Frankfurt Airport serves as a hub city for Lufthansa and receives flights from Star Alliance carriers.

An airline hub is an airport that an airline uses as a transfer point to get passengers to their intended destination.^{[citation needed]} It is part of a hub and spoke model, where travelers moving between airports not served by direct flights change planes en route to their destinations.^{[citation needed]} Many hubs of the airlines are also situated at airports in the cities of the respective head offices.^{[citation needed]}

Some airlines may use only a single hub, while other airlines use multiple hubs. Hubs are used for both passenger flights as well as cargo flights.^{[citation needed]}

Many airlines also use focus cities, which function much the same as hubs. Airlines may also use secondary hubs, a non-technical term for large focus cities.^{[citation needed]}

Fortress hub[link]

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2010)

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2011)

A fortress hub is an airport where a single airline's share of flights is at or above the monopoly standard of 70 percent of flights in and out of the hub.^[1] For example, in 2010 US Airways occupied 85 (plus 1 shared with Lufthansa) out of 97 total gates and accounted for approximately 90% of passenger traffic at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport.^[2][3] Another example is at Detroit (DTW), a Delta Air Lines hub. New entrants, such as Spirit Airlines at Detroit (DTW), AirTran at Atlanta (ATL), and Vanguard at Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), allege to have been the target of exclusionary practices by the dominant carrier. Some observers argue that the existence of such hubs can stifle competition; ProAir's battle with Northwest when it briefly flew out of Detroit City Airport is often cited as an example.^[4] Northwest was able to out compete the short-lived discount carrier by matching its fares and offering more frequent flights. Although these competitive measures have nothing to do with hub status per se, they are indicative of the measures a hub airline will take to defend its preferred position at a hub airport.

A few examples of fortress hubs for airline alliances include but are not limited to:

Oneworld[link]

• Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport - American Airlines^[5]
• Hong Kong International Airport - Cathay Pacific
• Narita International Airport - Japan Airlines
• Moscow Domodedovo Airport - S7 Airlines
• London Heathrow Airport - British Airways
• Madrid-Barajas Airport - Iberia
• Queen Alia International Airport - Royal Jordanian Airlines
• Miami International Airport - American Airlines
• Sydney Airport - Qantas
• Helsinki-Vantaa Airport - Finnair
• Berlin-Tegel Airport - Air Berlin
• Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport - LAN Airlines

SkyTeam[link]

• Incheon International Airport - Korean Air
• Amsterdam Airport Schiphol - KLM
• Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport - Alitalia
• Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport - Aeroflot
• Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport - Delta Air Lines
• Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport - Delta Air Lines^{[citation needed]}
• Mexico City International Airport - Aeromexico
• Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport - Delta Air Lines^{[citation needed]}
• Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport - Air France
• Prague Ruzyne Airport - Czech Airlines
• Jomo Kenyatta International Airport-Kenya Airways
• Madrid-Barajas Airport - Air Europa
• Tan Son Nhat International Airport - Vietnam Airlines

Star Alliance[link]

• Tokyo International Airport - All Nippon Airways
• Incheon International Airport - Asiana Airlines
• Charlotte/Douglas International Airport - US Airways^{[citation needed]}
• Frankfurt am Main Airport - Lufthansa
• Munich Airport - Lufthansa
• Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport - United Airlines^{[citation needed]}
• Singapore Changi Airport - Singapore Airlines
• Toronto Pearson International Airport - Air Canada
• Washington Dulles International Airport - United Airlines^{[citation needed]}
• Zurich-Kloten Airport - Swiss International Air Lines
• Cairo International Airport - Egypt Air
• Atatürk International Airport - Turkish Airlines
• Newark Liberty International Airport - United Airlines
• Bole International Airport - Ethiopian Airlines
• Suvarnabhumi International Airport - Thai Airways International

Major passenger airlines and their hubs[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Africa[link]

• Afriqiyah Airways (8U) uses Tripoli Tripoli International Airport (TIP).
• Air Algérie (AH) uses Algiers Houari Boumedienne Airport (ALG) and Oran Es Senia Airport (ORN).
• Egyptair (MS) uses Cairo Cairo International Airport (CAI).
• Ethiopian Airlines (ET) uses Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD).
• Kenya Airways (KQ) uses Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO).
• Royal Air Maroc (AT) uses Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport (CMN).
• South African Airways (SA) uses Johannesburg (JNB) OR Tambo International Airport and Cape Town International Airport (CPT).
• Nigerian Eagle Airlines (VK) uses Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport(LOS).

Asia[link]

• AirAsia (AK) uses Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL).
• AirAsia X (D7) uses Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL).
• Air China (CA) uses Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK), Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) and Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU).
• Air India (AI) uses Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM) and Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL).
• Air Koryo (JS) uses Pyongyang Sunan International Airport (FNJ).
• All Nippon Airways (NH) uses Narita International Airport (NRT), Haneda Airport (HND), Kansai International Airport (KIX) and Osaka International Airport (ITM).
• Airphil Express (2P) uses Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL), Francisco Bangoy International Airport (DVO), Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB), Zamboanga International Airport (ZAM).
• Asiana Airlines (OZ) uses Incheon International Airport (ICN) and Gimpo Airport (GMP).
• Bangkok Airways (PG) uses Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) and Samui Airport (USM).
• Batavia Air (Y6) uses Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK).
• Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG) uses Shahjalal International Airport (DAC), Shah Amanat International Airport (CGP), Osmani International Airport (ZYL).
• Caspian Airlines (RV) uses Mehrabad Airport (THR).
• Cathay Pacific (CX) uses Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) (and to a lesser extent Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK) and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE)).
• Cebu Pacific (5J) uses Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL), Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (CRK), Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB), and Francisco Bangoy International Airport (DVO).
• Chengdu Airlines (EU) uses Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU).
• China Airlines (CI) uses Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE).
• China Eastern Airlines (MU) uses Hongqiao International Airport (SHA) and Pudong International Airport (PVG).
• China Southern Airlines (CZ) uses Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) and Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK).
• Dragonair (KA) uses Hong Kong International Airport (HKG).
• El Al (LY) uses Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV).
• Emirates Airline (EK) uses Dubai International Airport (DXB).
• Etihad Airways (EY) uses Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH).
• EVA Air (BR) uses Taipei Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE)
• Firefly (FY) uses Subang Airport (SZB) and Penang International Airport
• Garuda Indonesia (GA) uses Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK) and Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS). Recently, Garuda added Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport (UPG) as their third hub.
• Gulf Air (GF) uses Bahrain International Airport (BAH).
• Hong Kong Airlines (HX) uses Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)
• Hong Kong Express Airways (UO) uses Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)
• IndiGo Airlines (6E) uses Delhi-Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL).
• Indonesia Air Asia (QZ) uses Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK), Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS) and Husein Sastranegara International Airport (BDO).
• Iran Air (IR) uses Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) and Mehrabad Airport (THR).
• Iran Air Tours (B9) uses Mashhad International Airport (MHD).
• Iran Aseman Airlines (EP) uses Mehrabad International Airport (THR) and Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA).
• Japan Airlines (JL) uses Narita International Airport (NRT), Haneda Airport (HND), Kansai International Airport (KIX) and Osaka International Airport (ITM).
• Jazeera Airways (J9), uses Kuwait International Airport (KWI) and Dubai International Airport (DXB).
• Jet Airways (9W) uses Mumbai-Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM), Chennai-Anna International Airport (MAA), Delhi-Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) and Brussels-National Airport (BRU).
• Jetstar Asia Airways (3K) uses Changi International Airport (SIN).
• Jetstar Pacific Airlines (BL) uses Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN)
• Kingfisher Airlines (IT) uses Bangalore-Bengaluru International Airport (BLR), Mumbai-Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport(BOM) and Delhi-Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL)
• Kish Air (Y9) uses Mehrabad Airport (THR).
• Korean Air (KE) uses Incheon International Airport (ICN) and Gimpo International Airport (GMP).
• Kuwait Airways (KU) uses Kuwait International Airport (KWI).
• Lion Air (JT) uses Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK) and Juanda International Airport (SUB).
• Mahan Air (W5) uses Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA).
• Malaysia Airlines (MH) uses Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL).
• Mandala Airlines (RI) uses Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK) and Juanda International Airport (SUB).
• MASwings (MH) uses Miri Airport (MYY).
• Merpati Nusantara Airlines (MZ) uses Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK) and Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS) and Juanda International Airport (SUB)
• Middle East Airlines (ME) uses Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport (BEY).
• Nok Air (DD) uses Don Mueang International Airport (DMK).
• Oman Air (WY) uses Muscat International Airport (MCT).
• One-Two-GO Airlines (OG) uses Don Mueang International Airport (DMK).
• Orient Thai Airlines (OX) uses Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK).
• Pakistan International Airlines (PK) uses Jinnah International Airport (KHI), Islamabad International Airport (ISB) and Allama Iqbal International Airport (LHE).
  

