![Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci attributed to Francesco Melzi](https://cmsadmin.rct.uk/sites/default/files/lead_image_half_height/RC1894_Leonardo%201600%20x%20625_Yellow.jpg)
LEONARDO DA VINCI (VINCI 1452-AMBOISE 1519)
A portrait of a woman in profile
c.1490RCIN 912505
A drawing of the head and shoulders of a girl, turned in profile to the right, wearing a cap on the back of her head
Leonardo executed several portrait paintings during his career. This beautiful drawing of a young woman may have been a study for a lost painting, or a finished work in its own right. The portrait was clearly drawn directly from the life, and there is a remarkably wide range of handling of the metalpoint, from the free sweeping outlines of the bust and flowing layers of loose hair to the very restrained modelling of the face.