The Lady with the Ermine

Cecilia Gallerani, the young mistress of Leonardo's Milanese patron Ludovico Sforza, turns sharply as though toward someone entering, and the ermine in her arms turns with her - body, head, and gaze swept along a single spiral that breaks the old motionless profile. The white animal carries a triple charge: purity, a pun on her name (the Greek word for ermine echoes Gallerani), and Ludovico's own personal emblem. Note the modeling of her long hand and the beast's taut muscle, lit as if by a low window. The clumsy inscription naming a different sitter was added centuries after the fact.