1475~78, 49.5*31.5cm, Oil
Painted between 1475 and 1478, the Benois Madonna is
one of Leonardo's freshest and most original early works.
The ease of execution and the application of colours "in layers,
like dew," are a wonder to behold still today. Yet this picture
has been much criticized: Bernard Berenson, the American
art historian, was disturbed, by the 's receding hairline,
full cheeks, toothless mouth and bleary eyes. The picture's
name refers to Leon Benois, its last owner before it entered
the collections of the Hermitage Museum in 1914.
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