Set of two lithographic prints comprising:
lithographic print of drawing by Leonardo da Vinci entitled A Man Tricked by Gypsies, originally drawn c.1493
Acquired by Charles II, King England (1630-85). Bequeathed to Francesco Melzi; purchased by Pompeo Leoni, c.1582-90; Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel by 1630 and finally resting with The Royal Collection by 1690.Pen and Ink on white paper. Recto: A composition of five heads depicting four grotesque gypsies surrounding the central figure of an old man wearing a wreath of oak leaves. Gypsies acquired a reputation for fortune telling and theft in the early fifteenth century and were ordered to leave Milan in April 1493. The drawing shows the figure on the right reading the old man's palm - a section of the paper has for some reason been trimmed off at an earlier date - whilst in the foreground the crone on the left slips her hand beneath his arm to steal his purse. Verso: An inscription describing evil men.
Print size inches: 7.8 x 9.8 together with lithographic print of drawing by Leonardo da Vinci entitled A Deluge or Cloudburst, originally drawn c.1517-18
Acquired by Charles II, King England (1630-85). Bequeathed to Francesco Melzi; purchased by Pompeo Leoni, c.1582-90; Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel by 1630 and finally resting with The Royal Collection by 1690.Pen and black ink with wash. Probably executed during the last couple of years of Leonardo's life, the cataclysmic storm became one of Leonardo's favourite themes both in his drawings and writings. His dramatic execution of The Deluge illustrates his fascination of the destructive force of wind and water on the landscape. The inscription, all but hidden among the clouds at the top, demonstrates his scientific approach of understanding. It reads; 'Of rain. You will show the degrees of falling rain at various distances and of varying degrees of obscurity, and let the darkest part be closest to the middle of its thickness'.
Print size inches: 8.2 x 6.5