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		Collinsworth, Eden.

	Subjects
		Leonardo, da Vinci, 1452-1519. Lady with an ermine.
		Gallerani, Cecilia, 1473-1536.
		Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, 1452-1508.
		Artists' models -- Italy -- Florence -- Biography.
		Portraits, Renaissance -- Ownership -- History.
		Portraits, Renaissance.

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		Collinsworth, Eden.

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		What the ermine saw ...

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		759.5 L581c

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		Collinsworth, Eden.
		Leonardo, da Vinci, 1452-1519. Lady with an ermine.
		Gallerani, Cecilia, 1473-1536.
		Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, 1452-1508.
		Artists' models -- Italy -- Florence -- Biography.
		Portraits, Renaissance -- Ownership -- History.
		Portraits, Renaissance.


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What the ermine saw : the extraordinary journey of Leonardo da Vinci's most mysterious portrait / Eden Collinsworth.

by Collinsworth, Eden.

View full image

Doubleday, 2022.

Leonardo, da Vinci, 1452-1519. Lady with an ermine.

Gallerani, Cecilia, 1473-1536.

Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, 1452-1508.

Artists' models -- Italy -- Florence -- Biography.

Portraits, Renaissance -- Ownership -- History.

Portraits, Renaissance.

9780385546119 (hc.)

253 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

"Some five hundred and thirty years ago, a young woman sat before an artist known as Leonardo da Vinci. Her name was Cecilia Gallerani, and she was the teenage mistress of the Duke of Milan. With shining hair and alabaster skin, and a thin veil framing her delicate features, Gallerani held a white ermine close to her breast. Their slender bodies appeared almost as one. Her lover, Ludovico Sforza, was a ruthless man who was betrothed to the daughter of a powerful family; he was aware that da Vinci's brilliance as a painter would not only capture his mistress's beauty, but reflect Sforza's own political prowess. Indeed, with this beguiling image, da Vinci revolutionized the genre, changing not just what a portrait looked like, but also its purpose. But despite the work's importance in its own time, no records of it exist during the two hundred and fifty years that followed Gallerani's death. Author Eden Collinsworth (a former media executive and chief of staff of a global think tank) illuminates the startling history of this unique masterpiece, as it journeyed for over five centuries from one owner to the next -- from the cunning Milanese duke, likely to have murdered his seven-year-old nephew for the title, to an unconventional Polish noblewoman, who counted as acquaintances Benjamin Franklin and Voltaire. From Hitler, who designated it for his private collection, to Hans Frank, the Nazi high command in Poland, who hung it above his desk until it was returned after the War to the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków. Along the way, Collinsworth reveals a bewildering maze of social alliances and cultural upheavals, polarizing political divisions and territorial fragmentation. Expertly researched and deftly told, 'What the Ermine Saw' is an enthralling account of Renaissance Italy and its actors; a comprehensive study of artistry and innovation; a riveting tale of Nazi plunder; of art lost and found; and a reminder that genius, power, and beauty always have a price."

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