Art Review: The Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci

The Lady with an Ermine is a remarkable early life portrait by Leonardo da Vinci. The subject is a teen mistress of the Duke of Milan known as Cecilia Gallerani (1473-1536) (1). She was considered extremely beautiful and was considered a poet, scholar, and lover of music. Most people found her to be funny and bubbly in personality bringing freshness of spirit to her lover. Her upbeat personality immortalized into a painting over 500 years ago. 

At present the painting is hosted at the Wawel Castle in Krakow, Poland (2). It is 40.3 cm wide and 54.8 tall by dimension (3). The Lady with an Ermine is an oil painting on walnut board. It is a representation of craftsmanship that few artists experience in terms of quality, depth, simplicity and design. You can see an example in the lines that run from her arm and down the back of the animal. Leonardo was great at creating representations and symbols within his work which added to his legend. 

Cecilia Gallerani is depicted looking away from the audience with indifference and holding a pet ermine in an alert state. The ermine is watching something and she is lightly controlling its neck with her enlarged hands.  Her tunic is simple but is depicted as wearing expensive pearls. The picture appears to be a representation of the simple beauty of innocence matched with the expensive power of her lover.

The ermine in her hands as been known in the old world as a protector of the pregnant highlighting that she may have been pregnant at the time of the painting (4). Ermines were also an object for the powerful that made their way into clothing and royal emblems (5).  To some this an indication that she was a powerful participant in a leading family without a blood relationship. 

X-ray analysis of the picture reveals that a door has been removed from the background and what looks like hair originally was a covering veil (6). If this is true then the veil becomes known as a symbol of beauty and protection (7).  It could mean that her purity is owned and protected by the Duke of Milan in a pseudo marriage relationship. In essence, he loved and protected her. 

Either way the painting is an astounding representation of the life of a young lady in the Court of Milan. She stayed in the castle after the Duke Lodovico Sforza married Beatrice d'Este (8) and bore a son. When Beatrice found out about the relationship, Cecilia was forced out of the castle and married to the lower Count Ludovico Carminati de' Brambilla. She had more children before passing away.

Art Review: The Impressions of Venice at Dusk by Claude Monet

If you seek a spectacular sunset reenacted on canvas you shouldn’t miss Venice at Dusk or San Giorgio Maggiore al Crepuscolo painted by French Impressionist Claude Monet. The work was finished in 1908 with 37 others in the ancient city of Venice Italy.  Monet did not feel that his paintings were that great and had significant self-doubt about is work but they nevertheless became well known. 

He wrote to an art seller about that doubt ,"Although I am enthusiastic about Venice, and though I've started a few canvases, I'm afraid I will only bring back beginnings that will be nothing else but souvenirs for me" (1).

Despite his yearnings to quit Monet continued to paint each and every day completing a number of great masterpieces. His works are known for their simplicity and eloquence that many other painters seem to forget in forging their works. 

The painting is of a sunset behind San Giorgio Maggiore the sanctuary and monastery (2). Colors are vibrant yet soft while the brush strokes are thin and small to give it a slightly distorted view that coincides with early morning light. The brushstrokes also contribute to the choppy water impression that reflects the monastery in an imperfect manner. 

Claude Monet was one of the main characters behind the French Impressionist movement. Impressionism is the way in which the eye first sees an impression and then adds additional detail upon inspection (3). It is like being blind and then seeing. The goal is to catch a reality or a mood on canvas form. 

Each viewer makes their own interpretation and impression of the painting.  Monet obviously had a mood and perception which he painted onto canvass. Yet each of us brings our own mood and perception to understanding that meshes with the authors to create unique experiences. Art is always in the eye of the beholder.