"St. Jerome"
The lion in the foreground seems to be too small compared to the saint.
According to the Wikipedia, the head and body length of the lion (male) is between 170–250 cm (5 ft 7 in – 8 ft 2 in), so it is at least as tall (large) as an average sized human male. (sited: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion )
An object in the foreground should appear larger than the object in the middle ground even if they are the same size in reality. As I have mentioned above, a lion can be larger than a human to begin with, so in order to place the lion in front of the saint, the lion has to be much larger than what Leonardo has portrayed. But to do so, it may have compromised the composition... i.e., the size of the saint in relation to the lion and the painted surface. In other words, the lion in the foreground would dominate the composition.
Had the painting being done during the Middle Ages, it would have been acceptable, for the painters then had used the non-natural, "hieratic scale." [i.e., painting the saints(an important figure) larger than what they usually appear in life - the actual size] (sited: http://www.renaissanceconnection.org/lesson_social_humanism.html)
Thus, I feel that Leonardo was struggling within to find the proper expression and the use of the scale and the perspective. Could this be one of the possible reasons why Leonardo had left this painting unfinished?
The lion in the foreground seems to be too small compared to the saint.
According to the Wikipedia, the head and body length of the lion (male) is between 170–250 cm (5 ft 7 in – 8 ft 2 in), so it is at least as tall (large) as an average sized human male. (sited: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion )
An object in the foreground should appear larger than the object in the middle ground even if they are the same size in reality. As I have mentioned above, a lion can be larger than a human to begin with, so in order to place the lion in front of the saint, the lion has to be much larger than what Leonardo has portrayed. But to do so, it may have compromised the composition... i.e., the size of the saint in relation to the lion and the painted surface. In other words, the lion in the foreground would dominate the composition.
Had the painting being done during the Middle Ages, it would have been acceptable, for the painters then had used the non-natural, "hieratic scale." [i.e., painting the saints(an important figure) larger than what they usually appear in life - the actual size] (sited: http://www.renaissanceconnection.org/lesson_social_humanism.html)
Thus, I feel that Leonardo was struggling within to find the proper expression and the use of the scale and the perspective. Could this be one of the possible reasons why Leonardo had left this painting unfinished?
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