The fate of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece Benois Madonna.
The amazing story of the "Astrakhan Gioconda"

“You probably saw darkened canvases covered with old warm gold,
from time to time accurately dressed with silky skin, special fluff, bloom
gold dust. You see the hand of a great artist, but the artist's signature
not in the picture"
Velimir Khlebnikov

The brilliant Leonardo, the universal genius of the Renaissance, is one of the most magnetic personalities in the history of art. His "Mona Lisa" is the most famous and beloved painting in the world.
A little more than a dozen paintings by Leonardo have survived to this day, so any news related to his name has always become a global event, especially if this news is the discovery of his previously unknown or lost painting.

In 2011, a sensation spread around the world media: a group of art dealers from the United States announced that they had at their disposal a painting by Leonardo "The Savior of the World", which was considered lost.
This statement was made after many years of restoration and complex examinations of the work of an unknown master of the Milanese school of the 16th century. Experts, in the end, confirmed that this work is the missing original of the "Savior of the World", from which many engravings and copies were subsequently made.
Then they remembered the amazing story of 100 years ago, connected with the appearance on people of another missing painting by Leonardo - “Madonna with a Flower”, or “Madonna Benois”.

The poet Velimir Khlebnikov, admiring the masterpiece, at the same time, not without reason, called this painting "Astrakhan Gioconda".
The picture “wandered” around the world for quite a long time, was lost, found, but, in the end, its fate turned out happily. So, everything is in order.

The Madonna with a Flower is an early work by Leonardo da Vinci. Researchers believe that it was created in 1478, when Leonardo was 26 years old. By this time, he had already worked independently for 6 years and was accepted into the painters' guild of Florence.
In his work on the Madonna, Leonardo was one of the first in Italy to use the technique of oil painting, which allowed him to more accurately convey the texture of fabrics, the nuances of light and shade, and the materiality of objects.
The picture is striking in the unusual interpretation of the characters. The figures of the Madonna and the Child are closely inscribed in the picture and fill it with themselves almost without a trace. There are no distracting details in the picture, only an lancet window is shown on the right. Perhaps the artist wanted to depict in it a view of Vinci's hometown, but, as often happened to him, he delayed the work or took up other business, leaving this detail unfinished.

Maria is depicted as still quite young, almost a girl. She is dressed in the fashion of the 15th century, every detail of her costume and hairstyle is spelled out in detail. The child looks like an adult, seriously and concentrated. The mother, contrary to traditional iconography, is cheerful and even playful. The artist gives her the features not of the Mother of God, but of an earthly girl who served as a model for this image.

Maria holds out a flower with a cruciform inflorescence to her son, he tries to grab it, and this scene is the compositional center of the picture. It seems that in a concentrated baby, reaching for a flower, there is both a sign of the coming Passion, and a sign of the Renaissance with a desire to know the world, to master its secrets. Exactly what Leonardo himself always aspired to.
Contemporaries and fellow artists highly appreciated his work, fame came to the author.
It is believed that Raphael and other artists wrote their Madonnas under the influence of the famous painting by da Vinci.
However, at the beginning of the XVI century, "Madonna with a flower" disappears from sight. Until the end of the 17th century, she, apparently, was in Italy. Then the traces disappear for a long time, and the painting was considered lost.

For the first time they started talking about it again in the 20th century. The occasion was the Exhibition of Western European Art from the Collections of Collectors and Antiquarians of St. Petersburg, opened on December 1, 1908 in the halls of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of Arts. The exhibition catalog under No. 283 read: “da Vinci (?) Leonardo, 1452-1519. Madonna. Sobr. L. N. Benois. The painting was provided for the exhibition by Maria Sapozhnikova-Benoit.
For many years, the Madonna was in the collection of her grandfather, Astrakhan fisherman, merchant of the first guild Alexander Sapozhnikov, an educated man, a member of the Russian Geographical Society, a collector of paintings, a holder of two gold medals for services to the Fatherland.

Information about when and how Leonardo's work came to the Sapozhnikovs appeared only in 1974. Then in the State Archive Astrakhan region found a register of paintings by A.P. Sapozhnikov for 1827, which lists “The Mother of God holding the eternal Child on her left hand ... Above with an oval. Master Leonardo da Vinci... From the collection of General Korsakov.

