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Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on June 19, 2020 / Updated on August 2, 2026
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000

Study of Hands by Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci’s Studies of hands is one of the quietest works in the Royal Collection and one of the most revealing. The sheet is a working study made around 1480 in metalpoint on pink prepared paper, and it is now so faded that much of its original drawing is difficult to see in ordinary light [1].

The Royal Collection connects its eight studies of hands with Leonardo’s unfinished Adoration of the Magi in the Uffizi [1]. That modest object fact opens onto Leonardo’s discipline as a draughtsman, his interest in gesture, and the modern conservation science that can recover marks nearly lost to the eye.

At a Glance

  • ArtistLeonardo da Vinci
  • TitleStudies of hands / Study of Hands [1]
  • Datec.1480 [1]
  • MediumMetalpoint, much faded, on pink prepared paper [1]
  • Dimensions27.6 × 18.4 cm [1]
  • CollectionRoyal Collection, RCIN 912615 [1]
  • SubjectEight half-effaced studies of hands connected with the Adoration of the Magi [1]

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. At a Glance
  3. What Survives on the Sheet
  4. Metalpoint on Prepared Paper
  5. Hands, Gesture and the Adoration
  6. Fading and Visibility
  7. Ultraviolet Examination
  8. Provenance
  9. Why This Drawing Matters
  10. Annotated Details

Annotated Details from Study of Hands

The annotated image treats the sheet as a close study of gesture: upper hand, lower hand, crossing fingers and the sleeve-like forms that frame them.

Annotated details from Study of Hands by Leonardo da Vinci 1 2 3 4

Details from STUDY OF HANDS

Close looking highlights the details that structure this Leonardo page while keeping object and image-source caveats separate.

1

Upper hand

The upper hand gives the study its most delicate modelling and directional movement.

Upper hand detail in Study of Hands by Leonardo da Vinci
2

Lower hand

The lower hand repeats and varies the gesture, showing Leonardo testing a pose rather than copying it mechanically.

Lower hand detail in Study of Hands by Leonardo da Vinci
3

Crossing fingers

The overlapping fingers make the drawing a study in touch, contour and layered form.

Crossing fingers detail in Study of Hands by Leonardo da Vinci
4

Sleeve and reserve

The lower forms and blank paper keep the study open and exploratory.

Sleeve and reserve detail in Study of Hands by Leonardo da Vinci

What Survives on the Sheet

The Royal Collection describes the sheet as containing eight studies of hands [1]. Leonardo is not recording one settled pose. He is testing variations: hands that open, bend, overlap, support, receive or gesture.

In a painting such as the Adoration of the Magi, hands do not merely complete bodies. They direct attention, express wonder, frame the sacred centre and distinguish one figure’s response from another’s. The sheet isolates that expressive problem before it disappears into the swirl of a large composition.

The drawing is not reducible to anatomy alone. It is certainly relevant to Leonardo’s lifelong interest in the body, but it is closer here to a painter’s investigation of expressive form. The hand is studied because it is structure, but also because it is action.

Metalpoint on Prepared Paper

The medium is central to the drawing’s character. The Royal Collection identifies the sheet as metalpoint, much faded, on pink prepared paper [1]. That wording is more precise than older broad descriptions of the work as silverpoint with white highlights.

Metalpoint rewards control. The artist draws with a metal stylus on a prepared surface, and the mark depends on the interaction between the metal and the coating on the paper. It is a medium of fine, deliberate line rather than broad correction.

Prepared grounds could give a sheet a toned middle value against which lines and highlights might work. The Royal Collection’s technical publication on Leonardo’s drawings emphasizes the importance of paper preparations, drawing media and specialist photographic techniques for understanding how Leonardo worked [3].

Hands, Gesture and the Adoration

The Royal Collection directly connects the sheet with Leonardo’s Adoration of the Magi in the Uffizi [1]. That connection needs care. The drawing is not a direct one-to-one transfer to a single surviving figure; its value lies in showing how Leonardo was thinking through gesture.

The Uffizi describes the Adoration as an unfinished commission received in July 1481 for San Donato in Scopeto, with Leonardo leaving Florence for Milan in 1482 before completing it [4]. Preparatory drawings help reveal what Leonardo was solving before paint could settle the composition.