  

  Royal Jordanian A320 Taking off from Hub, Queen Alia International Airport
• Philippine Airlines (PR) uses Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) and Mactan-Cebu International Airport (CEB).
• Qatar Airways (QR) uses Doha International Airport (DOH).
• Royal Brunei Airlines (BI) uses Brunei International Airport (BWN).
• Royal Jordanian Airlines (RJ) uses Amman Queen Alia International Airport (AMM).
• Saudi Arabian Airlines (SV) uses King Abdul Aziz International Airport (JED) King Khalid International Airport (RUH) and King Fahd International Airport (DMM).
• SGA Airlines (5E) uses Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX).
• Shanghai Airlines (FM) uses Pudong International Airport (PVG) and Hongqiao International Airport (SHA).
• Shenzhen Airlines (ZH) uses Shenzhen Shenzhen Baoan International Airport(SZX).
• Sichuan Airlines (3U) uses Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU), Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport (CKG) and Kunming Wujiaba International Airport (KMG).
• Silkair (MI) uses Changi International Airport (SIN).
• Singapore Airlines (SQ) uses Changi International Airport (SIN).
• SpiceJet (SG) uses Delhi-Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) and Hyderabad-Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (HYD).
• SriLankan Airlines (UL) uses Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB).
• Sriwijaya Air (SJ) uses Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK).
• Thai Airways International (TG) uses Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX) and Phuket International Airport (HKT).
• Thai Air Asia (FD) uses Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) and Phuket International Airport (HKT).
• Tiger Airways (TR) uses Changi International Airport (SIN).
• Uzbekistan Airways (HY) uses Tashkent International Airport (TAS).
• Valuair (VF) uses Changi International Airport (SIN).
• Vietnam Airlines (VN) uses Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN) and Noi Bai International Airport (HAN).
• Wataniya Airways (KW) uses Kuwait International Airport (KWI).
• Zest Air (Z2) uses Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL).

Europe[link]

• Adria Airways (JP) uses Ljubljana International Airport (LJU).
• Aer Lingus (EI) uses Dublin Airport (DUB).
• Aeroflot (SU) uses Moscow-Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO).
• Aerosvit (VV) uses Kiev-Boryspil International Airport (KBP).
• Air Berlin (AB) uses Berlin-Tegel Airport (TXL) and Düsseldorf International Airport (DUS).
• AirBaltic (BT) uses Riga International Airport (RIX)
• Air Europa (AE) uses Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD)
• Air France (AF) uses Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS) and to a lesser extent Orly Airport (ORY).
• Air Greenland (GL) uses Kangerlussuaq Airport (SFJ).
• Air Malta (MT) uses Malta International Airport (MLA)
• Air Moldova (9U) uses Chisinau International Airport (KIV)
• Alitalia (AZ) uses Rome Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO).
• Anadolujet (TK) uses Esenboğa International Airport (ESB).
• Atlantic Airways (RC) uses Vágar Airport (FAE).
• Austrian Airlines (OS) uses Vienna International Airport (VIE).
• British Airways (BA) uses London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and to a lesser extent Gatwick Airport (LGW).
• Blue1 (KF) uses Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (HEL).
• BMI (BD) uses London Heathrow Airport (LHR).
• Bmibaby (WW), a low-fare airline, uses Birmingham Airport, West Midlands (BHX), Manchester Airport (MAN), Cardiff Airport (CWL) and East Midlands Airport (EMA)
• Brussels Airlines (SN) uses Brussels Airport (BRU).
• Bulgaria Air (FB) uses Sofia Airport (SOF).
• Condor Airlines (DE) uses Frankfurt Airport (FRA).
• Croatia Airlines (OU) uses Zagreb Airport (ZAG).
• Cyprus Airways (CY) uses Larnaca Airport (LCA).
• Czech Airlines (OK) uses Prague Ruzyne International Airport (PRG).
• easyJet (U2), a low-cost carrier, has large 'bases' in Belfast International Airport(BFS), Bristol Airport(BRS), Edinburgh Airport (EDI), Glasgow International Airport (GLA), Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LPL), London Gatwick Airport (LGW), London Luton Airport (LTN), London Stansted Airport (STN), Manchester Airport (MAN), Newcastle Airport (NCL), Lyon Saint Exupery Airport (LYS), Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP), Berlin Schonefeld Airport (SXF) and Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD).
• easyJet Switzerland (DS) uses Geneva International Airport (GVA) and EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg (BSL/MLH/EAP).
• Estonian Air(OV) uses Tallinn Airport (TLL).
• Finnair(AY)uses Helsinki Airport (HEL).
• Iberia (IB) uses Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD).
• Iberworld (TY) uses Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD)
• Icelandair (FI) uses Keflavík International Airport (KEF).
• Jat Airways (JU) uses Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (BEG).
• Jet2.com (LS) uses Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBA).
• KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) (KL) uses Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport (AMS).
• LOT Polish Airlines (LO) uses Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport (WAW).

