The head of St James, and architectural sketches

A study of the head of a youth looking down, turned three quarters to the left, with wavy hair and parted lips. The shoulders are only slightly indicated. Below are three studies of a corner bastion developed into a domed building, and a small plan of the same. Melzi's number 44. Leonardo’s greatest work to reach completion was the Last Supper, painted for Ludovico Sforza in the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, after work on the Sforza horse had been suspended in 1494. This revolutionary exercise in the depiction of emotion shows the reaction of the Disciples to Christ’s announcement of his imminent betrayal. The painting was complete by 1498, but Leonardo’s experimental technique was soon deteriorating, and what we see now is a ghost of his intentions. Leonardo must have executed many drawings as he refined the composition, but this is the only head study to be drawn from a live model. The red chalk is handled coarsely and rapidly, to capture the spontaneity of his model’s pose and expression. The architectural sketches are probably studies for modifications to Castello Sforzesco in Milan.Text adapted from Leonardo da Vinci: A life in drawing, London, 2018