Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: Focus on Ecstasy of Saint Teresa and explain the Sculptural group and its setting.

The two central sculptural figures of the swooning nun and the angel with the spear derive from an episode described by Teresa of Avila, a mystical cloistered Discalced Carmelite reformer and nun, in her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus. Her experience of religious ecstasy in her encounter with the angel is described as follows:I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron's point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it. The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God. The pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body has its share in it. It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the soul and God, that I pray God of His goodness to make him experience it who may think that I am lying.The group is illuminated by natural light which filters through a hidden window in the dome of the surrounding aedicule, and underscored by gilded stucco rays. Teresa is shown lying on a cloud indicating that this is intended to be a divine apparition we are witnessing. Other witnesses appear on the side walls; life-size high-relief donor portraits of male members of the Cornaro family, e.g. Cardinal Federico Cornaro and Doge Giovanni I Cornaro, are present and shown discussing the event in boxes as if at the theatre. Although the figures are executed in white marble, the aedicule, wall panels and theatre boxes are made from coloured marbles. Above, the vault of the Chapel is frescoed with an illusionistic cherub-filled sky with the descending light of the Holy Ghost allegorized as a dove.The art historian Rudolf Wittkower wrote:In spite of the pictorial character of the design as a whole, Bernini differentiated between various degrees of reality, the members of the Cornaro Chapel seem to be alive like ourselves. They belong to our space and our world. The supernatural event of Teresa's vision is raised to a sphere of its own, removed from that of the beholder mainly by virtue of the isolating canopy and the heavenly light.Gallery

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: Explain the Sculptural group and its setting of this artwork, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa.

The two central sculptural figures of the swooning nun and the angel with the spear derive from an episode described by Teresa of Avila, a mystical cloistered Discalced Carmelite reformer and nun, in her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus. Her experience of religious ecstasy in her encounter with the angel is described as follows:I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron's point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it. The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God. The pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body has its share in it. It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the soul and God, that I pray God of His goodness to make him experience it who may think that I am lying.The group is illuminated by natural light which filters through a hidden window in the dome of the surrounding aedicule, and underscored by gilded stucco rays. Teresa is shown lying on a cloud indicating that this is intended to be a divine apparition we are witnessing. Other witnesses appear on the side walls; life-size high-relief donor portraits of male members of the Cornaro family, e.g. Cardinal Federico Cornaro and Doge Giovanni I Cornaro, are present and shown discussing the event in boxes as if at the theatre. Although the figures are executed in white marble, the aedicule, wall panels and theatre boxes are made from coloured marbles. Above, the vault of the Chapel is frescoed with an illusionistic cherub-filled sky with the descending light of the Holy Ghost allegorized as a dove.The art historian Rudolf Wittkower wrote:In spite of the pictorial character of the design as a whole, Bernini differentiated between various degrees of reality, the members of the Cornaro Chapel seem to be alive like ourselves. They belong to our space and our world. The supernatural event of Teresa's vision is raised to a sphere of its own, removed from that of the beholder mainly by virtue of the isolating canopy and the heavenly light.Gallery

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: How does Ecstasy of Saint Teresa explain its Sculptural group and its setting?

The two central sculptural figures of the swooning nun and the angel with the spear derive from an episode described by Teresa of Avila, a mystical cloistered Discalced Carmelite reformer and nun, in her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus. Her experience of religious ecstasy in her encounter with the angel is described as follows:I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron's point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it. The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God. The pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body has its share in it. It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the soul and God, that I pray God of His goodness to make him experience it who may think that I am lying.The group is illuminated by natural light which filters through a hidden window in the dome of the surrounding aedicule, and underscored by gilded stucco rays. Teresa is shown lying on a cloud indicating that this is intended to be a divine apparition we are witnessing. Other witnesses appear on the side walls; life-size high-relief donor portraits of male members of the Cornaro family, e.g. Cardinal Federico Cornaro and Doge Giovanni I Cornaro, are present and shown discussing the event in boxes as if at the theatre. Although the figures are executed in white marble, the aedicule, wall panels and theatre boxes are made from coloured marbles. Above, the vault of the Chapel is frescoed with an illusionistic cherub-filled sky with the descending light of the Holy Ghost allegorized as a dove.The art historian Rudolf Wittkower wrote:In spite of the pictorial character of the design as a whole, Bernini differentiated between various degrees of reality, the members of the Cornaro Chapel seem to be alive like ourselves. They belong to our space and our world. The supernatural event of Teresa's vision is raised to a sphere of its own, removed from that of the beholder mainly by virtue of the isolating canopy and the heavenly light.Gallery

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: In Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, how is the Sculptural group and its setting discussed?

The two central sculptural figures of the swooning nun and the angel with the spear derive from an episode described by Teresa of Avila, a mystical cloistered Discalced Carmelite reformer and nun, in her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus. Her experience of religious ecstasy in her encounter with the angel is described as follows:I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron's point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it. The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God. The pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body has its share in it. It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the soul and God, that I pray God of His goodness to make him experience it who may think that I am lying.The group is illuminated by natural light which filters through a hidden window in the dome of the surrounding aedicule, and underscored by gilded stucco rays. Teresa is shown lying on a cloud indicating that this is intended to be a divine apparition we are witnessing. Other witnesses appear on the side walls; life-size high-relief donor portraits of male members of the Cornaro family, e.g. Cardinal Federico Cornaro and Doge Giovanni I Cornaro, are present and shown discussing the event in boxes as if at the theatre. Although the figures are executed in white marble, the aedicule, wall panels and theatre boxes are made from coloured marbles. Above, the vault of the Chapel is frescoed with an illusionistic cherub-filled sky with the descending light of the Holy Ghost allegorized as a dove.The art historian Rudolf Wittkower wrote:In spite of the pictorial character of the design as a whole, Bernini differentiated between various degrees of reality, the members of the Cornaro Chapel seem to be alive like ourselves. They belong to our space and our world. The supernatural event of Teresa's vision is raised to a sphere of its own, removed from that of the beholder mainly by virtue of the isolating canopy and the heavenly light.Gallery

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: Focus on Ecstasy of Saint Teresa and explain the Interpretations.

The effects are theatrical, the Cornaro family seeming to observe the scene from their boxes, and the chapel illustrates a moment where divinity intrudes on an earthly body. Caroline Babcock speaks of Bernini's melding of sensual and spiritual pleasure as both intentional and influential on artists and writers of the day. Irving Lavin said "the transverberation becomes a point of contact between earth and heaven, between matter and spirit". As Bernini biographer Franco Mormando points out, although Bernini's point of departure for his depiction of Teresa's mystical experience was her own description, there were many details about the experience that she never specifies (e.g., the position of her body) and that Bernini simply supplied from his own artistic imagination, all with an aim of increasing the nearly transgressively sensual charge of the episode: "Certainly no other artist, in rendering the scene, before or after Bernini, dared as much in transforming the saint's appearance."

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: Explain the Interpretations of this artwork, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa.

The effects are theatrical, the Cornaro family seeming to observe the scene from their boxes, and the chapel illustrates a moment where divinity intrudes on an earthly body. Caroline Babcock speaks of Bernini's melding of sensual and spiritual pleasure as both intentional and influential on artists and writers of the day. Irving Lavin said "the transverberation becomes a point of contact between earth and heaven, between matter and spirit". As Bernini biographer Franco Mormando points out, although Bernini's point of departure for his depiction of Teresa's mystical experience was her own description, there were many details about the experience that she never specifies (e.g., the position of her body) and that Bernini simply supplied from his own artistic imagination, all with an aim of increasing the nearly transgressively sensual charge of the episode: "Certainly no other artist, in rendering the scene, before or after Bernini, dared as much in transforming the saint's appearance."

