Study for the Madonna of the Cat

Drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Study for the Madonna of the Cat
it: Studio per la madonna del gatto
Artist	Leonardo da Vinci
Year	c. 1478–1481
Medium	pen and brown ink, on a preparatory drawing in stylus, with a brown wash on the back
Dimensions	13 cm × 9.4 cm (5.1 in × 3.7 in)
Location	British Museum, London
Accession	1856,0621.1
Website	https://www.britishmuseum.org/

Study for the Madonna of the Cat is a set of two drawings by Leonardo da Vinci on both sides (front and back) of a sheet of paper 13 centimeters high and 9.4 centimeters wide. The two drawings were made in pen and brown ink, on a preparatory drawing in stylus, with a brown wash on the back. This is one of the six works of Leonardo da Vinci showing the Virgin and Child playing with a cat or carrying it. A mirror symmetry between the drawings of the two faces is visible by transparency. The Study for the Madonna of the Cat is currently held at the British Museum in London under inventory number 1856,0621.1.^[1]^[2] The creative and scientific processes underlying the drawing Madonna of the Cat have been discussed by many art historians, including Kenneth Clark, Martin Kemp, Carmen Bambach and Larry Feinberg.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

recto
verso

Related drawings by Leonardo

Virgin and Child with cat, recto, Uffizi
Virgin and Child with cat, verso, Uffizi
Virgin and Child with cat, Musée Bonnat
Christ Child with cat, recto, British Museum
Christ Child with cat, verso, British Museum
Christ Child with cat, recto, British Museum
Christ Child with cat, verso, British Museum
Virgin and Child with cat, private collection, NYC

References

^ "Leonardo da Vinci e la "Madonna del gatto": quando il fine giustifica i mezzi". foglidarte.it (in Italian). 2014-10-26. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
^ The British Museum Database
^ Feinberg, Larry J. (2011). "The Madonna of the Cat". The young Leonardo: art and life in fifteenth-century Florence. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 89–97. ISBN 978-1107002395.
^ Clark, Kenneth (1988). Leonardo da Vinci: An Account of his development as an Artist. Pelican (Revised ed.). Penguin Books. pp. 30–33. ISBN 978-0-141-98237-3.
^ Kemp, Martin (2003). "Drawing the boundaries". In Bambach, Carmen C. (ed.). Leonardo da Vinci: Master Draftsman. Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 141–154. ISBN 1588390349.
^ Bambach, Carmen C.; Viatte, Françoise (2003). Leonardo da Vinci: Master Draftsman. Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 291–306, 631–633. ISBN 1588390349.