Leda and the Swan (Leonardo)
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The story of Leda and the Swan was the subject of two compositions by Leonardo da Vinci from perhaps 1503–1510. Neither survive as paintings by Leonardo, but there are a number of drawings for both by
Leonardo, Leda and the Swan, drawing on paper, Chatsworth
Giampietrino, after Leonardo, Kneeling Leda with her Children
Pen-and-ink drawing by Raphael, presumably after Leonardo
Study for Leda and the Swan by Leonardo, c. 1504
Leda and the Swan
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Leda and the Swan is a story and subject in art from Greek mythology in which the god Zeus, in the form of a swan, seduces Leda, an Aetolian princess who became Spartan queen. According to later Greek
"...this statue is a first-century Roman version of an earlier Greek statue from the 300s B.C. attributed to Timotheos. More than two dozen examples of this statue survive, attesting to the theme's popularity among the Romans. ...Both arms, most of the outstretched cloak, the swan's head, and the folds of cloth between Leda's legs are eighteenth-century restorations. The head, though ancient, is not original to this work, but comes from a statue of Venus".
Leda and the Swan, a 16th-century copy after a lost painting by Michelangelo (National Gallery, London)
Roman oil lamp, 1st century AD
Leda and the Swan, Roman marble possibly reflecting a lost work by Timotheos from the 300s BCE. More than two dozen examples of this statue survive. restored (Prado)