Little remains today of Leonardo’s work as a sculptor. However, his surviving preparatory drawings for sculptural commissions illustrate an acute understanding of three-dimensional form and considerable skill in conveying it in two-dimensions.

In this series of studies related to a monument for the Condottiere Giangiacomo Trivulzio, Leonardo returns to an early idea seen in his Study for the Sforza Equestrian Monument. The rearing horse and rider are shown in profile view in all four studies, probably because the primary objective was the design of the classical pedestal, which is the focus of the lower studies. The three-dimensional forms of the horse and rider have been conveyed with great economy. Curved, parallel hatched lines have been applied to round out the forms in strategic areas, mainly the stomach, rump and neck of the horse, and the twisting back of the rider in the upper drawing.

In the more highly worked study on the lower left, the sense of three-dimensionality is further increased. The turn of the horse’s head not only controls the sense of forward thrust of horse and rider but increases the sense of fluid movement in space.

In Leonardo's words
In that [monument] at Pavia the movement is more to be admired than anything else. The imitation of antique work is more praiseworthy than those of the moderns…The trot almost has the quality of a free horse. Where natural vivacity is lacking it must be supplied by art.