Leonardo da Vinci's and his KNOWN Females

Lady with an Ermine is an early work of Leonardo da Vinci's dating from the 1480s.

There is disagreement concerning the identity of the sitter in many of his portraits. Some historians consider that the sitter in this one is Cecilia Gallerani, mistress of Ludovico Sforza (the Duke of Milan and one of his biggest patrons). What is understood about the era is that Renaissance women contrived to look middle-aged before they were twenty. If this was truly Cecilia, she would only have been about seventeen at the time the portrait was painted. Another suggestion is that the painting is from a little later, around 1491, and that the woman is Ludovico's wife, Beatrice d'Este.The third theory is that the sitter may have been La Belle Ferronniere, a nickname given to the mistress of Francis I of France. Support for this idea came from an inscription in the upper left-hand corner which reads LA BELE FERONIERE LEONARD DA WINCI, most experts now consider this to be incorrect. The inscription is not original, but is a later addition, possibly to give identity to the sitter. Who would not have been desiring to be immortalized by Leonardo, a great master!


Ermines were animals symbolic of strength AND chastity. They were fastidious and cleaned their coat to keep it white. Thus including the ermine was a subtle way of attributing these characteristics to the sitter.

There is a wonderful visual description of the myriad of symbols used in the painting. The image is attached to this post but the article can be read by following the link.


For more information, go to http://www.lairweb.org.nz/leonardo/ermine.html.