Page of Head of Leda by LEONARDO da Vinci in the Web Gallery of Art, a searchable image collection and database of European paintings and sculptures (1100-1850)

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Head of Leda

1503-07
Black chalk, pen and ink on paper, 177 x 147 mm
Royal Library, Windsor

The skillfully plaited hair is probably a hairstyle invented by Leonardo. The study of Leda's head and hairstyle shows a head and neck modelled by means of hatchings along the lines of the form. Leonardo gradually introduced this technique into his drawings shortly before 1500. Previously he had predominantly used parallel hatchings.