Italy's altarpiece in the age of Leonardo

Listen to Dr. Carlo Corsato, an educator at the National Gallery, London, discussing altarpieces in the age of Leonardo da Vinci.

We will go through the paintings in Renaissance: 'The Virgin of the Rocks' by Leonardo da Vinci, 'The Adoration of the Magi' by Sandro Botticelli, 'The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius' by Carlo Crivelli, and more.

'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. Leonardo perfectly used the "sfumato" technique in 'The Louver Virgin of the Rocks'.

The two paintings are about the same subject, showing the Madonna and Christ Child with the infant John the Baptist and an angel Uriel in a rocky setting which gives the paintings their usual name.

One painting usually hangs in the Louvre, Paris. This painting was finished around 1486. The other is in the National Gallery, London. It was supposedly completed before 1508.

'The Adoration of the Magi'

Botticelli created this painting for the altar in Gaspare di Zanobi del Lama's chapel in Santa Maria Novella around 1475. It depicts the Biblical story of the Three Magi following a star to find the newborn Jesus.

'The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius'

The painting was painted in 1486 by Carlo Crivelli. He was an Italian Renaissance painter.

His painting depicts the Archangel Gabriel descending from God to tell the Virgin that she is to bear a child. The Virgin humbly accepted.

Crivelli’s version is rather peculiar. It places Gabriel outside the Virgin’s home. And Gabriel is accompanied by St. Emidius in another unusual variation on the theme.