Leonardo Da Vinci is without argument the most famous painter of all time. Given the exquisite beauty and infinite fine detail of his art this isn't really any wonder. What does strike one as surprising is the fact that Da Vinci only presents fifteen major projects during his life time. Among the 15 significant works credited to Leonardo Da Vinci are various drawings and two seemingly incomplete paintings.

Among these fifteen art works two paintings stand out as the best examples of the advanced techniques which Da Vinci employed in laying out his paint and detailed knowledge of geology, light botany and perspective.

The best Leonardo paintings of all time are: The Last Supper, and the Mona Lisa.

Mona Lisa

No doubt the most famous portrait of all time. The subject of the Mona is said to be Lisa, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, while some recent discussion has suggested that the Mona Lisa may even represent a feminine representive self portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci himself. This rather debatable and controversial argument is loosely supported by the dissection of the facial features of Lisa, suggesting which they closely resemble those of the artist. This interesting logical assumption is likely to be explained by the fact that, as an artist, Leonardo Da Vinci may have expressed his own character or sense of self in the creation. It may be suggested that if Leonardo did have some half biological sister, Lisa, the wife of Franceso del Giocondo may even be her.

The importance of the Mona Lisa as a major art work does not end with the subject matter, or even as a master piece painting alone. The Mona Lisa is a great sample of Leonardo Da Vinci's use of math equation and geometry in his paintings to bring balance and perspective in the creation of perfection.

Da Vinci employs a technique known as sfumato-fumo, or smoking, creating seamless transitions between light and dark, and mathematical accuracy to detail perspective

The Last Supper

The last supper represents the definition of High Renaissance in subject matter and detail. Here Leonardo Da Vinci captures the moment after Christ tells his apostles that one of them will betray him. Leonardo presents a wave of emotion among his subjects. Each emotion is unique to the each of the apostles represented.

This masterpiece also depicts a sense of order in the scene via the arrangement of figures and his masterful application of perspective. The importance to the placement of the apostles and Christ is paramount to the attention Leonardo employed to detail in both visual representation and meaning.

Surely these are just two art works from Leonardo da Vinci selected to introduce you to the magnificence of the works of a genius. Other works that should be covered if not for the fear of creating an epic prologue to the master of high renaissance are the virgin on the rocks, the Adoration of Mag, and in fact, so much more including his famous drawings and engineered designs.

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