Leonardo da Vinci
We all know Mona Lisa and the Lady with an Ermine. But Leonardo da Vinci painted (probably) another Renaissance beauty. The painting we present today is currently attributed to da Vinci ... or painted by someone from his Milanese circle. Attributions in art history change often, but the eternal beauty of the masterpieces, luckily do not. The title, La Belle Ferronnière, was applied as early as the 17th century, and identified the sitter as the wife or daughter of an ironmonger (a ferronnier). This was said to be a discreet allusion to a reputed mistress of Francis I of France, married to a certain Le Ferron. Later she was identified as Lucretia Crivelli, a married lady-in-waiting to Duchess Beatrice of Milan, who after Cecilia Gallerani, became the mistress of Ludovico Sforza.
The woman is looking at us, but it is hard to tell what this look means. Is she sleepy? Seductive? For sure she is enigmatic. This gaze once seen, is very hard to forget.
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P.S. Discover other mysterious women in Leonardo portraits!