Lufthansa planes at Munich Airport, Terminal 2

• Lufthansa (LH) uses Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Munich Airport (MUC) and Düsseldorf International Airport (DUS).
• Luxair (LG) uses Luxembourg-Findel International Airport (LUX).
• Martinair (MP) uses Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS).
• Montenegro Airlines (YM) uses Podgorica Airport (TGD) and Tivat Airport (TIV).
• Norwegian Air Shuttle (DY) uses Oslo Airport, Gardermoen (OSL).
• Olympic Air (OA) uses Athens International Airport (ATH).
• Portugalia (NI) uses Lisboa Portela Airport (LIS).
• S7 - Siberia Airlines (S7) uses Moscow Domodedovo Airport (DME) and Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport (OVB).
• Scandinavian Airlines (SK) uses Copenhagen Airport (CPH) and Oslo Airport, Gardermoen (OSL), Stockholm-Arlanda Airport (ARN).
• Swiss International Airlines (LX) uses Zürich Airport (ZRH) (and to a lesser extent Geneva International Airport (GVA)).
• TAP Portugal (TP) uses Lisboa Portela Airport (LIS) and to a lesser extent Oporto Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO) .
• TAROM Romanian Air Transport (RO) uses Henri Coandă International Airport (OTP) as a principal hub and Cluj-Napoca International Airport (CLJ) as a second hub.
• Thomson Airways (TOM) uses London Gatwick Airport (LGW), Manchester Airport (MAN) and Birmingham Airport, West Midlands (BHX).
• Transaero Airlines (UN) uses Moscow-Domodedovo International Airport (DME) and Saint-Petersburg-Pulkovo Airport (LED).
• Turkish Airlines (TK) uses Istanbul Ataturk International Airport (IST)
• Ukraine International Airlines uses Kiev-Boryspil International Airport (KBP)
• Virgin Atlantic (VS) uses London Heathrow Airport (LHR), Gatwick Airport (LGW) and to a lesser extent Manchester Airport (MAN)
• Vueling a subsidiary of Iberia uses Barcelona El Prat Airport (BCN)
• WindRose uses Kiev-Boryspil International Airport (KBP)

North America (including Hawaii)[link]

Air Canada operations at Montreal-Trudeau Airport

A map showing the main hubs and focus cities (smaller hubs with fewer services and or limited international services) of the remaining legacy airlines in North America including recent mergers and announced mergers.

• Aeroméxico (AM) uses Mexico City International Airport (MEX).
• Air Canada (AC) uses Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL), Vancouver International Airport (YVR), and Calgary International Airport (YYC) as major hubs.^[6]
• Air Transat (TS) uses Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL), Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), and Vancouver International Airport (YVR).
• Alaska Airlines (AS) uses Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Portland International Airport (PDX).
• American Airlines (AA) uses Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Miami International Airport (MIA), John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
• American Eagle Airlines (MQ) uses Chicago-O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU), Miami International Airport (MIA), and LaGuardia Airport (LGA).
• Copa Airlines (CM) uses Tocumen International Airport (PTY).
• Delta Air Lines (DL) uses Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), LaGuardia Airport (LGA), Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), Memphis International Airport (MEM), Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS), Tokyo's Narita International Airport (NRT), and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG).
• Frontier Airlines (F9), a low-fare airline, uses Denver International Airport (DEN).
• Great Lakes Airlines, a regional airline based out of Denver, Colorado, uses Denver International Airport as its main hub.
• Hawaiian Airlines (HA), uses Honolulu International Airport (HNL) and Kahului Airport (OGG).^[7]
• JetBlue Airways (B6), a low-fare airline, uses John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). JetBlue uses the term "base" to define its New York-JFK operations.
• Porter Airlines (PD) uses Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ) as its principal hub.
• Southwest Airlines (WN), a low-cost airline, mostly runs point-to-point service, but has hub-like operations in Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), Chicago Midway Airport (MDW), Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL), Las Vegas's McCarran International Airport (LAS), Houston Hobby Airport (HOU), Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL).
• Spirit Airlines (NK), a low-fare airline, uses Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), Spirit uses the term "bases" instead of "hubs" to define Detroit and Fort Lauderdale.
• Sun Country Airlines (SY), a low-fare airline, uses Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP).
• TACA Airlines (TA) uses Comalapa International Airport (SAL), La Aurora International Airport (GUA), Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM) (for its TACA Peru South American destinations) and Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)
• United Airlines (UA) uses Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD), San Francisco International Airport (SFO) (as its Pacific gateway), Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), Denver International Airport (DEN), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Tokyo's Narita International Airport (NRT), Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), and Guam's Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport (GUM).
• US Airways (US) uses Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), Charlotte/Douglas International Airport (CLT), and Philadelphia International Airport (PHL).
• Virgin America (VX), a low-fare airline uses San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
• VivaAerobus (VB), a low-fare airline uses General Mariano Escobedo International Airport (MTY).
• WestJet (WS) uses Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ).

Caribbean[link]

• Air ALM (LM) used Hato International Airport (CUR) as a hub
• Air Aruba (FQ) used Queen Beatrix International Airport (AUA) as a hub
• Air Caraïbes (TX) uses Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport (PTP) as a hub
• Air Turks and Caicos (JY) uses Providenciales International Airport (PLS) as hub.
• Bahamasair (UP) uses Nassau's Lynden Pindling International Airport (NAS) as its hub
• Caribair (B9) uses La Isabela International Airport (JBQ) as hub
• Caribbean Airlines (BW) uses Piarco International Airport (POS) and Kingston's Norman Manley International Airport (KIN) as hubs.
• Cayman Airways (KX) uses Grand Cayman's Owen Roberts International Airport (GCM) and Cayman Brac's Gerrard Smith International Airport (CYB) as hubs.
• Cubana de Aviación (CU) uses Havana's José Martí International Airport (HAV).
• Dominicana de Aviación (DO) used Las Américas International Airport (SDQ) as a hub
• Dutch Antilles Express (9H) uses Hato International Airport (CUR) as a hub
• Dutch Caribbean Airlines (K8) used Hato International Airport (CUR) as a hub
• Insel Air (7I) uses Hato International Airport (CUR) as a hub
• Leeward Islands Air Transport (LI) uses VC Bird International Airport (ANU), and Sir Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI) as a hub
• PAWA Dominicana (7Q) uses Las Américas International Airport (SDQ) and Cibao International Airport (STI) as Hubs
• Prinair (PQ) used Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) as a hub
• REDjet (RD) uses Sir Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI) as a hub
• SAP Air (5S) uses La Isabela International Airport (JBQ), Gregorio Luperón International Airport (POP) and Punta Cana International Airport (PUJ) as Hubs
• Tiara Air (3P) uses Queen Beatrix International Airport (AUA) as a hub
• Vieques Airlink (VI) uses Antonio Rivera Rodriguez Airport (VQS) as a hub

Oceania[link]

• Air New Zealand (NZ) uses Auckland Airport (AKL).
• Air Niugini (PX) uses Jacksons International Airport (POM).
• Air Pacific (FJ) uses Nadi International Airport (NAN).
• Air Tahiti Nui (TN) uses Faa'a International Airport (PPT).
• Air Vanuatu (NF) uses Bauerfield International Airport (VLI).
• Jetstar Airways (JQ) uses Melbourne Airport (MEL), Sydney Airport (SYD), Brisbane Airport (BNE) and Gold Coast Airport (OOL).
• Qantas (QF) uses Sydney Airport (SYD) and Melbourne Airport (MEL)
• Tiger Airways Australia (TT) uses Melbourne Airport (MEL).
• Virgin Australia/Pacific Blue (DJ) uses Brisbane Airport (BNE), Sydney Airport (SYD), Auckland Airport (AKL) and Christchurch Airport (CHC).