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: How does Ecstasy of Saint Teresa explain its Interpretations?

The effects are theatrical, the Cornaro family seeming to observe the scene from their boxes, and the chapel illustrates a moment where divinity intrudes on an earthly body. Caroline Babcock speaks of Bernini's melding of sensual and spiritual pleasure as both intentional and influential on artists and writers of the day. Irving Lavin said "the transverberation becomes a point of contact between earth and heaven, between matter and spirit". As Bernini biographer Franco Mormando points out, although Bernini's point of departure for his depiction of Teresa's mystical experience was her own description, there were many details about the experience that she never specifies (e.g., the position of her body) and that Bernini simply supplied from his own artistic imagination, all with an aim of increasing the nearly transgressively sensual charge of the episode: "Certainly no other artist, in rendering the scene, before or after Bernini, dared as much in transforming the saint's appearance."

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: In Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, how is the Interpretations discussed?

The effects are theatrical, the Cornaro family seeming to observe the scene from their boxes, and the chapel illustrates a moment where divinity intrudes on an earthly body. Caroline Babcock speaks of Bernini's melding of sensual and spiritual pleasure as both intentional and influential on artists and writers of the day. Irving Lavin said "the transverberation becomes a point of contact between earth and heaven, between matter and spirit". As Bernini biographer Franco Mormando points out, although Bernini's point of departure for his depiction of Teresa's mystical experience was her own description, there were many details about the experience that she never specifies (e.g., the position of her body) and that Bernini simply supplied from his own artistic imagination, all with an aim of increasing the nearly transgressively sensual charge of the episode: "Certainly no other artist, in rendering the scene, before or after Bernini, dared as much in transforming the saint's appearance."

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: Focus on Ecstasy of Saint Teresa and explain the Criticism.

The sexual implications of the work have not gone unnoticed. It is considered "decidely risqué"; "the most astounding peep show in art"; and "the grossest and most offensive example of Baroque art." The reason for its popularity "has a lot to do with sex." And by placing the sculpture in a theatrical setting, Bernini is accused of turning "a private moment into a very publicspectacle." Victorian art critic Anna Jameson wanted it destroyed: "even those least prudish in matters of art, would here willingly throw the first stone."Scholars who defend it against such criticism take one of three approaches, saying:Bernini faithfully followed Teresa’s description of the experience.The Church accepted that mystical union often involved erotic elements.There is no nudity in the statue.But Franco Mormando says "none of these defenses are completely accurate." Simon Schama agrees: "Critics and scholars tie themselves in knots, trying to avoid stating the obvious."

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: Explain the Criticism of this artwork, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa.

The sexual implications of the work have not gone unnoticed. It is considered "decidely risqué"; "the most astounding peep show in art"; and "the grossest and most offensive example of Baroque art." The reason for its popularity "has a lot to do with sex." And by placing the sculpture in a theatrical setting, Bernini is accused of turning "a private moment into a very publicspectacle." Victorian art critic Anna Jameson wanted it destroyed: "even those least prudish in matters of art, would here willingly throw the first stone."Scholars who defend it against such criticism take one of three approaches, saying:Bernini faithfully followed Teresa’s description of the experience.The Church accepted that mystical union often involved erotic elements.There is no nudity in the statue.But Franco Mormando says "none of these defenses are completely accurate." Simon Schama agrees: "Critics and scholars tie themselves in knots, trying to avoid stating the obvious."

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: How does Ecstasy of Saint Teresa explain its Criticism?

The sexual implications of the work have not gone unnoticed. It is considered "decidely risqué"; "the most astounding peep show in art"; and "the grossest and most offensive example of Baroque art." The reason for its popularity "has a lot to do with sex." And by placing the sculpture in a theatrical setting, Bernini is accused of turning "a private moment into a very publicspectacle." Victorian art critic Anna Jameson wanted it destroyed: "even those least prudish in matters of art, would here willingly throw the first stone."Scholars who defend it against such criticism take one of three approaches, saying:Bernini faithfully followed Teresa’s description of the experience.The Church accepted that mystical union often involved erotic elements.There is no nudity in the statue.But Franco Mormando says "none of these defenses are completely accurate." Simon Schama agrees: "Critics and scholars tie themselves in knots, trying to avoid stating the obvious."

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: In Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, how is the Criticism discussed?

The sexual implications of the work have not gone unnoticed. It is considered "decidely risqué"; "the most astounding peep show in art"; and "the grossest and most offensive example of Baroque art." The reason for its popularity "has a lot to do with sex." And by placing the sculpture in a theatrical setting, Bernini is accused of turning "a private moment into a very publicspectacle." Victorian art critic Anna Jameson wanted it destroyed: "even those least prudish in matters of art, would here willingly throw the first stone."Scholars who defend it against such criticism take one of three approaches, saying:Bernini faithfully followed Teresa’s description of the experience.The Church accepted that mystical union often involved erotic elements.There is no nudity in the statue.But Franco Mormando says "none of these defenses are completely accurate." Simon Schama agrees: "Critics and scholars tie themselves in knots, trying to avoid stating the obvious."

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: Focus on Ecstasy of Saint Teresa and explain the Similar works by Bernini.

See also entry titled Bernini's Cornaro chapel found in the Baroque section.Death of the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni (1671–1674)—San Francesco a Ripa, Rome.Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence (1614–15)Truth Unveiled by Time (1646–1652) – Galleria Borghese, Rome.

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: Explain the Similar works by Bernini of this artwork, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa.

See also entry titled Bernini's Cornaro chapel found in the Baroque section.Death of the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni (1671–1674)—San Francesco a Ripa, Rome.Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence (1614–15)Truth Unveiled by Time (1646–1652) – Galleria Borghese, Rome.

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: How does Ecstasy of Saint Teresa explain its Similar works by Bernini?

See also entry titled Bernini's Cornaro chapel found in the Baroque section.Death of the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni (1671–1674)—San Francesco a Ripa, Rome.Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence (1614–15)Truth Unveiled by Time (1646–1652) – Galleria Borghese, Rome.

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: In Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, how is the Similar works by Bernini discussed?

See also entry titled Bernini's Cornaro chapel found in the Baroque section.Death of the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni (1671–1674)—San Francesco a Ripa, Rome.Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence (1614–15)Truth Unveiled by Time (1646–1652) – Galleria Borghese, Rome.

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: Focus on Ecstasy of Saint Teresa and explain the Influencing or influenced works.

Stefano Maderno's sculpture of St Cecilia in namesake church (1600).Melchiorre Caffà's Santa Rose of Lima (1665) and his Assumption of St Catherine.Francisco Aprile and Ercole Ferrata's Sant'Anastasia in her namesake church in Rome.The most internationally successful Czech underground group the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa named themselves after the sculpture.Angels & Demons, the novel by Dan Brown which lists the sculpture as the third "Altar of Science" of the fictionalized Illuminati. Brown's book incorrectly states that the sculpture was moved from the Vatican to its current location, and that Pope Urban VIII (who was already deceased when Bernini worked on the sculpture) found the statue too sexually explicit.The sculpture is the subject of the song "The Lie" from Peter Hammill's album The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage.In Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, the sculpture plays a role in the filmography of James O. Incandenza, Jr. Wallace also alludes to it in three additional scenes involving Joelle.Street artist Banksy used the image of Saint Teresa in one of his works, though he removed the angelic figure and added a fast food meal.The sculpture and its image are frequently referred to in the novel Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.In the psychoanalytic theories of Jacques Lacan, the statue plays an important role due to a central reference in his book Seminar XX: Encore. Lacan believes the statue helps convey his theory of the possibility of a female enjoyment that is infinite and unknowable, while masculine enjoyment is defined by finitude and failure. Some book covers of Seminar XX have a picture of the statue on the front.

