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LEONARDO da Vinci: St John in the Wilderness (Bacchus)

🖼 St John in the Wilderness (Bacchus), 1510-15
Oil on panel transferred to canvas
177 × 115 cm
Paris, France

Androgynous beauty emerges from shadowed wilderness, painted with sfumato's smoky subtlety—Leonardo's signature technique softens every contour. The figure's ambiguous identity and knowing smile challenged Renaissance conventions of sacred art, blending pagan sensuality with spiritual meaning.

The story of art
The story of art
E. H. Gombrich
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