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 "leda". the placement of the body is very similar as is its twisting posture. even the positioning of the fingers is mirrored. the swan is caressing the female in exactly the same way.