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'{{Infobox artist | bgcolour = #EEDD82 | name = Salaì | image = Gian Giacomo Caprotti - Salai.jpg | caption = Portrait of Salai by a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci, circa 1495, oil on panel 37 x29 cm, Private Collection | birth_name = Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno | spouse = Naomi Coldiroli d’Annono | birth_date = 1480 | birth_place = Oreno, [[Vimercate]], [[Italy]] | death_date = 1524 | death_place = [[Milan]], [[Italy]] | nationality = [[Italy|Italian]] | movement = [[High Renaissance]] | patrons = [[Leonardo da Vinci]] | works = ''Monna Vanna'' | signature = }} '''Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno''', better known as '''Salaì''' ("The Devil", lit. "The little unclean one") (1480 – before 10&nbsp;March 1524), was an [[Italians|Italian]] artist and pupil of [[Leonardo da Vinci]] from 1490 to 1518. He created several paintings under the name of '''Andrea Salai'''. He was described as one of Leonardo's students and closest companions and is the presumed model for Leonardo's paintings ''[[St. John the Baptist (Leonardo)|St. John the Baptist]]'' and [[Bacchus (Leonardo)|Bacchus]]. ==Life== {{see also|Leonardo da Vinci's personal life#Personal relationships}} Salaì was born in 1480 as son of Pietro di Giovanni, a tenant of Leonardo's vineyard near the Porta Vercellina, [[Milan]]. He joined Leonardo's household at the age of ten as an assistant. Vasari describes Salaì as "a graceful and beautiful youth with curly hair, in which Leonardo greatly delighted".<ref name="stern" /> Although Leonardo described him as "a liar, a thief, stubborn and a glutton" and he stole from Leonardo on at least five occasions, he kept him in his household for more than 25&nbsp;years, in which he trained as an artist.<ref name="stern">{{cite book|last=Stern|first=Keith|title=Queers in History: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Historical Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=XZL5EeGpW0MC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false|date=September 1, 2009|publisher=BenBella Books|isbn=978-1-933771-87-8|page=276}}</ref> Salaì became a capable, although not very impressive, painter,<ref>{{cite book|last=Hall|first=M. C.|title=Leonardo Da Vinci|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=zLX9ky_9WQAC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=September 2007|publisher=Abdo Publishing Company|isbn=1-59928-844-3|page=53}}</ref> who created several works, including the ''Monna Vanna'', a nude version of the [[Mona Lisa]] which may be based on a lost nude by Leonardo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/11/16/UPI-NewsTrack-Quirks-in-the-News/UPI-37491258408800/|title=Expert: Da Vinci painted nude Mona Lisa|date=16 November 2009|publisher=UPI News|accessdate=22 March 2011}}</ref> Leonardo is thought to have used Salaì as the model for several of his works, specifically ''[[St. John the Baptist (Leonardo)|St. John the Baptist]]''. During Leonardo's second stay in Milan, he took another young pupil, [[Francesco Melzi]]. Unlike Salaì, Francesco was a son of a nobleman. When Leonardo traveled to Rome in 1513 and to France in 1516, Salai and Melzi both accompanied him. As an adult, Melzi became secretary and main assistant of Leonardo, and undertook to prepare Leonardo's writings for publication. Vasari says that Melzi "at the time of Leonardo was a very beautiful and very much loved young man". In France, Francesco Melzi was greeted as "Italian gentleman living with master Leonardo" and granted donation of 400&nbsp;ecus, while Salai, already over 40&nbsp;years old, was described as "servant" and granted a one time donation of 100&nbsp;ecus. Salaì left Leonardo and France in 1518. He later returned to Milan to work on Leonardos vineyard, previously worked by Salai's father, and which was granted to him by Leonardo's will. Salai married Naomi Coldiroli d’Annono on June 14, 1523 at the age of 43.<ref>Claire J. Farago, Taylor and Francis Inc, ''Leonardo's Art - Twentieth-Century Connoisseurship and Iconographic Studies, Leonardo's Projects from 1500-1519, Vol&nbsp;3'' (1999) p&nbsp;397</ref> Salai died in 1524 as a result of a wound received from crossbow in a duel and was buried in Milan on 10&nbsp;March 1524. ==Salaì's sexuality== A number of drawings among the works of Leonardo and his pupils make reference to Salai's sexuality. There is a drawing modelled on Leonardo's painting ''John the Baptist'' and called ''The Angel Incarnate'', of a young man nude with an erect phallus, and appearing to represent Salai. The face of the figure is closer to Salai's copy of Leonardo's painting, than to the original ''John the Baptist'' in the Louvre. It may have been drawn by Salai himself. A folio by Leonardo includes a page of drawings by a hand other than Leonardo's, one of which is a crudely drawn sketch depicting an anus, identified as "Salaì's bum", pursued by penises on legs.