Studies of Insects: a Winged Insect and a Dragonfly
Pen-and-ink studies, a broad-winged insect above and a dragonfly below
The Biblioteca Reale catalogues this small sheet as studies of insects (ca. 1480-1490 and ca. 1503-1505). In pen and ink it shows two large insect studies: an insect seen frontally with two broad rounded wings spread to either side and its legs splayed, and, below, a dragonfly viewed from above with four long wings and a slender segmented body. A collector's stamp and a tiny insect sketch appear near the lower edge; the sheet carries no writing.
On this page
Broad-winged insect seen from the front
The upper study shows an insect drawn frontally, with two large rounded wing-cases or wings spread wide to either side, a segmented body, and its jointed legs braced beneath. The paper has been cut around the outline of the wings.
Dragonfly with outstretched wings
The lower study is a dragonfly seen from above, its four elongated wings spread flat and its long, finely segmented abdomen trailing down the sheet. The head and thorax are worked up in darker ink.