Drawings of Horses and Other Animals by Leonardo da Vinci (Collection) Facsimile Edition

The collection Drawings of Horses and Other Animals by Leonardo da Vinci comprises ninety-one leaves and cuttings of drawings created throughout most of the artist's career, from the earliest commissions to his final years in Italy (ca. 1478-1516). Executed chiefly in Florence and Milan, where the master spent most of his life, the drawings in a variety of media include studies from nature of domesticated animals, fantastic beasts, and detailed instructions for bronze casting. Mostly made in preparation for major commissions in paint and sculpture, they reveal the artist’s innovative, sometimes apparently frenzied, approach to finding ideas and solutions in the process of execution.

Major commissions behind many of the drawings include the Adoration of the Magi in the Uffizi and three unfinished works: a colossal equestrian monument to Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan; a mural painting of the Battle of Anghiari for Florence's Palazzo della Signoria; and a tomb for Gian Giacomo Trivulzio.

A Master of Many Media

The collection showcases Leonardo's mastery of ink, chalk, and metalpoint. His ink drawings often display a furious jumble of lines from which animal forms emerge (e.g., studies for the Trivulzio tomb on fols. 133r and 135r). The red chalk drawings are calmer and treat animal physiognomies with tenderness (e.g., the horse's head drawings on fols. 149r and 150r).

Leonardo's skill with silverpoint on tinted paper appears on the sheet with a horse in profile (fol. 89r). Crisp lines define the horse’s shape, and notations give measurements in "heads" divided into sixteenths.

Oxen, Asses, and Dragons

The earliest drawings were preparatory for paintings of the Adoration of the Shepherds and the Adoration of the Magi. They include oxen and asses for the Adoration of the Shepherds and fighting dragons perhaps for the Adoration of the Magi (e.g., fols. 71r, 78r, 87r).

An Equestrian Monument

The Sforza monument drawings show both Leonardo's original idea—the duke on a rearing warhorse with a defeated figure on the ground (fol. 106r)—and a revised plan with a stately striding horse (e.g., fol. 92r). Although the ambitious project was ultimately abandoned, Leonardo created technical drawings for the bronze casting process (fol. 112r).

Horses in Battle

In 1503, Leonardo received a prestigious commission to paint the Battle of Anghiari, commemorating Florence's victory over Milan in 1440. His preparatory drawings show vignettes of soldiers on horseback (fols. 120-123) and studies of rearing horses (e.g., fol. 113r).

An Equestrian Tomb

The Windsor collection drawings are our only visual evidence for a planned equestrian tomb for Trivulzio, a professional soldier. The striding horse and rider were to be mounted on an elaborate base with the recumbent warrior on his sarcophagus (fol. 135r), but Leonardo may have also considered a rearing horse (fol. 133r).

Acquired by Thomas Howard by 1630

Leonardo bequeathed his drawings and notebooks to his pupil Francesco Melzi, and the sculptor Pompeo Leoni (d. 1608) acquired them from Melzi's son and created at least two large albums. The album with the horse drawings was in England by 1630, in the collection of Thomas Howard (1585-1646), Earl of Arundel.

Within fifty years, the album had been acquired by King Charles II. The drawings were removed from the album during the reign of Victoria (1819-1901), Queen of Great Britain, and mounted individually. The empty binding of Pompeo Leoni's album is preserved separately.

The collection includes the following groups of drawings: 

XI. Horse and Dragon Studies for Early Adorations, ca. 1478-80
XII. Proportion Studies, ca. 1480-93
XIII. Studies for the Sforza Horse, ca. 1483-95
XIV. Studies for Anghiari Horses, ca. 1503-5
XV. Studies for the Trivulzio Horse, ca. 1508-13
XVI. Horses and Other Animals in Late Allegories, after 151

(The groups of drawings from I to X are featured in vol. I Landscapes and Plants and Water Studies).