Lady with an Ermine
c. 1489–1491 · Oil on walnut panel · Czartoryski Museum
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About this work
- Artist
- Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)
- Year
- c. 1489–1491
- Medium
- Oil on walnut panel
- Original size
- 54.8 × 40.3 cm
- Collection
- Czartoryski Museum (National Museum in Kraków)
- Movement
- Renaissance
A young woman turns to look at something outside the picture, cradling a white ermine whose alert head and raised paw echo her own pose. The sitter is Cecilia Gallerani, the educated sixteen-year-old mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, at whose court Leonardo was working when he painted the portrait around 1489 to 1491. The ermine was Ludovico's emblem and a pun on the Greek word for Cecilia's surname. It is one of only four portraits of women by Leonardo and the first in which the sitter moves and reacts rather than posing in profile. The black background was added later. The panel was bought in Italy around 1800 by Prince Adam Czartoryski and is now in the National Museum in Kraków.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A small panel with a black ground and one pale figure, meant for eye level and close range: a hallway, stairwell or study at 16×24 in black. It holds a dark wall well and pairs with the Mona Lisa for two Leonardo portraits.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Renaissance painting
- Era
- 15th century (c. 1489–1491)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- intimate
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; natural wood lightens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Lady with an Ermine in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Lady with an Ermine painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
The full-bleed edition
The painting printed edge to edge, filling the whole sheet (very slightly cropped to fit) — and available on gallery-wrapped canvas.
