Denver Art Museum hosts two rare paintings created by Leonardo da Vinci’s pupils and contemporaries
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DENVER — The mind and genius of Leonardo da Vinci isn’t just archived in history or showcased in museums thousands of miles away in Europe. The Denver Art Museum (DAM) boasts two rare works by da Vinci’s closely-affiliated pupils and contemporaries.
Da Vinci, a 15th century Italian best known for his artwork, was also renowned for his work as a scientist, engineer and inventor. He came to typify the idea of a “Renaissance man” at the time of the Italian Renaissance. He spent much of his time studying the natural world and applying it to his artistic and scientific endeavors.
“Leonardo's asset was he was such a complex genius that his paintings have that genius within them,” said Robert Elliott Jr., an art historian and da Vinci scholar based in North Carolina. “He could make people look alive. That’s how he upped his game compared to other artists.”
One of the artworks on display at DAM, “Madonna and Child with Saints,” was painted by Bernardo Zenale, a contemporary of da Vinci’s who was famous in his own right and greatly influenced by da Vinci’s work. The other, “Madonna and Child with Columbines,” is confirmed to be by a follower of da Vinci’s who possibly worked directly with him in his workshop, but whose authorship is unknown.
There are less than 20 paintings in existence attributed to da Vinci himself, the most famous being the "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper."
And today, there is just one museum in the U.S. that carries a Leonardo da Vinci painting — the National Gallery in Washington D.C. — which bought the "Ginevra de Benci" in 1967 for $5 million, the largest sum ever paid for a work of art at the time. The painting is a portrait of the daughter of a wealthy Florentine banker, likely commissioned at the time of her marriage.
But several museums in the mid-1900s became the recipients of other notable paintings from Europe, including many created by close affiliates of da Vinci. Samuel Kress, the founder of the S.H. Kress & Company five and dime variety stores, selected 18 regional museums across America to be the recipients of his vast collection of European artworks, primarily Italian Renaissance paintings.
“It was really for cities that did not have old masterworks [in their museums] and may have never seen an old master,” said Angelica Daneo, chief curator and curator of European art before 1900 at DAM.
Denver was one of the beneficiaries of Kress’s art collection, along with other cities such as New Orleans, Houston, El Paso and San Francisco.
Two of the Kress paintings at DAM are attributed to the “leonardeschi,” a loose term for those who either apprenticed in da Vinci’s workshop and had a hand in some of his paintings, or who were influenced by the master and spent time in his circle and replicated his style and compositions.
“If there was a very successful painting by da Vinci, the leonardeschi would make similar copies because friends of the person that commissioned it would want one just like it,” said Elliott.
Leonardo’s paintings and those of his followers became somewhat of a brand, said Janet Saez, an art historian and retired art professor from North Carolina A&T State University. “Today's pop culture understands branding and stylishness. Renaissance Milan, in Leonardo's workshop, was pioneering the whole concept in a new and interesting way.”
In American museums today, there are a total of about 80 paintings from the leonardeschi, according to Saez.
The south wing at DAM was built in 1954 to receive the 33 paintings and four sculptures in the Kress collection, including the two paintings by the leonardeschi.
“The only requirement for this donation was that the city of Denver build a fireproof and climate-controlled building, which we did,” said Daneo.
On the sixth floor of DAM’s south wing hangs Bernardo Zenale’s “Madonna and Child with Saints.” The church that initially commissioned the work, the Church of San Francisco Grande in Milan, also commissioned one of the two versions of Da Vinci’s “The Virgin of the Rocks,” which now resides at the National Gallery of London.
“Zenale clearly takes inspiration from da Vinci’s second version of the Virgin of the Rocks,” said Daneo. “You see that in the facial features of the Virgin, in the composition, even in the grotto setting. Zenale would most likely have seen this version hanging in the chapel.”
Both paintings depict the immaculate conception of Jesus Christ. At the time, there was a debate about whether Mary — often referred to as Madonna in the art world — conceived Jesus with or without original sin. The Franciscans who commissioned the painting believed she was born without original sin, said Daneo.
“This setting [in the paintings] almost looks primordial because if the Virgin gave birth without the original sin, her conception had to predate the world and Adam and Eve,” she said. “And so the artist Zenale, like da Vinci, visualized this very basic primordial rock formation because the Bible said the earth was born from that.”
Zenale worked in Milan. When da Vinci moved to Milan in 1482, he found an active art scene there that he both influenced and grew inspiration from, said Daneo.
The second painting by the leonardeschi at DAM, currently not on view, is attributed to an unnamed follower of da Vinci. The “Madonna and Child with Columbines,” shows the baby reaching toward a columbine flower, which happens to be the state flower of Colorado.
“It was a holy flower symbolizing something,” said Elliott Jr. “The people in those times were illiterate for the most part. So they [artists] needed to paint something that the average person could understand the meaning of.”
Elliott Jr. said the baby’s curly hair as well as Madonna’s bony hands and the light grazing her face are traits of da Vinci’s.
“The work clearly shows a recurring composition that exists in the master [da Vinci’s paintings.] We just don’t know specifically who the artist is,” said Daneo. “This could have been a work that was prepared in da Vinci’s studio. We just don't have any information.”
Saez agreed. “It has the very recognizable-to-anybody-in-1490's Milan "da-Vinci" face of the Madonna.”
The paintings, along with the rest of the Kress collection, were initially granted to the museum on “permanent loan” — a funny, contradictory nomenclature, Daneo noted. Eventually the Kress artworks became permanently deeded in 1961 at the 20th anniversary ceremony of the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. There, Samuel Kress’ brother Rush, with President Kennedy by his side, permanently gifted all of the regional museums the art collection, including the Denver Art Museum.
Daneo said DAM has not had to do much restoration on the two artworks affiliated with da Vinci.
“The artworks that come with a big name attached oftentimes receive more restoration because obviously, they carry a lot of value,” she said. Artists that are acknowledged to be highly skilled, but that lack the fame of someone like a da Vinci, tend to be less touched, she said
The film “Leonardo da Vinci” by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon premieres on PBS November 18.
On Thursday, August 22, Rocky Mountain PBS will be hosting three events across the state featuring a live discussion with Ken Burns and a preview of the film. Learn more here.