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: Explain the Influencing or influenced works of this artwork, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa.

Stefano Maderno's sculpture of St Cecilia in namesake church (1600).Melchiorre Caffà's Santa Rose of Lima (1665) and his Assumption of St Catherine.Francisco Aprile and Ercole Ferrata's Sant'Anastasia in her namesake church in Rome.The most internationally successful Czech underground group the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa named themselves after the sculpture.Angels & Demons, the novel by Dan Brown which lists the sculpture as the third "Altar of Science" of the fictionalized Illuminati. Brown's book incorrectly states that the sculpture was moved from the Vatican to its current location, and that Pope Urban VIII (who was already deceased when Bernini worked on the sculpture) found the statue too sexually explicit.The sculpture is the subject of the song "The Lie" from Peter Hammill's album The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage.In Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, the sculpture plays a role in the filmography of James O. Incandenza, Jr. Wallace also alludes to it in three additional scenes involving Joelle.Street artist Banksy used the image of Saint Teresa in one of his works, though he removed the angelic figure and added a fast food meal.The sculpture and its image are frequently referred to in the novel Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.In the psychoanalytic theories of Jacques Lacan, the statue plays an important role due to a central reference in his book Seminar XX: Encore. Lacan believes the statue helps convey his theory of the possibility of a female enjoyment that is infinite and unknowable, while masculine enjoyment is defined by finitude and failure. Some book covers of Seminar XX have a picture of the statue on the front.

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: How does Ecstasy of Saint Teresa explain its Influencing or influenced works?

Stefano Maderno's sculpture of St Cecilia in namesake church (1600).Melchiorre Caffà's Santa Rose of Lima (1665) and his Assumption of St Catherine.Francisco Aprile and Ercole Ferrata's Sant'Anastasia in her namesake church in Rome.The most internationally successful Czech underground group the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa named themselves after the sculpture.Angels & Demons, the novel by Dan Brown which lists the sculpture as the third "Altar of Science" of the fictionalized Illuminati. Brown's book incorrectly states that the sculpture was moved from the Vatican to its current location, and that Pope Urban VIII (who was already deceased when Bernini worked on the sculpture) found the statue too sexually explicit.The sculpture is the subject of the song "The Lie" from Peter Hammill's album The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage.In Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, the sculpture plays a role in the filmography of James O. Incandenza, Jr. Wallace also alludes to it in three additional scenes involving Joelle.Street artist Banksy used the image of Saint Teresa in one of his works, though he removed the angelic figure and added a fast food meal.The sculpture and its image are frequently referred to in the novel Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.In the psychoanalytic theories of Jacques Lacan, the statue plays an important role due to a central reference in his book Seminar XX: Encore. Lacan believes the statue helps convey his theory of the possibility of a female enjoyment that is infinite and unknowable, while masculine enjoyment is defined by finitude and failure. Some book covers of Seminar XX have a picture of the statue on the front.

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Prompt: In Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, how is the Influencing or influenced works discussed?

Stefano Maderno's sculpture of St Cecilia in namesake church (1600).Melchiorre Caffà's Santa Rose of Lima (1665) and his Assumption of St Catherine.Francisco Aprile and Ercole Ferrata's Sant'Anastasia in her namesake church in Rome.The most internationally successful Czech underground group the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa named themselves after the sculpture.Angels & Demons, the novel by Dan Brown which lists the sculpture as the third "Altar of Science" of the fictionalized Illuminati. Brown's book incorrectly states that the sculpture was moved from the Vatican to its current location, and that Pope Urban VIII (who was already deceased when Bernini worked on the sculpture) found the statue too sexually explicit.The sculpture is the subject of the song "The Lie" from Peter Hammill's album The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage.In Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, the sculpture plays a role in the filmography of James O. Incandenza, Jr. Wallace also alludes to it in three additional scenes involving Joelle.Street artist Banksy used the image of Saint Teresa in one of his works, though he removed the angelic figure and added a fast food meal.The sculpture and its image are frequently referred to in the novel Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.In the psychoanalytic theories of Jacques Lacan, the statue plays an important role due to a central reference in his book Seminar XX: Encore. Lacan believes the statue helps convey his theory of the possibility of a female enjoyment that is infinite and unknowable, while masculine enjoyment is defined by finitude and failure. Some book covers of Seminar XX have a picture of the statue on the front.

Wider view, including the Cornaro portraits, but omitting the lower parts of the chapel.

File:Cornaro chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome HDR.jpg

Category:Sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: Focus on Lady with an Ermine and explain the abstract.

The Lady with an Ermine is a portrait painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. Dated to c. 1489–1491, the work is painted in oils on a panel of walnut wood. Its subject is  Cecilia Gallerani, a mistress of Ludovico Sforza ("Il Moro"), Duke of Milan; Leonardo was painter to the Sforza court in Milan at the time of its execution. It is the second of only four surviving portraits of women painted by Leonardo, the others being Ginevra de' Benci, La Belle Ferronnière and the Mona Lisa.Lady with an Ermine is now housed at the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków, and is one of Poland's national treasures. It is part of the Princes Czartoryski Collection, which was sold for €100 million (5% of the estimated market value of the entire collection) on 29 December 2016 to the Polish government by Princes Czartoryski Foundation, represented by Adam Karol Czartoryski, the last direct descendant of Izabela Czartoryska Flemming and Adam George Czartoryski, who brought the painting to Poland from Italy in 1798.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: Explain the abstract of this artwork, Lady with an Ermine.

The Lady with an Ermine is a portrait painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. Dated to c. 1489–1491, the work is painted in oils on a panel of walnut wood. Its subject is  Cecilia Gallerani, a mistress of Ludovico Sforza ("Il Moro"), Duke of Milan; Leonardo was painter to the Sforza court in Milan at the time of its execution. It is the second of only four surviving portraits of women painted by Leonardo, the others being Ginevra de' Benci, La Belle Ferronnière and the Mona Lisa.Lady with an Ermine is now housed at the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków, and is one of Poland's national treasures. It is part of the Princes Czartoryski Collection, which was sold for €100 million (5% of the estimated market value of the entire collection) on 29 December 2016 to the Polish government by Princes Czartoryski Foundation, represented by Adam Karol Czartoryski, the last direct descendant of Izabela Czartoryska Flemming and Adam George Czartoryski, who brought the painting to Poland from Italy in 1798.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: How does Lady with an Ermine explain its abstract?

The Lady with an Ermine is a portrait painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. Dated to c. 1489–1491, the work is painted in oils on a panel of walnut wood. Its subject is  Cecilia Gallerani, a mistress of Ludovico Sforza ("Il Moro"), Duke of Milan; Leonardo was painter to the Sforza court in Milan at the time of its execution. It is the second of only four surviving portraits of women painted by Leonardo, the others being Ginevra de' Benci, La Belle Ferronnière and the Mona Lisa.Lady with an Ermine is now housed at the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków, and is one of Poland's national treasures. It is part of the Princes Czartoryski Collection, which was sold for €100 million (5% of the estimated market value of the entire collection) on 29 December 2016 to the Polish government by Princes Czartoryski Foundation, represented by Adam Karol Czartoryski, the last direct descendant of Izabela Czartoryska Flemming and Adam George Czartoryski, who brought the painting to Poland from Italy in 1798.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: In Lady with an Ermine, how is the abstract discussed?

