The painting has been generally attributed to Jacopo de' Barbari due to the presence of a cartouche with the inscription IACO.BAR.
VIGENNIS.
P. 1495, but the attribution to the Venetian painter has been questioned.
Some attribute the painting to Leonardo da Vinci, who began collaborating with Pacioli when the latter moved to Milan in 1496.
For the next two years, Leonardo illustrated Archimedean solids, including the rhombicuboctahedron, in Pacioli's Divina proportione.
According to one scholar, in the rhombicuboctahedron featured in the portrait "we surely see the ineffable left hand of Leonardo da Vinci, who drew the superb pictures for De divina proportione, which, moreover, hang from a string in the originals."
The same source points out that the dodecahedron in the portrait seems to be drawn by a less-skilled hand, implying that the portrait was created over multiple sittings and possibly by more than one artist.
Leonardo records that on 3 August 1504, "Jacopo the German came to live with me in the house."
The painting has been generally attributed to Jacopo de' Barbari due to the presence of a cartouche with the inscription IACO.BAR. VIGENNIS. P. 1495, but the attribution to the Venetian painter has been questioned. Some attribute the painting to Leonardo da Vinci, who began collaborating with Pacioli when the latter moved to Milan in 1496. For the next two years, Leonardo illustrated Archimedean solids, including the rhombicuboctahedron, in Pacioli's Divina proportione. According to one scholar, in the rhombicuboctahedron featured in the portrait "we surely see the ineffable left hand of Leonardo da Vinci, who drew the superb pictures for De divina proportione, which, moreover, hang from a string in the originals." The same source points out that the dodecahedron in the portrait seems to be drawn by a less-skilled hand, implying that the portrait was created over multiple sittings and possibly by more than one artist. Leonardo records that on 3 August 1504, "Jacopo the German came to live with me in the house."
Portrait of Luca Pacioli