The myth of Leda, widely known in ancient times, narrating the union of a Greek princess with Jupiter transformed into a swan and the birth of one or two pairs of twins, was handed down over the centuries in literary and artistic tradition.

Representation of the myth in painting and sculpture intensified toward the end of the 15th century and the first decades of the 16th, with the contribution of some of the greatest masters. Among these, Leonardo was the first to use it as an independent subject. Of his project there remain two drawings by his own hand and other more indefinite sketches, while ancient copies (paintings and drawings above all) of very high quality bear witness to the existence of a painting or cartoon that has not come down to us.

Leonardo organized his interpretation of the myth in a clearly defined scheme in which the young woman, entirely nude, appears at the centre; on one side he placed the twins, just emerged from the shell of the egg produced by this unnatural mating, and on the other a gigantic swan- Jupiter. This scheme suggests an alternation between the erotic moment and maternity, assigning to Leda a state of mind fluctuating between tension, uncertainty and tender melancholy.