| Artist | Leonardo da Vinci |
|---|---|
| Year | c. 1501 |
| Type | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 48.3 cm × 36.9 cm (19.0 in × 14.5 in) |
| Location | Drumlanrig Castle, Scotland |
The Madonna of the Yarnwinder (Madonna dei Fusi; c. 1501) is the subject of several oil paintings, but the original version by Leonardo da Vinci may now be lost. The composition shows Virgin Mary with the Christ child, who looks longingly at a yarnwinder used to collect spun yarn. The yarnwinder serves as a symbol both of Mary's domesticity and the Cross on which Christ was crucified, and may also suggest the Fates, understood in classical mythology as spinners. At least three versions are in private collections, two of them in the United States, including the one previously known as "The Landsdowne Madonna".
The original painting was probably commissioned by Florimund Robertet, the Secretary of State for King Louis XII of France.
The version of this painting often regarded as the most likely to be by Leonardo is now in the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh, on loan from the Duke of Buccleuch. It hung in his home in Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland until it was stolen in 2003.
In 2003, it was stolen from the castle by two thieves posing as tourists, who then said "Don't worry love, we're the police. This is just practice" to two tourists from New Zealand, as they exited through a window carrying the Leonardo.[1] The painting was recovered at a lawyer's office in Glasgow in October 2007 after police officers, from four anti-crime agencies, raided a meeting of five people. A spokesman for the law firm said: "There is absolutely no impropriety whatsoever. There is an interesting, but benign, explanation, but no wrongdoing has been done on their part."[2] Four arrests were made, including two solicitors from different firms. The Scotsman, describing the Glasgow firm as "one of the country's most successful and respected law firms" quoted a source as saying their arrested member "was not involved in any criminal act, but was acting as a go-between for two parties by scrutinizing a contract which would have allowed an English firm to 'secure legal repatriation' of the painting from an unidentified party."[3][4][5] John Scott, 9th Duke of Buccleuch had died just a month before the recovery, which came as a complete surprise to the family.[6]
Following recovery it has now been loaned to the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh where it has been put back on display.[7]
The significance of the yarnwinder as a motive is that it suggests the classic Three Fates, the sisters Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, who were believed to exercise very serious power over human life from birth to death. They were conceived of as being occupied in spinning a thread of gold, silver or wool, which represented a man's life. Clotho, the youngest, put the fibers around the spindle, Lachesis spun it into thread, and Atropos, the eldest, cut it off when a man had to die.
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