Ovid's Metamorphoses, recounting lively tales from Classical mythology, was much used by Renaissance artists. In 1497 a Venetian printer, Zoane Rosso, published a new edition of the text accompanied by allegorical interpretations and illustrative woodcuts that became essential sources for maiolica painters. The first Italian translation was printed in 1522, which greatly increased the popularity of Ovid and set the precedent for further translations into the vernacular. Ovid was extremely important to the humanistic tradition of the Renaissance, and was studied alongside Circero, Horace and Virgil.
Leda was important as a wife and mother. She was the wife of Tyndareus (a king of Sparta) and mother to many noble children.
According to the Greek myth, Leda was approached by the god Zeus, masquerading as a swan, and the subsequent union resulted in the birth of Helen, who later became the wife of Theseus, King of Athens, and renowned for her very great beauty.
The story of Leda conformed very neatly with the importance of dynastic fulfilment and the continuation of a noble lineage. Such a plate would have been admired not just for its beauty and erudition in recalling episodes from classical mythology but may also have appealed to the Renaissance inclination to the erotic. Indeed, numerous plates bearing such mythical or allegorical themes have lifted their subjects directly from such sources as Giulio Romano's I modi, the notorious erotic prints illustrative of various sexual positions.