So it turned out that the painting previously belonged to the now forgotten collector Alexei Korsakov (1751-1821), artillery general, senator, connoisseur and connoisseur of art. He collected his collection, which was considered the best in St. Petersburg, for more than 30 years.
After the death of the senator, his collection, which included masterpieces by Raphael, Reni, Titian, Parmigianino, Rubens, van Dyck, Teniers, Rembrandt, Poussin, Durer, Murillo, was put up for auction in 1824. The Imperial Hermitage then acquired several works, but the modest “Mother of God” was bought for 1,400 rubles by the Astrakhan merchant A.P. Sapozhnikov.
Since the board on which the picture was painted was in a deplorable state, the restorer Evgraf Korotkiy masterfully translated the “Madonna” from the board to the canvas in the same year.
After 56 years, the son of A.P. Sapozhnikov, also Alexander, the successor of his father’s work and the heir to a significant part of the collection, presented the Madonna as a gift to his daughter Maria, who was married to the architect Leonty Benois.

The owners of the work were always sure that their "Madonna" was the work of Leonardo, but this had to be substantiated. In 1912 the artist and chief curator art gallery Hermitage Ernest Lipgart managed to prove that the picture really belongs to the brush of the great artist. Lipgart studied at the Florentine Academy of Arts. He studied the history of art directly in the leading museums in Germany, Spain, England and Italy.
In 1909, the attribution of the canvas was confirmed by the largest authority in the field of Renaissance art, the American art historian Bernard Berenson.
In the British Museum, among the sketches made by Leonardo, two sheets were found, which depict the entire composition of this work. Very close to the finished painting and drawing, stored in the Louvre.
So the "Madonna with a Flower" by the great Leonardo again appeared to the world.

In 1912, Benois decided to sell the Madonna with a Flower as a work by da Vinci. For the purpose of evaluation and examination, it was taken to Europe. The well-known London antiquarian D. Duvin estimated the painting at 500 thousand francs (about 200 thousand rubles), the Americans offered much more.
Maria and Leonty Benois wanted the Madonna with a Flower to remain in Russia, for example, in the Hermitage.
The director of the Hermitage, Count D. I. Tolstoy, turned to Nicholas II on this issue.
For the picture offered 150 thousand, moreover, in installments. The owners accepted this offer.
In 1913, the Astrakhan Bulletin reported that the painting by Leonardo da Vinci, acquired in Astrakhan 100 years ago by Mr. Sapozhnikov, after a thorough and long study in St. Petersburg, was recognized as the work of the great Leonardo da Vinci and will take a place in the Hermitage.
Astrakhan M. A. Sapozhnikova-Benoit gave the canvas for a not so significant amount, if only it did not leave Russia. Velimir Khlebnikov burst into an enthusiastic article about this, but regretted that the "Astrakhan Gioconda" would never return to the city on the Volga.

In January 1914, the Madonna with a Flower entered the Imperial Hermitage. It is on display in the Double-height Hall of the Big (Old) Hermitage, the main hall of the Neva enfilade. The decor of the hall was created by the architect Andrey Stackenschneider in the 1850s in the spirit of the Grand style of Louis XIV. Now it is the “Leonardo da Vinci Hall”, where another work of the great master is kept - “Madonna Litta”, acquired sometime in Milan.
The nobility of Mary and Leonty Benois was highly appreciated by society. Soon, Leonardo's masterpiece "Madonna with a Flower" turned into "Madonna Benois".
In 1978, the painting turned 500 years old.
To this date, its serious restoration was carried out: the dirt and late recordings were removed, the paint layer was strengthened, the lacquer coating was restored, and to protect the masterpiece from dangerous influences, the painting was placed in a special glass case.
Here is what the outstanding Russian artist and writer Nikolai Roerich said about the author of the Benois Madonna: “Today, Leonardo’s work is still an unattainable model for us, where the qualities of a scientist-creator and an artist-thinker have merged.” That is why it is so important to identify and preserve the legacy of the great Master.

