Lady with an Ermine

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lady with an Ermine
Italian: Dama con l'ermellino, Polish: Dama z gronostajem
ArtistLeonardo da Vinci
Year1489–90
TypeOil on wood panel
SubjectCecilia Gallerani
Dimensions54 cm × 39 cm (21 in × 15 in)[1]
LocationNational Museum, Kraków, Poland

Lady with an Ermine (Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani) (Italian: Dama con l'ermellino [ˈdaːma kon lermelˈliːno]; Polish: Dama z gronostajem) is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci. It was painted between 1489 and 1490. The subject of the portrait is Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. Cecilia was pregnant at the time of the portrait. Leonardo was in the service of the Duke, who's nickname was 'white ermine'. The ermine was a symbol of purity for Leonardo. The painting was done in three stages and we know this because it went under reflective light technology and a multi lens camera was used. The first was a portrait just of Cecillia, the second he added a thin, small ermine and in the final stage, Leonardo made the ermine look more powerful and muscular. Lady with an Ermine is displayed in the Czartoryski Museum, Kraków, Poland.

References[change | change source]

Other websites[change | change source]