Initially attributed to Sodom, it was recognized to Leonardo da Vinci by Adolfo Venturi, as a study for the head and half-length of the Leda with the swan, the famous lost subject of the Florentine master known from some ancient pictorial copies and original drawings. Some proposals have attempted to refer the drawing to the sphere of Cesare da Sesto or Gianpietrino and finally to Francesco Melzi, the most faithful disciple and heir of all Leonardo's manuscripts and drawings. The drawing, on red prepared paper, is an extraordinary graphic test made of red stone, the potential of which Leonardo first experienced, then transmitting it to his circle. The recent restoration of the drawing carried out by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence has made the quality of the drafting more appreciable, highlighting stylistic methods typical of the Leonardo style such as the engraving marks, the hatching, the soft and homogeneous distribution of the nuance and the accurate intertwining hair on the woman's head.
