| Salaì | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Salai by a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci, Circa 1502–3, oil on panel 37 x29 cm, Private Collection |
|
| Birth name | Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno |
| Born | 1480 Oreno, Vimercate, Italy |
| Died | 1524 Milan, Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Movement | High Renaissance |
| Works | Monna Vanna |
| Patrons | Leonardo da Vinci |
Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, better known as Salaì ("The Devil", lit. "The little unclean one"; 1480 – before 10 March 1524), was an Italian artist and pupil of Leonardo da Vinci from 1490 to 1518. He created several paintings under the name of Andrea Salai. He was described as one of Leonardo's closest students and companions and is the presumed model for Leonardo's paintings St. John the Baptist and Bacchus. On Leonardo's death, he inherited the Mona Lisa.
Contents |
Salaì was born in 1480 as son of Pietro di Giovanni, a tenant of Leonardo's vineyard near the Porta Vercellina, Milan. He joined Leonardo's household at the age of ten as an assistant. Vasari describes Salaì as "a graceful and beautiful youth with curly hair, in which Leonardo greatly delighted".[1] Although Leonardo described him as "a liar, a thief, stubborn and a glutton" and he stole from Leonardo on at least five occasions, he kept him in his household for more than 25 years, in which he trained as an artist.[1] Salaì became a capable, although not very impressive, painter,[2] who created several works, including the Monna Vanna, a nude version of the Mona Lisa which may be based on a lost nude by Leonardo.[3][4] Leonardo is thought to have used Salaì as the model for several of his works, specifically St. John the Baptist. When Leonardo travelled to France in 1516, Salai accompanied him and his other pupil, Francesco Melzi. Salaì left France in 1518, and returned to work on Leonardo's vineyard, previously worked by Salai's father. On Leonardo's death in 1519, Salaì inherited several paintings including the Mona Lisa as well as half a vineyard. Through his estate, many of those works, notably the Mona Lisa, passed into the possession of Francis I of France.[5]
Salai died in 1524 as a result of a wound received in a duel and was buried in Milan on 10 March 1524.
A number of drawings among the works of Leonardo and his pupils make reference to Salai's sexuality. There is a drawing modelled on Leonardo's painting John the Baptist and called The Angel Incarnate, of a young man nude with an erect phallus, and appearing to represent Salai. The face of the figure is closer to Salai's copy of Leonardo's painting, than to the original John the Baptist in the Louvre. It may have been drawn by Salai himself. A page of drawings by Leonardo also includes a crudely drawn sketch by a student depicting an anus, identified as "Salaì's bum", pursued by a horde of penises on legs.[1] It has been suggested, as early as the 16th century, that there was a sexually intimate relationship between Leonardo and Salai, but this cannot be known for certain.
A group of Italian researchers has claimed that Salaì was the model for the Mona Lisa, noting the similarity in some of the facial features, particularly the nose and mouth, to those in which Salai is thought to have been the model. These claims have been disputed by the Louvre.[6]