In the autumn of 1478, he writes down in one of his notebooks, next to various sketches, the following words: "... in 1478 I started two virgin Marys." On the sheets of his drawings dating back to the same time, we really find a large number of sketches for the composition “Madonna and Child”, and with his usual thoroughness and attention, he sketches both the various positions of the bodies of matter and the child, as well as details: hands with folds of light and heavy clothing, pieces of cloth. These drawings are still somewhat naive and dryish, but they already speak of a gradual mastery of technique. Their line becomes more confident, shading and shading sets off volumes. Numerous variants of different and similar positions of the bodies of the mother, the child, and both together are undoubted evidence that the young master strove to convey with light strokes of a pencil or pen the fleeting impressions received from observations of reality, to capture this reality in all its vital dynamics.
The first of the two Madonnas that Leonardo writes about and which was created on the basis of many sketches is the Benois Madonna.
When Leonardo wrote it, he was twenty-six years old. By this time, the artist had already acquired perfect mastery in the great art painting which, as we shall see, he placed above all others.
“Madonna with a flower” (“Madonna Benois”) is chronologically the first Madonna, the image of which is internally devoid of any kind of holiness.
Madonna is given the appearance of a somewhat sickly girl playing with an oversized baby sitting on her lap. A peculiar deathly green coloring, emphatically realistic interpretation human body, increased attention to the depiction of the play of light and shadow on separate parts of the body, the complex position of both figures - everything in this picture shows us the young Leonardo, although he is still looking for a wide free style, but already firmly on the path that he will follow during its future activities.
Both figures, closely inscribed in the picture, almost completely fill its entire surface, only on the right, at the top, there is a small lancet window, apparently unfinished by the artist. One must think that he intended to place here his favorite mountain landscape with a river, reminiscent of the views of his native Vinci, but, as usual, dragged on the work and, moving on to something else, left this detail unfinished.
The light on the figures in the picture falls mainly from the left, but it is very possible that it is a small window and, probably, the mountains and water located behind it, that determine that the room in which the Madonna is located is poorly lit and, moreover, with a peculiar greenish light. It paints everything in greenish tones, throws greenish highlights on the exposed parts of the body, creates thick shadows in places that are darker, obscured by something from the light falling from the window.
The compositional and ideological center of the picture is the interweaving of three hands: two plump little hands of a boy and a tender, girlish hand of a mother holding a flower by the stem, to which the attentive and affectionate look of the Madonna and the inquisitive, serious look of a baby trying to awkwardly grab the flower are directed. The thirst for knowledge, childishly unconscious, but not childishly passionate, that knowledge that tormented and drove forward Leonardo, is expressed in the whole appearance of a baby. The viewer's gaze is involuntarily riveted to the semantic center of the picture - the interlacing of three hands, the simple and modest scene depicted in it acquires significance and ideological depth. A small picture attracts attention, interests, excites.

The fate of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece Benois Madonna.
The amazing story of the "Astrakhan Gioconda"

“You probably saw darkened canvases covered with old warm gold,
from time to time accurately dressed with silky skin, special fluff, bloom
gold dust. You see the hand of a great artist, but the artist's signature
not in the picture"
Velimir Khlebnikov

The brilliant Leonardo, the universal genius of the Renaissance, is one of the most magnetic personalities in the history of art. His "Mona Lisa" is the most famous and beloved painting in the world.
A little more than a dozen paintings by Leonardo have survived to this day, so any news related to his name has always become a global event, especially if this news is the discovery of his previously unknown or lost painting.

In 2011, a sensation spread around the world media: a group of art dealers from the United States announced that they had at their disposal a painting by Leonardo "The Savior of the World", which was considered lost.
This statement was made after many years of restoration and complex examinations of the work of an unknown master of the Milanese school of the 16th century. Experts, in the end, confirmed that this work is the missing original of the "Savior of the World", from which many engravings and copies were subsequently made.
Then they remembered the amazing story of 100 years ago, connected with the appearance on people of another missing painting by Leonardo - “Madonna with a Flower”, or “Madonna Benois”.

The poet Velimir Khlebnikov, admiring the masterpiece, at the same time, not without reason, called this painting "Astrakhan Gioconda".
The picture “wandered” around the world for quite a long time, was lost, found, but, in the end, its fate turned out happily. So, everything is in order.

The Madonna with a Flower is an early work by Leonardo da Vinci. Researchers believe that it was created in 1478, when Leonardo was 26 years old. By this time, he had already worked independently for 6 years and was accepted into the painters' guild of Florence.

In his work on the Madonna, Leonardo was one of the first in Italy to use the technique of oil painting, which allowed him to more accurately convey the texture of fabrics, the nuances of light and shade, and the materiality of objects.

The picture is striking in the unusual interpretation of the characters. The figures of the Madonna and the Child are closely inscribed in the picture and fill it with themselves almost without a trace. There are no distracting details in the picture, only an lancet window is shown on the right. Perhaps the artist wanted to depict in it a view of Vinci's hometown, but, as often happened to him, he delayed the work or took up other business, leaving this detail unfinished.

Maria is depicted as still quite young, almost a girl. She is dressed in the fashion of the 15th century, every detail of her costume and hairstyle is spelled out in detail. The child looks like an adult, seriously and concentrated. The mother, contrary to traditional iconography, is cheerful and even playful. The artist gives her the features not of the Mother of God, but of an earthly girl who served as a model for this image.

