Lady With an Ermine


Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519)

Lady With an Ermine, 1489 -1491

The Lady with an Ermine[n 1] is a portrait painting widely attributed to the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. Dated to c. 1489–1491, the work is painted in oils on a panel of walnut wood. Its subject is Cecilia Gallerani, a mistress of Ludovico Sforza ("Il Moro"), Duke of Milan; Leonardo was painter to the Sforza court in Milan at the time of its execution. It is the second of only four surviving portraits of women painted by Leonardo, the others being Ginevra de' Benci, La Belle Ferronnière and the Mona Lisa.


The painting was executed in oils on a somewhat small, 54 × 39 cm (21 × 15 in) walnut wood panel.[9][10] It depicts a half-height woman turned toward her right at a three-quarter angle, but with her face turned toward her left.[11] The animal in her arms twists in a similar manner, resulting in considerable contrapposto with the lady