Leonardo di Vinci’s Lost Painting "Medusa’s Shield"

Painter Caravaggio

-Original was Lost

Medusa’s Shield has been lost in time but is one of those mysterious Leonardo da Vinci works with a high level of spirit and debate. Originally painted in his youth an art historian Giorgio Vasari made the account in 1550 that the painting was so realistic it frightened both Leonardo’s father as well as others. It was seen as associated with death and was secretly sold to merchants.

Vasari indicates that the face was painted on a wooden shield cut from fig trees. It was a favor to a peasant friend of his who fashioned the shield. Leonardo in his experimental style took the shield and heated it by fire and made it smooth. He then moved to make one his very first masterpieces.

When his father Ser Piero came see the shield and knocked on the door Leonardo told him to wait. He took the painting and adjusted it near a window with the soft light peering through. Ser Piero came in and took a look at the painting and stepped back with a gasp. Leonardo said, “This work serves the end for which it was made; take it, then, and carry it away, since this is the effect that it was meant to produce.”

 It is believed that the painting made its way to the Duke of Milan who held it for a while and then sold it again for 3X what he paid for it. Medusa was part of Greek Mythology. She was seen as a protector who was sexually forced by Poseidon and in Athena’s rage she took the “fair cheeked Medusa” and turned her hair into snakes and her skin into scales so that all men would hate her. Her very look would turn a man to stone.

To historians and lay people Medusa represents many different things. To some she is an example of female rage and the victim of lust and jealousy. To Freud it was a sense of castration while to others it means scientific determinism. Scientific determinism indicates that under the exact same conditions the same thing would happen again and again. Regardless of the interpretations, Medusa is an interesting character to both Leonardo and the world as it took Perseus’s wit to eventually behead her making it an important story of history.

The Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello

The Battle of San Romano-Paolo Ucello

The Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello depicts the historic battle of 1432 between Florence and Siena.  Within the work one can see the Sienese ambushing the Florentine commander Niccolo da Tolentino. Despite being outnumbered the Florentine army was able to maintain the battle for around eight hours before being subdued.

 Niccolo was a condottiere (professional mercenary) and a close confident of the House of Medici.  It is also possible to identify Niccolo by the red headdress and the Knot of Solomon on the banner.  The red headdress is designed to keep the viewer focused on the hero of the painting while allowing for better perspective of the battle. Broken lances on the ground are an indication of repeated battle and charges. 

Solomon’s knot is of significance in this artwork. Looking closely at the banner one is able to find this knot that is rightfully called the Seal of Solomon. Christians, Muslims, and Jews all claim a heritage to the Seal of Solomon with appropriate representations within their cultures.  The seal represents wisdom and knowledge.  It has been seen as the all faith symbol that is used to represent eternity. 

The artist Paolo Uccello (1397 to 1475 was a painter, author and mathematician. He painted many religious works of saints and noble figures that made their way throughout the region. At one time he was employed by the House of Medici to create fierce animals such as the lion fighting the venom serpent. Much of his time in Florence was spent painting for churches and wealthy patrons using these semi-religious symbolisms. 

Paolo, as a mathematician, also focused on illusions. His goal was to create the vanishing point where three dimensions of space are depicted on a two dimension surfaces. It was part of his Pythagorean ecstasy to use math within his pictures to create perspectives. One can find this math in the arrangement of broken lances on the ground. All of the ground pieces can be traced to their vanishing point.  The vanishing point is where everything comes together and gives a point of reference to understand the mathematical curves in the rest of the painting.