“Leonardo da Vinci and
Creative Female Nature”
Mary D. Garrard
Feminism and Tradition in
Aesthetics
Prepared By: Justine Phelps
Edited By: Dr. Picart
Associate Professor of English
Courtesy Associate Professor of Law
Aims of the Class
To examine Leonardo da
Vinci’s works from a feminist
perspective to expose
“gender-based conceptual
biases”
Examine da Vinci’s impact on
female portraiture,
representation, and biology
Discuss the micromacrocosm commentary
regarding the (female)
human body
La
Scapagliata
Key Terms
Annunciation 1472-75
Sfumato
Contrapposto
Anima
Natura creatrix
Natura naturata
Natura naturans
Microcosm and Macrocosm

Da Vinci’s studies are
inaccurate, why?
Embryo study 1509-14
Binary Opposition
Botticelli, Birth of Venus

Why the separation of cosmic and physical
natures?
Guide Questions



Loenardo was known for both his artistic advances as
well as his scientific ones. In this course we have
described modern technology as having a masculine role
in controlling the feminine nature. Where is Leonardo’s
stance in this attempt to control through science?
Though Leonardo altered the position and gaze of the
female subjects he painted, in the end they were still
images commissioned by husbands, fiancés and fathers.
Does this fact discredit his attempt to valorize the female
sex?
The article states that Leonardo’s representation of the
female and feminine was “distinctive in a period when
women were neither politically nor socially empowered
to make such a case for themselves.” Are we now in a
position to make such a case for ourselves artistically,
and if so, should this still be an area for male
expression?
Sources
The Annunciation, Ginevra de’ Benci, Virgin of the Rocks,
Lady with Ermine, La bella Ferroniere, Mona Lisa:
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/L/leonardo.html
 La Scapagliata, Study for Leda, Star of Bethlehem:
http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/html/l/leonardo/index.html
 Study of Female Body, Uterus and Fetus:
http://www.visi.com/~reuteler/leonardo.html
 Giovanna Tornabuoni:
http://www.abcgallery.com/G/ghirlandao/ghirlandaio26.h
tml
 Birth of Venus:
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/botticelli/venus/
