The Da Vinci Code Trivia Quiz

Answer:

During his career, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), produced a large body of work - much of which, however, consists of notes and drawings preserved in 11 manuscripts. Based on copies and records, it is believed his output as a painter was considerable: however, many of his paintings have been lost - in part because of Leonardo's habit of experimenting with techniques that, unfortunately, did not stand the test of time.

Of Leonardo's major works, only eight are universally attributed to him. Three of these works are part of the collection of the Louvre Museum in Paris, and among its biggest attractions. The best-known of them all - possibly the most famous painting in the world - is the "Mona Lisa" ("La Gioconda" in Italian), the half-length portrait of a Florentine noblewoman with an enigmatic smile. The others are the earlier of two versions of the "Virgin of the Rocks" (the other is held by London's National Gallery), and the stunning (though unfinished, as many of Leonardo's works are) "Virgin and Child with Saint Anne". Also unfinished are the magnificent monochrome of the "Adoration of the Magi" (Uffizi Gallery, Florence), and "Saint Jerome in the Wilderness" (Vatican Museums), remarkable for its anatomical precision. Both of these paintings belong to Leonardo's early period.

Probably Leonardo's most celebrated work along with "Mona Lisa", "The Last Supper" in the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan is a mural painting executed in tempera rather than the more stable fresco technique - which caused the painting to start deteriorating immediately after completion (1498). The mural has been restored multiple times since then: the most recent restoration (at the time of writing) took 21 years to complete, and when it was unveiled in 1999 it drew some sharp criticism.

The remaining four Leonardo paintings mentioned in this quiz are widely accepted by scholars as being the work of the great artist, though their authorship was disputed in the past. The strikingly unconventional depiction of "St John the Baptist" (also at the Louvre), believed to be the artist's final painting, has been attributed to Leonardo on the basis of scientific evidence.

Leonardo was also highly regarded as a portraitist, though only four of his portraits of women have survived. Three of them are counted among his previously disputed paintings. "Ginevra de' Benci", also a young Florentine noblewoman, is one of Leonardo's early works, probably created for the sitter's engagement or wedding; it is also the only painting by the artist on public view in the Americas (National Gallery of Art, Washington DC).

The subject of "Lady with an Ermine" (Czartoryski Museum, Kraków) is Cecilia Gallerani, mistress to Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan - whose court painter Leonardo was at the time the painting was executed. Gallerani was also believed for a long time to have been the sitter of "La Belle Ferronničre" (from the word for the jeweled headband worn by the lady) - which, however, is now thought to be a portrait of Lucrezia Crivelli, another of Ludovico Sforza's mistresses. This latter painting can also be viewed at the Louvre.

The six well-known paintings chosen as wrong answers are all by Italian Renaissance artists: Sandro Botticelli ("Primavera"), Paolo Uccello ("The Battle of San Romano"), Raphael ("The School of Athens"), Michelangelo ("The Creation of Adam"), Titian ("Venus of Urbino"), and Giorgione ("The Tempest").