<P> In 1506, Leonardo took on another pupil, Count Francesco Melzi, the son of a Lombard aristocrat, who is considered to have been his favourite student . He travelled to France with Leonardo and remained with him until Leonardo's death . Melzi inherited the artistic and scientific works, manuscripts, and collections of Leonardo and administered the estate . </P> <P> Despite the recent awareness and admiration of Leonardo as a scientist and inventor, for the better part of four hundred years his fame rested on his achievements as a painter . A handful of works that are either authenticated or attributed to him have been regarded as among the great masterpieces . These paintings are famous for a variety of qualities that have been much imitated by students and discussed at great length by connoisseurs and critics . By the 1490s Leonardo had already been described as a "Divine" painter . </P> <P> Among the qualities that make Leonardo's work unique are his innovative techniques for laying on the paint; his detailed knowledge of anatomy, light, botany and geology; his interest in physiognomy and the way humans register emotion in expression and gesture; his innovative use of the human form in figurative composition; and his use of subtle gradation of tone . All these qualities come together in his most famous painted works, the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, and the Virgin of the Rocks . </P> <P> Leonardo first gained notoriety for his work on the Baptism of Christ, painted in conjunction with Verrocchio . Two other paintings appear to date from his time at Verrocchio's workshop, both of which are Annunciations . One is small, 59 centimetres (23 in) long and 14 centimetres (5.5 in) high . It is a "predella" to go at the base of a larger composition, a painting by Lorenzo di Credi from which it has become separated . The other is a much larger work, 217 centimetres (85 in) long . In both Annunciations, Leonardo used a formal arrangement, like two well - known pictures by Fra Angelico of the same subject, of the Virgin Mary sitting or kneeling to the right of the picture, approached from the left by an angel in profile, with a rich flowing garment, raised wings and bearing a lily . Although previously attributed to Ghirlandaio, the larger work is now generally attributed to Leonardo . </P>

What was leonardo da vinci's style of painting
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