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

Study of horses

c. 1490
Silverpoint on prepared paper, 250 x 187 mm
Royal Library, Windsor

Leonardo displays considerable delicacy in the modelling of the outer surface of the horse, and this combines with a confidence in its figural design. Since the Adoration of the Magi Leonardo had become particularly interested in horses, and this is documented by a large number of studies of their proportions and movements.