Grazie Leonardo, Grazie Year: 2019 Medium: Pastel Size: 76 cm high x 51 cm wide Known as the Master it was of great pleasure to produce my version of Leonardo Di Vinci. I took great pride and joy producing this work by using the colours of the Italian flag. The colours of the flag have broadly stayed the same but different shades have been used over time, and this has been represented in this piece. It is important that we remember the “Tricolore”- three colours and what this means. While the Tricolore flag has invoked great discussion with regard to the meaning of each colour, green represents the country’s plains and the hills. White represents the Alps covered in snow. Red represents blood spilt in the Wars of the Italian Independence. Following a religious interpretation, green represents hope, white is faith and red represents charity. History allows us to agree the red and white were a representation of the flag of Milan, and the green was the same colour as the uniform of the civic guard of Milan. Leonardo Da Vinci is famous for many great paintings including The Mona Lisa and The Vituvian Man, and specifically in Milan he was commissioned to create Virgin of the Rocks, the Last Supper, and in later years, Drawings of the Human Flight. Lenonardo Da Vici is widely considered one of the most “diversely talented individuals ever to have lived”. Following this, I picked up my tools and created my own interpretation of the self portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci and I said “Grazie Leonardo, Grazie” for you truly were a genius. Artist: Michelle Angela Jenkins