Virgin of the Rocks (Louvre)

Leonardo da Vinci painted the first Virgin of the Rocks between 1483 and 1486 for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception in Milan. The scene shows the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus, young John the Baptist, and an angel in a mysterious rocky grotto. Water pools and strange geological formations surround the figures.

Leonardo arranged the four figures in a pyramidal composition, with Mary at the apex. The angel points toward John while looking directly at the viewer, a gesture that sparked theological debate. Leonardo's radical use of sfumato creates soft, hazy atmosphere, and his understanding of geology shows in the precisely rendered rock formations.

A payment dispute with the Confraternity led Leonardo to sell this version, possibly to the French king. He later painted a second version for the original patrons. This first version hangs at the Louvre in Paris, where it remains one of the museum's most important Renaissance works.