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Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileLeda after Leonardo da Vinci (auction) 2
A nude Leda stands in a contrapposto pose, looking down at two large, cracked eggs from which her children—Castor, Pollux, Helen, and Clytemnestra—are emerging. She rests her arm on the wing of a large swan, representing Zeus in disguise, who curves his neck toward her. The scene is set in a lush, darkened landscape that emphasizes the pale skin of the figures and the white plumage of the bird.
Based on a lost composition by Leonardo da Vinci, this motif explores the Neoplatonic theme of the union between the divine (Zeus as swan) and the mortal (Leda). In the Western esoteric tradition, the birth of the Dioscuri from the 'cosmic egg' serves as an allegory for the generation of dualities and the alchemical 'Philosopher's Egg' from which new life and wisdom are hatched.
Ovid
Primary classical source for the myth of Leda and the Swan in the Metamorphoses.
Leonardo da Vinci
This print is a copy of a famous lost painting by Leonardo, which heavily influenced Renaissance depictions of the generative power of nature.
Object
Engraving
mythological
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
https://www.flickr.com/photos/27259819@N05/6130747426/in/album-72157624774869042/
Public domain
702 × 1010 px
dd9238ed4a928dc125cad9f5bb6a07bc17b92520
September 29, 2017
March 24, 2026
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 2, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.