth century, found part of the picture--the
torso--being used as a box-cover in a shop in Rome. He long afterwards
discovered in a shoemaker's shop a panel of the head which belonged to
the torso. The jointed panel was eventually purchased by Pope Pius IX.,
and added to the Vatican Collection.
In March 1480 Leonardo was commissioned to paint an altar-piece for
the monks of St. Donato at Scopeto, for which payment in advance was
made to him. That he intended to carry out this contract seems most
probable. He, however, never completed the picture, although it gave
rise to the supremely beautiful cartoon of the "Adoration of the
Magi," now in the Uffizi (No. 1252). As a matter of course it is
unfinished, only the under-painting and the colouring of the figures
in green on a brown ground having been executed. The rhythm of line,
the variety of attitude, the profound feeling for landscape and an
early application of chiaroscuro effect combine to render this one of
his most characteristic productions.
Vasari tells us that while Verrocchio was painting the "Baptism of
Christ" he allowed Leonardo to paint in one of the attendant angels
holding some vestments. This the pupil did so admirably that his
remarkable genius clearly revealed itself, the angel which Leonardo
painted being much better than the portion executed by his master.
This "Baptism of Christ," which is now in the Accademia in Florence
and is in a bad state of preservation, appears to have been a
comparatively early work by Verrocchio, and to have been painted
in 1480-1482, when Leonardo would be about thirty years of age.
To about this period belongs the superb drawing of the "Warrior," now
in the Malcolm Collection in the British Museum. This drawing may have
been made while Leonardo still frequented the studio of Andrea del
Verrocchio, who in 1479 was commissioned to execute the equestrian
statue of Bartolommeo Colleoni, which was completed twenty years later
and still adorns the Campo di San Giovanni e Paolo in Venice.