Dates: Received 2012-06-26. Published 2012-10-24.
OPUSeJ Reference Number: OPUSeJ 201206262038LLM
Links: to full article: http://www.opusej.org/archive/leonardos-landscapes-as-maps/ view as PDF: Leonardo’s Landscapes as Maps (PDF)
Link to Forum: http://www.opusej.org/archive/leonardos-landscapes-as-maps-forum/
Title: Leonardo’s Landscapes as Maps
Author: Donato Pezzutto
Abstract: The nature of Leonardo’s landscapes, have been the subject of debate. The position that they are fictional—imagined as a synthesis of disparate elements—has been challenged by evidence that the Mona Lisa landscape is a realistic portrayal that matches a particular place. Evidence is reviewed, that the landscape is a topographic map, displaying a fly-over view of an actual location, as depicted by Leonardo in his Val di Chiana map. Methods used to support this hypothesis are applied to the analysis of the Annunciation, Madonna of the Yarnwinder and Virgin and Child with St Anne and Lamb. The landscapes of these three Leonardo paintings will also be matched to particular locations.
Author bio: Dr Donato Pezzutto MD is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Medicine, (Western University, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry) and practices family medicine in London, Ontario. His amateur pursuits include art history and philosophy with an abiding interest in Leonardo and vintage maps. He is the editor of OPUSeJ.
Sponsor Editor: Madeline Lennon, Professor Emerita, Visual Arts, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Affiliations/disclaimers/funding/acknowledgements: This article was based on research that was self-funded. There are no disclaimers to mention. Special thanks to Prof Madeline Lennon, Prof Phil Stooke, Prof David Waters and Mr Derek Bair for their intellectual and moral support, to my children Antonio and Cristina Pezzutto for help with translations and technical matters and to my own Mona Lisa and muse, my wife, Lucia Pezzutto.
Keywords: Leonardo da Vinci, landscapes, Mona Lisa/La Gioconda, cartography, Val di Chiana, Annunciation, Madonna of the Yarnwinder, Virgin and Child with St Anne and Lamb, topography and perspective.
Subject: Visual Arts / Leonardo and Geography/cartography.
Language: English.
Bibliography: see Forum
Citation: Pezzutto, Donato, 2012, “Leonardo’s Landscapes as Maps”, OPUSeJ 201206262038LLM, 2012-10-24, 1-31. http://www.opusej.org/archive/leonardos-landscapes-as-maps/
Citations forward: see Forum.