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Ginevra de' Benci
Leonardo da Vinci · Renaissance & Mannerism
- Artist
- Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)
- Date
- c. 1474–1478
- Dimensions
- 38.1 x 37 cm
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Location
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., United States
This early portrait by the young Leonardo shows Ginevra de' Benci, a sixteen-year-old Florentine noblewoman famous for her intelligence and poetry, against a dark juniper bush and a misty landscape.
A closer look
Ginevra's pale, almost porcelain face is framed by tight golden curls, her expression cool and inward, her eyes not quite meeting ours. The spiky juniper bush behind her is a pun on her name, since 'ginepro' means juniper in Italian, and a symbol of female virtue. On the back of the panel Leonardo painted a juniper sprig encircled by a laurel and a palm, with the motto 'Beauty adorns virtue'. The panel was cut down at the bottom, probably removing her hands. It is the only painting by Leonardo in the Americas.
