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LEONARDO DA VINCI (VINCI 1452-AMBOISE 1519)
A satire on aged lovers
c.1490RCIN 912449
Recto: a drawing of a grotesque couple in conversation, with the woman in front and the man behind her, to left. Verso: two marks.
The gap-toothed man offers the extravagantly dressed old woman a flower, the circular bloom of which is visible above the line of his shoulder. The drawing is a rather cruel satire on the vanity and ridiculousness of the elderly behaving like young lovers.
Text adapted from 'Leonardo da Vinci: the Divine and the Grotesque'