The history of a certain lady and her portrait
The history of a painting by Leonardo da Vinci “Lady with a Weasel”, also known as “Lady with an Ermine” is doubly thrilling. One part of this history concerns the complicated life of the painted person; the other involves the dramatic fate of the painting since its purchase by the Czartoryski family.
The search for the identity of the young lady painted by Leonardo da Vinci lasted for a long time. Finally, in 1900, a polish art historian, Jan Boloz-Antoniewicz, described in detail the life of this person. He based his research on earlier discoveries in Italy. The musing girl in the picture was Cecile Gallerani. She lived during the years 1473-1536, and her family descended from Sienna, Italy. Her father, Fazio Gallerani, moved the family to Milan, where he held several political posts. He had seven children, and they all got an appropriate education. One of his daughters, Cecile, was engaged at the age of ten to Stefano Visconti who was fourteen years her elder. Cecile broke the engagement when she was fifteen. At this age she was probably living as a lady-in-waiting at the court of the prince of Milan, Lodovico Sforza, who was called Il Moro. She found herself in his court thanks to her education and many interests. She spoke Latin fluently, wrote poetry, and knew the philosophical and theological issues of the day.
Lodovico Sforza valued the company of young Cecile and it is possible, that in the beginning their relationship was purely intellectual. Because of her exceptional beauty and unusual wisdom the relationship became more intimate. It took some time for the relationship to change, and it is thought that during this time Leonardo da Vinci, who was a resident guest at the court, painted her picture.
In one of her letters to a friend Cecile wrote: “my portrait was painted at such a immature age”. This implies she was not yet sixteen and did not think she was capable of playing a role of a lover and a mother. The physical connection between these two people probably occurred in the middle of 1490. This seems to be confirmed by the birth of their son on May 3rd of the next year.
It can then be assumed that the portrait of Cecile was painted in 1489 or during the first months of 1490. The symbolic role of ermine in her hand warrants this situation. This small animal was commonly known to display an aversion to get dirty. When it was encircled, it preferred dying to entering a den or mud. This particular trait was a reason for ermine to be represented in art as a symbol of physical and spiritual chastity.
In January 1491 Lodovico married the daughter of the duke of Ferrara, Beatrice. The new young wife and pregnant Cecile lived together for several months at the court in Milan. This became the cause of many misunderstandings and Duke Lodovico decided to send Cecile away. Two weeks after the birth of their son Cesarion, the father of her son gives Cecile an estate in Saramo. Soon afterward, per the wish of the Duke, Cecile marries count Lodovico Carminati Bergamini. She bore him four children. The years of 1514 and 1515 are really tragic for Cecile – first dies her Cesarion and then her husband. Forty-two years old Cecile will spend her time between two households, one in Milan, the other in Palazzo Carmagnola, where she will open a literary salon. There she entertains poets, painters, and composers. She is totally devoted to the arts, and she does it for her own enjoyment. During this time she was called Donna Docta – learned nymph. She was also compared to a woman of note of Antique, such as Aspasya from Milet. She wrote essays and poems to the end of her life, but they were never published. She died at the age of sixty-three.
The portrait of Cecile appeared in Poland about the year 1800. During his travels in Italy Duke Adam Czartoryski bought this painting and placed it in Pulawy, where his mother, Izabela Flaming Czartoryska gathered together a significant collection of art, thus starting the first art museum in Poland.
Since then, the painting of Leonardo da Vinci will share the fate of the Czartoryski family and of the whole Polish nation.
Its location will keep changing – it will be either hidden or confiscated, while on the other hand it will be exhibited as the greatest piece of art of the Italian Renaissance.
During the November Uprising the portrait was stored in an estate in Sieniawy. After the fall of the uprising it showed up in Paris, together with the other pieces of the Czartoryski collection. Adam J. Czartoryski was one of the leaders of the political party Hotel Lambert. In the 1800, the Czartoryskis moved their collection to Cracow where they opened a museum at Pijarska Street. The collection became available for visitors to see.
During WWI, the picture was stored in Dresden and during the period between the wars it was again exhibited in Cracow. In 1939 it returned back to Sieniawy and disappeared from sight for a longer period of time. The “Lady” was not lucky in Sieniawy. The Germans confiscated the picture and moved it to Berlin. That was not the end of its wandering – the picture returns to Cracow as the property of Hans Frank, the governor general of occupied Poland. Frank, a ruthless Hitlerite butcher, was also a connoisseur of art. Before the end of war he was able to hide the picture in his private estate in Bavaria. The picture was found there and it was subsequently put into the state collection of art in the Cracow museum. At present the ”Lady with Ermine” is part of the Czartoryski’s Museum at St. John 19 Street. If it leaves Poland, it is only to be exhibited during important international displays. She was already in Russia, the United States, Japan, Italy, and Sweden.
Mona Lisa, exhibited in the Louvre, did not experience so many adversities – it is known and mentioned in many publications. There is a need to pave the way for the “Lady with Ermine” to make art lovers aware of her. To achieve this goal it would help to place reproductions of this picture in albums, encyclopedias, and other treatises.
This picture was painted on a walnut wood plate with dimensions of 54.8 cm x 40.3 cm. It is considered one of the world’s greatest paintings, and it is one of seventeen created by maestro Leonardo da Vinci. Only about ten years after painting the “Lady with Ermine” he created the “Mona Lisa”. With these portraits da Vinci started a new style showing the inner experiences of models. Particularly, Cecile is shown in an unconventional pose – half of her profile is turned to the left side. She emanates beauty and is poised as if listening to an unseen speaker. A subtle modeling, the play of light, and hidden symbolism put this picture among the greatest achievements in the history of painting. In addition, the picture is kept in excellent condition with the help of masterful conservation.
Dr. Elzbieta Ulanowska
Translated by Joe Hart
Forum, 3/2006
Tags: dr. elzbieta ulanowska, fazio, lady with an ermine, lodovico, Poland, Polish, polish art, sforza, visconti
