Restoring 'The Virgin of the Rocks’ by Leonardo da Vinci

The presentation of Larry Keith, the Head of Conservation and Keeper, of the National Gallery, London, tells us about the difficulties and main points of processing, cleaning, and restoring 'The Virgin of the Rocks.'

'The Virgin of the Rocks', sometimes 'The Madonna of the Rocks', is a masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci.

The masterpiece has two versions. One painting usually hangs in the Louvre, Paris, and the other in the National Gallery, London. They are often known as ‘The Louvre Virgin of the Rocks’ and ‘The London Virgin of the Rocks’, respectively.

Louvre version

Most art historians consider ‘The Louvre Virgin of the Rocks’ as the earlier version of the two paintings. The painting was finished around 1486.

Leonardo used the "sfumato" technique in ‘The Louver Virgin of the Rocks’ perfectly. The painting is about 8 cm (3 in) higher than the London version.

London version

‘The London Virgin of the Rocks’ was suspectly painted by Leonardo's assistants in part. However, during the recent restoration, the conservators explored that the greater part of this painting was made by the hand of Leonardo. It was supposedly completed before 1508.

When Leonardo made this painting, he went to Tuscany, but there were no craggy rocks and cliffs. Even the local artists only use their imagination to paint craggy rocks and cliffs. They stacked stones in a large pile, and imagined this was a mountain in a desert.

Of course, Leonardo did not follow the way used by local artists; he went to a mountainous area in the north of Milan. Leonardo explored and observed the geological formations up close, in light, the contrast of bright and darker tones and other things. He painted his artwork in such circumstances.

Check out the video below to discover more about the restoration work of these masterpieces.