The Lady with an Ermine is a portrait painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. Dated to c. 1489–1491, the work is painted in oils on a panel of walnut wood. Its subject is  Cecilia Gallerani, a mistress of Ludovico Sforza ("Il Moro"), Duke of Milan; Leonardo was painter to the Sforza court in Milan at the time of its execution. It is the second of only four surviving portraits of women painted by Leonardo, the others being Ginevra de' Benci, La Belle Ferronnière and the Mona Lisa.Lady with an Ermine is now housed at the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków, and is one of Poland's national treasures. It is part of the Princes Czartoryski Collection, which was sold for €100 million (5% of the estimated market value of the entire collection) on 29 December 2016 to the Polish government by Princes Czartoryski Foundation, represented by Adam Karol Czartoryski, the last direct descendant of Izabela Czartoryska Flemming and Adam George Czartoryski, who brought the painting to Poland from Italy in 1798.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: In the context of Lady with an Ermine, explain the Composition and the Description.

The painting was executed in oils on a relatively small, 54 cm × 39 cm (21 in × 15 in) walnut wood panel. It depicts a half-height woman turned toward her right at a three-quarter angle, but with her face turned toward her left. The animal in her arms twists in a similar manner, resulting in considerable contrapposto with the lady, a technique Leonardo explored earlier with the angel in the Virgin of the Rocks. The work is prepared with a layer of white gesso and a layer of brownish underpaint. In general, the paint is evenly applied akin to the Mona Lisa, though certain areas of the lady's skin are more layered. Also present are the subtle remains of spolvero (in the outline of the face and head), underdrawing (in the right arm, right hand, left hand, top of nose and edge of the hair), and fingerprints (the face and animal's head), the latter of which are particularly common in Leonardo's paintings. It is made from a single piece of walnut wood; Leonardo recommended, and favored walnut wood, though it was not commonly used by other artists in Lombardy. The wood is thin (about 4–5 millimetres (0.16–0.20 in)) and is most likely from the same tree as the wood for his later portrait, La Belle Ferronnière. The Lady with an Ermine is also connected to La Belle Ferronnière, as well as Leonardo's earlier Portrait of a Musician, due to the three paintings including black backgrounds.Though there are a few areas of minor damage, art historian Frank Zöllner insists the work is in "very good condition... similar to the equally well preserved Mona Lisa". Such an evaluation is relatively recent, however, as the work was previously considered to be considerably damaged and repainted. Promotion of such an analysis largely began with the art historian Kenneth Clark, who asserted in 1961 that the entire left side of the figure, as well as the background had been repainted. Scholars such as Adolfo Venturi, Angela Ottino della Chiesa and Jack Wasserman advanced the idea; however, a 1992 technical analysis at the National Gallery of Art led by David Bull has confirmed that the damage was limited to the background. Specifically, the background was likely originally a bluish-grey, overpainted with black during the mid-18th century. The signature LEONARD D'AWINCI in the top left corner was probably also added at this time. There is also slight overpainting in the mouth and nose; some art historians suggest Eugène Delacroix was responsible for the overpaint in the background and elsewhere. The background was also subject to the misconception that it originally included a window. It was proposed by Kazimierz Kwiatkowski, who led 1955 X-ray testing at Warsaw Laboratories, and explained certain spots in the right background as being remnants of a window. Such a conclusion has been disproven by Bull, Pietro C. Marani and others. In light of this revision—with the primary damage being overpaint in the background—the art historian Martin Kemp noted that "the picture is in much better condition than the standard accounts suggest, and gives the clearest indication of the freshly brilliant quality of Leonardo's painting during his period at the Sforza court in Milan".

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: Explain the Composition about the Description of this artwork, Lady with an Ermine.

The painting was executed in oils on a relatively small, 54 cm × 39 cm (21 in × 15 in) walnut wood panel. It depicts a half-height woman turned toward her right at a three-quarter angle, but with her face turned toward her left. The animal in her arms twists in a similar manner, resulting in considerable contrapposto with the lady, a technique Leonardo explored earlier with the angel in the Virgin of the Rocks. The work is prepared with a layer of white gesso and a layer of brownish underpaint. In general, the paint is evenly applied akin to the Mona Lisa, though certain areas of the lady's skin are more layered. Also present are the subtle remains of spolvero (in the outline of the face and head), underdrawing (in the right arm, right hand, left hand, top of nose and edge of the hair), and fingerprints (the face and animal's head), the latter of which are particularly common in Leonardo's paintings. It is made from a single piece of walnut wood; Leonardo recommended, and favored walnut wood, though it was not commonly used by other artists in Lombardy. The wood is thin (about 4–5 millimetres (0.16–0.20 in)) and is most likely from the same tree as the wood for his later portrait, La Belle Ferronnière. The Lady with an Ermine is also connected to La Belle Ferronnière, as well as Leonardo's earlier Portrait of a Musician, due to the three paintings including black backgrounds.Though there are a few areas of minor damage, art historian Frank Zöllner insists the work is in "very good condition... similar to the equally well preserved Mona Lisa". Such an evaluation is relatively recent, however, as the work was previously considered to be considerably damaged and repainted. Promotion of such an analysis largely began with the art historian Kenneth Clark, who asserted in 1961 that the entire left side of the figure, as well as the background had been repainted. Scholars such as Adolfo Venturi, Angela Ottino della Chiesa and Jack Wasserman advanced the idea; however, a 1992 technical analysis at the National Gallery of Art led by David Bull has confirmed that the damage was limited to the background. Specifically, the background was likely originally a bluish-grey, overpainted with black during the mid-18th century. The signature LEONARD D'AWINCI in the top left corner was probably also added at this time. There is also slight overpainting in the mouth and nose; some art historians suggest Eugène Delacroix was responsible for the overpaint in the background and elsewhere. The background was also subject to the misconception that it originally included a window. It was proposed by Kazimierz Kwiatkowski, who led 1955 X-ray testing at Warsaw Laboratories, and explained certain spots in the right background as being remnants of a window. Such a conclusion has been disproven by Bull, Pietro C. Marani and others. In light of this revision—with the primary damage being overpaint in the background—the art historian Martin Kemp noted that "the picture is in much better condition than the standard accounts suggest, and gives the clearest indication of the freshly brilliant quality of Leonardo's painting during his period at the Sforza court in Milan".

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: In Lady with an Ermine, how is the Composition of the Description explained?

The painting was executed in oils on a relatively small, 54 cm × 39 cm (21 in × 15 in) walnut wood panel. It depicts a half-height woman turned toward her right at a three-quarter angle, but with her face turned toward her left. The animal in her arms twists in a similar manner, resulting in considerable contrapposto with the lady, a technique Leonardo explored earlier with the angel in the Virgin of the Rocks. The work is prepared with a layer of white gesso and a layer of brownish underpaint. In general, the paint is evenly applied akin to the Mona Lisa, though certain areas of the lady's skin are more layered. Also present are the subtle remains of spolvero (in the outline of the face and head), underdrawing (in the right arm, right hand, left hand, top of nose and edge of the hair), and fingerprints (the face and animal's head), the latter of which are particularly common in Leonardo's paintings. It is made from a single piece of walnut wood; Leonardo recommended, and favored walnut wood, though it was not commonly used by other artists in Lombardy. The wood is thin (about 4–5 millimetres (0.16–0.20 in)) and is most likely from the same tree as the wood for his later portrait, La Belle Ferronnière. The Lady with an Ermine is also connected to La Belle Ferronnière, as well as Leonardo's earlier Portrait of a Musician, due to the three paintings including black backgrounds.Though there are a few areas of minor damage, art historian Frank Zöllner insists the work is in "very good condition... similar to the equally well preserved Mona Lisa". Such an evaluation is relatively recent, however, as the work was previously considered to be considerably damaged and repainted. Promotion of such an analysis largely began with the art historian Kenneth Clark, who asserted in 1961 that the entire left side of the figure, as well as the background had been repainted. Scholars such as Adolfo Venturi, Angela Ottino della Chiesa and Jack Wasserman advanced the idea; however, a 1992 technical analysis at the National Gallery of Art led by David Bull has confirmed that the damage was limited to the background. Specifically, the background was likely originally a bluish-grey, overpainted with black during the mid-18th century. The signature LEONARD D'AWINCI in the top left corner was probably also added at this time. There is also slight overpainting in the mouth and nose; some art historians suggest Eugène Delacroix was responsible for the overpaint in the background and elsewhere. The background was also subject to the misconception that it originally included a window. It was proposed by Kazimierz Kwiatkowski, who led 1955 X-ray testing at Warsaw Laboratories, and explained certain spots in the right background as being remnants of a window. Such a conclusion has been disproven by Bull, Pietro C. Marani and others. In light of this revision—with the primary damage being overpaint in the background—the art historian Martin Kemp noted that "the picture is in much better condition than the standard accounts suggest, and gives the clearest indication of the freshly brilliant quality of Leonardo's painting during his period at the Sforza court in Milan".