In an Adoration scene, the Magi offer gifts, attendants gesture, onlookers respond and bodies gather around the Christ Child. Hands create the human traffic of the picture. The Windsor sheet concentrates that traffic into a group of studies.

Fading and Visibility

The most dramatic modern fact about Studies of hands is that the drawing nearly disappeared from ordinary view. The Royal Collection’s UV account explains that several Leonardo sheets can seem blank in visible light, while ultraviolet examination makes their designs suddenly visible [2].

In 1935 the sheet was described as much rubbed, half-effaced and almost invisible. In the 1950s, conservators at the British Museum and its research laboratory examined it under ultraviolet light, revealing the hand studies more clearly [2].

The UV image is not a replacement for the object. It is a way of recovering information from it. The visible-light appearance tells us about age, material change and fragility; the ultraviolet image tells us about diminished marks that the eye can no longer read easily.

Ultraviolet Examination and Conservation Science

The Royal Collection’s account places the ultraviolet recovery in the 1950s and describes it as an example of how technical analysis can aid the study of works of art [2].

The wider technical context matters because Leonardo’s drawings often preserve working decisions more directly than finished paintings. Specialist photography, ultraviolet examination and spectrographic analysis can clarify papers, grounds and drawing media [3].

The ultraviolet evidence is important because it shows how technical examination can recover faded information without replacing the original sheet.

Provenance

The Royal Collection gives a concise provenance for the sheet. It was bequeathed to Francesco Melzi, Leonardo’s pupil and heir; passed from Melzi’s heirs to Pompeo Leoni around 1582–90; was with Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel, by 1630; was probably acquired by Charles II; and was in the Royal Collection by 1690 [1].

That chain matters because Leonardo’s drawings have a different survival history from finished altarpieces or portraits. Many were studio materials before they became prized works of art.

The Royal Collection’s holdings at Windsor are therefore not just a storehouse of beautiful drawings. They are one of the major historical witnesses to Leonardo’s studio afterlife.

Why This Drawing Matters

Studies of hands matters because it makes Leonardo’s method visible at a small scale. It shows him concentrating on a fragment of the body that carries unusually rich expressive force.

The drawing also helps balance the common image of Leonardo as an effortless genius. Nothing about this sheet feels effortless. The hands are not decorative additions to a finished composition; they are problems being worked through.

The sheet belongs naturally beside Leonardo’s other drawings, including proportion studies such as the Vitruvian Man and later anatomical investigations. The Royal Collection’s anatomy account emphasizes how Leonardo’s interest in the body developed from proportion and observation into deeper empirical study [5].

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Leonardo da Vinci’s Study of Hands?
It is a small, faded sheet of eight studies of hands in the Royal Collection, made around 1480 in metalpoint on pink prepared paper.
Where is Study of Hands today?
The drawing belongs to the Royal Collection and is catalogued as RCIN 912615.
What medium did Leonardo use for Study of Hands?
The Royal Collection records the medium as metalpoint, much faded, on pink prepared paper.
Why is ultraviolet light important for this drawing?
The drawing is difficult to see in ordinary light, but ultraviolet examination revealed hand studies that had become almost invisible.
How is Study of Hands connected to the Adoration of the Magi?
The Royal Collection connects the hand studies with Leonardo’s unfinished Adoration of the Magi in the Uffizi.

Discussion

Use this space to discuss Study of Hands by Leonardo da Vinci, its source evidence and how it fits into Leonardo da Vinci's wider cluster.

Keep comments focused on close looking, attribution language, object evidence and page-specific caveats.

Reader Insights

Close Looking

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Context

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Evidence

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References

  1. Royal Collection Trust, “Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Studies of hands, c.1480, RCIN 912615”, accessed 28 July 2026.
  2. Royal Collection Trust, “Surprising Revelations: Studies of hands”, accessed 28 July 2026.
  3. Royal Collection Trust, Alan Donnithorne, Leonardo da Vinci: A Closer Look, accessed 28 July 2026.
  4. Uffizi Galleries, “Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo da Vinci”, accessed 28 July 2026.
  5. Royal Collection Trust, Martin Clayton, “Leonardo’s Study of Anatomy”, accessed 28 July 2026.