Leda and the Swan (Peter Paul Rubens) either Zeus or Tyndareus, each man is said to be the father of all four children. Castor and Pollux were called the Dioscuri meaning “Zeus’s sons,” even though Castor was mortal because he was the son of Tyndareus and Pollux was immortal because he was the son of Zeus. According to Hermes in Lucians’ "The Dialogues of the Dead", Leda and her daughter (Helen of Troy) are the only women worthy of the title “beauties of old.” Rubens’s depictions of Leda clearly embody the phrase. With Leda’s curvy figure, alabaster skin, and golden hair, she is a sight to behold.
Leda and the Swan (Correggio) and extraordinary balance between naturalist rendering and poetic transfiguration. Correggio had made a study of Michelangelo's "Leda and the Swan". According to Vasari's "Lives of the Artists", the "Leda" and a "Venus" (i.e. "Danaë") were commissioned by Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua as a gift for Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. This is supported by the theory that Jupiter was flying out of the right hand side of "Leda" in swan form and into the left hand side of "Danaë" in golden-shower form. However, one more recent study suggests that all the paintings in the "amori di Giove" series