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: Describe the characteristics of the Composition in Lady with an Ermine's Description.

The painting was executed in oils on a relatively small, 54 cm × 39 cm (21 in × 15 in) walnut wood panel. It depicts a half-height woman turned toward her right at a three-quarter angle, but with her face turned toward her left. The animal in her arms twists in a similar manner, resulting in considerable contrapposto with the lady, a technique Leonardo explored earlier with the angel in the Virgin of the Rocks. The work is prepared with a layer of white gesso and a layer of brownish underpaint. In general, the paint is evenly applied akin to the Mona Lisa, though certain areas of the lady's skin are more layered. Also present are the subtle remains of spolvero (in the outline of the face and head), underdrawing (in the right arm, right hand, left hand, top of nose and edge of the hair), and fingerprints (the face and animal's head), the latter of which are particularly common in Leonardo's paintings. It is made from a single piece of walnut wood; Leonardo recommended, and favored walnut wood, though it was not commonly used by other artists in Lombardy. The wood is thin (about 4–5 millimetres (0.16–0.20 in)) and is most likely from the same tree as the wood for his later portrait, La Belle Ferronnière. The Lady with an Ermine is also connected to La Belle Ferronnière, as well as Leonardo's earlier Portrait of a Musician, due to the three paintings including black backgrounds.Though there are a few areas of minor damage, art historian Frank Zöllner insists the work is in "very good condition... similar to the equally well preserved Mona Lisa". Such an evaluation is relatively recent, however, as the work was previously considered to be considerably damaged and repainted. Promotion of such an analysis largely began with the art historian Kenneth Clark, who asserted in 1961 that the entire left side of the figure, as well as the background had been repainted. Scholars such as Adolfo Venturi, Angela Ottino della Chiesa and Jack Wasserman advanced the idea; however, a 1992 technical analysis at the National Gallery of Art led by David Bull has confirmed that the damage was limited to the background. Specifically, the background was likely originally a bluish-grey, overpainted with black during the mid-18th century. The signature LEONARD D'AWINCI in the top left corner was probably also added at this time. There is also slight overpainting in the mouth and nose; some art historians suggest Eugène Delacroix was responsible for the overpaint in the background and elsewhere. The background was also subject to the misconception that it originally included a window. It was proposed by Kazimierz Kwiatkowski, who led 1955 X-ray testing at Warsaw Laboratories, and explained certain spots in the right background as being remnants of a window. Such a conclusion has been disproven by Bull, Pietro C. Marani and others. In light of this revision—with the primary damage being overpaint in the background—the art historian Martin Kemp noted that "the picture is in much better condition than the standard accounts suggest, and gives the clearest indication of the freshly brilliant quality of Leonardo's painting during his period at the Sforza court in Milan".

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: In the context of Lady with an Ermine, explain the The Lady and the Description.

The subject has been identified with reasonable certainty as Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Leonardo's Milanese employer, Ludovico Sforza. She looks to her left at something out of frame, toward the light, where the biographer Walter Isaacson suggests Ludovico is. Following the marriage of Isabella of Aragon, Duchess of Milan and Gian Galeazzo Sforza, her 'Spanish style' dress would have been particularly fashionable. She has a silk sbernia on over her left shoulder, though Leonardo has simplified the traditional manner of wearing—where it would be draped over both shoulders—potentially to avoid too much complication in the various elements of the painting. Her right shoulder shows an ornately embroidered gold band over a velvet dress. Again, Leonardo has simplified the design, by having the left shoulder band covered by the sbernia, so as to not take away from the animal's detailed head. Her coiffure, known as a coazzone, confines her hair smoothly to her head with two bands of it bound on either side of her face and a long plait at the back. Her hair is held in place by a fine gauze veil with a woven border of gold-wound threads, a black band, and a sheath over the plait.As in many of Leonardo's paintings, the composition comprises a pyramidic spiral and the sitter is caught in the motion of turning to her left, reflecting Leonardo's lifelong preoccupation with the dynamics of movement. The three-quarter profile portrait was one of his many innovations. Il Moro's court poet, Bernardo Bellincioni, was the first to propose that Cecilia was poised as if listening to an unseen speaker. This work in particular shows Leonardo's expertise in painting the human form. The artist painted Cecilia's outstretched hand with a lot of detail, including the shape of each fingernail, the lines around her knuckles, and even the way the tendon in her bent finger moved as it bentA recent study brings to the forefront and supports another so far little-followed hypothesis: the heroic character of Caterina Sforza, the lioness of Romagna, is proposed as being the model of this allegorical representation in which the mental strength and beauty that were attributed to Amazons in mythology.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: Explain the The Lady about the Description of this artwork, Lady with an Ermine.

The subject has been identified with reasonable certainty as Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Leonardo's Milanese employer, Ludovico Sforza. She looks to her left at something out of frame, toward the light, where the biographer Walter Isaacson suggests Ludovico is. Following the marriage of Isabella of Aragon, Duchess of Milan and Gian Galeazzo Sforza, her 'Spanish style' dress would have been particularly fashionable. She has a silk sbernia on over her left shoulder, though Leonardo has simplified the traditional manner of wearing—where it would be draped over both shoulders—potentially to avoid too much complication in the various elements of the painting. Her right shoulder shows an ornately embroidered gold band over a velvet dress. Again, Leonardo has simplified the design, by having the left shoulder band covered by the sbernia, so as to not take away from the animal's detailed head. Her coiffure, known as a coazzone, confines her hair smoothly to her head with two bands of it bound on either side of her face and a long plait at the back. Her hair is held in place by a fine gauze veil with a woven border of gold-wound threads, a black band, and a sheath over the plait.As in many of Leonardo's paintings, the composition comprises a pyramidic spiral and the sitter is caught in the motion of turning to her left, reflecting Leonardo's lifelong preoccupation with the dynamics of movement. The three-quarter profile portrait was one of his many innovations. Il Moro's court poet, Bernardo Bellincioni, was the first to propose that Cecilia was poised as if listening to an unseen speaker. This work in particular shows Leonardo's expertise in painting the human form. The artist painted Cecilia's outstretched hand with a lot of detail, including the shape of each fingernail, the lines around her knuckles, and even the way the tendon in her bent finger moved as it bentA recent study brings to the forefront and supports another so far little-followed hypothesis: the heroic character of Caterina Sforza, the lioness of Romagna, is proposed as being the model of this allegorical representation in which the mental strength and beauty that were attributed to Amazons in mythology.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: In Lady with an Ermine, how is the The Lady of the Description explained?