South America[link]

• Aerochaco (VM) uses Resistencia International Airport (RES).
• AeroGal (2K) uses Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO) and José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport (GYE).
• Aerolíneas Argentinas (AR) uses Ministro Pistarini International Airport (EZE) and Aeroparque Jorge Newbery (AEP).
• Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela (VH) uses Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS).
• Aires (4C) uses El Dorado International Airport (BOG).
• Andes Líneas Aéreas (OY) uses Martín Miguel de Güemes Airport (SLA).
• Austral Líneas Aéreas (AU) uses Aeroparque Jorge Newbery (AEP).
• Avianca (AV) uses El Dorado International Airport (BOG).
• Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras (AD) uses Viracopos-Campinas International Airport (VCP).
• Copa Airlines Colombia (P5) uses El Dorado International Airport (BOG).
• Gol (G3) uses Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) and Galeão - Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG).
• Grupo Taca (TA) uses Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM) and Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO), Comalapa International Airport (SAL) & La Aurora International Airport (GUA) (for its TACA North/Central American destinations).
• LADE (5U) uses General Enrique Mosconi International Airport (CRD), Aeroparque Jorge Newbery (AEP) and Comandante Armando Tola International Airport (FTE).
• LAN (LA) uses Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport. (SCL). Subsidiaries: LAN Argentina uses Ministro Pistarini International Airport (EZE); LAN Ecuador uses Jose Joaquin de Olmedo International Airport (GYE) & Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO), LAN Perú uses Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM).
• PLUNA Líneas Aéreas Uruguayas (P8) uses Carrasco International Airport (MVD).
• Santa Barbara Airlines (S3) uses Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS).
• Satena (9R) uses El Dorado International Airport (BOG).
• Sol Líneas Aéreas (8R) uses Aeroparque Jorge Newbery (AEP) and Islas Malvinas International Airport (ROS).
• TAM Airlines (JJ) uses Guarulhos International Airport (GRU), Congonhas Domestic Airport (CGH), Eduardo Gomes International Airport (MAO) and Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport (BSB), TAM Airlines (Paraguay) uses Silvio Pettirossi International Airport (ASU).
• TAME (EQ) uses Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO)
• TRIP Linhas Aéreas (T4) uses Tancredo Neves International Airport (CNF), Eduardo Gomes International Airport (MAO).

See also[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (Italian pronunciation: [leoˈnardo da ˈvintʃi]  pronunciation (help·info); April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519, Old Style) was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance Man, a man of "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination".^[1] He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.^[2] According to art historian Helen Gardner, the scope and depth of his interests were without precedent and "his mind and personality seem to us superhuman, the man himself mysterious and remote".^[1] Marco Rosci points out, however, that while there is much speculation about Leonardo, his vision of the world is essentially logical rather than mysterious, and that the empirical methods he employed were unusual for his time.^[3]

Born out of wedlock to a notary, Piero da Vinci, and a peasant woman, Caterina, at Vinci in the region of Florence, Leonardo was educated in the studio of the renowned Florentine painter, Verrocchio. Much of his earlier working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in Milan. He later worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice, and he spent his last years in France at the home awarded him by Francis I.

Leonardo was and is renowned^[2] primarily as a painter. Among his works, the Mona Lisa is the most famous and most parodied portrait^[4] and The Last Supper the most reproduced religious painting of all time, with their fame approached only by Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam.^[1] Leonardo's drawing of the Vitruvian Man is also regarded as a cultural icon,^[5] being reproduced on items as varied as the euro, textbooks, and T-shirts. Perhaps fifteen of his paintings survive, the small number because of his constant, and frequently disastrous, experimentation with new techniques, and his chronic procrastination.^{[nb 2]} Nevertheless, these few works, together with his notebooks, which contain drawings, scientific diagrams, and his thoughts on the nature of painting, compose a contribution to later generations of artists rivalled only by that of his contemporary, Michelangelo.

Leonardo is revered^[2] for his technological ingenuity. He conceptualised a helicopter, a tank, concentrated solar power, a calculator,^[6] and the double hull, and he outlined a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics. Relatively few of his designs were constructed or were even feasible during his lifetime,^{[nb 3]} but some of his smaller inventions, such as an automated bobbin winder and a machine for testing the tensile strength of wire, entered the world of manufacturing unheralded.^{[nb 4]} He made important discoveries in anatomy, civil engineering, optics, and hydrodynamics, but he did not publish his findings and they had no direct influence on later science.^[7]

Life[link]

Childhood, 1452–66[link]

Leonardo's childhood home in Anchiano

Leonardo's earliest known drawing, the Arno Valley (1473), Uffizi

Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452 (Old Style), "at the third hour of the night"^{[nb 5]} in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci, in the lower valley of the Arno River in the territory of the Medici-ruled Republic of Florence.^[9] He was the out-of-wedlock son of the wealthy Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine legal notary, and Caterina, a peasant.^{[8][10][nb 6]} Leonardo had no surname in the modern sense, “da Vinci” simply meaning “of Vinci”: his full birth name was "Lionardo di ser Piero da Vinci", meaning "Leonardo, (son) of (Mes)ser Piero from Vinci".^[9] The inclusion of the title "ser" indicated that Leonardo's father was a gentleman.

