Museums: National Gallery of Art #8--UPDATE

Previously, we shared a photo of a priceless masterpiece in the National Gallery of Art:  Leonardo da Vinci's Ginevra de' Benci.

The other day, we enjoyed a docent-led tour of the museum's many Italian Renaissance paintings.  

The tour included the da Vinci and our docent shared something very interesting about the painting:  Leonardo da Vinci used finger painting to create the masterpiece.  No joke.  

The docent explained that sometimes painters like da Vinci revise what they have painted wit a brush by using a finger to move the wet paint around.  The proof, in this instance, are fingerprints discovered when the painting was studied using high-tech equipment.  

According to NGA.gov, "Leonardo da Vinci . . . used his fingers to smooth oil paint for the perfect skin of his teenage model, Ginevra de' Benci. Da Vinci first used small brushes to paint Ginevra's face. He applied the paint in very thin layers. But in the end, he needed his fingers to get the clear look and smooth shadows that form her face. How do we know? Art specialists looked at Ginevra's face with high tech equipment to discover the traces of da Vinci's fingerprints (pictured below). Scholars believe he used his fingers to smooth and soften the edges and surfaces of her face while the paint was still wet."

"If you stand close enough . . . , you can see his fingerprint just to the right of Ginevra’s jaw, where her ringlets of hair blur into the background juniper tree and a distinct little spiky sprig juts out. Another can be found just behind her right shoulder."  --Walter Isaacson, Leonardo da Vinci.

da Vinci's fingerprint

So, da Vinci used a technique that he, like many of us, learned as a child.  Who knew?