![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 palazzo, and a fountain of Neptune. Verso: Notes on Cyprus and the legend of the Sirens
c.1508-10RCIN 912591
The architectural designs are probably a projected residence for the French governor of Milan, Charles d’Amboise, and the accompanying notes describe a pleasure garden in idyllic terms. The figure of Neptune, with sea-horses sketched at his feet (and his pose based on Michelangelo’s ‘David’), may have been intended for a fountain in the garden.