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Self-Portrait |
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Self-Portrait According to the Italian painter Gianpaolo Lomazzo, “Leonardo's hair and beard were so long, and his eyebrows were so bushy, that he appeared to be the sheer idea of noble wisdom.” Undoubtedly, there is an aura of sagacity that one can perceive in Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpiece ‘Self-Portrait’. Leonardo Da Vinci’s ability with chalk is unmatched. ‘Self-Portrait’ is a composition of intricate details, a meticulous, complex network of very fine lines, making up the hair and face. The artist possessed a skill in portraiture that few artists have been able to duplicate. Analysis In “Sister Wendy’s Story of Painting”, the author opines that, “We can always tell a Leonardo work by his treatment of hair, angelic in its fineness, and by the lack of any rigidity of contour. One form glides imperceptibly into another (the Italian term is sfumato), a wonder of glazes creating the most subtle of transitions between tones and shapes.” She further adds: “The shadow of a great genius is a peculiar thing. Under Rembrandt's shadow, painters flourished to the extent that we can no longer distinguish their work from his own. But Leonardo's was a chilling shadow, too deep, too dark, too overpowering.” - Sister Wendy Beckett ‘Self-Portrait’ by Leonardo Da Vinci is currently located at the Biblioteca Reale in Turin, Italy.
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