<ref name="stern" /><ref>NOTE: The page on which this sketch appears is the same page that contains the depiction of a bicycle. Neither drawing is by Leonardo, and the page was not seen until a restoration of the volume in the 1960s, in the process of which, several pages went missing and were later returned. It has been suggested that the drawings are by a pupil of Leonardo's but this is debated.</ref> It has been suggested, as early as the 16th century, that there was a sexually intimate relationship between Leonardo and Salai, but this cannot be known for certain.<ref>White, Michael (2000). ''Leonardo, the first scientist''. London: Little, Brown. ISBN 0-316-64846-9</ref> ==Speculation== A group of Italian researchers has claimed that Salaì was the model for the ''Mona Lisa'', noting the similarity in some of the facial features, particularly the nose and mouth, to those in which Salai is thought to have been the model. These claims have been disputed by the [[Louvre]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/03/3128590.htm|title=Mona Lisa model was male, researchers say|date=February 3, 2011|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]] News|accessdate=22 March 2011}}</ref> Also, it is commonly believed that on Leonardo's death in 1519, Salaì inherited several paintings including the ''[[Mona Lisa]]'' as well as half a vineyard. Through his estate, many of those works, notably the ''Mona Lisa'', passed into the possession of [[Francis I of France]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Zöllner|first=Frank|title=Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=fq8IHuJIKmoC&pg=PA94&dq=%22salai%22+da+vinci+mona+lisa&hl=en&ei=Z0-ITfyqPNCQswbwlvW6DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22salai%22%20da%20vinci%20mona%20lisa&f=false|date=May 1, 2000|publisher=[[Taschen]]|isbn=3-8228-5979-6|page=94}}</ref> However, all personal belongings, paintings, drawings and notes were granted to Francesco Melzi by Leonardo's will.{{citation needed|date=September 2012}} A theory suggests paintings in Salai's possession were merely copies, done by Giacomo himself. As a strong argument, a copy of ''Mona Lisa'' in Prado, Madrid, few copies of ''Virgin and St Anne'' and a copy of ''St John the Baptist'' in Milan are ascribed to Salai. {{citation needed|date=September 2012}} [[File:Monna Vanna.jpg|thumb|220px|''Monna Vanna - a nude version of the [[Mona Lisa]]''.]] ==In popular fiction== * Salaì is a principal character in the novel ''Cenacolo''<ref>[http://www.amazon.com/Cenacolo-Novel-Joseph-Orbi/dp/096616198X Cenacolo]</ref> by Joseph Orbi.<ref>[http://www.facebook.com/pages/Books-by-Joseph-Orbi/163455370369598 Joseph Orbi]</ref> * In [[DC Comics]]' Vertigo series,The 1995 Chiaroscuro graphic novels of 'The Private Lives of Leonardo Da Vinci' recounts a fictitious story of a love affair between Leonardo and Salai. * In the [[Downloadable content|DLC]] ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood#The Da Vinci Disappearance|The Da Vinci Disappearance]]'' for ''Assassins Creed: Brotherhood'', Leonardo is kidnapped by [[Hermeticist]]s, members of the [[Cult of Hermes]], and Ezio must rescue him. The DLC also includes Leonardo's pupil, Salaì. ==References== {{reflist|2}} {{Commons category|Gian Giacomo Caprotti}} {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> | NAME = Salai | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = Italian painter | DATE OF BIRTH = 1480 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Oreno, [[Vimercate]], [[Italy]] | DATE OF DEATH = 1524 | PLACE OF DEATH = [[Milan]], [[Italy]] }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Salai}} [[Category:1480 births]] [[Category:1524 deaths]] [[Category:People from the Province of Monza e Brianza]] [[Category:Italian painters]] [[Category:Leonardo da Vinci]] [[Category:Pre-19th century LGBT people]] [[ca:Salai]] [[de:Salaj (Maler)]] [[es:Salai]] [[fr:Salai]] [[it:Gian Giacomo Caprotti]] [[nl:Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno]] [[no:Giacomo Caprotti]] [[pl:Giacomo Caprotti]] [[ru:Салаи]]'