Maria holds out a flower with a cruciform inflorescence to her son, he tries to grab it, and this scene is the compositional center of the picture. It seems that in a concentrated baby, reaching for a flower, there is both a sign of the coming Passion, and a sign of the Renaissance with a desire to know the world, to master its secrets. Exactly what Leonardo himself always aspired to.

Contemporaries and fellow artists highly appreciated his work, fame came to the author.
It is believed that Raphael and other artists wrote their Madonnas under the influence of the famous painting by da Vinci.

However, at the beginning of the XVI century, "Madonna with a flower" disappears from sight. Until the end of the 17th century, she, apparently, was in Italy. Then the traces disappear for a long time, and the painting was considered lost.

For the first time they started talking about it again in the 20th century. The occasion was the Exhibition of Western European Art from the Collections of Collectors and Antiquarians of St. Petersburg, opened on December 1, 1908 in the halls of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of Arts. The exhibition catalog under No. 283 read: “da Vinci (?) Leonardo, 1452-1519. Madonna. Sobr. L. N. Benois. The painting was provided for the exhibition by Maria Sapozhnikova-Benoit.

For many years, the Madonna was in the collection of her grandfather, Astrakhan fisherman, merchant of the first guild Alexander Sapozhnikov, an educated man, a member of the Russian Geographical Society, a collector of paintings, a holder of two gold medals for services to the Fatherland.

Information about when and how Leonardo's work came to the Sapozhnikovs appeared only in 1974. Then, in the State Archive of the Astrakhan Region, they found a register of paintings by A.P. Sapozhnikov for 1827, which lists “The Mother of God holding the eternal Child on her left hand ... Above with an oval. Master Leonardo da Vinci... From the collection of General Korsakov.

So it turned out that the painting previously belonged to the now forgotten collector Alexei Korsakov (1751-1821), artillery general, senator, connoisseur and connoisseur of art. He collected his collection, which was considered the best in St. Petersburg, for more than 30 years.
After the death of the senator, his collection, which included masterpieces by Raphael, Reni, Titian, Parmigianino, Rubens, van Dyck, Teniers, Rembrandt, Poussin, Durer, Murillo, was put up for auction in 1824. The Imperial Hermitage then acquired several works, but the modest “Mother of God” was bought for 1,400 rubles by the Astrakhan merchant A.P. Sapozhnikov.
Since the board on which the picture was painted was in a deplorable state, the restorer Evgraf Korotkiy masterfully translated the “Madonna” from the board to the canvas in the same year.
After 56 years, the son of A.P. Sapozhnikov, also Alexander, the successor of his father’s work and the heir to a significant part of the collection, presented the Madonna as a gift to his daughter Maria, who was married to the architect Leonty Benois.

The owners of the work were always sure that their "Madonna" was the work of Leonardo, but this had to be substantiated. In 1912, the artist and chief curator of the Hermitage art gallery, Ernest Lipgart, managed to prove that the painting really belonged to the great artist. Lipgart studied at the Florentine Academy of Arts. He studied the history of art directly in the leading museums in Germany, Spain, England and Italy.

In 1909, the attribution of the canvas was confirmed by the largest authority in the field of Renaissance art, the American art historian Bernard Berenson.

In the British Museum, among the sketches made by Leonardo, two sheets were found, which depict the entire composition of this work. Very close to the finished painting and drawing, stored in the Louvre.

So the "Madonna with a Flower" by the great Leonardo again appeared to the world.

In 1912, Benois decided to sell the Madonna with a Flower as a work by da Vinci. For the purpose of evaluation and examination, it was taken to Europe. The well-known London antiquarian D. Duvin estimated the painting at 500 thousand francs (about 200 thousand rubles), the Americans offered much more.

Maria and Leonty Benois wanted the Madonna with a Flower to remain in Russia, for example, in the Hermitage.

The director of the Hermitage, Count D. I. Tolstoy, turned to Nicholas II on this issue.
For the picture offered 150 thousand, moreover, in installments. The owners accepted this offer.
In 1913, the Astrakhan Bulletin reported that the painting by Leonardo da Vinci, acquired in Astrakhan 100 years ago by Mr. Sapozhnikov, after a thorough and long study in St. Petersburg, was recognized as the work of the great Leonardo da Vinci and will take a place in the Hermitage.

