The Extraordinary Journey of Leonardo da Vinci's Most Mysterious Portrait
March 7, 2022
Former publishing executive Collinsworth (Behaving Badly) delivers an intriguing if occasionally dubious history of Lady with an Ermine (c. 1490), one of only four portraits of women painted by Leonardo da Vinci. Tracking the painting across five centuries, Collinsworth reveals that the portrait’s subject was most likely Cecelia Gallerani, the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan (the ermine is a reference to one of the duke’s honors). After Gallerani lent the painting to Sforza’s sister-in-law, it fell out of the historical record for nearly two and half centuries before reemerging in the collection of Polish princess Izabela Czartoryski. Confiscated by Nazi official Hans Frank during WWII, it was recovered in Bavaria in 1945 and sent back to the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków. Collinsworth also delves into technical aspects of art restoration and conservation, explaining that a 2014 analysis revealed that the work was completed in three stages, with the ermine added late. Though Collinsworth conveys the vicissitudes of European history and the enduring fascination of da Vinci’s work, some of her anecdotes—including an allegation that Ludovico Sforza’s wife “found a numbing self-relief in sex orgies” and died soon after participating in one—strain credulity. Still, this is an entertaining and accessible study of a masterpiece. Illus.
March 15, 2022
Chasing down the mysterious history of a priceless painting. Collinsworth unwinds a thoroughly captivating story about a single painting. She begins "some 530 years ago" in Milan with Ludovico, a powerful, wealthy duke who commissioned a portrait of his young lover, "most probably Cecilia Gallerani." Barely two feet by a foot and a half, it was meticulously conceived and presented by a young Leonardo da Vinci. Known simply as Lady With an Ermine, it was one of only four known portraits of women he painted. Da Vinci, writes the author, "made Cecilia so palpably real with paint that we are able to imagine the faint pulse at the base of her throat and can almost hear her breath, but what he achieved is more than artistic precision. The portrait is not just a visual transmission of what she looked like; it's also a psychological narrative." Collinsworth goes into lush detail chronicling the colorful, often violent times when the work was created and reveals some fascinating biographical elements about da Vinci. When Ludovico married a 15-year-old named Beatrice, the painting hung in his private apartments while Cecilia and her son resided in the same building. When forced out by Beatrice, she took the painting with her. After Beatrice died, her conniving, art-collecting sister Isabella secured the painting from Cecilia--or did she? For the next 250 years, despite rumors, the painting's location was unknown until 1800, when a roving Polish nobleman purchased it in Italy from an unknown seller as a gift for his mother in Russia, where it was subsequently misidentified and Cecilia's "very essence" was lost. Collinsworth meticulously charts the painting's circuitous path throughout Europe during political unrest and two world wars to a German governor-general who was busy creating "a systematic campaign to eradicate Polish culture." Finally transferred to the National Museum in Krak�w, the painting has since been exhibited around the world. Filled with beauty, passion, greed, and evil, Collinsworth's search is a spirited art history yarn.
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April 1, 2022
Collinsworth (Behaving Badly: The New Morality in Politics, Sex, and Business) takes readers on a time-travel journey across the world and tells the backstory and history of Leonardo da Vinci's enigmatic painting Lady with an Ermine. Inquisitive and with an eye for social commentary, Collinsworth moves at a dizzying pace: What century is it? Did the war end already? Several existing books also speak to elements about Lady with an Ermine, and the hands it has gone through over time, but they can be quite dry or only give part of the story. Collinsworth brings it all together and makes the story accessible and juicy, reveling in the more sordid details of courtly life and general scandal. Although some readers will recognize Leonardo's famous portrait of Cecilia Gallerani, young mistress of the Duke of Milan, and her sleek pet, many others will be surprised at how it came to be and all the drama surrounding its survival. VERDICT Art lovers and history buffs will enjoy this fast-paced, entertaining romp from the Renaissance to the present day, focusing on one painting by one of the world's most famous, intriguing, and mysterious artists.--Kelly Karst
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 14, 2023
There are many mysteries in art history, and one of the most intriguing is that of Leonardo's "Lady with an Ermine," painted in 1489 for Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. Though celebrated when it was made, there is no record of the painting for the 250 years after the Duke's death. Then, it reappeared. Collinsworth (Behaving Badly, 2017) collects the stories that have swirled around the portrait of the Duke's mistress, Cecelia Gallerini, since its creation more than five hundred years ago. She follows its travels from Renaissance Italy to the courts of Europe, theft by the Nazis, return to a Polish museum after World War II, exhibition around the world, and current display in the Krak�w Museum in Poland. Through these journeys, we meet titled figures from Italy, France, and Poland, several remarkable women, high-ranking Nazis and Soviet functionaries. These stories are woven together into an intricate tapestry of history, intrigue, scandal, and social commentary. Readers interested in European art, history, and culture will savor this account of Leonardo's fabled portrait.
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