The earliest reference to a painting of this subject by Leonardo is in a letter of 14 April 1501 by Fra Pietro da Novellara, the … See more

The composition of the Madonna of the Yarnwinder shows the Christ child twisting his body away from his mother's embrace, his eye caught by her niddy-noddy whose arms (crosspieces) give it the shape of a cross; he p… See more

The version of this painting often regarded as the most likely to be by Leonardo is now in the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh, on loan from the Duke of Buccleuch. It hung in his ancestral home in Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries a… See more

The painting sometimes considered the second prime version of the Madonna of the Yarnwinder takes its name from the Marquesses of Lansdowne, who owned it in the 19th century. John Henry Petty, then Earl Wyco… See more

Nearly forty versions of the Madonna of the Yarnwinder made by pupils and followers of Leonardo survive today. Many show elements which were discarded as the prime version, or versions, evolved over a long perio… See more