Mystery of the beautiful woman in painting by Leonardo
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| For many years, it was assumed the woman in Da Vinci's La belle Ferronnière was Sforza's mistress, Lucrezia Crivelli |
Lucrezia Crivelli, mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of
Milan, who was for a long time believed to be the subject of a painting by
Leonardo da Vinci, died on this day in 1508 in Canneto sull’Oglio in Lombardy.
Crivelli served as a lady in waiting to Ludovico Sforza’s
wife, Beatrice d’Este, from 1475 until Beatrice’s death in 1497.
She also became the Duke’s mistress and gave birth to his
son, Giovanni Paolo, who went on to become the first Marquess of Caravaggio and
a celebrated condottiero.
Crivelli lived for many years in the Castello of Canneto
near Mantua under the protection of Isabella d’Este, the elder sister of
Beatrice, until her death in 1508.
Coincidentally, her former lover, Ludovico Sforza, is
believed to have died on the same day in 1508 while being kept prisoner in the
dungeons of the castle of Loches in Touraine in France, having been captured by the French during the Italian Wars.
It was never proved, but it was assumed for many years that Crivelli
may have been the subject of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting La belle Ferronnière,
which is displayed in the Louvre in Paris. Another theory was that either
Beatrice d’Este or Isabella of Aragon could have been the subject.
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| It is now thought LucreziaCrivelli was the subject of Da Vinci's Profile of a Young Lady |
It was originally believed to be Crivelli because da Vinci
had painted another of Ludovico Sforza’s mistresses, Cecilia Gallerani, in his
painting Lady with an Ermine.
Eventually the theory was disproved when a painting of
Lucrezia Crivelli, also by da Vinci and which had been kept by her family for
centuries, was put on display in Germany in 1995. The woman in this painting,
Profile of a Young Lady, is thought not to be the same woman who featured in La belle Ferronnière.
The real Crivelli painting has been examined by the man who
restored The Last Supper, Pinin Barcillon Brambilla, who found some pigments to
be the same as those of the Milanese mural.
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| The Castello Sforzesco in Milan |
Travel tip
One of the main sights in Milan is the impressive Sforza
castle, Castello Sforzesco, built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke
of Milan. After Ludovico Sforza became Duke of Milan in 1494 he commissioned
Leonardo da Vinci to fresco several rooms. The castle now houses some of the
city’s museums and art galleries. For more information visit
www.milanocastello.it
Travel tip
Canneto sull’Oglio, where Lucrezia Crivelli died, is in the
province of Mantua in Lombardy, about 100 km (62 miles) south of Milan. It is home
to the restaurant Dal Pescatore, which has three Michelin stars. Run by the
Santini family, the restaurant is famous for its pumpkin-stuffed tortelli.