Focus on Flora (Francesco Melzi) and explain the Attribution.
Melzi was a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci and the technique he used in this painting mirrors that of his teacher so well that the painting was thought to be an autograph work by Leonardo when it was purchased on behalf of Tsar Nicholas I for the Hermitage. Once at the museum, scholars attributed the painting to a variety of different Leonardeschi: In 1871, Joseph Crowe and Giovanni Cavalcaselle argued that it should be attributed to Andrea Solari; in 1892 Giovanni Morelli claimed it was painted by Giampietrino; and in 1899 George C. Williamson claimed it to be by Bernardino Luini. Claude Phillips called Flora a "puzzle" and felt that the painting had an underdrawing by Leonardo but was painted by a pupil.The attribution of Flora to Melzi is based on close similarities between the painting and other works by the artist, especially Vertumnus and Pomona at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. Adolfo Venturi wrote how the "same seductive, tender feminine charms, and the same Hellenic spirit recur in the Columbina" as in Vertumnus and Pomona. Rodman Henry likewise noted this similarity, though argued there was no evidence Melzi was an artist and so the paintings couldn't be attributed to him. Traces of Melzi's signature were, however, uncovered in the lower left corner of Flora in 1963, further strengthening the attribution.Along with Flora and Columbine, the painting has at times been called "Vanity" as well as "Gioconda." It was once also named "Portrait of Mme Babou de la Bourdaisière" when it was thought it might be a portrait of the mistress of Francis I.
Francis I Babou de la Bourdaisière Tsar Nicholas I Giovanni Cavalcaselle Bernardino Luini Leonardo da Vinci Giampietrino George C. Williamson Leonardeschi Flora Vertumnus and Pomona Gemäldegalerie Andrea Solari Giovanni Morelli Adolfo Venturi