In trying to complete this painting and make it stick to the wall that summer of 1505, Leonardo could feel the presence of a younger man looking over his shoulder, both literally and figuratively. Preparing to paint a competing mural in the room was the rising star of Florence’s art world, Michelangelo Buonarroti.

Ces explications dépassent la simple compréhension des caractéristiques anatomiques de saint Jérôme. Elles révèlent que Léonard ne laisse pas des peintures inachevées en les abandonnant purement et simplement. Il les perfectionne et les conserve parfois durant des années pour leur apporter des améliorations.

Leonardo’s apprentices and students did not merely copy his designs. A show at the Louvre in 2012 featured paintings that students and assistants in his workshop did of his masterpieces. Many were variations that were produced alongside his original, indicating that he and his colleagues were together exploring various alternative approaches to the