Leonardo da Vinci’s 'The Lady with an Ermine,' a Beguiling Portrait of Elegant Mystique

As the world marks the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death, we revisit one of the Italian master’s most beguiling works, The Lady with an Ermine, also known as Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani. This portrait of the 15th-century mistress of the Duke of Milan is dense with meanings and symbols – not least the eponymous ermine – and compositionally elaborate. It was also a precursor to the Mona Lisa in how it portrayed a woman’s mystique in an elegant manner.