Leonardo da Vinci

	"When he was still young Leonardo entered the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio. Verrocchio was working on a panel picture showing the Baptism of Christ, for which Leonardo painted an angel; and despite his youth, he executed it in such a manner that his angel was far better than the figures painted by Andrea. This was the reason why Andrea would never touch colours again." I-258 Baptism of Christ (detail)
	"Leonardo painted a Madonna, a very fine work which came into the possession of Pope Clement VII; one of the details in this picture was a vase of water containing flowers, painted with wonderful realism, which had on them dewdrops that looked more convincing than the real thing." Madonna of the Carnation
	"In the palace of Duke Cosimo [is kept a work] with the head of an angel raising one arm, which is foreshortened as it comes forward from the shoulder to the elbow, and lifting a hand to its breast with the other." I-260 St John the Baptist, Louvre
	"One of the remarkable aspects of Leonardo's talent was the extremes he went to, in his anxiety to achieve solidity of modelling, in the use of inky shadows....He eventually succeeded so well that his paintings were wholly devoid of light and the subjects looked as if they were being seen by night rather than clearly defined by daylight." I-261 Madonna of the Rocks, National Gallery, London
	"I must mention another habit of Leonardo's; he was always fascinated when he saw a man of striking appearance, with a strange head of hair or beard; and anyone who attracted him he would follow about all day long and end up seeing him so clearly in his mind's eye that when he got home he could draw him as if he were standing there in the flesh." I-261 Study of an old man/study of water
	"Leonardo started work on a panel picture showing the Adoration of the Magi and containing a number of beautiful details, especially the heads; this paiting, which was in the house of Amerigo Benci, like so many of his works remained unfinished." I-261 Adoration of the Magi
	Adoration of the Magi (detail)
	Perspective drawing for the Adoration of the Magi
	"Leonardo executed in Milan, for the Dominicans of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a marvellous and beautiful painting of the Last Supper. In it Leonardo brilliantly succeeded in envisaging and reproducing the tormented anxiety of the apostles to know who had betrayed their master." I-262 The Last Supper
	The Last Supper (detail)
	The Last Supper (detail)