Francesco Melzi
Francesco Melzi (c. 1491/92 in Milan, † 1570 in Vaprio d' Adda ) was an Italian painter of the Lombard school, favorite pupil of Leonardo da Vinci and his principal heir.
Life
As the son of a noble Milanese patrician family, he already got in contact with Leonardo da Vinci as a boy. On September 28, 1513, he broke with this on to Rome together. From then on he remained constantly in Leonardo's close and even accompanied him to France in 1517.
There, Leonardo was visited on October 10, 1517 by Cardinal Luigi of Aragon. This found a venerable master who could no longer use due to a paralysis his hand. But the writer of the cardinal noted that the Milanese pupils, it can only be meant Francesco Melzi, painted under the guidance of the master and was good at it that you can not by virtue of which Leonardo to distinguish his images. Leonardo also was impressed by the skill of his pupil so that he developed his later works together with this and both worked together well also. Some works, which were once as the work of Leonardo himself, are now attributed to Melzi, such as the famous Colombina in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.
When Leonardo died on May 2, 1519 Melzi inherited ( according to the will of 25 April 1519) the entire drawing and scientific legacy of the master.
As is evident from records of Leonardo's servant Battista de Villanis of 10 August 1519 Francesco Melzi remained for some time in the service of the King of France, before returning to Italy. There he appears as the heir of the great Leonardo some prestige to have enjoyed because of Ferrara Managing Director in Milan tried in 1523 to win Melzi for the Duke Alfonso I d' Este. Perhaps because he himself was wealthy, Melzi painted in his old age only slightly. A controversial example of the late style Melzis is the portrait of a young man with a parrot, which with the works of Leonardo has very little in common and more reminiscent of the Roman School in the wake of Raphael.
Melzi became involved in the care and preservation of the Leonardo estate. Leonardo's writings on painting, he collected under the title Trattato della Pittura.
By 1570 he died highly respected in his family home Vaprio d' Adda. The Leonardo - estate, which he had guarded so carefully, was sold recklessly by his heirs, and the valuable material was scattered. It is estimated that 25 to 80% of the manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci could be lost. Today, a little more than 6000 sheets can be obtained.
Discovery in 2012
Early 2012 discovered restorers at the Prado in Madrid is an exact copy of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, after it had been freed from a overpainting. It is believed that this is a painting by Francesco Melzi, who copied his master by painting parallel to it. From 21 February 2012, the image of the public is to be presented.
Works
- PETERSBURG, State Hermitage: Portrait of a Woman ( Colombine ).
- BERLIN, Berlin State Museums of Prussian Cultural Heritage ( Picture Gallery ): Vertumnus and Pomona. to 1518-1522
Attributed works
- ROM, Galleria Borghese: Flora.
- WASHINGTON, National Gallery of Art: nymph. (recently attributed; was thought to be the work of Bernardino Luini )
Controversial works
- PRAGUE, Národní Gallery: The Holy Family, may copy by Cesare da Sesto.
- MILAN, Collezione Gallarati Scotti: Portrait of a Man with parrot, possibly by Bernardino de 'Conti.
- FLORENCE, Galleria degli Uffzi: Leda and the Swan. Will Fernando Yanez attributed.
- ROM, Galleria Borghese: Leda and the Swan. Will also Giuliano Bugiardini attributed.
- PARIS, Musée National du Louvre: Saint John the Baptist and Bacchus to 1515-1520. Mostly Cesare da Sesto attributed.
- LUGANO, Ponte Capriasca: The Last Supper, copy after Leonardo da Vinci (fresco ).
- MAASTRICHT, Bonnefantenmuseum: The Roman vestal virgin Rhea Silvia. to 1520-1525