Lady with an Ermine

Lady with an Ermine (Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani)  ( ; ) 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

Other websites

 Czartoryski Museum 
 BBC article on Lady with an Ermine
 BBC News Lady w Ermine - Bing video

Category:Paintings by Leonardo da Vinci
Category:15th-century paintings