Leonardo da Vinci’s London Virgin of the Rocks re-examined

Abstract

The anniversary in 2019 of Leonardo’s death prompted a new investigation of the Virgin of the Rocks now in the National Gallery in London. This built on a substantial foundation of earlier research, one past milestone being the discovery through infrared reflectography of an underdrawing for a completely different composition, showing a Virgin higher up on the panel and in a different pose. This paper focuses on the latest findings associated with this first abandoned composition, discussing how the re-examination using macro X-ray fluorescence (XRF) scanning and reflectance imaging spectroscopy (RIS) in the infrared range allowed a much more complete visualisation of the initial design, found to include figures for the Christ Child and an angel. The new study also provided interesting insights into Leonardo’s underdrawing materials and methods, identifying different drawing media (which include zinc-containing iron gall inks mixed with variable amounts of carbon black), seemingly used at different stages of the creative process to develop initial ideas into a more defined composition. The findings are relevant to the long genesis of the painting and its relationship with the version in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.