DaVinci’s ‘Lady with an Ermine’
While Herman Goering may have turned over ‘The Astronomer’ he did manage to keep 1,500 works of art and sculptures for himself. One such work that he prized was Leonardo DaVinci’s ‘Lady with an Ermine.’ This portrait was completed around 1490 and is one of only four portraits of women that were painted by DaVinci. The painting is of Cecilia Gallerani, who was the mistress of the Duke of Milan at the time of the painting.
At the time of the painting, Cecilia Gallerani was just 16-years-old but was known for her beauty and scholarship. The ermine in the painting is said to be the symbol of purity, for it was believed that the ermine would rather die than soil its white coat. Others suggest that the ermine might be a symbol of her pregnancy. The painting is beloved for how well it shows DaVinci’s skill in painting portraits, and how much detail is given to every aspect of the human form.
The first records of the painting state that it was acquired by Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski in 1798 and it was incorporated into the family collection at Pulawy in 1800. It was known as the time to be a DaVinci even though the painting had never before been referenced. In 1830, the painting was hidden from advancing Russians, but returned to Krakow in 1882.
In 1939 it was seized by the Nazis immediately after the invasion of Poland and it was sent to the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin. A year later it was requested by Hans Frank, the Governor-General of Poland so that he could hang it in his suite of offices. He kept the painting with him when he fled Poland ahead of the advancing Soviet Army in 1945. When he was arrested in 1946, the painting was recovered by the MFAA and returned to the Czartoryski Museum.