LEONARDO DA VINCI
“Self-portrait”, 1512 (?)

There is no artist more legendary than Leonardo. In the whole History of Art, no other name has created more discussions, debates and studies than the genius born in Vinci in 1452. Painter, sculptor, architect, scientific and investigator, the figure of Leonardo has generated multiple legends, myths, and rumours about his possible homosexuality, also about his debated membership to a vast numbers of lodges and sects, not to mention the strange stories about his stay in Verrocchio's workshop, or even his allegedly weird relationship with many of his models, forming the Leonardesque Mythology in which the huge success of “The da Vinci Code” is only the most recent example

As far as we know, this extraordinary drawing is the only surviving self-portrait by the master. If the generally accepted date for this work (1512) is correct, it is quite remarkable that the artist had depicted himself as an ancient man, if we consider that he had only 60 years old or less at the time this drawing was finished.

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