Boltraffio, Leonardo’s Star Pupil
Of all of Leonardo’s pupils, Giovanni Boltraffio was undoubtedly one of the most talented, particularly for his originality and superb technique. There was a special reason why Leonardo felt close to Boltraffio: he was also a love child like Leonardo, born out of wedlock, with a father who hailed from a prominent aristocratic family.
Though the status of a bastard did not carry a strong social stigma in the more enlightened latter part of the 15th century, this meant that Boltraffio did not have access to the same educational and financial opportunities that a legitimate son would have had. This must have struck a chord with Leonardo, who was the illegitimate son of Ser Piero, a young notary who would rise to become one of the leading attorneys of Quattrocento Florence. And although Ser Piero took pains to enroll young Leonardo in the workshop of Verrocchio — which, as we saw, required Ser Piero to pay a stipend — Leonardo was forever aware of his lower social status in the highly educated artistic circles of Florence.
An example of Boltraffio’s great talent, and his uncanny ability to penetrate his sitter’s soul, is the enigmatic Portrait of a Youth of 1495–8, now in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. Its exceptional quality, with its echo of Leonardo’s La Belle Ferronière, has prompted suggestions that Leonardo may have been involved with the portrait, even though in 1498 Boltraffio had already established himself as an independent artist. Some believe that the boy is none other Francesco Sforza, son of Duke Gian Galeazzo Sforza by his wife Isabella of Aragon, and a legitimate claimant to the Duchy of Milan.
Another beautiful portrait that shows how closely Boltraffio hew to Leonardo’s style is his Portrait of a boy as Saint Sebastian, which quite possibly represents a member of the Casio family. The three-quarter pose, the soft sfumato of the boy’s face, and the careful detail of the hair cascading down to his shoulders clearly identify this work as painted by a pupil of Leonardo.
Stay tuned for more features about the mysterious group of “Leonardeschi,” Leonardo’s followers, about which so little is known today. Or visit www.YoungLeonardo.net for more information.
