Lady with Ermine A) Lady with Ermine by Leonardo Da Vinci, is a portrait of a girl who was in a slanted position looking

towards right in the watchers point of view. Her eyes that was enticing is looking towards her left same as the direction of the eyes of the Ermine she was holding. The painter drags the attention of the audience to the right side of painting in our point of view because of the posture of the girl as well as the eyes of her and the Ermine. She seems to look at something without fear. She has white skin, brown eyes, long thin nose, and a thin lip. The Ermine whose two front feet were seen: one leg is tensed on her left arm while the claw of the other near to her is relaxed. Her noticeable large right hand is holding the upper back of the Ermine. She holds the Ermine without being protective because she only touches the Ermine with her fingertips. She is wearing a black head gear that looks like a thin string and a gold lining above her eyebrows. She is also wearing a round black necklace that looks elegant to her. Her brown hair that was tied was split into half where the front hair surrounded her face. The color of her clothes is a combination of red, blue and a touch of yellow. Her wardrobe also has a black fabric that serves as a design in her clothes. The background of the portrait is plain black with a signature or writing on the upper left. The girl in this portrait was a classy looking girl judging her overall appearance and by the way she stares and positioned herself. B) Because of the slanted position of the girl in the portrait, the lighting is brighter in her left and becomes darker in her right. It also produces a contrast between light and dark. Leonardo also uses the catch-light technique in painting the eyes by creating dots of white paint to the irises creating an effect that her eyes is reflecting to the brightness or light she sees (Wilson). The signature technique of Leonardo is also seen in this portrait which was the sfumato that produces shadow effect in the painting (Wilson). He used this effect around the eyes, on her neck, and creating a shadow in the clothes she wears.
C)

The Lady in Da Vincis painting is said to be Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza (Wilson). Cecilias facial expression shows a straight face - but not with emotionless eyes. Although her mouth is in a straight form, her eyes show that they are full of emotion. It is said that Cecilia was 16 when Da Vinci painted her portrait. That was the time when she became the mistress of Ludovico (Kay, par. 2). I think the portrait tells the story of how Cecilia feels about being the mistress of Ludovico. She was really saddened by it yet there was nothing she could do to escape from it. Coming from a poor family (Wilson), Cecilia had no choice but to agree to be the dukes mistress to, probably, gain his wealth. Her mouth depicts the expression that she didnt have a choice and she couldnt do anything about the fact that she was a mistress while her eyes depict the expression that she wishes there was another solution to being poor. The feeling of how Cecilia was saddened that she became a mistress can also be seen through the presence of the ermine in the portrait. The ermine symbolizes purity or innocence (Horvat, par. 5) and being someones mistress obviously doesnt depict purity. The way Cecilia cradled the ermine shows that being at a very young age, she really cared for her purity and innocence. She was saddened that she had to give up her purity to be Ludovicos mistress in order for her poor family to survive yet there was nothing else she could have done, thats the story of the portrait.

Reference: Wilson, A. Decoding a da Vinci masterpiece: Behind the secret symbols of The Lady With An Ermine. Mail Online. n.p. 9 November 2011. Web. 24 March 2014. Kay, F. A Lady With Two Faces. The Economist: Intelligent Life. n.p. November/December 2011. Web. 24 March 2014. Horvat, M. The Symbolism of Purity in the Christmas Scene. Tradition in Action. n.p. n.d. Web. 24 March 2014.