Leda and the Swan

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Specifications

Title	Leda and the Swan
Material and technique	Black chalk, pen and brown ink
Object type	Drawing > Two-dimensional object > Art object
Location	This object is travelling

Dimensions	Height 128 mm Width 109 mm
Artists	Draughtsman: Leonardo da Vinci
Accession number	I 466 (PK)
Credits	Loan Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (former Koenigs collection), 1940
Department	Drawings & Prints
Acquisition date	1940
Creation date	in circa 1505-1507
Watermark	none (vH, 4P)
Inscriptions	'Lionardo da Vinci' (lower right, pen and brown ink)
Collector	Collector / Franz Koenigs
Mark	T. Lawrence (L.2445), F.W. Koenigs (L.1023a on the removed backing sheet)
Provenance	William Young Ottley (1771-1836, L.2642, L.2662, L.2663, L.2664, L.2665 desunt), London; his sale, London (Philipe) 06-23.06.1814, lot 1411 (BP 18/10/0); Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830, L. 2445/2446), London; art dealer Samuel Woodburn (1781-1853, L.2584), London 1836a, fifth exhibition, no. 58; The Prince of Orange, afterwards King William II of the Netherlands (1792-1849), The Hague, acquired in 1840; his sale, The Hague (De Vries, Roos, Brondgeest) 12.08.1850, probably part of lot 262 (bought in); his daughter Princess Sophie van Oranje-Nassau (1824-1897), Grand Duchess von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, Weimar; her husband Grand Duke Karl Alexander von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1818-1901) Weimar; their grandson Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1876-1923), Weimar; Art dealer Julius W. Böhler (1883-1966), Lucerne; Franz W. Koenigs (1881-1941, L.1023a), Haarlem, acquired in 1929 (School of Leonardo, corrected to Leonardo da Vinci); D.G. van Beuningen (1877-1955), Rotterdam, acquired with the Koenigs Collection in 1940 and donated to Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Exhibitions	London 1834-36, 5th exh, no. 58; Amsterdam 1934, no. 571; Paris 1935, no. 573; Los Angeles 1949, no. 81; Paris 1952, no. 6; Florence 1952, no. 54; Rotterdam 1952, no. 90; Paris/Rotterdam/Haarlem 1962, no. 49; Londen 1989, no. 14; Rotterdam 1995, p. 206; Rotterdam 1997-1998; Damish 1997, no cat.; Florence 2000, no. 1; New York 2003, no. 98; Paris 2003, pp. 257, 289, 292, 301-304, 308, no. 105; Rotterdam 2010 (coll 2 kw 6); St Petersburg/Dordrecht/Luxembourg 2014, pp. 290-291; Haarlem 2018, p. 176, no. 55; Paris 2019, pp. 292, 421, no. 147
Internal exhibitions	Rondom Raphaël (1997) Tekeningen uit eigen bezit, 1400-1800 (1952) Italiaanse tekeningen in Nederlands bezit (1962) De Collectie Twee - wissel VI, Prenten & Tekeningen (2010)
External exhibitions	Leonardo. Expressie en Emotie (2018) Leonardo da Vinci (2019)
Research	Show research Italian Drawings 1400-1600
Literature	Ottley 1823, p. 20, pl 18 (Leonardo, c. 1480-1500 in Milan); London 1834-36, 5th exh, no. 58; Von Ritgen 1865, nr. 32 (Leonardo da Vinci), ill.; Morelli 1890, p. 196. ill. (attrib. Sodoma); Morelli 1900, pp. 154-157 (Sodoma); Gronau 1902, p. 148; Berenson 1903, no. 1020A; Frizzoni 1905, p. 66; Von Seidlitz 1909, vol 2, p. 131 (kopie); Poggi 1919, p. 58, fig. 112; Venturi 1920, p. 136, ill. 125, (copy); Carotti 1921, p. 85; De Toni 1922, p. 115, fig. 31; De Rinaldis 1926, pp. 222-223 (not Leonardo); Popp 1928, p. 50, ill. 61; Sirén 1928, vol. I, p. 157, vol. III, ill. 195A; Suida 1929, pp. 158, 274; Bodmer 1931, pp. 329, 417, ill.; Amsterdam 1934, no. 571, ill.; Paris 1935, no. 573; Berenson 1938, vol. I, p. 180 (no. 5) vol. II, p. 112 (no. 1020A), vol. III, ill. 546; Hannema 1942, ill.; De Tolnay 1943 (1972), no. 69, ill.; Giglioli 1944, pp. 125-126 (not Leonardo); Popham 1945, no. 208, ill.; Goldscheider 1948, p. 30, no. 56, ill; Los Angeles 1949, nr. 81, ill.; Paris 1952, no. 6, pl. 2; Florence 1952, no. 54; Rotterdam 1952, no. 90; Castelfranco 1954, fig. 14, pl. 170; Heydenreich 1954, vol. I, pp. 54, 184, vol. II, p. 54, ill. 66; Haverkamp Begemann 1957, no. 40, pl. 36, ill.; Goldscheider 1959, pp. 