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Leonardo
da Vinci - Madonna Litta
The Madonna Litta is one of the great paintings by
Leonardo da Vinci. There are numerous replicas of
the work by other Renaissance painters, and Leonardo's
own preliminary sketch of Madonna's head in the Louvre.
The Child's awkward posture, however, led some scholars
to attribute parts of the painting to Leonardo's pupil
Boltraffio. Other clues that contribute to the fact
that Leonardo had this painting completed by one of
his pupils include the harsh outlines of the Madonna
and Child, as well as the plain landscape.
This work was painted sometime in the 1480s for the
Visconti rulers of Milan and soon passed to the Litta
family, in whose possession it would remain for centuries.
In 1865, Alexander II of Russia acquired it from Count
Litta, quondam minister to St Petersburg, and deposited
the painting in the Hermitage Museum, where it has
been exhibited to this day. The painting was briefly
featured in the 2006 film The Da Vinci Code.
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Leonardo da Vinci - Madona Litta
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