Astrakhan M. A. Sapozhnikova-Benoit gave the canvas for a not so significant amount, if only it did not leave Russia. Velimir Khlebnikov burst into an enthusiastic article about this, but regretted that the "Astrakhan Gioconda" would never return to the city on the Volga.

In January 1914, the Madonna with a Flower entered the Imperial Hermitage. It is on display in the Double-height Hall of the Big (Old) Hermitage, the main hall of the Neva enfilade. The decor of the hall was created by the architect Andrey Stackenschneider in the 1850s in the spirit of the Grand style of Louis XIV. Now it is the “Leonardo da Vinci Hall”, where another work of the great master is kept - “Madonna Litta”, acquired sometime in Milan.
The nobility of Mary and Leonty Benois was highly appreciated by society. Soon, Leonardo's masterpiece "Madonna with a Flower" turned into "Madonna Benois".
In 1978, the painting turned 500 years old.

To this date, its serious restoration was carried out: the dirt and late recordings were removed, the paint layer was strengthened, the lacquer coating was restored, and to protect the masterpiece from dangerous influences, the painting was placed in a special glass case.
Here is what the outstanding Russian artist and writer Nikolai Roerich said about the author of the Benois Madonna: “Today, Leonardo’s work is still an unattainable model for us, where the qualities of a scientist-creator and an artist-thinker have merged.” That is why it is so important to identify and preserve the legacy of the great Master.

© Copyright: Koifman Valery, 2015
Publication Certificate No. 215080200313

"Madonna Benois" or "Madonna with a flower"(-) - an early painting by Leonardo da Vinci, presumably left unfinished. In 1914, it was acquired by the Imperial Hermitage from Maria Alexandrovna, the wife of the court architect Leonty Nikolaevich Benois.

The public wanted the painting to remain in Russia. M.A. Benois wanted the same, and therefore lost Madonna for 150 thousand rubles. The amount was paid in installments, and the last payments were made after the October Revolution.

M.A. Benois, nee Sapozhnikova, the painting was inherited. There was a legend in the family that the painting was bought from wandering Italian musicians in Astrakhan. There was no other information about the fate of the painting at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1908, E.K. Lipgart wrote:

A few years later he corrected himself:

This version was widely replicated by other authors. Often, without any reference to sources, they added that the work was once in the collection of Counts Konovnitsyn.

Description

"Madonna with a Flower" is one of the first works of the young Leonardo. The Uffizi Gallery in Florence has a drawing with the following entry:

It is believed that one of them is the Benois Madonna, and the second is the Madonna with a Carnation from Munich.

It is likely that both paintings were the first works of Leonardo as an independent painter. At that time he was only 26 years old and already six years old, since he left the workshop of his teacher Andrea Verrocchio. He already had his own style, but of course he to a large extent based on the experience of the Florentines of the XV century. There is also no doubt that Leonardo knew about the painting “Madonna and Child”, performed by his teacher in -1470. As a consequence, for both pictures common features are both a three-quarter turn of the bodies, and the similarity of images: the youth of both Madonnas and the large heads of the Infants.

Da Vinci places the Madonna and Child in a semi-dark room, where the only source of light is a double window located at the back. Its greenish light cannot dispel the twilight, but at the same time is sufficient to highlight the figure of the Madonna and the young Christ. The main "work" is done by the light pouring from the top left. Thanks to him, the master manages to revive the picture with the play of chiaroscuro and sculpt the volume of two figures.

In work on Madonna Benois» Leonardo used the technique of oil painting, which almost no one in Florence knew before. And although the colors have inevitably changed over the five centuries, becoming less bright, it is still clearly noticeable that the young Leonardo abandoned the variegation of colors traditional for Florence. Instead, he makes extensive use of the possibilities of oil paints in order to more accurately convey the texture of materials and the nuances of light and shade. The bluish-green gamut replaced the red light in which the Madonna was usually dressed from the picture. At the same time, an ocher color was chosen for the sleeves and cloak, harmonizing the ratio of cold and warm shades.

In the 19th century, the “Madonna with a Flower” was successfully transferred from the board to canvas, which is mentioned in the “Register of the Paintings of Mr. Alexander Petrovich Sapozhnikov, compiled in 1827”:

It is assumed that the master who carried out the translation was a former employee of the Imperial Hermitage and a graduate of the Academy of Arts Evgraf Korotky. It is not clear whether at that time the painting was still in the collection of General Korsakov or had already been bought by Sapozhnikov.

