The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist

Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519)

National Gallery

circa 1499 - 1500

The cartoon may have been intended as the design for a picture but it was never pricked for transfer to canvas. Leonardo repeated the theme of the Virgin and St. Anne with the Holy Children in a cartoon the following year, and then began a picture for Louis XII of France which now hangs in the Louvre and was unfinished at Leonardo's death. Presented by the Art Fund following a public campaign.

• Medium: charcoal, black & white chalk on tinted paper
• Dimensions: 141.5 x 104.6cm
• Art Fund Grant: £71623 ( Total: £800,000)
• ArtFunded in: 1962
• Vendor: Royal Academy

Provenance

Inherited by Francesco da Melzi; apparently in Milan until its appearance in the Sagrado collection, Venice, before 1726; collection of Robert Udny; Royal Academy.

Add your comments about this artwork Hide this form

Have your say