Art Analysis: Leda

 

Leda, painted by Gail Potocki (b. 1961, American) is a provocative painting depicting a moment from Greek myth. In the myth, Leda, a queen of Sparta, was desired by the god Zeus and was seduced by him in the form of a swan. Most interpretations of the Leda myth today treat the encounter as nonconsensual, at very least by deception. 

In Potocki’s depiction, the rhythm of the composition draws the eye to Leda’s enigmatic expression - she seems to be disengaged, but at the same time, we see her cracking open the egg that, in the myth, would have allowed Leda to give birth to Zeus’s progeny. The egg is not the focal point and although the red tone highlights the violence of both the swan’s act and Leda’s retaliation, it’s largely held apart from Leda’s body, and from the rest of the image through shadow. In other words, this painting depicts a woman who knows something Zeus doesn’t, whose personhood is unimpeachable and undisturbed. I also feel that the swan is depicted in a pinkish or lavender hue to compliment Leda, both aesthetically matching her skin tone and features and coding the image as feminine due to the association of this color with women and girls. The swan is therefore, visually, enveloped by Leda and at the mercy of her feminine strength. To me this is a powerful image depicting rape survivorship and the right to personhood and one’s body.

Gail Potocki: Symbolist painter (no date) GailPotocki.com. Available at: https://www.gailpotocki.com/ (Accessed: 03 February 2025). 

Corryn, E. (2024) ‘Was Leda Really Assualted in the Myth?’, Medium, 22 July. Available at: https://corrynemily.medium.com/was-leda-really-assualted-in-the-myth-a18a4f3ecb27#:~:text=To%20finalize%20the%20point%20that,William%20Butler%20Yeats%20in%201923. (Accessed: 02 February 2025). 

Leda (no date) LEDA - Spartan Queen of Greek Mythology. Available at: https://www.theoi.com/Heroine/Leda.html (Accessed: 03 February 2025).