Little is known about Leonardo's early life. He spent his first five years in the hamlet of Anchiano in the home of his mother, then from 1457 he lived in the household of his father, grandparents and uncle, Francesco, in the small town of Vinci. His father had married a sixteen-year-old girl named Albiera, who loved Leonardo but died young.^[11] When Leonardo was sixteen his father married again, to twenty-year-old Francesca Lanfredini. It was not until his third and fourth marriages that Ser Piero produced legitimate heirs.^[12]

Leonardo received an informal education in Latin, geometry and mathematics. In later life, Leonardo recorded only two childhood incidents. One, which he regarded as an omen, was when a kite dropped from the sky and hovered over his cradle, its tail feathers brushing his face.^[13] The second occurred while exploring in the mountains. He discovered a cave and was both terrified that some great monster might lurk there and driven by curiosity to find out what was inside.^[11]

Leonardo's early life has been the subject of historical conjecture.^[14] Vasari, the 16th-century biographer of Renaissance painters tells of how a local peasant made himself a round shield and requested that Ser Piero have it painted for him. Leonardo responded with a painting of a monster spitting fire which was so terrifying that Ser Piero sold it to a Florentine art dealer, who sold it to the Duke of Milan. Meanwhile, having made a profit, Ser Piero bought a shield decorated with a heart pierced by an arrow, which he gave to the peasant.^[15]

The Baptism of Christ (1472–1475)—Uffizi, by Verrocchio and Leonardo

Verrocchio's workshop, 1466–76[link]

In 1466, at the age of fourteen, Leonardo was apprenticed to the artist Andrea di Cione, known as Verrocchio, whose workshop was "one of the finest in Florence".^[16] Other famous painters apprenticed or associated with the workshop include Domenico Ghirlandaio, Perugino, Botticelli, and Lorenzo di Credi.^[11][17] Leonardo would have been exposed to both theoretical training and a vast range of technical skills^[18] including drafting, chemistry, metallurgy, metal working, plaster casting, leather working, mechanics and carpentry as well as the artistic skills of drawing, painting, sculpting and modelling.^{[19][nb 7]}

Much of the painted production of Verrocchio's workshop was done by his employees. According to Vasari, Leonardo collaborated with Verrocchio on his The Baptism of Christ, painting the young angel holding Jesus' robe in a manner that was so far superior to his master's that Verrocchio put down his brush and never painted again.^[20] On close examination, the painting reveals much that has been painted or touched up over the tempera using the new technique of oil paint, with the landscape, the rocks that can be seen through the brown mountain stream and much of the figure of Jesus bearing witness to the hand of Leonardo.^[21] Leonardo may have been the model for two works by Verrocchio: the bronze statue of David in the Bargello and the Archangel Raphael in Tobias and the Angel.^[10]

By 1472, at the age of twenty, Leonardo qualified as a master in the Guild of St Luke, the guild of artists and doctors of medicine,^{[nb 8]} but even after his father set him up in his own workshop, his attachment to Verrocchio was such that he continued to collaborate with him.^[11] Leonardo's earliest known dated work is a drawing in pen and ink of the Arno valley, drawn on August 5, 1473.^{[nb 9][17]}

Professional life, 1476–1513[link]

The Adoration of the Magi, (1481)—Uffizi

Florentine court records of 1476 show that Leonardo and three other young men were charged with sodomy and acquitted.^{[10][nb 10]} From that date until 1478 there is no record of his work or even of his whereabouts.^[22] In 1478 he left Verrocchio's studio and was no longer resident at his father's house. One writer, the "Anonimo" Gaddiano claims that in 1480 he was living with the Medici and working in the Garden of the Piazza San Marco in Florence, a Neo-Platonic academy of artists, poets and philosophers that the Medici had established.^[10] In January 1478, he received his first of two independent commissions: to paint an altarpiece for the Chapel of St. Bernard in the Palazzo Vecchio and, in March 1481, The Adoration of the Magi for the Monks of San Donato a Scopeto.^[23] Neither commission was completed, the second being interrupted when Leonardo went to Milan.

In 1482 Leonardo, who according to Vasari was a most talented musician,^[24] created a silver lyre in the shape of a horse's head. Lorenzo de' Medici sent Leonardo to Milan, bearing the lyre as a gift, to secure peace with Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan.^[25] At this time Leonardo wrote an often-quoted letter describing the many marvellous and diverse things that he could achieve in the field of engineering and informing Ludovico that he could also paint.^[17][26]

Leonardo worked in Milan from 1482 until 1499. He was commissioned to paint the Virgin of the Rocks for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception and The Last Supper for the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie.^[27] Between 1493 and 1495 Leonardo listed a woman called Caterina among his dependents in his taxation documents. When she died in 1495, the list of funeral expenditures suggests that she was his mother.^[28]

Leonardo was employed on many different projects for Ludovico, including the preparation of floats and pageants for special occasions, designs for a dome for Milan Cathedral and a model for a huge equestrian monument to Francesco Sforza, Ludovico's predecessor. Seventy tons of bronze were set aside for casting it. The monument remained unfinished for several years, which was not unusual for Leonardo. In 1492 the clay model of the horse was completed. It surpassed in size the only two large equestrian statues of the Renaissance, Donatello's statue of Gattemelata in Padua and Verrocchio's Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice, and became known as the "Gran Cavallo".^{[17][nb 11]}

Study of horse from Leonardo's journals – Royal Library, Windsor Castle

Leonardo began making detailed plans for its casting,^[17] however, Michelangelo insulted Leonardo by implying that he was unable to cast it.^[11] In November 1494 Ludovico gave the bronze to be used for cannon to defend the city from invasion by Charles VIII.^[17]

At the start of the Second Italian War in 1499, the invading French troops used the life-size clay model for the "Gran Cavallo" for target practice. With Ludovico Sforza overthrown, Leonardo, with his assistant Salai and friend, the mathematician Luca Pacioli, fled Milan for Venice^[29] where he was employed as a military architect and engineer, devising methods to defend the city from naval attack.^[11] On his return to Florence in 1500, he and his household were guests of the Servite monks at the monastery of Santissima Annunziata and were provided with a workshop where, according to Vasari, Leonardo created the cartoon of The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist, a work that won such admiration that "men and women, young and old" flocked to see it "as if they were attending a great festival".^{[30][nb 12]}

In Cesena, in 1502 Leonardo entered the service of Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander VI, acting as a military architect and engineer and travelling throughout Italy with his patron.^[29] Leonardo created a map of Cesare Borgia's stronghold, a town plan of Imola in order to win his patronage. Maps were extremely rare at the time and it would have seemed like a new concept; upon seeing it, Cesare hired Leonardo as his chief military engineer and architect. Later in the year, Leonardo produced another map for his patron, one of Chiana Valley, Tuscany so as to give his patron a better overlay of the land and greater strategic position. He created this map in conjunction with his other project of constructing a dam from the sea to Florence in order to allow a supply of water to sustain the canal during all seasons.

