Leda and the Swan
1503 to 1507
Leda and the Swan is a painting completed by Leonardo da Vinci in 1508. The completed work of art displays highly detailed images of plants. The plants da Vinci draws are unlike most of those seen in other artists paintings prior to this time. The Pre-Renaissance era of art marked a time when plants were shown as being distinct from each other but only slightly. Da Vinci was one of the first to portray plants in a very organic lifelike manner. In preparation for painting Leda and the Swan, Leonardo completed many studies and sketches of plants that then lead him to write down his observations in his notebooks. The original Leda and the Swan was lost but has since been recreated and now is displayed in the Uffizi.
image from Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leda_Melzi_Uffizi.jpg and within the public domain and fair use.