After Leonardo da Vinci dated 1863. Self Portrait. Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Self-Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci 1452 - 1519
after & of Leonardo  da Vinci
Italian, dated 1863
Signed Gianni
Oil on Panel.
Oval Image size 8.3 inches x 6.5 inches ( 21cm x 16.5cm )
Frame size 11.4 inches x 9.5 inches ( 29cm x 24cm )

Available for sale from Big Sky Fine Art in the English county of Dorset is this oil painting by an unknown artist of the Italian School dated 1863. The painting is signed Gianni.
The painting is a copy of the famous self-portrait painting by and of Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519 which held in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. There were several portraits of da Vinci, but this particular image appears to be the primary inspiration for the painting we offer. The painting is offered in its original frame, which is consistent with this period.
The painting we offer here is a superb example of the genre of works created for purchase by those undertaking the Grand Tour. Various other copies will exist; indeed, a very similar example, also accepted to be a copy of the painting in the Uffizi, is held in the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, US.
This antique painting is in very good condition, commensurate with its age. It wants for nothing and is supplied ready to hang and display.

The Grand Tour is a term used to describe the fashionable European trips undertaken by cultural and socially conscious tourists to the great centres of classical Renaissance and Baroque architecture, sculpture and painting. The cities generally visited included Paris, Florence, Venice, Vienna, Dresden, Berlin, Amsterdam and Antwerp. The earliest Grand tours took place in the early seventeenth century, but the fashion continued into the early nineteenth century. The Grand Tour was considered to be the best way for a gentleman to complete his education and was very popular with the nobility of Europe. As many of these tourists used the experience to purchase art and antiquities to decorate their homes, artists in Florence became adept in producing good quality copies of original works for this lucrative market. This was, in most cases, not an attempt to pass off art as anything other than a ‘good copy’ of the original and unobtainable work. Indeed, often details were included specifically to differentiate them from the original. The purpose was to use their own skills to produce a new original work in the style of the original. These ‘copy’ works have since become respected and highly collectable in their own right. The painting which is offered for sale here is an excellent example of this genre. 

Leonardo da Vinci is an historical figure who is universally recognised and this note is by no means an attempt to provide a comprehensive biography of the great man! His full name was Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, abbreviated to refer to the region near Vinci where he was born. He was in a polymath of the High Renaissance, making contributions as an artist, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor and architect. He studied and made detailed notes in anatomy, botany, cartography, palaeontology and painting, and is now recognised as a genius. He epitomised the Renaissance humanist ideal, and his collective works are matched only by those of his younger contemporary, Michelangelo. 

Although he made significant contributions in many fields Leonardo is best known as one of the most famous artists in history, with his principal works including the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, Vitruvian Man and Salvator Mundi. 

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