The subject has been identified with reasonable certainty as Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Leonardo's Milanese employer, Ludovico Sforza. She looks to her left at something out of frame, toward the light, where the biographer Walter Isaacson suggests Ludovico is. Following the marriage of Isabella of Aragon, Duchess of Milan and Gian Galeazzo Sforza, her 'Spanish style' dress would have been particularly fashionable. She has a silk sbernia on over her left shoulder, though Leonardo has simplified the traditional manner of wearing—where it would be draped over both shoulders—potentially to avoid too much complication in the various elements of the painting. Her right shoulder shows an ornately embroidered gold band over a velvet dress. Again, Leonardo has simplified the design, by having the left shoulder band covered by the sbernia, so as to not take away from the animal's detailed head. Her coiffure, known as a coazzone, confines her hair smoothly to her head with two bands of it bound on either side of her face and a long plait at the back. Her hair is held in place by a fine gauze veil with a woven border of gold-wound threads, a black band, and a sheath over the plait.As in many of Leonardo's paintings, the composition comprises a pyramidic spiral and the sitter is caught in the motion of turning to her left, reflecting Leonardo's lifelong preoccupation with the dynamics of movement. The three-quarter profile portrait was one of his many innovations. Il Moro's court poet, Bernardo Bellincioni, was the first to propose that Cecilia was poised as if listening to an unseen speaker. This work in particular shows Leonardo's expertise in painting the human form. The artist painted Cecilia's outstretched hand with a lot of detail, including the shape of each fingernail, the lines around her knuckles, and even the way the tendon in her bent finger moved as it bentA recent study brings to the forefront and supports another so far little-followed hypothesis: the heroic character of Caterina Sforza, the lioness of Romagna, is proposed as being the model of this allegorical representation in which the mental strength and beauty that were attributed to Amazons in mythology.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: Describe the characteristics of the The Lady in Lady with an Ermine's Description.

The subject has been identified with reasonable certainty as Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Leonardo's Milanese employer, Ludovico Sforza. She looks to her left at something out of frame, toward the light, where the biographer Walter Isaacson suggests Ludovico is. Following the marriage of Isabella of Aragon, Duchess of Milan and Gian Galeazzo Sforza, her 'Spanish style' dress would have been particularly fashionable. She has a silk sbernia on over her left shoulder, though Leonardo has simplified the traditional manner of wearing—where it would be draped over both shoulders—potentially to avoid too much complication in the various elements of the painting. Her right shoulder shows an ornately embroidered gold band over a velvet dress. Again, Leonardo has simplified the design, by having the left shoulder band covered by the sbernia, so as to not take away from the animal's detailed head. Her coiffure, known as a coazzone, confines her hair smoothly to her head with two bands of it bound on either side of her face and a long plait at the back. Her hair is held in place by a fine gauze veil with a woven border of gold-wound threads, a black band, and a sheath over the plait.As in many of Leonardo's paintings, the composition comprises a pyramidic spiral and the sitter is caught in the motion of turning to her left, reflecting Leonardo's lifelong preoccupation with the dynamics of movement. The three-quarter profile portrait was one of his many innovations. Il Moro's court poet, Bernardo Bellincioni, was the first to propose that Cecilia was poised as if listening to an unseen speaker. This work in particular shows Leonardo's expertise in painting the human form. The artist painted Cecilia's outstretched hand with a lot of detail, including the shape of each fingernail, the lines around her knuckles, and even the way the tendon in her bent finger moved as it bentA recent study brings to the forefront and supports another so far little-followed hypothesis: the heroic character of Caterina Sforza, the lioness of Romagna, is proposed as being the model of this allegorical representation in which the mental strength and beauty that were attributed to Amazons in mythology.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: In the context of Lady with an Ermine, explain the The ermine and the Description.

The animal resting in Cecilia's arms is usually known as an ermine. Commentators have noted that it is too large to be an actual ermine, but its size is explained by its being of a largely symbolic nature. The art historian Luke Syson notes that "Naturalism is not the point here; Leonardo has created a mythical beast, the composite of several animals he drew at this time". There are several interpretations of the ermine's significance and they are often used in combination with each other. In its winter coat, the ermine was a traditional symbol of purity and moderation, as it was believed it would face death rather than soil its white coat.In his old age, Leonardo compiled a bestiary in which he recorded: "The ermine out of moderation never eats but once a day, and it would rather let itself be captured by hunters than take refuge in a dirty lair, in order not to stain its purity." He repeats this idea in another note, "Moderation curbs all the vices. The ermine prefers to die rather than soil itself." A drawing by Leonardo in pen and ink of c. 1490, housed at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, depicts an ermine representing these ideals by surrendering to a hunter. The ermine has also been noted to have a personal significance to Ludovico Sforza, as he would use it as a personal emblem, having been appointed by Ferdinand I as a member of the Order of the Ermine in 1488. Alternatively, the ermine could be a pun on Cecilia's surname: The Ancient Greek term for ermine, or other weasel-like species of animals, is galê (γαλῆ) or galéē (γαλέη). Such allusions were particularly popular in Renaissance culture; Leonardo himself had done something similar in his earlier work, Ginevra de' Benci, when he surrounded Ginevra with a juniper tree, or ginepro in Italian. Krystyna Moczulska suggests that the ermine follows the meaning of an ermine or weasel in classical literature, where it relates to pregnancy, sometimes as an animal that protected pregnant women. Around the time of the painting's creation, Cecilia was known to be pregnant with Ludovico's illegitimate son.The ermine can also be understood in the context of Cecilia's marriage to Count Lodovico Bergamino, which took place soon after the birth of her son by Ludovico in 1491. The ermine was a common motif in representations of chastity in Renaissance Italy, popularized by its appearance as an attribute of Chastity in Petrarch's poem I Trionfi. Petrarch's poem, which describes Chasity as triumphing over Love, was often depicted in lavishly decorated chests (called cassone) which formed an important part of the wedding trousseau of brides from prominent backgrounds. In such a context, the ermine, as a symbol of chastity, also symbolizes marital fidelity. The presence of the ermine thus points both to Cecilia's connection with Ludovico as well as her upcoming marriage to Bergamino.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: Explain the The ermine about the Description of this artwork, Lady with an Ermine.

The animal resting in Cecilia's arms is usually known as an ermine. Commentators have noted that it is too large to be an actual ermine, but its size is explained by its being of a largely symbolic nature. The art historian Luke Syson notes that "Naturalism is not the point here; Leonardo has created a mythical beast, the composite of several animals he drew at this time". There are several interpretations of the ermine's significance and they are often used in combination with each other. In its winter coat, the ermine was a traditional symbol of purity and moderation, as it was believed it would face death rather than soil its white coat.In his old age, Leonardo compiled a bestiary in which he recorded: "The ermine out of moderation never eats but once a day, and it would rather let itself be captured by hunters than take refuge in a dirty lair, in order not to stain its purity." He repeats this idea in another note, "Moderation curbs all the vices. The ermine prefers to die rather than soil itself." A drawing by Leonardo in pen and ink of c. 1490, housed at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, depicts an ermine representing these ideals by surrendering to a hunter. The ermine has also been noted to have a personal significance to Ludovico Sforza, as he would use it as a personal emblem, having been appointed by Ferdinand I as a member of the Order of the Ermine in 1488. Alternatively, the ermine could be a pun on Cecilia's surname: The Ancient Greek term for ermine, or other weasel-like species of animals, is galê (γαλῆ) or galéē (γαλέη). Such allusions were particularly popular in Renaissance culture; Leonardo himself had done something similar in his earlier work, Ginevra de' Benci, when he surrounded Ginevra with a juniper tree, or ginepro in Italian. Krystyna Moczulska suggests that the ermine follows the meaning of an ermine or weasel in classical literature, where it relates to pregnancy, sometimes as an animal that protected pregnant women. Around the time of the painting's creation, Cecilia was known to be pregnant with Ludovico's illegitimate son.The ermine can also be understood in the context of Cecilia's marriage to Count Lodovico Bergamino, which took place soon after the birth of her son by Ludovico in 1491. The ermine was a common motif in representations of chastity in Renaissance Italy, popularized by its appearance as an attribute of Chastity in Petrarch's poem I Trionfi. Petrarch's poem, which describes Chasity as triumphing over Love, was often depicted in lavishly decorated chests (called cassone) which formed an important part of the wedding trousseau of brides from prominent backgrounds. In such a context, the ermine, as a symbol of chastity, also symbolizes marital fidelity. The presence of the ermine thus points both to Cecilia's connection with Ludovico as well as her upcoming marriage to Bergamino.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: In Lady with an Ermine, how is the The ermine of the Description explained?

