''Flora'' (also ''La Columbina'' or ''Columbine'') is a painting by
Francesco Melzi
Francesco Melzi, or Francesco de Melzi (1491–1570), was an Italian painter born into a family of the Milanese nobility in Lombardy. He became a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci and remained as his closest professional assistant throughout his caree ...
(Italian, 1491–1570), completed circa 1520. It depicts the Roman mythological figure
Flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''.
E ...
, the goddess of springtime and flowers, a popular subject among Renaissance artists.
The painting was in the collection of
Maria de’ Medici in 1649 and has been in the collection of
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...
since 1850.
Analysis
''Flora'' was painted in the style typical of the
Leonardeschi
The Leonardeschi were the large group of artists who worked in the studio of, or under the influence of, Leonardo da Vinci. They were artists of Italian Renaissance painting, although his influence extended to many countries within Europe.
As ...
, utilizing
Leonardo da Vinci's female facial type with downcast eyes, Leonardo's
sfumato
Sfumato (, ) is a painting technique for softening the transition between colours, mimicking an area beyond what the human eye is focusing on, or the out-of-focus plane. It is one of the canonical painting modes of the Renaissance. Leonardo da V ...
technique, and displaying Leonardo's penchant for careful observation of plants and hair.
In the composition, Flora is seated in a grotto, surrounded by ferns and ivy. She wears the costume of an ancient Roman, with a white
stola
The stola () (pl. ''stolae'') was the traditional garment of Roman women, corresponding to the toga that was worn by men. It was also called ''vestis longa'' in Latin literary sources, pointing to its length. History
The ''stola'' was a staple ...
embroidered in gold and with a blue
palla Palla may refer to:
* Palla (garment), a women's headcloth or shawl from ancient Rome
* ''Palla'' (butterfly), a brush-footed butterfly genus described by Jacob Hübner in 1819
* Palla (troubadour), a twelfth-century minstrel from Galicia
* Pal ...
thrown over one shoulder. In her lap are white
jasmines, and in her left hand she holds a spray of
columbine that formerly gave the painting its title.
The plants surrounding Flora held symbolic meaning for 16th and 17th century viewers. For example, the columbine, also known as aquilegia, are a symbol of fertility. Alongside Flora's exposed breast, the columbine emphasizes her role as a 'mother of flowers.'
The jasmine in her proper right hand are symbolic of purity. The anemones in the folds of her palla in the lower left of the image represent rebirth. In ancient Greece, anemones were also the flower of the wind; these flowers thus also reference how Flora was married to
Zephyrus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, the Anemoi (Greek: , 'Winds') were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction from which their respective winds came (see Classical compass winds), and were each associated with various seasons an ...
, god of the
West Wind
A west wind is a wind that originates in the west and blows in an eastward direction.
Mythology and Literature
In European tradition, it has usually been considered the mildest and most favorable of the directional winds.
In Greek mythology, ...
.
The ivy in the upper right represents eternity, and the fern in the upper left reflects the solitude of the grotto.
Attribution
Melzi was a pupil of
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
and the technique he used in this painting mirrors that of his teacher so well that the painting was thought to be an autograph work by Leonardo when it was purchased on behalf of
Tsar Nicholas I
, house = Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp
, father = Paul I of Russia
, mother = Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire
, death_date = ...
for the Hermitage. Once at the museum, scholars attributed the painting to a variety of different Leonardeschi: In 1871, Joseph Crowe and
Giovanni Cavalcaselle argued that it should be attributed to
Andrea Solari; in 1892
Giovanni Morelli
Giovanni Morelli (25 February 1816 – 28 February 1891) was an Italian art critic and political figure. As an art historian, he developed the "Morellian" technique of scholarship, identifying the characteristic "hands" of painters through s ...
claimed it was painted by
Giampietrino
Giampietrino, probably Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli (active 1495–1549), was a north Italian painter of the Lombard school and Leonardo's circle, succinctly characterized by S. J. Freedberg as an "exploiter of Leonardo's repertory."Freedberg, 1993 ...
; and in 1899
George C. Williamson claimed it to be by
Bernardino Luini
Bernardino Luini (c. 1480/82 – June 1532) was a north Italian painter from Leonardo's circle during the High Renaissance. Both Luini and Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio were said to have worked with Leonardo directly; he was described as having ...
. Claude Phillips called ''Flora'' a "puzzle" and felt that the painting had an underdrawing by Leonardo but was painted by a pupil.
The attribution of ''Flora'' to Melzi is based on close similarities between the painting and other works by the artist, especially ''
Vertumnus and Pomona'' at the
Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.
Adolfo Venturi
Adolfo Venturi (3 September 1856, Modena – 10 June 1941, Santa Margherita Ligure) was an Italian art historian. His son, Lionello Venturi, was also an art historian.
Biography
He received his education in Modena and Florence, and in ...
wrote how the "same seductive, tender feminine charms, and the same Hellenic spirit recur in the ''Columbina''" as in ''Vertumnus and Pomona.'' Rodman Henry likewise noted this similarity, though argued there was no evidence Melzi was an artist and so the paintings couldn't be attributed to him. Traces of Melzi's signature were, however, uncovered in the lower left corner of ''Flora'' in 1963, further strengthening the attribution.
Along with ''Flora'' and ''Columbine'', the painting has at times been called "Vanity" as well as "Gioconda." It was once also named "Portrait of Mme
Babou de la Bourdaisière" when it was thought it might be a portrait of the mistress of
Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to:
* Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407)
* Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450
* Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547
* Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...