Leonardo da Vinci's very accurate map of Imola, created for Cesare Borgia

Leonardo returned to Florence where he rejoined the Guild of St Luke on October 18, 1503, and spent two years designing and painting a mural of The Battle of Anghiari for the Signoria,^[29] with Michelangelo designing its companion piece, The Battle of Cascina.^{[nb 13]} In Florence in 1504, he was part of a committee formed to relocate, against the artist's will, Michelangelo's statue of David.^[34]

In 1506 Leonardo returned to Milan. Many of his most prominent pupils or followers in painting either knew or worked with him in Milan,^[11] including Bernardino Luini, Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio and Marco D'Oggione.^{[nb 14]} However, he did not stay in Milan for long because his father had died in 1504, and in 1507 he was back in Florence trying to sort out problems with his brothers over his father's estate. By 1508 Leonardo was back in Milan, living in his own house in Porta Orientale in the parish of Santa Babila.^[35]

Old age, 1513–19[link]

From September 1513 to 1516, Leonardo spent much of his time living in the Belvedere in the Vatican in Rome, where Raphael and Michelangelo were both active at the time.^[35] In October 1515, Francis I of France recaptured Milan.^[23] On December 19, Leonardo was present at the meeting of Francis I and Pope Leo X, which took place in Bologna.^[11][36][37] Leonardo was commissioned to make for Francis a mechanical lion which could walk forward, then open its chest to reveal a cluster of lilies.^{[38][nb 15]} In 1516, he entered François' service, being given the use of the manor house Clos Lucé^{[nb 16]} near the king's residence at the royal Château d'Amboise. It was here that he spent the last three years of his life, accompanied by his friend and apprentice, Count Francesco Melzi, and supported by a pension totalling 10,000 scudi.^[35]

Clos Lucé in France, where Leonardo died in 1519

Leonardo died at Clos Lucé, on May 2, 1519. Francis I had become a close friend. Vasari records that the king held Leonardo's head in his arms as he died, although this story, beloved by the French and portrayed in romantic paintings by Ingres, Ménageot and other French artists, as well as by Angelica Kauffmann, may be legend rather than fact.^{[nb 17]} Vasari states that in his last days, Leonardo sent for a priest to make his confession and to receive the Holy Sacrament.^[40] In accordance to his will, sixty beggars followed his casket.^{[nb 18]} He was buried in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert in Château d'Amboise. Melzi was the principal heir and executor, receiving as well as money, Leonardo's paintings, tools, library and personal effects. Leonardo also remembered his other long-time pupil and companion, Salai and his servant Battista di Vilussis, who each received half of Leonardo's vineyards, his brothers who received land, and his serving woman who received a black cloak "of good stuff" with a fur edge.^{[nb 19][41]}

Some 20 years after Leonardo's death, Francis was reported by the goldsmith and sculptor Benevenuto Cellini as saying: "There had never been another man born in the world who knew as much as Leonardo, not so much about painting, sculpture and architecture, as that he was a very great philosopher."^[42]

Relationships and influences[link]

Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise, (1425–1452) were a source of communal pride. Many artists assisted in their creation.

Florence: Leonardo's artistic and social background[link]

Florence, at the time of Leonardo's youth, was the centre of Christian Humanist thought and culture.^[16] Leonardo commenced his apprenticeship with Verrocchio in 1466, the year that Verrocchio's master, the great sculptor Donatello, died. The painter Uccello, whose early experiments with perspective were to influence the development of landscape painting, was a very old man. The painters Piero della Francesca and Fra Filippo Lippi, sculptor Luca della Robbia, and architect and writer Leon Battista Alberti were in their sixties. The successful artists of the next generation were Leonardo's teacher Verrocchio, Antonio Pollaiuolo and the portrait sculptor, Mino da Fiesole whose lifelike busts give the most reliable likenesses of Lorenzo Medici's father Piero and uncle Giovanni.^{[43][44][45][46]}

Leonardo's youth was spent in a Florence that was ornamented by the works of these artists and by Donatello's contemporaries, Masaccio, whose figurative frescoes were imbued with realism and emotion and Ghiberti whose Gates of Paradise, gleaming with gold leaf, displayed the art of combining complex figure compositions with detailed architectural backgrounds. Piero della Francesca had made a detailed study of perspective,^[47] and was the first painter to make a scientific study of light. These studies and Alberti's Treatise^[48] were to have a profound effect on younger artists and in particular on Leonardo's own observations and artworks.^[43][45][46]

Massaccio's "The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden" depicting the naked and distraught Adam and Eve created a powerfully expressive image of the human form, cast into three dimensions by the use of light and shade which was to be developed in the works of Leonardo in a way that was to be influential in the course of painting. The humanist influence of Donatello's "David" can be seen in Leonardo's late paintings, particularly John the Baptist.^[43][44]

A prevalent tradition in Florence was the small altarpiece of the Virgin and Child. Many of these were created in tempera or glazed terracotta by the workshops of Filippo Lippi, Verrocchio and the prolific della Robbia family.^[43] Leonardo's early Madonnas such as The Madonna with a carnation and The Benois Madonna followed this tradition while showing idiosyncratic departures, particularly in the case of the Benois Madonna in which the Virgin is set at an oblique angle to the picture space with the Christ Child at the opposite angle. This compositional theme was to emerge in Leonardo's later paintings such as The Virgin and Child with St. Anne.^[11]

Leonardo was a contemporary of Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Perugino, who were all slightly older than he was.^[44] He would have met them at the workshop of Verrocchio, with whom they had associations, and at the Academy of the Medici.^[11] Botticelli was a particular favourite of the Medici family, and thus his success as a painter was assured. Ghirlandaio and Perugino were both prolific and ran large workshops. They competently delivered commissions to well-satisfied patrons who appreciated Ghirlandaio's ability to portray the wealthy citizens of Florence within large religious frescoes, and Perugino's ability to deliver a multitude of saints and angels of unfailing sweetness and innocence.^[43]

The Portinari Altarpiece, by Hugo van der Goes for a Florentine family

These three were among those commissioned to paint the walls of the Sistine Chapel, the work commencing with Perugino's employment in 1479. Leonardo was not part of this prestigious commission. His first significant commission, The Adoration of the Magi for the Monks of Scopeto, was never completed.^[11]

In 1476, during the time of Leonardo's association with Verrocchio's workshop, the Portinari Altarpiece by Hugo van der Goes arrived in Florence, bringing new painterly techniques from Northern Europe which were to profoundly affect Leonardo, Ghirlandaio, Perugino and others.^[44] In 1479, the Sicilian painter Antonello da Messina, who worked exclusively in oils, traveled north on his way to Venice, where the leading painter Giovanni Bellini adopted the technique of oil painting, quickly making it the preferred method in Venice. Leonardo was also later to visit Venice.^[44][46]

Like the two contemporary architects Bramante and Antonio da Sangallo the Elder Leonardo experimented with designs for centrally planned churches, a number of which appear in his journals, as both plans and views, although none was ever realised.^[44][49]

Lorenzo de' Medici between Antonio Pucci and Francesco Sassetti, with Giulio de' Medici, fresco by Ghirlandaio

Leonardo's political contemporaries were Lorenzo Medici (il Magnifico), who was three years older, and his younger brother Giuliano who was slain in the Pazzi Conspiracy in 1478. Ludovico il Moro who ruled Milan between 1479–1499 and to whom Leonardo was sent as ambassador from the Medici court, was also of Leonardo's age.^[44]

