Lady with an Ermine

Lady with an Ermine
Italian: Dama con l'ermellino,
Polish: Dama z gronostajem
ArtistLeonardo da Vinci
Year1489–1491
MediumOil on walnut panel
SubjectCecilia Gallerani
Dimensions54 cm × 39 cm (21 in × 15 in)
LocationCzartoryski Museum, Kraków, Poland

The Lady with an Ermine[n 1] is a portrait painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. Dated to c. 1489–1491, the work is painted in oils on a panel of walnut wood. Its subject is Cecilia Gallerani, a mistress of Ludovico Sforza ("Il Moro"), Duke of Milan; Leonardo was painter to the Sforza court in Milan at the time of its execution. It is the second of only four surviving portraits of women painted by Leonardo, the others being Ginevra de' Benci, La Belle Ferronnière and the Mona Lisa.[3]

Lady with an Ermine is now housed at the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków, and is one of Poland's national treasures.[4] It is part of the Princes Czartoryski Collection, which was sold for €100 million (5% of the estimated market value of the entire collection)[5] on 29 December 2016 to the Polish government by Princes Czartoryski Foundation, represented by Adam Karol Czartoryski, the last direct descendant of Izabela Czartoryska Flemming and Adam George Czartoryski, who brought the painting to Poland from Italy in 1798.[6][7][8]

  1. ^ Zöllner 2019, p. 226.
  2. ^ a b Ottino della Chiesa 1967, p. 101.
  3. ^ Palmer 2018, p. 79.
  4. ^ "Da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine among Poland's "Treasures" – Event – Culture.pl". Culture.pl. Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Poland secures bargain deal for Leonardo da Vinci and other works". BBC News. 29 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  6. ^ Berendt, Joanna (29 December 2016). "Poland Buys Czartoryski Family Art Collection". New York Times. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Leonardo da Vinci, "Dama z gronostajem"". Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie (in Polish). 2017. Archived from the original on 24 November 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  8. ^ "Dlaczego warto było zapłacić 100 mln euro za kolekcję z "Damą z gronostajem"". Forbes.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 17 January 2020.


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