Search results

Start typing

This exhibition is in the past. View our current exhibitions.
LEONARDO DA VINCI (VINCI 1452-AMBOISE 1519)

A horse in profile divided by lines

c.1480

RCIN 912318

A study of a horse, full length, standing in profile to the left; the off legs are indicated in two positions and the body is divided into sections as if for measurement. To the left is a drawing of the near hind-leg and quarters of a horse in profile to the left. The sheet has irregularly cut upper corners. The drawing is datable to Leonardo's first Florentine period, when he was associated with the sculptor Andrea del Verrocchio. In April 1480 an equestrian monument was commissioned from Verrocchio, and drawings survive that seem to be his related studies of the dimensions of the horse. Leonardo may have been prompted to make this study in emulation of Verrocchio's researches, but the drawing is uncertain in purpose, and the absence of annotations suggests that Leonardo simply sketched a horse and drew lines between salient points. Text adapted from 'Leonardo da Vinci: the Divine and the Grotesque'
  • 3 mounts. Non identical with anything else in Briquet, except mid-century mid-Italian. Clark & Pedretti: watermark of Mountain of Cavalry, Briquet range 11678-11728 (one of the earliest and most widely diffused Italian watermarks)
    stamp, ER VII, crowned, in oval: Lugt 901


The income from your ticket contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.