The Madonna Of The Yarnwinder
La Madonna dei Fusi: Two Lenses
As any mere mortal gazes upon one of Leonardo Da Vinci’s pieces, a sense of divinity and wonder befalls him—visualizing those brush strokes exuding from his paintbrush as he gives life to a blank canvas is mesmerizing. Throughout history, this Renaissance man has intrigued many, and his legacy has been immortalized by his works and by his many biographers. The earliest Leonardo Da Vinci biographer was Giorgio Vasari, a fifteenth-century Italian artist, famous for his biographies of Renaissance artists. Vasari’s approach to Leonardo has a poetic quality, embellished with poignant stories of his divine talent. Contrastingly, cotemporary art historian Martin Kemp, a world authority on Leonardo, chooses a somewhat different approach in his Leonardo biography; he employs a more holistic approach focusing more on Da Vinci’s beliefs and scholarly interests behind his work. These two perspectives on Leonardo’s life contribute greatly in the analysis of his work, each granting a different building block to understand the great master. I will analyze one of Leonardo’s great works, The Madonna of the Yarnwinder (1501-1507), keeping in mind both Vasari and Kemp’s approach in their biographies of the artist. Vasari begins his autobiography of Leonardo by ascribing his great and rare talent as heavenly gifts that were graciously showered on him, further saying that he had a mind of “regal boldness and magnanimous daring” (Vasari187). This introduction sets the tone for the rest of the biography that although factual in some parts also delightfully weaves some unhistorical legends. With Vasari’s perspective in mind, as I observe the Madonna of the Yarnwinder, I feel an aura of divinity radiating from the painting. Vasari says that Leonardo portrayed holy beings with “so much beauty and majesty,” which is certainly seen in this painting.
At first glance of the Madonna holding Christ, the child is the most overpowering element.
As any mere mortal gazes upon one of Leonardo Da Vinci’s pieces, a sense of divinity and wonder befalls him—visualizing those brush strokes exuding from his paintbrush as he gives life to a blank canvas is mesmerizing. Throughout history, this Renaissance man has intrigued many, and his legacy has been immortalized by his works and by his many biographers. The earliest Leonardo Da Vinci biographer was Giorgio Vasari, a fifteenth-century Italian artist, famous for his biographies of Renaissance artists. Vasari’s approach to Leonardo has a poetic quality, embellished with poignant stories of his divine talent. Contrastingly, cotemporary art historian Martin Kemp, a world authority on Leonardo, chooses a somewhat different approach in his Leonardo biography; he employs a more holistic approach focusing more on Da Vinci’s beliefs and scholarly interests behind his work. These two perspectives on Leonardo’s life contribute greatly in the analysis of his work, each granting a different building block to understand the great master. I will analyze one of Leonardo’s great works, The Madonna of the Yarnwinder (1501-1507), keeping in mind both Vasari and Kemp’s approach in their biographies of the artist. Vasari begins his autobiography of Leonardo by ascribing his great and rare talent as heavenly gifts that were graciously showered on him, further saying that he had a mind of “regal boldness and magnanimous daring” (Vasari187). This introduction sets the tone for the rest of the biography that although factual in some parts also delightfully weaves some unhistorical legends. With Vasari’s perspective in mind, as I observe the Madonna of the Yarnwinder, I feel an aura of divinity radiating from the painting. Vasari says that Leonardo portrayed holy beings with “so much beauty and majesty,” which is certainly seen in this painting.
At first glance of the Madonna holding Christ, the child is the most overpowering element.