Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine: New Revelations and Survival

Leonardo da Vinci's 'Lady with an Ermine' (1489-1491) depicts Cecilia Gallerani, a young poet and musician at the Court of Milan, who became the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. The white ermine in the painting references Ludovico's honor from the Neapolitan Order of the Ermine in 1488. After Ludovico married Beatrice d'Este in January 1491, Cecilia gave birth to his son Caesar in May, but was forced to leave the court and married Lodovico Carminati de Brambilla, Count Bergamini. She likely took the portrait with her, as evidenced by a 1498 letter from Isabella d'Este, Marchioness of Mantua, requesting a loan. The painting disappeared for centuries until it resurfaced in Poland in 1800, where it was mistakenly identified as 'Belle Ferronière'. During World War II, it survived despite being moved between Poland and Germany, and an SS soldier's footprint was found on it in 1939. Now housed in the Czartoryski Museum in Cracow, the painting has been heavily overpainted, with the original background overlaid in the 17th century and the dress and veil retouched. X-rays reveal a door in the original background. In 2014, French scientist Pascal Cotte's three-year investigation revealed that Leonardo painted the work in three stages: initially a simple portrait, then adding a small grey ermine, and finally transforming it into a large white ermine.