Leonardo da Vinci: Horses and Other Animals

Horses and Other Animals

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) is considered to be the greatest universal genius of the Italian Renaissance, or even in all of history! He occupied himself not only as a fantastic painter, sculptor, and passionate draftsman, but also as a natural scientist, a philosopher, and explorer in a few other disciplines. For Leonardo, nature was a fascinating cosmos, to which he dedicated countless studies. He recorded his observations in countless notebooks and masterful drawings. An especially entertaining aspect of this preoccupation is the animal world.

A Royal Collection

An impressive collection of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest masters of draftsmanship, are stored in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. This was brought to Great Britain by Charles I, King of England, who acquired the bundle in the year 1630. In the bundle at hand – a part of the great National Edition of the manuscripts and drawings by Leonardo da Vinci – 91 masterful drawings were chosen from this precious fundus that have to do with the theme of Leonardo’s preoccupation with the animal world: drawings of horses and other animals.

Animals in Portrait

The drawings give a delightful, often bizarre inside view into the animal kingdom. Alongside depictions of dogs, cats, donkeys and cows, but also dragons and creatures of fantasy, the focus of the collection is on horses. Leonardo’s drawings originate from a time period of 40 years and are chronologically ordered. They were divided into six primary themes: studies of horses and dragons for morning worship, proportion studies, studies for the Sforza, studies for the Anghiari-horses, studies for the Trivulzio-horse, and finally horses and other animals in later post–1510 allegories.

Leonardo as a Draftsman and Researcher

In this way, the masterful drawings can be wonderfully sorted within Leonardo’s artistic creativity and thus make his work impressively evident. Executed in various media, they also make it possible to experience Leonardo and especially as a grandiose draftsman. Alongside movement studies, which almost appear futuristic, one finds anatomical studies e.g. of the hind legs of a horse and wonderful study sheets with animals in action in every position possible. Here, Leonardo presents himself as a naturalist who carried out nearly-biological studies of the demeanor and anatomy of animals, which were recorded in the medium of drawing.