GIAMPIETRINO
(active 1520-40 in Milan)

Leda and her Children

c. 1520
Oil on wood, 128 x 106 cm
Staatliche Museen, Kassel

This Leda was formerly thought to be the work of Leonardo. However, it is now attributed to Giampietrino who made it after the lost painting by Leonardo. The contribution of Bernazzano (active in Milan that time) is also assumed.

Of the many amatory affairs of Zeus, the father of the gods, the best known is probably that with Leda, whom he approached in the form of a swan. The offspring of this union were the two pairs of twins, Castor and Pollux and Helena and Clytemnestra.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 2 minutes):
Jean-Philippe Rameau: Castor et Pollux, March