DON'T TELL THE DUCHESS!: Lady With An Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 เม.ย. 2019
- LADY WITH AN ERMINE by Leonardo da Vinci, 1489, Oil on wood panel, 54 cm × 39 cm (21 in × 15 in)
THIS PAINTING IS NOW AVAILABLE AS A HANDMADE OIL PRODUCTION FROM 1ST ART GALLERY: www.1st-art-gallery.com/Leona...
ABOUT THIS PAINTING: There exists only four completed female portraits by Leonardo Da Vinci; the Mona Lisa being the most famous. This painting, known as Lady With An Ermine, though not as famous, is a beautiful portrait and a bit of a curiosity.
The sitter is Cecilia Gallerani, a woman of humble background. She was 16 at the time of this portrait and was the mistress of the Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan. Their short-lived affair, produced an illegitimate son, which didn't sit well with duke's new wife who forced him to end the relationship by marrying Cecilia off to a local count named Bergamino.
In 1489, DaVinci was requested by the Duke to make this portrait.
Cecilia wears an unadorned and pleasant countenance, unassuming and devoid of artifice. Her hair conforms tightly to the shape of her head; parted in the middle, it comes down, covers her cheeks and is braided and bound in a casing under her chin. She sports a fashionable Spanish-style dress and her black beads set off her pale skin.
DaVinci favored a 3/4 view for portraits, that is portraits seen at an angle rather than in profile or head on. However, he takes the pose one step further with the model’s dramatic turn to her left as if something or someone has caught her attention.
The elephant in the room is this ermine cradled in her arms. The ermine was prized for its fur, used to adorn royal and ecclesiastical garments.
However in this painting the ermine symbolizes moderation and purity. As DaVinci noted “The ermine out of moderation never eats but once a day, and it would rather let itself be captured by hunters than take refuge in a dirty lair, in order not to stain [its white coat].”
Also during the Renaissance the ermine was thought to represent pregnancy, and it seems clear Cecilia was pregnant by the way her left arm holds her midsection.
Though a wonderful portrait, I doubt the Duchess allowed the Duke to hang it in the house.
Thank you. Have a great day.
great message from da Vinci about the ermine...….
Totally agree! Thanks for writing, Lisa.
Excellent video!
Thank you!
fantastic explanation!
Thank for the positive feedback.
I love this painting so much the art itself I'd wonderful, but as I see it, this is Leonardo at his most expressive in a non verbal way! So many puns, so many double meanings.... the ermine is a direct stand in for 5he Duke, who was possibly of moorish descent,he was captured by the frech King and installed into the order of the ermine,( possibly the first recorded case of white washing?) The ermine symbolism at this age was as purity, virginity,etc so knowing she was a mistress ,she is shown not as pure but carrying a direct sign of purity, also by the way she has tamed the ermine, it shows her domination of the duke? As a ps this is not an ermine, it is the first detailed description of an albino ferret, its morphology is to big to be an ermine, its timeless points to repeated handling, and its points are not black/ very dark brown, hard to tell if the eyes are red, but may of been painted dark solely to be mistaken for ermine?
Perhaps that could be also one of the many mysteries of da Vinci's approach to his artworks.
Sie feste sie garnicht Leonard da Vinci er hatte Zukunft gemailt und da ist zweite Frau, Hailge Ana Leonardo da Vinci beschäftigt sie mit Zukunft nich nur mit Skizze auf mit Bildern filach hatte er gar nicht das gemeint was sie Mensch Meinen er hatte auf Namen nicht
Geben seinen Bilda,