Lady With An Ermine. For some reason we find that refreshing in an age where many contemporary artists give us lofty titles followed by pages of artistic statements to describe or dare we say. The object of the research is the painting Lady with an Ermine.
The portrait is now in the Czartoryski Muzeum in the Polish city of Krakow. Lady with an Ermine is one of the most amazing paintings from the Renaissance era. What is the meaning of Lady with an Ermine.
The painting was for his mother a keen collector and the foundress of the Czartoryski Museum.
There is no frill no embellishment nothing to tickle ones fancy. She is holding a white ermine in her arms the dukes heraldic animal. The subject of the portrait is Cecilia Gallerani painted at a time when she was the mistress of Ludovico Sforza Duke of Milan and Leonardo was in the service of the duke. The Lady With An Ermine came into Polish hands in 1800 after it was bought by the young Prince Adam Czartoryski later a hero in the fight for Polish independence during his tour of Italy.