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LEONARDO da Vinci: Old man with ivy wreath and lion’s head

🖼 Old man with ivy wreath and lion’s head, 1503-05
Red chalk with white highlight on pink prepared paper
183 × 136 cm
Windsor, United Kingdom

Delicate line work captures an elderly bearded man crowned with ivy, his profile paired with a fierce lion's head in Renaissance study. Leonardo's dual portrait explores masculine archetypes—wisdom and power—revealing his obsession with physiognomy and the human condition.

The story of art
The story of art
E. H. Gombrich
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