"Madonna Benois" or "Madonna with a flower"(1478-1480) - an early painting by Leonardo da Vinci, supposedly left unfinished. In 1914, it was acquired by the Imperial Hermitage from Maria Alexandrovna, the wife of the court architect Leonty Nikolaevich Benois.

In 1912, the owners decided to sell the "Madonna with a Flower" and for this purpose they took it to Europe for examination, where the London antiquarian Joseph Duvin estimated it at 500 thousand francs. The attribution of the canvas to Leonardo was reluctantly confirmed by the largest authority of that time - Bernard Berenson:

The public wanted the painting to remain in Russia. M.A. Benois wanted the same, and therefore lost Madonna for 150 thousand rubles. The amount was paid in parts and the last payments were made after the October Revolution.

M.A. Benois, nee Sapozhnikova, the painting was inherited. There was a legend in the family that the painting was bought from wandering Italian musicians in Astrakhan. There was no other information about the fate of the painting at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1908, E.K. Lipgart wrote:

A few years later he corrected himself:

This version was widely replicated by other authors. Often, without any reference to sources, they added that the work was once in the collection of the Counts Konovnitsyn.

Only in 1974 were documentary data made public about when and under what circumstances the Madonna with a Flower came to the Sapozhnikovs. In the State Archive of the Astrakhan Region, a "Register of paintings by Mr. Alexander Petrovich Sapozhnikov, compiled in 1827" was found. In the inventory, the first number is listed “The Mother of God, holding the eternal Child on her left hand... Above with an oval. Master Leonardo da Vinci... From the collection of General Korsakov». Thus, it turned out that the painting came from the collection of the collector and senator Alexei Ivanovich Korsakov (1751/53-1821).

However, there is still no exact information about the earlier fate of the painting. It is believed that M. F. Bocchi spoke about this picture in his book “Sights of the City of Florence”, published in 1591:

"Madonna with a Flower" is one of the first works of the young Leonardo. The Uffizi Gallery in Florence has a drawing with the following entry:

It is believed that one of them is the Benois Madonna, and the second is the Madonna with a Carnation from Munich.

Madonna and Child by Andrea Verrocchio. 1466-1470. Berlin Art Gallery.

It is likely that both paintings were the first works of Leonardo as an independent painter. At that time he was only 26 years old and already six years old, as he left the workshop of his teacher Andrea Verrocchio. He already had his own style, but, of course, he relied heavily on the experience of the Florentines of the 15th century. There is also no doubt that Leonardo knew about the painting “Madonna and Child”, executed by his teacher in 1466-1470. As a result, for both paintings, both the three-quarter turn of the bodies and the similarity of images are common features: the youth of both Madonnas and the large heads of the Babies.

Da Vinci places the Madonna and Child in a semi-dark room, where the only source of light is a double window located at the back. Its greenish light cannot dispel the twilight, but at the same time is sufficient to highlight the figure of the Madonna and the young Christ. The main "work" is done by the light pouring from the top left. Thanks to him, the master manages to revive the picture with the play of chiaroscuro and sculpt the volume of two figures.

"Madonna of the Carnations" by Raphael, circa 1506-7. National Gallery, London

In his work on the Benois Madonna, Leonardo used an oil painting technique that almost no one in Florence had known before. And although the colors have inevitably changed over the five centuries, becoming less bright, it is still clearly noticeable that the young Leonardo abandoned the variegation of colors traditional for Florence. Instead, he makes extensive use of the possibilities of oil paints in order to more accurately convey the texture of materials and the nuances of light and shade. The bluish-green gamut replaced the red light in which the Madonna was usually dressed from the picture. At the same time, an ocher color was chosen for the sleeves and cloak, harmonizing the ratio of cold and warm shades.

In the 19th century, the “Madonna with a Flower” was successfully transferred from the board to canvas, which is mentioned in the “Register of the Paintings of Mr. Alexander Petrovich Sapozhnikov, compiled in 1827”:

It is assumed that the master who carried out the translation was a former employee of the Imperial Hermitage and a graduate of the Academy of Arts Evgraf Korotky. It is not clear whether at that time the painting was still in the collection of General Korsakov or had already been bought by Sapozhnikov.

"Madonna" by Leonardo was widely known to the artists of that time. And not only Italian masters used the techniques of the young da Vinci in their works, but also painters from the Netherlands. It is believed that at least a dozen works were made under his influence. Among them are Lorenzo di Credi's Madonna and Child with John the Baptist from the Dresden Art Gallery, as well as Madonna with Carnations by Raphael. However, then her traces were lost, and for centuries the picture of Leonardo was considered lost.