The animal resting in Cecilia's arms is usually known as an ermine. Commentators have noted that it is too large to be an actual ermine, but its size is explained by its being of a largely symbolic nature. The art historian Luke Syson notes that "Naturalism is not the point here; Leonardo has created a mythical beast, the composite of several animals he drew at this time". There are several interpretations of the ermine's significance and they are often used in combination with each other. In its winter coat, the ermine was a traditional symbol of purity and moderation, as it was believed it would face death rather than soil its white coat.In his old age, Leonardo compiled a bestiary in which he recorded: "The ermine out of moderation never eats but once a day, and it would rather let itself be captured by hunters than take refuge in a dirty lair, in order not to stain its purity." He repeats this idea in another note, "Moderation curbs all the vices. The ermine prefers to die rather than soil itself." A drawing by Leonardo in pen and ink of c. 1490, housed at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, depicts an ermine representing these ideals by surrendering to a hunter. The ermine has also been noted to have a personal significance to Ludovico Sforza, as he would use it as a personal emblem, having been appointed by Ferdinand I as a member of the Order of the Ermine in 1488. Alternatively, the ermine could be a pun on Cecilia's surname: The Ancient Greek term for ermine, or other weasel-like species of animals, is galê (γαλῆ) or galéē (γαλέη). Such allusions were particularly popular in Renaissance culture; Leonardo himself had done something similar in his earlier work, Ginevra de' Benci, when he surrounded Ginevra with a juniper tree, or ginepro in Italian. Krystyna Moczulska suggests that the ermine follows the meaning of an ermine or weasel in classical literature, where it relates to pregnancy, sometimes as an animal that protected pregnant women. Around the time of the painting's creation, Cecilia was known to be pregnant with Ludovico's illegitimate son.The ermine can also be understood in the context of Cecilia's marriage to Count Lodovico Bergamino, which took place soon after the birth of her son by Ludovico in 1491. The ermine was a common motif in representations of chastity in Renaissance Italy, popularized by its appearance as an attribute of Chastity in Petrarch's poem I Trionfi. Petrarch's poem, which describes Chasity as triumphing over Love, was often depicted in lavishly decorated chests (called cassone) which formed an important part of the wedding trousseau of brides from prominent backgrounds. In such a context, the ermine, as a symbol of chastity, also symbolizes marital fidelity. The presence of the ermine thus points both to Cecilia's connection with Ludovico as well as her upcoming marriage to Bergamino.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: Describe the characteristics of the The ermine in Lady with an Ermine's Description.

The animal resting in Cecilia's arms is usually known as an ermine. Commentators have noted that it is too large to be an actual ermine, but its size is explained by its being of a largely symbolic nature. The art historian Luke Syson notes that "Naturalism is not the point here; Leonardo has created a mythical beast, the composite of several animals he drew at this time". There are several interpretations of the ermine's significance and they are often used in combination with each other. In its winter coat, the ermine was a traditional symbol of purity and moderation, as it was believed it would face death rather than soil its white coat.In his old age, Leonardo compiled a bestiary in which he recorded: "The ermine out of moderation never eats but once a day, and it would rather let itself be captured by hunters than take refuge in a dirty lair, in order not to stain its purity." He repeats this idea in another note, "Moderation curbs all the vices. The ermine prefers to die rather than soil itself." A drawing by Leonardo in pen and ink of c. 1490, housed at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, depicts an ermine representing these ideals by surrendering to a hunter. The ermine has also been noted to have a personal significance to Ludovico Sforza, as he would use it as a personal emblem, having been appointed by Ferdinand I as a member of the Order of the Ermine in 1488. Alternatively, the ermine could be a pun on Cecilia's surname: The Ancient Greek term for ermine, or other weasel-like species of animals, is galê (γαλῆ) or galéē (γαλέη). Such allusions were particularly popular in Renaissance culture; Leonardo himself had done something similar in his earlier work, Ginevra de' Benci, when he surrounded Ginevra with a juniper tree, or ginepro in Italian. Krystyna Moczulska suggests that the ermine follows the meaning of an ermine or weasel in classical literature, where it relates to pregnancy, sometimes as an animal that protected pregnant women. Around the time of the painting's creation, Cecilia was known to be pregnant with Ludovico's illegitimate son.The ermine can also be understood in the context of Cecilia's marriage to Count Lodovico Bergamino, which took place soon after the birth of her son by Ludovico in 1491. The ermine was a common motif in representations of chastity in Renaissance Italy, popularized by its appearance as an attribute of Chastity in Petrarch's poem I Trionfi. Petrarch's poem, which describes Chasity as triumphing over Love, was often depicted in lavishly decorated chests (called cassone) which formed an important part of the wedding trousseau of brides from prominent backgrounds. In such a context, the ermine, as a symbol of chastity, also symbolizes marital fidelity. The presence of the ermine thus points both to Cecilia's connection with Ludovico as well as her upcoming marriage to Bergamino.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: Focus on Lady with an Ermine and explain the Attribution.

It was not until the 20th century that the Lady with an Ermine was widely accepted by scholars to be a work of Leonardo. The attribution is due to the style of chiaroscuro, intricate detail and "contemplative tone" typical of Leonardo.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: Explain the Attribution of this artwork, Lady with an Ermine.

It was not until the 20th century that the Lady with an Ermine was widely accepted by scholars to be a work of Leonardo. The attribution is due to the style of chiaroscuro, intricate detail and "contemplative tone" typical of Leonardo.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: How does Lady with an Ermine explain its Attribution?

It was not until the 20th century that the Lady with an Ermine was widely accepted by scholars to be a work of Leonardo. The attribution is due to the style of chiaroscuro, intricate detail and "contemplative tone" typical of Leonardo.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: In Lady with an Ermine, how is the Attribution discussed?

It was not until the 20th century that the Lady with an Ermine was widely accepted by scholars to be a work of Leonardo. The attribution is due to the style of chiaroscuro, intricate detail and "contemplative tone" typical of Leonardo.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: Focus on Lady with an Ermine and explain the Dating.

The Lady with an Ermine can securely be dated to Leonardo's first Milanese period (c. 1482–1499). Specifically, scholars date the painting to 1489–1491.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: Explain the Dating of this artwork, Lady with an Ermine.

The Lady with an Ermine can securely be dated to Leonardo's first Milanese period (c. 1482–1499). Specifically, scholars date the painting to 1489–1491.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: How does Lady with an Ermine explain its Dating?

The Lady with an Ermine can securely be dated to Leonardo's first Milanese period (c. 1482–1499). Specifically, scholars date the painting to 1489–1491.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: In Lady with an Ermine, how is the Dating discussed?

The Lady with an Ermine can securely be dated to Leonardo's first Milanese period (c. 1482–1499). Specifically, scholars date the painting to 1489–1491.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: In the context of Lady with an Ermine, explain the Historical context and the Background.

