![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)
Recto: A design for an equestrian monument. Verso: Studies of flowing water, a cross-bow, geometry, etc.
c.1485-8RCIN 912358
Leonardo depicts Francesco Sforza wielding a baton, his arms in several alternative positions, and a fallen foe supporting the forelegs of the rearing horse – a necessary prop to stabilise the massive sculpture. This would still have been a hugely ambitious pose, and around 1490 Leonardo changed the design to a more sedate walking pose.