.
Provenance
![Koning Willem II in zijn werkkamer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Koning_Willem_II_in_zijn_werkkamer.jpg)
The known history of the painting's ownership is as follows:
* Circa 1520, Painted by Francesco Melzi.
* 1649, listed in the posthumous collection of Maria de’ Medici.
* Collection of the
Duc d’Orleans, probably collected by
Philippe II. Then by inheritance to
Louis Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis ( ...
and then to
Louis Philippe II.
* 1790, Sold to Viscount
Edouard de Walckiers in Brussels.
* 1824(?), sold from the collection of (Daniel?) Danoot in Brussels to
King Willem II of the Netherlands.
* 1850, sold at The Hague to
Fëdor Bruni, agent of tsar Nicholas I, for
ƒ40,000. Then acquired by the Hermitage Museum,
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Russia (at which point it was re-attributed to Francesco Melzi and renamed ''Flora'').
Condition
''Flora'' was painted on
wood panel which was transferred to canvas in the nineteenth century. Despite this, the paint layers are reported to be in good condition with a well-preserved underdrawing and minor losses and abrasions to the surface.
In 2019, the painting underwent a
conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...
treatment performed by Maria Vyacheslavovna Shulepova (Марией Вячеславовной Шулеповой) of the State Hermitage Museum. Before, the painting was covered in a yellowed varnish which obscured details and flattened the appearance of the background. The varnish also made the
ultramarine
Ultramarine is a deep blue color pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. The name comes from the Latin ''ultramarinus'', literally 'beyond the sea', because the pigment was imported into Europe from mines in Afgh ...
palla worn by Flora to appear green. Analysis of the paint layers further revealed that Melzi did not "cheat" in painting the palla by
glazing expensive ultramarine over a less expensive
azurite
Azurite is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. During the early 19th century, it was also known as chessylite, after the Type locality (geology), type locality at Chessy, Rhône, Chessy-les-Mines near ...
; rather, being wealthy, Melzi could afford to paint the entire garment in pure ultramarine.
In popular culture
''Flora'' appears on the cover of Italian singer
Mango's 2009 album ''
Gli amori son finestre
''Gli Amori Son Finestre'' is the second live album of Italian singer Mango, published in 2009 and part of the ''Acchiappanuvole Tour''.
The album contains twenty-nine tracks, including two unreleased songs and one poem recited by actor Flavio In ...
.''
In 2012, a sixteenth-century copy of ''Flora'' sold at Christie's for £937,250 to a private collector in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Copies
File:Flora (Columbine). Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, USA.jpg, After Francesco Melzi, "La Colombina (Flora)," after mid-16th century. Oil on cradled panel, 29 1/2 × 25 in (74.93 × 63.5 cm). Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the s ...
(53.29.4).
File:La columbine (private coll).jpg, Follower of Leonardo da Vinci, "Flora," 16th century. Oil on panel, 26¾ x 20 in. (68 x 50.8 cm). Private collection, St. Petersburg (Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
Old Master & British Painting Day Sale, London, 4 July 2012, lot 108).
File:Flore dit traditionnlement La Colombine (Blois).jpg, After Francesco Melzi, "Flora, or La Colombina," 16th century. Oil on panel, 64.5 x 47.7 cm. Château de Blois
A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions.
Nowaday ...
(869.2.15).
File:Flora (Columbine). Formely at Collection of Joseph Klein.jpg, After Francesco Melzi, "Flora." Oil on panel, 30 1/4 x 22 1/2 in. Private collection (Bonhams
Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought to ...
Period Art & Design, San Francisco, 20 Jan 2013, lot 3001).
File:Flora, Attributed to Francesco Melzi, ca 1510.png, Attributed to Francesco Melzi, Flora, ca. 1510. Oil on panel. Whereabouts unknown (formerly Paris, Prince I. de Baranowicz collection).[Pedretti,Carlo. Leonardo: A Study in Chronology and Style. (University of California Press, 1973): 185.]
Further documentation
* E. de Bruyn, , ''Bulletin de la Classe des Beaux Arts, Académie Royale de Belgique'' 28 (1946), 155-63.
* H. E. van Gelder, {{lang, nl, De kinsteverzameling van kning Willem II, ''Maandlad voor de Beeldende Kunsten'' 24 (1948), 137-48.
* Erik Hinterding and Femy Horsch, ‘‘’A Small but choice collection’’: the art gallery of King Willem II of the Netherlands (1792-1849)’, ''Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art'' 19, no.1/2 (1989), 4-122.
hich includes a ‘Reconstruction of the Collection of Old Master Paintings’ pp. 55–122. Provenance for Flora is on page 13 and 114* Tatyana K. Kustodieva, ''The Hermitage: Catalogue of Western European Painting; Italian Painting, Thirteenth to Sixteenth Centuries'' (Moscow and Florence: Iskusstvo Publishers, 1994), 296-7.
* Darius A. Spieth, ''Revolutionary Paris and the Market for Netherlandish Art'' (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2018), 99 note 194 and 270-1.
* Wilhelm Suida, ''Leonardo und sein Kreis'' (Munich: 1929), 232-33, fig. 302.
References
Paintings by Francesco Melzi
Paintings in the collection of the Hermitage Museum
Paintings of Roman goddesses