With Alberti, Leonardo visited the home of the Medici and through them came to know the older Humanist philosophers of whom Marsiglio Ficino, proponent of Neo Platonism; Cristoforo Landino, writer of commentaries on Classical writings, and John Argyropoulos, teacher of Greek and translator of Aristotle were the foremost. Also associated with the Academy of the Medici was Leonardo's contemporary, the brilliant young poet and philosopher Pico della Mirandola.^[44][46][50] Leonardo later wrote in the margin of a journal "The Medici made me and the Medici destroyed me." While it was through the action of Lorenzo that Leonardo received his employment at the court of Milan, it is not known exactly what Leonardo meant by this cryptic comment.^[11]

Although usually named together as the three giants of the High Renaissance, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael were not of the same generation. Leonardo was twenty-three when Michelangelo was born and thirty-one when Raphael was born.^[44] Raphael only lived until the age of 37 and died in 1520, the year after Leonardo, but Michelangelo went on creating for another 45 years.^[45][46]

Study for a portrait of Isabella d'Este (1500) Louvre

Personal life[link]

Within Leonardo's lifetime, his extraordinary powers of invention, his "outstanding physical beauty", "infinite grace", "great strength and generosity", "regal spirit and tremendous breadth of mind" as described by Vasari,^[51] as well as all other aspects of his life, attracted the curiosity of others. One such aspect is his respect for life evidenced by his vegetarianism and his habit, according to Vasari, of purchasing caged birds and releasing them.^[52][53]

Leonardo had many friends who are now renowned either in their fields or for their historical significance. They included the mathematician Luca Pacioli,^[54] with whom he collaborated on a book in the 1490s, as well as Franchinus Gaffurius and Isabella d'Este.^{[citation needed]} Leonardo appears to have had no close relationships with women except for his friendship with the two Este sisters, Beatrice and Isabella.^[55] He drew a portrait of Isabella while on a journey which took him through Mantua, and which appears to have been used to create a painted portrait, now lost.^[11]

Beyond friendship, Leonardo kept his private life secret. His sexuality has been the subject of satire, analysis, and speculation. This trend began in the mid-16th century and was revived in the 19th and 20th centuries, most notably by Sigmund Freud.^[56] Leonardo's most intimate relationships were perhaps with his pupils Salai and Melzi. Melzi, writing to inform Leonardo's brothers of his death, described Leonardo's feelings for his pupils as both loving and passionate. It has been claimed since the 16th century that these relationships were of a sexual or erotic nature. Court records of 1476, when he was aged twenty-four, show that Leonardo and three other young men were charged with sodomy in an incident involving a well-known male prostitute. The charges were dismissed for lack of evidence, and there is speculation that since one of the accused, Lionardo de Tornabuoni, was related to Lorenzo de' Medici, the family exerted its influence to secure the dismissal.^[57] Since that date much has been written about his presumed homosexuality and its role in his art, particularly in the androgyny and eroticism manifested in John the Baptist and Bacchus and more explicitly in a number of erotic drawings.^[58]

John the Baptist. Salai is thought to have been the model.^[59] (c. 1514)—Louvre.

Assistants and pupils[link]

Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, nicknamed Salai or Il Salaino ("The Little Unclean One" i.e., the devil), entered Leonardo's household in 1490. After only a year, Leonardo made a list of his misdemeanours, calling him "a thief, a liar, stubborn, and a glutton", after he had made off with money and valuables on at least five occasions and spent a fortune on clothes.^[60] Nevertheless, Leonardo treated him with great indulgence, and he remained in Leonardo's household for the next thirty years.^[61] Salai executed a number of paintings under the name of Andrea Salai, but although Vasari claims that Leonardo "taught him a great deal about painting",^[38] his work is generally considered to be of less artistic merit than others among Leonardo's pupils, such as Marco d'Oggione and Boltraffio. In 1515, he painted a nude version of the Mona Lisa, known as Monna Vanna.^[62] Salai owned the Mona Lisa at the time of his death in 1525, and in his will it was assessed at 505 lire, an exceptionally high valuation for a small panel portrait.^[63]

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.^[11] Melzi inherited the artistic and scientific works, manuscripts, and collections of Leonardo and administered the estate.

Painting[link]

Annunciation (1475–1480)—Uffizi, is thought to be Leonardo's earliest complete work.

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 and on a handful of works, either authenticated or attributed to him that have been regarded as among the masterpieces.^[64]

These paintings are famous for a variety of qualities which have been much imitated by students and discussed at great length by connoisseurs and critics. Among the qualities that make Leonardo's work unique are the innovative techniques that he used in laying on the paint, his detailed knowledge of anatomy, light, botany and geology, his interest in physiognomy and the way in which humans register emotion in expression and gesture, his innovative use of the human form in figurative composition, and his use of the 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.^[65]

Unfinished painting of St. Jerome in the Wilderness, (c. 1480), Vatican.

Early works[link]

Leonardo's early works begin with the Baptism of Christ painted in conjunction with Verrocchio. Two other paintings appear to date from his time at the 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, in this case a painting by Lorenzo di Credi from which it has become separated. The other is a much larger work, 217 centimetres (85 in) long.^[66] In both these Annunciations, Leonardo used a formal arrangement, such as in Fra Angelico's two well-known pictures 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 rich flowing garment, raised wings and bearing a lily. Although previously attributed to Ghirlandaio, the larger work is now generally attributed to Leonardo.^[67]

In the smaller picture Mary averts her eyes and folds her hands in a gesture that symbolised submission to God's will. In the larger picture, however, Mary is not submissive. The girl, interrupted in her reading by this unexpected messenger, puts a finger in her bible to mark the place and raises her hand in a formal gesture of greeting or surprise.^[43] This calm young woman appears to accept her role as the Mother of God not with resignation but with confidence. In this painting the young Leonardo presents the humanist face of the Virgin Mary, recognising humanity's role in God's incarnation.^{[nb 20]}

Paintings of the 1480s[link]

Virgin of the Rocks, Louvre, demonstrates Leonardo's interest in nature.

In the 1480s Leonardo received two very important commissions and commenced another work which was also of ground-breaking importance in terms of composition. Two of the three were never finished, and the third took so long that it was subject to lengthy negotiations over completion and payment. One of these paintings is that of St. Jerome in the Wilderness. Bortolon associates this picture with a difficult period of Leonardo's life, as evidenced in his diary: "I thought I was learning to live; I was only learning to die."^[11]

Although the painting is barely begun, the composition can be seen and it is very unusual.^{[nb 21]} Jerome, as a penitent, occupies the middle of the picture, set on a slight diagonal and viewed somewhat from above. His kneeling form takes on a trapezoid shape, with one arm stretched to the outer edge of the painting and his gaze looking in the opposite direction. J. Wasserman points out the link between this painting and Leonardo's anatomical studies.^[69] Across the foreground sprawls his symbol, a great lion whose body and tail make a double spiral across the base of the picture space. The other remarkable feature is the sketchy landscape of craggy rocks against which the figure is silhouetted.

