Late Works

Madonna of the Yarnwinder

c. 1499–1501 · Two surviving versions

Buccleuch version: 48.9 × 36.8 cm · Oil on walnut · Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh
Lansdowne version: 50.2 × 36.4 cm · Oil on wood (transferred to canvas) · Private collection

The 2003 Drumlanrig Castle Heist

On August 27, 2003, two men purchased £6 tour tickets to Drumlanrig Castle and overpowered an 18-year-old security guide. They unhooked the Buccleuch version, climbed out a window, and escaped in a Volkswagen Golf. One reassured horrified tourists: "Don't worry love; we're the police. This is just practice."

The FBI placed it on their 10 Most Wanted stolen art list (value: ~$65 million). Recovered on October 4, 2007 in a Glasgow law office during a police sting. The 9th Duke of Buccleuch died one month before recovery, never seeing its return. The thieves have never been caught.

Fra Pietro da Novellara's April 14, 1501 letter to Isabella d'Este — the key primary source — describes Leonardo working on this exact composition. Martin Kemp confirms Leonardo was involved with both versions. Nearly 40 versions by pupils survive.

Virgin and Child with Saint Anne

c. 1503–1519 · 168 × 130 cm · Oil on poplar · Louvre, Paris

Leonardo carried this painting with him to France and continued working on it until his death — it remains unfinished. Originally 113 cm wide, later enlarged to 130 cm.

The Controversial Restoration

The 2009–2012 restoration sparked major controversy when Ségolène Bergeon Langle (former national director of conservation) and Jean-Pierre Cuzin (former keeper of paintings) both resigned from the advisory committee, claiming restorers removed Leonardo's own glazes — particularly on the infant's body — mistaking original material for later repaints.

Freud's Famous Misreading

In his 1910 essay, Freud claimed Mary's garment revealed a vulture shape — based on a mistranslation. Leonardo wrote about a kite (nibbio), not a vulture. Freud was devastated, calling his Leonardo essay "the only beautiful thing I have ever written."

Saint John the Baptist

c. 1508–1519 · 73.2 × 56.6 cm · Oil on walnut · Louvre, Paris

Leonardo's final completed painting. The walnut panel is only 11–13 mm thick. Paint layers are extremely thin: sfumato shadows composed of translucent glazes with approximately 8% pigment in organic medium. Individual glaze layers as thin as 2 microns; total paint thickness in shadows under 40 microns.

The 2015–2016 Restoration

The painting hadn't been cleaned since 1802 — over 200 years. Scientists found 15–17 layers of oxidized varnish (total ~110 μm). The cleaning revealed the figure's structural relief and subtle facial expression for the first time in centuries.

The Androgyny Question

The figure is "suavely beautiful, youthful and slightly androgynous" — at variance with traditional depictions of the Baptist as a gaunt ascetic. The model was almost certainly Salaì (Gian Giacomo Caprotti), Leonardo's longtime companion. Kenneth Clark called Saint John "the eternal question mark, the enigma of creation."

The Pointing Gesture

The upward-pointing index finger recurs across Leonardo's career: angel in the Louvre Virgin of the Rocks, Saint Anne cartoon, the Bacchus, and this final Saint John. It signifies divine communication and heavenly transcendence.