“Lady with an Ermine”
“Lady with an Ermine” is a fantastic oil on panel painting by the Italian Renaissance master, Leonardo da Vinci, from 1489-1490. It is one of only four portraits of women that Leonardo painted during his lifetime. Along with the Mona Lisa, it is in good company.
In this painting, a young woman is posing with an ermine. She is stylishly dressed, with her shoulders depicted in a drooping fashion, a quality seen as attractive at this time. She is wearing a Spanish-style dress. Her long sleeves are split, showing a soft fabric below, with intricate details at the elbow. She is wearing a long string of beads, looped once around her neck. A black thin ribbon adorns her forehead wrapping around her head, and a golden line embellishes her eyebrows. Though hard to discern, she was originally painted wearing a gauze covering over her hair. She is wearing a coazzone, which was a net covering around the back of the head, with an encased braided plait or wrapped hair attached below.
The woman holding the ermine, or weasel, has been identified as Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, who Leonardo was working for at the time. She was just 16 years old at the time it was painted and was one of Leonardo’s closest women friends.
Different parts of this painting have been retouched over the years. The background has been darkened, which obscured a door that was originally present. Cecilia’s hair has been lengthened. The shadows between her fingers on her hand have been darkened and her dress has been darkened as well.
Many aspects of this painting make it revolutionary and further support how innovative Leonardo was. This oil painting was created in the very first years following the invention of oil as a medium. It appears that by this time, Leonardo had not only taken to the new art medium but had mastered it. Cecilia is depicted at a half turn, a modern pose as at the time, the sitters of portraits were usually depicted looking either straight on, or in full profile. The soft and subtle shading, shading without borders, seen on Cecelia’s neck and face, is a technique called sfumato, also developed by Leonardo. His fingerprints were found on the painting, suggesting that he used his fingers to blend the paint.
“Lady with an Ermine” is currently on display at the Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie in Kraków, Poland.
For more on Leonardo da Vinci, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