The daring display of figure composition, the landscape elements and personal drama also appear in the great unfinished masterpiece, the Adoration of the Magi, a commission from the Monks of San Donato a Scopeto. It is a complex composition, of about 250 x 250 centimetres. Leonardo did numerous drawings and preparatory studies, including a detailed one in linear perspective of the ruined classical architecture which makes part of the backdrop to the scene. But in 1482 Leonardo went off to Milan at the behest of Lorenzo de' Medici in order to win favour with Ludovico il Moro, and the painting was abandoned.^[10][67]

The third important work of this period is the Virgin of the Rocks which was commissioned in Milan for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception. The painting, to be done with the assistance of the de Predis brothers, was to fill a large complex altarpiece, already constructed.^[70] Leonardo chose to paint an apocryphal moment of the infancy of Christ when the infant John the Baptist, in protection of an angel, met the Holy Family on the road to Egypt. In this scene, as painted by Leonardo, John recognizes and worships Jesus as the Christ. The painting demonstrates an eerie beauty as the graceful figures kneel in adoration around the infant Christ in a wild landscape of tumbling rock and whirling water.^[71] While the painting is quite large, about 200 × 120 centimetres, it is not nearly as complex as the painting ordered by the monks of St Donato, having only four figures rather than about fifty and a rocky landscape rather than architectural details. The painting was eventually finished; in fact, two versions of the painting were finished, one which remained at the chapel of the Confraternity and the other which Leonardo carried away to France. But the Brothers did not get their painting, or the de Predis their payment, until the next century.^[17][29]

The Last Supper (1498)—Convent of Sta. Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy

Paintings of the 1490s[link]

Leonardo's most famous painting of the 1490s is The Last Supper, painted for the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan. The painting represents the last meal shared by Jesus with his disciples before his capture and death. It shows specifically the moment when Jesus has just said "one of you will betray me". Leonardo tells the story of the consternation that this statement caused to the twelve followers of Jesus.^[17]

The novelist Matteo Bandello observed Leonardo at work and wrote that some days he would paint from dawn till dusk without stopping to eat and then not paint for three or four days at a time.^[72] This was beyond the comprehension of the prior of the convent, who hounded him until Leonardo asked Ludovico to intervene. Vasari describes how Leonardo, troubled over his ability to adequately depict the faces of Christ and the traitor Judas, told the Duke that he might be obliged to use the prior as his model.^[73]

When finished, the painting was acclaimed as a masterpiece of design and characterisation,^[74] but it deteriorated rapidly, so that within a hundred years it was described by one viewer as "completely ruined".^[75] Leonardo, instead of using the reliable technique of fresco, had used tempera over a ground that was mainly gesso, resulting in a surface which was subject to mold and to flaking.^[76] Despite this, the painting has remained one of the most reproduced works of art, countless copies being made in every medium from carpets to cameos.

Paintings of the 1500s[link]

Mona Lisa or La Gioconda (1503–1505/1507)—Louvre, Paris, France

Among the works created by Leonardo in the 16th century is the small portrait known as the Mona Lisa or "la Gioconda", the laughing one. In the present era it is arguably the most famous painting in the world. Its fame rests, in particular, on the elusive smile on the woman's face, its mysterious quality brought about perhaps by the fact that the artist has subtly shadowed the corners of the mouth and eyes so that the exact nature of the smile cannot be determined. The shadowy quality for which the work is renowned came to be called "sfumato" or Leonardo's smoke. Vasari, who is generally thought to have known the painting only by repute, said that "the smile was so pleasing that it seemed divine rather than human; and those who saw it were amazed to find that it was as alive as the original".^{[77][nb 22]}

Other characteristics found in this work are the unadorned dress, in which the eyes and hands have no competition from other details, the dramatic landscape background in which the world seems to be in a state of flux, the subdued colouring and the extremely smooth nature of the painterly technique, employing oils, but laid on much like tempera and blended on the surface so that the brushstrokes are indistinguishable.^{[nb 23]} Vasari expressed the opinion that the manner of painting would make even "the most confident master ... despair and lose heart."^[80] The perfect state of preservation and the fact that there is no sign of repair or overpainting is rare in a panel painting of this date.^[81]

In the painting Virgin and Child with St. Anne the composition again picks up the theme of figures in a landscape which Wasserman describes as "breathtakingly beautiful"^[82] and harkens back to the St Jerome picture with the figure set at an oblique angle. What makes this painting unusual is that there are two obliquely set figures superimposed. Mary is seated on the knee of her mother, St Anne. She leans forward to restrain the Christ Child as he plays roughly with a lamb, the sign of his own impending sacrifice.^[17] This painting, which was copied many times, influenced Michelangelo, Raphael, and Andrea del Sarto,^[83] and through them Pontormo and Correggio. The trends in composition were adopted in particular by the Venetian painters Tintoretto and Veronese.

The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, (c. 1510)-Louvre Museum

The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist (c. 1499–1500)—National Gallery, London

Drawings[link]

Leonardo was not a prolific painter, but he was a most prolific draftsman, keeping journals full of small sketches and detailed drawings recording all manner of things that took his attention. As well as the journals there exist many studies for paintings, some of which can be identified as preparatory to particular works such as The Adoration of the Magi, The Virgin of the Rocks and The Last Supper.^[84] His earliest dated drawing is a Landscape of the Arno Valley, 1473, which shows the river, the mountains, Montelupo Castle and the farmlands beyond it in great detail.^[11][84]

Among his famous drawings are the Vitruvian Man, a study of the proportions of the human body, the Head of an Angel, for The Virgin of the Rocks in the Louvre, a botanical study of Star of Bethlehem and a large drawing (160×100 cm) in black chalk on coloured paper of The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist in the National Gallery, London.^[84] This drawing employs the subtle sfumato technique of shading, in the manner of the Mona Lisa. It is thought that Leonardo never made a painting from it, the closest similarity being to The Virgin and Child with St. Anne in the Louvre.^[85]

Other drawings of interest include numerous studies generally referred to as "caricatures" because, although exaggerated, they appear to be based upon observation of live models. Vasari relates that if Leonardo saw a person with an interesting face he would follow them around all day observing them.^[86] There are numerous studies of beautiful young men, often associated with Salai, with the rare and much admired facial feature, the so-called "Grecian profile".^{[nb 24]} These faces are often contrasted with that of a warrior.^[84] Salai is often depicted in fancy-dress costume. Leonardo is known to have designed sets for pageants with which these may be associated. Other, often meticulous, drawings show studies of drapery. A marked development in Leonardo's ability to draw drapery occurred in his early works. Another often-reproduced drawing is a macabre sketch that was done by Leonardo in Florence in 1479 showing the body of Bernardo Baroncelli, hanged in connection with the murder of Giuliano, brother of Lorenzo de'Medici, in the Pazzi Conspiracy.^[84] With dispassionate integrity Leonardo has registered in neat mirror writing the colours of the robes that Baroncelli was wearing when he died.

Observation and invention[link]

The Vitruvian Man (c. 1485) Accademia, Venice