Müntz, referring to this visit (vol. 2, p. 211), states:—
- 'On October 10, 1516,[1] the Cardinal of Aragon visited Leonardo. . . . His secretary, Antonio de Beatis of Amalfi (all honour to him!), carefully noted down the details of this interview. He tells us that the master showed the Prelate three pictures: a female portrait, ordered from him by the late Giuliano de' Medici, a St. John the Baptist as a Youth, and a Madonna with the Child on the lap of St. Anne, all three of them very perfect.'
It is a very remarkable fact that Müntz here calls the first picture 'a female portrait,'[2] whereas in a footnote he gives the text of Beatis's notes, in which it is described as 'uno di certa donna florentina, facta di naturale ad instantia del quodam Magnifico Juliano de' Medici,' which, being translated, means 'one (picture) of a certain Florentine lady made (or painted) from life to the order of the late Magnifico Juliano de' Medici.' He then elaborates on the beauty of the St. John, the most doubtful picture of the three, and adds, ' some short time after this visit the masterpiece passed into the collection of King Francis I.'
Now here we have a Florentine lady's portrait painted from life to the order of Giuliano de' Medici distinctly recorded by Leonardo himself. But why should Guiliano have chosen and ordered a Florentine lady? Surely there must have been some strong reason for it, more especially as his brother had recently been elected Pope, and one of the master's already famous Madonnas would have been more expedient in every way. Could Giuliano de' Medici, while chief of the Republic of Florence from 1512 to the time of Leonardo's visit in October, 1513, have seen Giocondo's portrait of his wife? Or if not, could Leonardo have shown it to him during this short visit in Florence before they left together for Rome? My theory is that Giuliano de' Medici did see Giocondo's Mona Lisa, probably with Leonardo, in Florence, and that being much impressed with it, and finding it not for sale, he forthwith gave the master an order to paint him a Florentine lady; or, maybe, Leonardo told him he had the second version and Guiliano gave him the order to finish it, but, as usual, he did not, and later it accompanied the master with the St. Anne to France. Remember, Leonardo told the Cardinal it was painted from life, which would be distinctly true of the second version of the Mona Lisa.
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- ↑ Uzielli, in his 'Richerche intorno a Leonardo da Vinci' (vol. 2, p. 460, 1st edition), gives the date as 1516, but Dr. Muller-Walde has corrected this to 1517, and so has Uzielli in the first (and only) volume of his second edition (p. xx, note 1, for Italian text see Appendix 2).
- ↑ Müntz (vol. 2, p. 211).
