Focus on this artwork and explain the Interpretation.
Many theories have been proposed about the intended purpose and meaning of the work, which the Galleria Nazionale di Parma suggests is due to the ambiguity in the work's 'painted-drawing' demeanor. Scholars at the Metropolitan Museum of Art note that the contrast between the subject's sculptural and detailed face with her fragmentary hair, shoulders, and neck evokes a similar contrast between intensity and freedom. Scholars at the Galleria Nazionale have interpreted this contrast as a feminist representation of powerful, but elegant, femininity.The work has been recognized as the apex of Leonardesque sfumato. Nagel notes the attentive detail to masterful shadowing and lighting. Nagel compares La Scapigliata with head studies by Leonardo's teacher, Andrea del Verrocchio, noting the similar approach and attention given to the shading, and that both Verrocchio's studies of female heads and Leonardo's La Scapigliata seem to 'know' that the edge of the panel exists. He concludes that,"In Leonardo's work, shadow is investigated to the point where it assumes an entirely new role, Shadows no longer "belong" to the form but are treated as variations of a more general visual phenomenon, subject to the laws that govern all visibility. They behave as gradual modulations within a continuous range extending between 'the beginnings and the ends of shadow,' that is, from light to absolute darkness. The shadow against the right cheek ('outside the form') belongs to the same system as the shadows under the chin, on the cheek, or around the eyes; under different conditions, they might unite to swallow the entire face."
It is uncertain what access Leonardo would have had to Pliny the Elder's Natural History, but in 2016 Bambach speculates that La Scapigliata may have been inspired by an anecdote from it. Pliny refers to an unfinished painting of Venus of Cos by the famous ancient Greek painter Apelles that was admired even though it was unfinished. Bambach cites a note from Agostino Vespucci that mentions both Leonardo and this story, and claims that Leonardo was inspired to achieve the same result as Apelles.
Natural History Agostino Vespucci right Galleria Nazionale Galleria Nazionale di Parma Andrea del Verrocchio Parma Pliny the Elder sfumato panel unfinished painting Venus Apelles Metropolitan Museum of Art