‘What the Ermine Saw’ Review: A Da Vinci Painting’s Journey
Although Leonardo’s “Mona Lisa” is the artist’s most famous painting, it may not be his most intriguing, accomplished or beautiful. It may not even be his best portrait. A strong contender in that last category is “Lady With an Ermine” (ca. 1490), whose subject has been identified as the Milanese noblewoman Cecilia Gallerani, probably around 16 years old when she sat for her portrait.
Unlike “Mona Lisa,” for which Leonardo employed the smokey, hazy technique known as sfumato, “Lady” presents Cecilia’s features with clarity. Her expression is not so much enigmatic—as Mona Lisa is often described—as it is focused. She looks off to the side of the frame with a calm but determined gaze, intelligent and watchful. Her features are regular and beautiful, her clothing modest. She wears a blue dress with only limited adornment on the sleeves; a single strand of beads hang from her neck and a thin black band runs across her forehead. The most surprising element of the portrait is the small animal she holds, a white ermine who mimics her expression and whom she cradles in the crook of her arm while caressing it with an elegant hand.
