Francesco Melzi after lost drawing by Leonardo da Vinci Profile Study of a Man ca. 1510-20 drawing Royal Collection, Great Britain |
Francesco Melzi Portrait from life of Leonardo da Vinci ca. 1515-18 drawing Royal Collection, Great Britain |
Francesco Melzi after lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci Leda and the Swan ca. 1508-1515 oil on panel Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence |
Francesco Melzi after lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci Leda and the Swan (detail) ca. 1508-1515 oil on panel Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence |
Francesco Melzi after lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci Leda and the Swan (detail) ca. 1508-1515 oil on panel Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence |
Francesco Melzi after lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci Leda and the Swan (detail) ca. 1508-1515 oil on panel Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence |
Francesco Melzi Flora ca. 1520 oil on panel, transferred to canvas Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
Francesco Melzi Rhea Sylvia with Scenes from the History of Romulus and Remus ca. 1525-45 oil on panel Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht |
Francesco Melzi Vertumnus and Pomona ca. 1518-22 oil on panel Gemäldegalerie, Berlin |
"Of these papers on the anatomy of man, a great part is in the hands of Messer Francesco da Melzo [Melzi], a gentleman of Milan, who in the time of Leonardo was a very beautiful boy, and much beloved by him, and now is a no less beautiful and gentle old man; and he holds them dear, and keeps such papers together as if they were relics, in company with the portrait of Leonardo of happy memory; and to all who read these writings, it seems impossible that that divine spirit should have discoursed so well of art, and of the muscles, nerves, and veins, and with such diligence of everything."
– from Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects by Giorgio Vasari (1568), translated by Gaston du C. de Vere (1912)
"In Milan he took for his assistant the Milanese Salai, who was most comely in grace and beauty, having fine locks, curling in ringlets, in which Leonardo greatly delighted; and he taught him many things of art; and certain works in Milan, which are said to be by Salai, were retouched by Leonardo." [Salai was a nickname bestowed by Leonardo on his protégé, whose birth name was Gian Giacomo Caprotti, and who died in a crossbow-duel a few years after the death of his much-older master].
Pietro Magni Statue of Andrea Salai on Monument to Leonardo da Vinci 1872 marble Piazza della Scala, Milan |
Anne-Claude de Caylus Head of a Youth (Andrea Salai) after a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci before 1765 etching Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans |
Leonardo da Vinci St John the Baptist (modeled by Andrea Salai) ca. 1513-16 oil on panel Musée du Louvre |
Andrea Salai after Leonardo da Vinci St John the Baptist (copy of original in the Louvre) ca. 1520 oil on panel Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan |
Leonardo da Vinci or workshop Study for St John the Baptist (modeled by Andrea Salai) ca. 1513-15 drawing Musée du Louvre |
Andrea Salai after Leonardo da Vinci Monna Vanna ca. 1510 oil on panel Musée du Louvre |
"In Milan he took for his assistant the Milanese Salai, who was most comely in grace and beauty, having fine locks, curling in ringlets, in which Leonardo greatly delighted; and he taught him many things of art; and certain works in Milan, which are said to be by Salai, were retouched by Leonardo." [Salai was a nickname bestowed by Leonardo on his protégé, whose birth name was Gian Giacomo Caprotti, and who died in a crossbow-duel a few years after the death of his much-older master].
– from Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects by Giorgio Vasari (1568), translated by Gaston du C. de Vere (1912)