158-159 under pl. 36; Rosenberg 1959, p. 29, fig. 61; Zeri 1959, p. 42, fig. 28b; Berenson 1961, vol. I, p. 262, vol. II, p. 213, vol. III, no. 1082cI, fig. 513; Paris/Rotterdam/Haarlem 1962, no. 49, pl. 38; Wallace 1966, p. 160, ill.; Clark 1967, pp. 116-117; Ottino Della Chiesa 1967, p. 107, under no. 34 (ill.); Clark 1969, pp. 18-19, 22, ill. 18; Clark/Pedretti 1968-69, vol. 1, p. 33, under no. 1237; Wasserman 1969, p. 130; Forlani Tempesti 1970, p. 66, fig. 11; Pedretti 1973, pp. 98, 125, ill. 101; Washington 1973, p. 450, n. 5, under no. 162; Allison 1974, pp. 375-376, ill. 2; Brown/Seymour 1974, pp. 130-131, fig. 3; Weil-Garris Posner 1974, pp. 33-34, fig. 32; Gould 1975, pp. 117-118, fig. 59; Rosci 1976, pp. 137 (ill.), 154; Clark 1979, p. 12, ill. 6; Pedretti 1979, no. 39; Keele/Pedretti 1979-80, vol. 2, p. 835; Kemp/Smart 1980, pp. 160-171; Pedretti 1982, no. 39; Vezzosi in Vinci 1982, p. 21, fig. 96; Tanaka 1983, pl. 65; Vezzosi in Naples/Rome 1983-84, pp. 90-91, ill. 127 and plate XXIV; Ames-Lewis/Wright 1983, p. 216, fig. 45a; Calvesi 1985, p. 139, ill.; Ames-Lewis 1989, pp. 74-76, fig. 5; Hochstetler Meyer/Glover 1989, p. 80, ill. 9; Kemp/Roberts 1989, p. 65, no. 14; Hinterding/Horsch 1989, p. 53; Londen 1989, no. 14, ill.; Hochsteler Meyer 1990, pp. 279-280, ill. 2, p. 284; Nathan 1990, pp. 52, 57, no. 21, ill. 18; Dalli Regoli 1991, pp. 6, 14, ill. 2; Zeri 1991, p. 179, fig. 269; Marani 1992, p. 19, ill. 13; Pedretti 1993, p. 188; Elen 1993, p. 207; Popham 1994, no. 208; Jaffé 1994, p. 165 under no. 880; Marani 1995, p. 220, fig. 47; Rotterdam 1995, p. 206; Clayton 1996-97, p. 76; Pedretti 1996, p. 63, fig. 6; Ames-Lewis 1997, pp. 119, 121, fig. 4; Pedretti 1997, pp. 258-259, fig. 1-3, 5; Arasse 1997-1998, pp. 422, 425, fig. 281; Vecce 1998, pp. 255-256; Marani 1999, p. 270, ill.; Van der Windt in Florence 2000, no. 1, ill.; Marani 2000, pp. 264, 270, ill.; Franklin 2001, p. 36, ill. 23 (Bachiacca); Nanni in Vinci 2001, pp. 36-37, ill. 18; Testaferrata in Vinci 2002, pp. 112-113, no. 2.4 (facsimile); Lehmann 2001, pp. 94-95, fig. 4; Laurenza 2001, pp. 88-89, fig. 67; Clayton 2002-2003, pp. 150, 152, no. 1 under no. 58; Zöllner 2003, p. 289, ill. 57; Bambach in New York 2003, pp. 53-56, nr. 98, ill; Bambach in Paris 2003, pp. 301-304, no. 105, ill.; Clayton in Ottawa 2005, pp. 64-65, ill. 2.2; Dalli Regoli 2006a, pp. 75-76, ill (incorrect caption); Marani 2003, p. 477 (fig. 6); Marchesi 2005, passim, fig. 1-6; Dalli Regoli 2006b, p. 118, fig. 1 (engraving), p. 123; Geronimus 2006, p. 258, fig. 199; Kemp 2006, p. 264; Lange Malmanger 2006, pp. 107-108, fig. 2; Natali 2007, p. 193, fig. 102, pp. 204-205, fig. 115; Nelson 2007, p. 6, fig. 3 (engraving); Starnazzi 2008, pp. 109, 111, ill.; Marani 2010, p. 175, fig. 30; Budapest 2009-2010, p. 270 under no. 68 (as inspiration for Raphael’s Esterházy Madonna); Clayton 2012, pp. 22-24, under no. 3, fig. 10; Ilsink 2012, pp. 21-22, fig. 6, 7; St Petersburg/Dordrecht/Luxembourg 2014, pp. 290-291, ill.; Brown 2015, p. 177, n. 80; Fiorio 2015, p. 546 (under nos IV. 63, IV 64); Geronimus in Washington 2015, pp. 175, 177, no. 5; Marani 2015, p. 138, fig. 9; Isaacson 2017, p. 328, fig. 82; Haarlem 2018, p. 176, no. 55; Clayton 2018, pp. 94-95, fig. 13; Bambach 2019, vol. 2, pp. 446, 448-451, ill. 8.91, vol. 4, p. 296, no. 494; Kemp 2019, p. 156, ill.; Paris 2019, pp. 292, 421, nr. 147, ill.; Marani 2019, pp. 262, 264, ill.; Quiviger 2019, p. 131 (incorrect illustration); Salvi 2019, pp. 40-41; Zöllner 2019, p. 294, ill. 57; Forcellino 2019, pp. 214-215, 321 (under no. 3.3); Taglialagamba 2019, pp. 309-312 (under no. 3.1), ill. 2b.; Amboise 2023, p. 32, fig. 10
Material	Paper > Vegetable material > Organic material > Material > Material and technique Black chalk > Chalk > Artist's material > Material > Material and technique Brown ink > Ink > Artist's material > Material > Material and technique Pen > Writing materials > Desk accessories > Work > Utensil
Object	Drawing > Two-dimensional object > Art object
Geographical origin	Italy > Southern Europe > Europe

