LEONARDO da Vinci
(b. 1452, Vinci, d. 1519, Cloux, near Amboise)

Garment study for a seated figure

1470-84
Brush and grey distemper on grey canvas, 266 x 233 mm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Garment studies were part of the training of every painter. It is likely that prepared materials were used for this in the workshops in Florence. On them, the students were above all able to study the depiction of light and shade, which is why these works appear to have been carried out primarily in one colour. Several such garment studies at different levels of artistic ability survive, though their attribution is disputed. It is above all the fineness of this study that has led to its being attributed to Leonardo.