Leda is a nude frontal portrait of Dalí's wife, Gala, who is seated on a pedestal with a swan suspended behind and to her left.

In the background on both sides, the rocks of Cap Norfeu (on the Costa Brava in Catalonia, between Roses and Cadaqués) define the location of the scene.

Unlike his contemporaries who took the view that mathematics distracted from or interrupted artistic inspiration, Dalí considered that any work of art, to be such, had to be based on composition and calculation.

"[3] In reference to the classical myth Dalí identified himself with the immortal Pollux while his deceased older brother (also called Salvador) would represent Castor, the mortal of the twins.

Another equivalence could be made regarding the other twins of the myth, Dalí's sister Ana María being the mortal Clytemnestra, while Gala would represent divine Helen.

[1] Salvador Dalí himself wrote: "I started to paint Leda Atómica which exalts Gala, the metaphysical goddess and succeeded to create the ‘suspended space’".