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Entry catalogue Italian Drawings 1400-1600

Author: Michael Kwakkelstein

Leonardo da Vinci, 'Leda and the Swan', c.1505-07, pen and brown ink over black chalk, 160 x 137 mm, Chatsworth, Devonshire Collections. Photo reproduced by permission of Chatsworth Settlement Trustees / Bridgeman Images

This celebrated drawing, one of two by Leonardo da Vinci in Dutch collections, entered the museum in 1940 along with other drawings from Franz Koenigs’s collection.^[1]It depicts a nude woman kneeling between two types of wetland vegetation: tall reeds of the cattail and swirling Star-of-Bethlehem plants.^[2]With her left hand the woman touches the beak of a swan, while her outstretched right arm directs the viewer to two babies that have each hatched out of an egg. According to Greek myth, Leda, the wife of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, produced two eggs after she had been seduced by Zeus in the guise of a swan. From these eggs hatched Helen of Troy, Clytemnestra, and Castor and Pollux.

The sheet belongs to a group of preparatory drawings and sketches by Leonardo that have always been associated with a projected painting: Leda and the Swan.^[3] Yet nothing is known regarding its patron or destination and it is uncertain whether Leonardo’s work on a composition of Leda and the swan ever reached beyond the stage of preliminary studies.^[4]It is generally assumed that Leonardo’s concern with such a composition originated around 1504, that is at the time of his work on the fresco of The Battle of Anghiari for the Hall of the Great Council in Florence, and that, with lengthy interruptions, he continued revising his design for a Leda and the swan composition until circa 1516.^[5]

The complex configuration of Leda’s pose evolved out of earlier sketches, around two of which Leonardo drew a frame, as he also did around the present drawing.^[6] Leonardo may have derived the idea of Leda’s serpentine pose from a celebrated type of crouching or kneeling Venus in antique sculpture.^[7] A technically and stylistically closely similar drawing of slightly larger dimensions at Chatsworth (fig.) represents a variant version of the Leda composition. In it, Leonardo has heightened the erotic content of the scene by turning Leda’s face toward the viewer thereby further emphasizing the sensuous serpentine movement of her body.^[8]Both drawings share Leonardo’s novel use of a dense curved parallel hatching technique to suggest three-dimensional form. The similar state of finish of both drawings indicates that Leonardo was still primarily concerned with defining the form and movements of Leda, the swan, and the children, while the botanical environment received much less attention.

