Leonardo da Vinci’s Head of a Bear | Christie’s

Using a technique known as silverpoint, Leonardo da Vinci produced two splendid drawings of bears: one is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the other is being offered in the Exceptional Sale at Christie’s in London on 8 July. The latter, probably drawn after a live bear in captivity, depicts a close-up of its head. Several hundred drawings by Leonardo survive to this day. Head of a Bear, however, is one of just eight in private hands (if we exclude works in Britain’s Royal Collection and the Devonshire Collection at Chatsworth House). Beyond this, Head of a Bear also stands out because of a crucial but little-known connection to one of Leonardo’s finest paintings.