Allegorical Theme: Combat of Animals (c. 1515–20): Art, History and Details

Allegorical Theme: Combat of Animals (c. 1515–20) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Master of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist (Italian); Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452-1519).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This engraver from Milan, Italy, was familiar with engravings by Andrea Mantegna (the rock face derives from one of Mantegna’s prints), but unlike Mantegna, he used a mixture of short flicks, curved lines, and sparse stippling in this inventive composition full of animals and a monster. Based on a sketch by Leonardo da Vinci, Milan’s most renowned artist, the image depicts an allegory (a story with symbolic meaning). The fighting creatures symbolize emotions like lust, anger, fear, and greed, while the human figure, representing Reason, reflects the sun’s rays with a mirror to deflect these human weaknesses.

Object facts

• Title: Allegorical Theme: Combat of Animals
• Date: c. 1515–20
• Creator attribution: Master of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist (Italian); Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452-1519)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Dimensions: Sheet: 22.6 x 31.9 cm (8 7/8 x 12 9/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1922.141

Collection credit

Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.