Leda and the Swan, by Peter Paul Rubens, who painted two versions of this subject. The first was completed in 1601 and the second in 1602. Rubens was heavily influenced by Michelangelo. He was introduced to his work on his journey to Italy. Rubens decided to go to Rome to make copies of paintings and further his studies of Italian art from the leading Italian artists of the previous century, later termed the Renaissance. In Rome, he encountered Michelangelo's version of Leda and the Swan. Even though Michelangelo's version does not exist today, copies of it do. A copy of Michelangelo's original work was done by Rubens. Rubens would have been familiar with Michelangelo's Leda. His version is considered a prototype for Rubens's two works. Rubens's 1601 Leda, was modeled after Michelangelo's