When the drawing was exhibited in Rotterdam in 1995-96, it attracted the attention of Carlo Pedretti (1928-2018), who was one of the world’s leading experts on Leonardo. Following his visit to the exhibition, he published an article expressing his concern regarding the drawing’s poor state of conservation, which he attributed to a ‘senseless restoration’.^[9]In 2005 Monica Marchesi conducted a technical examination of the drawing and concluded that the damage the sheet had suffered was the result of the corrosive effect of iron gall ink.^[10]

Leonardo first sketched the composition in charcoal or soft black chalk before he finished the drawing in pen and ink.^[11]Comparison to Leonardo’s drawings that feature the same hatching technique supports a dating of the Rotterdam drawing to circa 1505-07.^[12]As attested by an autograph sketch and several copies, including a drawing by Raphael (1483-1520) of about 1507, Leonardo abandoned the unstable and compressed pose of a kneeling Leda in favour of portraying Leda standing in a graceful contrapposto.^[13]

Footnotes

^[1]Luijten/Meij 1990, pp. 6-16. The other drawing, illustrating the bust of a bearded old man, is held at the Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam. See Kwakkelstein in: Haarlem 2018, p. 180, no. 58.

^[2]Hochstetler Meyer/Glover 1989, p. 80.

^[3]Leonardo’s authorship of the Rotterdam drawing was not generally accepted until the beginning of the twentieth century, see Bodmer 1931, p. 417 (under s. 329) and Bambach 2019, vol. 2, pp. 446-47.

^[4]According to Hochstetler Meyer 1990 p. 279, ‘literary and pictorial documentation reveals inaccuracies and contradictions which do not support an unequivocal assertion that a painting by Leonardo of this provocative subject ever existed’.

^[5]Three small sketches of the contorted figure of Leda appear on the recto of a sheet at Windsor (inv. 912337) that contains a study of a rearing horse and rider related to studies for The Battle of Anghiari. See Bambach 2019, vol. 2, pp. 446-50.

^[6]Windsor, Royal Collection, inv. 912337r. For a discussion of the evolution of the design for a Leonardo composition of Leda and the swan, see Ames-Lewis 1989 and Bambach 2019, vol. 2, pp. 443-44.

^[7]Allison 1974 and Kemp/Smart 1980. See also Bambach 2019, vol. 2, p. 450.

^[8]In one of the earlier sketches appearing on the recto of the sheet at Windsor (inv. 912337), Leonardo portrayed Leda facing the viewer with her head slightly tilted to her right. Bambach 2019, vol. 2, p. 448, suggests that the Rotterdam drawing preceded the version at Chatsworth, because, as this author argues, the former, ‘exhibits very extensive, thick layers of underdrawing and overdrawing in black chalk’, whereas the ‘less energetic execution’ of the latter points to ‘its role as a draft dedicated to summation rather than exploration’. One wonders why Leonardo drew no frame around the Chatsworth composition.

^[9]Rotterdam 1995-96, p. 206. Pedretti 1997, p. 258. Based on comparison of photographs, Pedretti inferred that the restoration occurred between 1966 and 1983.

^[10]Marchesi 2005, p. 350: ‘The adverse effects of iron gall ink on the drawing are visible, though it is clear that only some passages show losses in the ink and paper surface, while other areas of the drawing remain intact.’ The findings of a recent (2022) technical examination of the drawing confirm the conclusions drawn by Marchesi.

^[11]Bambach 2019, vol. 2, p. 450: ‘Leonardo reworked the swan’s neck and head heavily several times in black chalk underdrawing, before overdrawing in pen and ink, and then again reworking it on top with more black chalk; the beak of the swan originally reached closer to her head.’ Plomp in: Haarlem 2018, p. 176: ‘originally he had the swan nuzzle Leda’s face with its beak.’

^[12]A dating to c.1505-07 based on stylistic comparison to other drawings by Leonardo, is confirmed by Piero di Cosimo’s adaption of the motif of the kneeling and twisting figure of Leda for the left-hand angel in his Madonna and Child with Two Musician Angels (c.1505-07) in Venice, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Galleria di Palazzo Cini. See Capretti in: Florence 2015, p. 292, no. 40 (with previous bibliography).

^[13]Before Raphael left Florence in 1508, he copied a now lost drawing in pen and ink by Leonardo of a standing Leda, closely following the older master’s curvilinear modelling. Windsor, Royal Collection, inv. 912759r, see London 1996-97, p. 77, fig. 12. For an overview of Leonardo’s drawings of Leda and the copies after his design for a kneeling and standing Leda, see Naples/Rome 1983-1984, pp. 90-116. The existence of several painted copies after Leonardo’s composition of a standing Leda and the swan that repeat the pose of the two protagonists but differ greatly in all other elements of the composition, suggests that artists had access to an unfinished cartoon. According to Lange Malmanger 2006, pp. 110-11, Leonardo may have derived the idea of a standing Leda from the classically inspired pose of Filippino Lippi’s Muse Erato (Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Gemäldegalerie), c.1500-03. For Lippi’s painting, see Capretti in: Rome 2011, p. 162, no. 30.

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