San Francesco Grande

The original Virgin of the Rocks painting is now hanging in the Louvre, but before this the original painting was in the chapel in San Francesco Grande in Milan as a piece of the altar.  This painting was commissioned to go here in 1483 as a part of a sculpture that had already been created in the altar there.  Many elements from San Francesco Grande have been destroyed and Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks are no longer there, but from different paintings and imaginings of the chapel, one can imagine the beauty of the chapel while the full sculpture, original altarpiece, and painting were all there.

Works Cited:

“Leonardo Da Vinci: The Virgin of the Rocks: NG1093: National Gallery, London.” The National Gallery, www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/leonardo-da-vinci-the-virgin-of-the....

“Leonardo Da Vinci's Virgin of the Rocks.” ItalianRenaissance.org, www.italianrenaissance.org/leonardo-da-vincis-virgin-of-the-rocks/.

The National Gallery, London. “The Lost Altarpiece.” The National Gallery, www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/past/leonardo-experience-a-master....

Parent Map

da Vinci and the Renaissance 2020 Map

Coordinates

Latitude: 45.187181600000
Longitude: 9.159427700000

Timeline of Events Associated with San Francesco Grande

Date Event Manage

The Virgin of the Rocks Paintings
1483 to 1484

The Virgin of the Rocks Paintings

In 1483, the painting The Virgin of the Rocks was comissioned by the San Francesco Grande in Milan by a roup of religious followers devted to the Immaculate Conception.  This group commissioned this painting to be on wooden panel so that it could eventually be placed inside of a larger piece of artwork on the altar of this church.  A few years after this painting was created, Leonardo created a second version which was restored around 2010 and is in the National Gallery in London whereas the original is unrestored in the Louvre.  The two paintings actually have several differences between the two of them inluding coloring differences, a halo over one of the Virgin Marys and not the other, and a couple of others. 

Works Cited:

By Leonardo da Vinci - gallerix.ru, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32430178

“Leonardo Da Vinci's Virgin of the Rocks.” ItalianRenaissance.org, www.italianrenaissance.org/leonardo-da-vincis-virgin-of-the-rocks/.

“The Virgin of the Rocks.” Italian Renaissance Art.com, www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Virgin-of-the-Rocks.html.

“Leonardo Da Vinci: The Virgin of the Rocks: NG1093: National Gallery, London.” The National Gallery, www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/leonardo-da-vinci-the-virgin-of-the....