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Primary sourcePaintingc. 1490 and c. 1504

Profile of a Man and Study of Two Riders

Leonardo da Vinci · c. 1490 and c. 1504

A drawing combining a profile study of an old man's head with sketches of a nude figure and horsemen, by Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo drew this sheet himself, combining a profile study with sketches of riders over several years.

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Pen-and-ink and red chalk drawing on aged paper showing a bald old man's profile with a grid of construction lines, a nude figure in red chalk at right, and sketched riders on horseback at lower left. Handwritten mirror-script notes appear at upper left.
Leonardo da Vinci, Profile of a Man and Study of Two Riders, c. 1490 and c. 1504.

About this source

What it is

This sheet by Leonardo da Vinci was drawn partly around 1490 and partly around 1504. It uses pen-and-ink and red chalk to show a bald old man's profile with construction lines, a nude figure in red chalk, and sketched horsemen at the lower left, with mirror-script notes at the top.

Why it matters

Leonardo often reused sheets of paper over years, returning to studies of the human body and adding new sketches of animals in motion, such as horses and riders. This drawing shows how he worked on multiple projects — anatomical proportion and the depiction of movement — across a long period of time.

Look closer

  • Why might Leonardo have drawn on the same sheet years apart?
  • What differences do you notice between the pen-and-ink profile and the red chalk figure?
  • What might the sketches of riders have been studies for?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Leonardo da Vinci on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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