Leda and the Swan (c. 1846–83): Art, History and Details

Leda and the Swan (c. 1846–83) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Adolphe Yvon (French, 1817–1893).

The work and its context

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

In the late 1520s Michelangelo made a painting depicting Leda and the swan, a mythological story in which Zeus assumes the form of a swan to seduce the mortal woman Leda, producing two children with her. Michelangelo’s version was undeniably more erotic and sensuous than most previous treatments of the subject, as well as more famous. Although the original was lost, several copies of the composition were made from a cartoon (full-scale drawing) that was taken to France by one of Michelangelo’s pupils in the 1530s. This drawing by Adolphe Yvon suggests that Michelangelo’s distinctive sensual rendering of the subject persisted into the 1800s.

Object facts

• Title: Leda and the Swan
• Date: c. 1846–83
• Creator attribution: Adolphe Yvon (French, 1817–1893)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: Charcoal and gouache with touches of pastel
• Dimensions: Sheet: 39.7 x 54.5 cm (15 5/8 x 21 7/16 in.)
• Collection: DR - French
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 2015.451

Collection credit

Bequest of Muriel Butkin

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.