Leda and the Swan

In his lifelong quest to acquire all things Italian, François I sought to attract the greatest lights of Italian painting-including Leonardo and Michelangelo-to his court. While he succeeded in convincing the aged Leonardo to enter his service in 1516, Michelangelo did not accept François’s invitation. However, a rare panel painting of Leda and the Swan by Michelangelo did make its way to France in the possession of Michelangelo’s pupil, Antonio Mini; the painting has since been lost. While in François’s possession, it would likely have hung in his bath house with his other fine Italian paintings.The story of Leda comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and tells of a mortal maiden who was seduced by Jupiter in the form of a swan. To judge from similar subject matter in the decorations for his palace at Fontainebleau, François seems to have been particularly intrigued by the idea of a powerful ruler made foolish enough by passionate, excessive desire to transform himself into an animal. Contemporaries would have enjoyed the eroticism of the scene, while benefiting from a moral lesson.