Leda and the Swan
Ca. 1812. Indian ink wash, Pencil, Grey-brown wash, Pencil on laid paper.Not on display
This drawing, remarkable for its sharp outlines and precise shading, reworks the myth of Leda and the swan, using allegorical elements taken from Apollodorus’ account. Leda holds the bird – according to Ovid, “the adulterer [Zeus] had covered himself in feathers”– while the Three Graces pour gifts into her lap; they are accompanied by a winged figure, perhaps Divine Love, in a scene of great symbolic complexity.
