Leonardo da Vinci’s “Lady with an Ermine”
Leonardo da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine, the paramount treasure of Krakow’s Czartoryskis’ Museum – and one of the most beautiful portraits ever painted.
Ermine (aka: Short-tailed weasel): The lovely, mink-like ermine has a distinctive white winter coat which if obtains by molting for one month every fall. Its winter fur is thicker and longer, to help it preserve body heat in the cold. Ermines are found in tundra and forest areas of the U.S., Canada and Eurasia, Ireland and Japan, the Siberian tundra, the semi-deserts of Kazakhstan and Mongolia, and in Northern Africa. Ermines have also been introduced by man into New Zealand.
Ermines like to inhabit marshes, open spaces or rocky areas next to woodlands. The ermine is well adapted to living in this harsh environment. They make their dens in the old roots of a tree or in the crevice of a rock. Ermines are capable of having several dens. In the spring and summer the ermine’s coat is chocolate brown with a white underbelly and a black tip on the tail. In the winter the coat turns entirely white except for the black end of its tail. The ermine’s flexible spine allows it to do the “marten run” in which the hind feet are tucked in by the front feet, causing the back to arch, and then extended. Since the ermine is a carnivore, it has 34 sharp teeth. It has short legs and a long body and neck. The head is triangular shaped with small round ears, small, bright eyes and long whiskers.
Ermines are very territorial. The female ermine has the sole responsibility of raising the young. The males do not usually help raise the young. An Ermine’s life span is 4 to 7 years. Aside from raising young, the ermine is a solitary animal.
The ermine is a carnivore and eats rabbits, small insects and rodents. Because of their sharp teeth they are able to catch animals larger than themselves. In different habitats ermines will eat birds or amphibians. It will also eat most small mammals. When the ground is covered with snow the ermine will hunt entirely under the snow for small rodents.
Their ermine paws have claws which enables it to dig. The front feet are smaller than the back which helps it fit into small, tight spaces. The coat of the ermine changes with the seasons and camouflages it from predators. In winter the ermine’s coat is white blending in with the snowy environment. In warmer seasons the fur turns brown again matching the color of the landscape.
Krakow is one of just six places in the world that can boast an oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), as precious few oil paintings by Leondardo exist today. Only three of Leonardo’s female portraits are known to have survived, of which Krakow’s Lady with an Ermine is arguably the most beautiful. It is also in the best condition, after the 500-plus years since it was painted. Leonardo’s masterpiece, today in The Czartoryskich Museum at 19 Sw. Jana street, Krakow, Poland, depicts a delightful teenage beauty, most probably Cecilia Gallerani, who was the mistress of Milan’s ruler Lodovico Sforza il Moro, the artist’s patron. Da Vinci likely painted her while he was in his early thirties, between 1482 and 1485 – approximately 20 years before he painted The Louvre’s celebrated Mona Lisa. In Lady with an Ermine, Leonardo for the first time portrayed the sitter in the position which would soon become the standard for artists’ portraits. Some art historians describe this work as the first modern-age portrait ever painted.
Unfortunately, the original background was overlaid, probably in the 17th Century. The masterpiece is oil paint on walnut board, and measures 40.3 cm wide x 54.8 cm high.
The portrait of the Lady with an Ermine was bought by Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski in Italy, and incorporated into The Czartoryskis’ family collection in 1800.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci Weblink: LEONARD DA VINCI BIOGRAPHY/ART HISTORY
Ermines in Nature
