Leda and the Swan
c. 1846–83
Medium
Charcoal and gouache with touches of pastel
Dimensions
{"sheet":{"height":0.397,"width":0.545}}
Classification
Drawing
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Bequest of Muriel Butkin
Accession Number
2015.451
Tags
About this artwork
In the late 1520s Michelangelo made a painting depicting Leda and the swan, a mythological story in which Zeus assumes the form of a swan to seduce the mortal woman Leda, producing two children with her. Michelangelo’s version was undeniably more erotic and sensuous than most previous treatments of the subject, as well as more famous. Although the original was lost, several copies of the composition were made from a cartoon (full-scale drawing) that was taken to France by one of Michelangelo’s p...