Leda and the Swan

1529 - 1550. Oil on panel.
Room 052B

As in the case of Leonardo with his depiction of this story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the German artist Georg Pencz was inspired by classical sculpture (in this case the Sleeping Ariadne) to depict the seduction of the Aetolian princess by Zeus, transformed into a swan. In contrast to the Renaissance visual tradition, the swan does not wrap itself around Leda but rather flirts with her, allowing Pencz to show her frontally. The children may be three of the four born from this union: Castor, Pollux, Helen and Clytemnestra.

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Inventory number: P006999
Author: Georg Pencz
Title: Leda and the Swan
Date: 1529 - 1550
Technique: Oil
Support: Panel
Dimension: Height: 92 cm; Width: 126 cm
Provenance: Bequest of Manuel González López, Madrid, 1984.
Entry date: 1984

Bibliography +

Karling, Sten, The Stockholm University.Collection of Paintings, University of Stockholm, Estocolmo, 1978.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Catálogo de las pinturas, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1985, pp. 500.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Museo del Prado: inventario general de pinturas. Nuevas Adquisiciones. Museo Iconográfico. Tapices, III, Museo del Prado, Espasa Calpe, Madrid, 1996, pp. nº2047.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Museo del Prado: catálogo de las pinturas, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Madrid, 1996, pp. 279.

Diéguez Rodriguez, Ana, Una Santa Cena identificada en El Escorial y otra en el Maagdenhuis Museum de Amberes, Reales Sitios, XLIX, 2012, pp. 36-43 [42].

Other inventories +

Inv. Nuevas Adquisiciones (iniciado en 1856). Núm. 2047.
Georg Pencz / 2047. 'Leda y el cisne' / T. (0,92 x 1,26) / Cat. 6999 / Donado por D. Manuel González, junto con el lote adquirido por el Estado. / O.M. 13.6.1984.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1985. Núm. 6999.