To some extent the painting includes traditional characteristics of Italian portraiture from the 1430s and 1440s; the coloring, for example, is particularly reminiscent of the Florentine quattrocento tradition.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: Explain the Historical context about the Background of this artwork, Lady with an Ermine.

To some extent the painting includes traditional characteristics of Italian portraiture from the 1430s and 1440s; the coloring, for example, is particularly reminiscent of the Florentine quattrocento tradition.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: In Lady with an Ermine, how is the Historical context of the Background explained?

To some extent the painting includes traditional characteristics of Italian portraiture from the 1430s and 1440s; the coloring, for example, is particularly reminiscent of the Florentine quattrocento tradition.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: Describe the characteristics of the Historical context in Lady with an Ermine's Background.

To some extent the painting includes traditional characteristics of Italian portraiture from the 1430s and 1440s; the coloring, for example, is particularly reminiscent of the Florentine quattrocento tradition.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: In the context of Lady with an Ermine, explain the Commission and the Background.

The sitter has been identified with reasonable certainty as Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Leonardo's employer, Ludovico Sforza.Gallerani was a member of a large family that was neither wealthy nor noble. Her father served for a time at the Duke's court. At the time of the portrait, she was about sixteen years old and was renowned for her beauty, scholarship and poetry. She was married at approximately age six to a young nobleman of the house of Visconti, but sued to annul the marriage in 1487 for undisclosed reasons and the request was granted. She became the Duke's mistress and bore him a son, even after his marriage to Beatrice d'Este eleven years previously. Beatrice was promised to the Duke when she was only five, and married him when she was sixteen in 1491. After a few months, she discovered the Duke was still seeing Gallerani, and forced the Duke to end the relationship by having her married to Count Ludovico Carminati di Brambilla, also known as Il Bergamino. The newly-wed couple was moved to Palazzo Carmagnola in Milan.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: Explain the Commission about the Background of this artwork, Lady with an Ermine.

The sitter has been identified with reasonable certainty as Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Leonardo's employer, Ludovico Sforza.Gallerani was a member of a large family that was neither wealthy nor noble. Her father served for a time at the Duke's court. At the time of the portrait, she was about sixteen years old and was renowned for her beauty, scholarship and poetry. She was married at approximately age six to a young nobleman of the house of Visconti, but sued to annul the marriage in 1487 for undisclosed reasons and the request was granted. She became the Duke's mistress and bore him a son, even after his marriage to Beatrice d'Este eleven years previously. Beatrice was promised to the Duke when she was only five, and married him when she was sixteen in 1491. After a few months, she discovered the Duke was still seeing Gallerani, and forced the Duke to end the relationship by having her married to Count Ludovico Carminati di Brambilla, also known as Il Bergamino. The newly-wed couple was moved to Palazzo Carmagnola in Milan.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: In Lady with an Ermine, how is the Commission of the Background explained?

The sitter has been identified with reasonable certainty as Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Leonardo's employer, Ludovico Sforza.Gallerani was a member of a large family that was neither wealthy nor noble. Her father served for a time at the Duke's court. At the time of the portrait, she was about sixteen years old and was renowned for her beauty, scholarship and poetry. She was married at approximately age six to a young nobleman of the house of Visconti, but sued to annul the marriage in 1487 for undisclosed reasons and the request was granted. She became the Duke's mistress and bore him a son, even after his marriage to Beatrice d'Este eleven years previously. Beatrice was promised to the Duke when she was only five, and married him when she was sixteen in 1491. After a few months, she discovered the Duke was still seeing Gallerani, and forced the Duke to end the relationship by having her married to Count Ludovico Carminati di Brambilla, also known as Il Bergamino. The newly-wed couple was moved to Palazzo Carmagnola in Milan.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: Describe the characteristics of the Commission in Lady with an Ermine's Background.

The sitter has been identified with reasonable certainty as Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Leonardo's employer, Ludovico Sforza.Gallerani was a member of a large family that was neither wealthy nor noble. Her father served for a time at the Duke's court. At the time of the portrait, she was about sixteen years old and was renowned for her beauty, scholarship and poetry. She was married at approximately age six to a young nobleman of the house of Visconti, but sued to annul the marriage in 1487 for undisclosed reasons and the request was granted. She became the Duke's mistress and bore him a son, even after his marriage to Beatrice d'Este eleven years previously. Beatrice was promised to the Duke when she was only five, and married him when she was sixteen in 1491. After a few months, she discovered the Duke was still seeing Gallerani, and forced the Duke to end the relationship by having her married to Count Ludovico Carminati di Brambilla, also known as Il Bergamino. The newly-wed couple was moved to Palazzo Carmagnola in Milan.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)


Lady with an Ermine

Prompt: In the context of Lady with an Ermine, explain the History and the Background.

It has always been known that Leonardo painted a portrait of Ludovico Sforza's mistress, Cecilia Gallerani, but the Lady with an Ermine remained largely unknown to scholars until nearly the 20th century. The painting was acquired in Italy in 1798 by Prince Adam George Czartoryski, the son of Izabela Czartoryska Flemming and Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski, and incorporated into the Czartoryski family collections at Puławy in 1800. The inscription on the top-left corner of the painting, LA BELE FERONIERE. LEONARD DAWINCI., was probably added by a restorer shortly after its arrival in Poland, and before the background was overpainted. Czartoryski was clearly aware it was a Leonardo, although the painting had never been discussed in print; no record exists of any previous owner. The Belle Ferronière is the Leonardo portrait in the Louvre, whose sitter bears such a close resemblance; the Czartoryskis considered this sitter to be the same.The painting travelled widely during the 19th century. During the November Uprising in 1830, the 84-year-old Princess Czartoryska rescued it in advance of the invading Russian army, hid it, and sent it 150 km south to the Czartoryski palace at Sieniawa. Soon after, it was transferred to the Czartoryski place of exile in Paris, the Hôtel Lambert. The family returned to Poland in 1869, settling in Kraków. In the tumultuous aftermath of the German occupation of Paris in 1871 and the Commune, the family brought the painting to Kraków in 1876 and the museum opened in 1878. During World War I, the painting was moved to the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden for safe-keeping, returning to Kraków in 1920.In 1939, anticipating the German occupation of Poland, it was again moved to Sieniawa, but it was discovered and seized by the Nazis and sent to the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin. In 1940, Hans Frank, the Governor General of Poland, saw the painting there and requested it be returned to Kraków, where it hung in his suite of offices in the Wawel Castle. In 1941, it was transferred to a warehouse of other plundered art in Breslau. In 1943 it was brought back to Kraków and exhibited at the Wawel Castle. At the end of the Second World War it was discovered by Allied troops in Frank's country home in Schliersee, Bavaria, and was returned to Poland in 1946. It was again placed on exhibit at the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków. Throughout the mid–late 20th century the work traveled the world more extensively than any other Leonardo painting, being exhibited in Warsaw (1952), Moscow (1972), Washington, D.C. (1991/92), Malmö (1993/94), Rome/Milan (1998), Florence (1999).The work remained displayed at the Czartoryski Museum until it closed for renovations in 2010. From May 2017 to 2019, it was exhibited in the National Museum, Kraków, just outside the Old Town. It returned to the Czartoryski Museum for the museum's reopening on December 19, 2019.

Category:Art and cultural repatriation after World War II

''The Ermine Hunt'' (c. 1490), a pen and ink drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

Category:Looting of Poland in World War II

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance

Category:Collection of the Czartoryski Museum

Leonardo da Vinci#First Milanese period (c. 1482–1499)

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer [[Karol Estreicher (junior)