LEONARDO DA VINCI 1452-1519

Workshop of Leonardo da VINCI Vinci, 1452–Amboise, 1519 Leda Oil on panel About 1505–1510 This painting, probably executed by one of Leonardo’s close collaborators, reproduces the master’s final composition on the mythological story of Leda. The young woman is now standing with her arms around the swan and admiring her newly-hatched offspring.The royal painting collection in the Château de Fontainebleau included a Leda that was lost in the late 17th century, and that may have been painted by Leonardo. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, inv. 1890 n. 9953 After an original by Praxiteles Torso of the Aphrodite of Knidos Type Thasian marble 2nd century AD This torso is of the ‘Aphrodite of Knidos’ type, based on a sculpture of the goddess created in about 350 BC by the Athenian sculptor Praxiteles and placed in the temple of Aphrodite on the island of Knidos. It depicted Aphrodite standing with her right hand hiding (or indi- cating) her pubis, while her other hand places a garment on a hydria (water jar) evoking her ritual bath. Leonardo probably drew inspiration from a similar fragment for his painting of Leda standing in a landscape. Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, Musée du Louvre, Paris, MA 2184 155 156