National Gall., London). The now badly damaged Last Supper (c.1495–1498; Milan) was executed during the period when he was experimenting with the FRESCO medium, and this partly accounts for its damage. Despite this, a sublime spiritual content and power of invention mark it as one of the world's masterpieces. Leonardo's model for an equestrian monument to Francesco Sforza was never cast, and in 1500 he returned to Florence, where he did much theoretical work in mathematics and pursued his anatomical studies in the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova. As a military engineer for Cesare BORGIA he studied swamp reclamation and met Niccol MACHIAVELLI. In c.1503 he executed the celebrated Mona Lisa (Louvre). Then, as architect and engineer in Milan to the French king LOUIS XII, he continued his scientific investigations into geology, botany, hydraulics, and mechanics. In 1510–11 he painted St. Anne, Mary, and the Child (Louvre), a work that exemplifies his handling of sfumato—misty, subtle transitions in tone. His enigmatic St. John the Baptist (c.1513; Louvre) was executed for Pope LEO X and his brother Giuliano de' Medici in Rome. Shortly after 1515, Leonardo accepted an invitation from FRANCIS I of France to settle in the castle of Cloux. Here he pursued his own researches until his death. His versatility and creative power, as well as the richness and originality expressed in his notebooks, drawings, and paintings, mark him as one of the great minds of all time. ?"Ghent Altarpiece" (open view) by Jan and Hubert van Eyck, 1432Jan van Eyck, c.1390–1441, Flemish painters, brothers. Jan worked in the courts of Count John of Holland (1422–25) and Philip of Burgundy. His paintings are minutely descriptive, realistic depictions of portrait subjects and religious scenes with contemporary GENRE details. His oil technique reveals an unprecedented richness and intensity of color for the medium. The two brothers collaborated o...
