A drawing of a bird's-eye view of a broad river with a chain ferry in the foreground carrying oxen and a herdsman, who raises a stick to strike one of the beasts. On the right is a bank with a landing-stage on wheels pushed out into the water. Beyond, the river winds among fields and trees. There is no suggestion of a horizon. Melzi's number 133.

Leonardo drew his most exquisite landscapes while staying at the family villa of his pupil Francesco Melzi, at Vaprio, east of Milan, around 1512. This drawing was made from a window in the villa, the river Adda flowing towards us over a series of shallow rapids. The minuteness of the drawing testifies to the precision of Leonardo’s touch – and eyesight – even as he turned 60.

Text adapted from Leonardo da Vinci: A life in drawing, London, 2018