Randomness Other Artist Portrayls of Leda

 by Fred Einaudi

 by Steven Kenny

 by Paul Cezanne

 correggio

  Bartolomeo Ammanati

 Vincent Sellaer

Leda Atomica Dali's Leda

Leda Atomica Salvador Dali's Leda
Oil on Canvas 1949

I would like to preface that although Dali falls outside the realms of acceptable dates when searching through the plethora of Leda images on ARTSTOR this one jumped out at me. I love the modernized look of Leda and thought it would be an interesting comparison when contrasted agianst the other four from earlier time periods.

Dali's contemporary modern Leda puts leda with the atomic bomb hence the title. The painting seems to be elevating as most elements are not grounded. According to Wikipedia Leda is a portriat of Dali's wife Gala.

On a pedestal, the swan behind her, his interesting use of light and shadow and lack of perspective. Her the shadows fall not from her body but from objects around her. Books, a stepping stool (thanks wikipedia had a hard time determining what that was) and an egg dangle in mid air around her.

In strict mathematical proportion Dali lays out the scene. I was interested in the Atomic Bomb factor and exactly how that played into the myth of Leda. "Her right hand suggest her urge for something that is yet unclear to even herself. The hatched egg could represent the fruit of union of leda with the swan" (wikipedia)

Dali's devout religious beliefs convey another level of interpretation. "The painting can be conceived as Dali's way of interpreting the Annunciation."(Wikipedia)

YouTUBE

Courtesy of YOUTUBE and rodiero I found this video of a bunch of different interpertaions of Leda and the swan.

Tintoretto's Leda

Jacopo Tintoretto Leda the Swan c 1570
Oil on Canvas

Two portrayals of this painting exist. This one the early and the latter almost the same but omits the servant. Since this i interpreration s a comparative analysis of different artist interpretations of Leda and the Swan I will discuss the first and not the latter.

Tintoretto's leda is one of my personal favorites, here were are inside perhaps Leda's bedroom, where Leda is protecting or defending the swan. It illustrates perhaps the moment after the rape occurred.

In an Unknow Tinrotetto article by August L Mayer from the Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs courtesy of JSTOR,  The details of the brush strokes describe the color scheme with the characteristic flesh tints set against the splendidly contrasting tones of the red and green drapery. The figure of leda is similar to that of Danae in lyons, in which the same model seems to be depicted in reverse. (END CITATION)

Titans Danae

Tintoretto warped the normal depiction of Leda by bringing her in the house. Most of the other works in existance show the pair outside. Her body language and pose imply that she is protecting the swan. As legend goes an eagle threatened to carry away the swan. Here the eagle is manifested in the servant.

In contrast to Leondardo's or Michelangelo's, Tintoretto's lavish landscape is juxtaposed agianst an act of courage on the part of Leda. No children are in the painting so I assume that this is pre sex.

Michelangelo's Leda

Michelangelo Leda
Oil on Canvas


Michelangelo's Leda is in a much more sexually provocative pose. Here it seems to suggest the full act of coitus. Leda's thigh is wrapped around the swan.

In Michelangelo's for me it is hard to tell exactly where they are perhaps Leda's bedroom, what this painting does is particularly pin point a moment, that in which Leda was "visited" by the swan. The color palette, and use of light and shadow, and even the detail in the stroke is characteristic of the Renaissance.

It goes without saying that the similarites between these works is that they are portraying the Unification(rape) of Leda and the swan. The diffrences lie in the presentation and in what particurally the artist chose to emphsize.

Leda body is elongated her arm back in a rather unnatural manner, her head seems small of a body that large. Her hair is up in a delicate manor as she leans in. The neck of the swan is snake like and much of its body is concealed behind her thigh. His wings are back and this makes me personally think of the suggestive act of penetration.

Boucher's Leda

Francois Boucher Leda and the Swan 1742
Oil on Canvas

The lush green landscape the decadent red drapery, the attention to detail of the flesh. Boucher's leda is a masterpiece of the French Rococo.

In comparison the the work before, Boucher's is one of the only interpretation placing two women at the scene. In research I did not get a clear consensus as to who the other woman was.

Interesting to note is the way in which the swans neck seem to be representation of the male phallic. Leda's arm is outstretched as the swan inches closer hinting at what is to come.

Looking at the different Leda's from renaissance to rococo it is interesting to note the expression on their faces here, Leda's face and expression to me are typical of what one might see in a rococo interpretation. The softness of her cheeks her delicate pouty lips.

In contrast to the others the swan seems rather small in this interpretation. Da Vinci's swan looks rather tame and domestic, in the lower right hand corner there is a bird suggesting true love? In Boucher's however it does not look like a rape is about to occur, it is more sensual and erotic.

Leonardo Leda

Leonardo Da Vinci
Oil on Panel
This work survives only through copies

I would like to note that through my research it occurred that Leda seems in most interpertations to welcome the violation.

Love, Sex, Betrayal, Lust. Leda is quite the subject. Here in Da Vinci's interpretation the occurance of the rape is not so much represented as in michangelo's interpertation depicting the singular act, instead leda caresses the swans neck, and two out of four of the children play in a rather muted meadow. Hills and the village behind implore an interesting use of perspective and give the painting more depth. So the sense and grounding basis of time is non-existant in Da Vinci's interpertation.

In an article in the Independent by Tom Lubbock, he details that the subject interpertaion of Leda and the swan goes in another direction and forgets that the swan is meant to be Jupiter(Zeus) in temporary disguise. He portrays the connubial bliss of woman and bird.  Here the couple live together swan and wife next to the husbands pond both naked canoodling. There is the suggestion of self gratification as Leda looks away(End Reference)

Da Vinci's use of linear and atmospheric perspective is characteristic of the High Renissance, the common subejct as the rape of Leda is given a softer if not agreeable interpertaion. Forget the fact that Zeus has manifested himself as an animal and raping a human, beastality seemed to be okay back then as long as it was a woman being violated and not a man. The swans wing is around Leda much in the way to lovers would embrace.

In a closer detail Leda holds some sort of bushing or flower, since this image has been lost and recopied it is hard to judge. In this one the swan is darker, Leda more pale so it is hard to gage a valid interpertaion. The darkness of the swan leads my mind to a more sinster place.

The expression on Leda's face remains rather innocent and sly.

Leda the Swan

THE STORY:

In Greek Mythology Leda was the daughter of king Thestius. Mother of Helen (later to be known as Helen of Troy), Clytemenstra, Castor and Pollux.

Zeus (sometimes refered to as Jupiter) admired Leda's beaut,y came down to earth and seduced (raped) her disguised as a swan. They had sex the same night her and her husband Tyndareus, which resulted in two eggs where her four children sprang out of. According to legend which children are from who is not clear nor to which egg the children came out of. It is most often attributed that Helen is the daughter of Zeus due to her exquiste beauty.

Leda and the Swan is a popular motif explored throughout art history and even literature. William Butler Yeats wrote a rather graphic poem detailing the account of the rape of Leda. The story explores many themes. Sex, the supernatural, transformation, and fate vs. free will. Artist from Leondaro to Dali have examined such themes through their work.

Information taken from Encyclopedia Britanica