L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 10 THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2016 L'Italo-Americano I am referring to Leonardo da Vinci 's portrait of Ginevra de' Benci, his only painting to be found in the Western hemi- sphere. It is one of the greatest glories of the National Gallery in Washington D.C., and was pur- chased for a record five million dollars in 1967 from the princes of Liechtenstein. If you ever go to Washington, make sure you go see it. A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to see it in per- son during a special exhibit host- ed by the Museum, and entitled " G i n e v r a d e ' B e n c i a n d Renaissance portraits of women in Florence from 1440 to 1540." This portrait, oil on wood, is the best preserved of Leonardo's paintings, though it was mutilat- ed sometimes around 1780, pos- sibly to eliminate portions that had been burned or ruined by water. It was cut some eight inches from the bottom and half an inch from the side. As it is now, it measures 42x37 cm. Not very large, but breathlessly beau- tiful. The exhibit showed a digital- ly computer-generated view of the painting the way it may have originally looked. Indications were given by the back of the portrait, in which an ornamental oval wreath encloses the motto "Beauty adorns virtue," refer- r i n g o f c o u r s e t o G i n e v r a ' s virtue. Experts were able to reconstruct the size of the paint- ing from the truncated wreath. The original also showed the arms and the hands of the sitter, which the exhibit showed digi- t a l l y r e c o n s t r u c t e d , u s i n g a s t u d y o f h a n d s a l s o b y Leonardo. In this portrait, the young woman stands in a natural set- ting, against juniper bushes, since her name, Ginevra, means j u n i p e r . M o s t a r t h i s t o r i a n s assign this portrait to the period of Leonardo's youth, while he was still living in Florence, that The Only Leonardo in This Hemisphere LAURA STORTONI-HAGER is, around 1475. This painting made him famous and put him "on the map," so to speak. He was then to receive great honors and commissions, first with the Sforzas in Milan, and then with Francis 1st King of France. A great inventor, Leonardo made striking innovations even in the art of portraiture. Before t h i s p a i n t i n g , p o r t r a i t u r e o f women was almost always in profile, a pose that made the sit- ter look to the side, rather than " i m m o d e s t l y " s t a r e i n t o t h e s p e c t a t o r s ' e y e s . L e o n a r d o , instead, painted his female sub- jects in a three-quarter pose, looking straight at the viewer. The young woman, according to Renaissance historian Vasari, was Ginevra de' Benci, and this was probably her wedding por- trait. She was to marry a man twice her age. She looks serene, virtuous, but not particularly happy. She is coifed modestly with her hair done up in a tur- baned bun, with delightful curls escaping on both sides of her face. Her forehead is high: this w a s t h e f a s h i o n o f t h e t i m e , when ladies went to the extreme of plucking their hair or shaving t h e i r h a i r o n t h e f o r e h e a d . Ginevra sits at a three-quarter stance. She is attired in a plain, dark, every day dress, inexplica- bly devoid of jewels or sumptu- ous ornamentation. A dark scarf winds around her neck, coming down at the sides, since it was a l a w a t t h a t t i m e t h a t w o m e n should wear this type of cover- ing. The lace chemise she wears under her corset is modestly but- toned up high. Her expressions is lofty or even haughty: her eyes appear to be looking slightly downward, and her eyelids are s l i g h t l y c l o s e d , g i v i n g t h e impression that she is looking down at the spectator. Ginevra's facial features are perfect, a t h i n g t h a t c a n n o t b e s a i d o f another portrait of Leonardo's maturity, his celebrated Monna Lisa. Another tradition tells us that Bernardo Bembo, the Venetian ambassador to Florence, fell in love with young Ginevra and commissioned this painting. He was also much older than she was, and we may surmise that the relationship was platonic, as many relationship in those times were, in the Petrarchan tradition. The portrait exalts symbolic and virtuous love, as indicated in the motto painted in the back of the painting. We do not know what happened to Ginevra in her later life, but one verse by her has remained, possibly written to, and for, Bernardo Bembo: "O ask forgiveness and I am moun- tain tiger." W h e n t h e p a i n t i n g w a s restored in 1991, the juniper bushes became more vivid, and t h e w a t e r i n t h e b a c k g r o u n d ( e i t h e r f r o m a r i v e r o r l a k e ) became brighter blue. Ginevra's face appeared whiter, with an almost marble brilliance. She appears chaste, aloof and unap- proachable. While attending this exhibit, I was truly moved to tears to see a reproduction of Leonardo's fin- gerprints, traces that he left on t h e p a i n t m i x e d w i t h b r u s h strokes. The portrait of Ginevra de' Benci foreshadows the great- n e s s o f t h e M o n n a L i s a , undoubtedly the most celebrated portrait of all times. Leonardo da Vinci, 'Ginevra de' Benci' c. 1474/1478, oil on panel, National Gallery of Art, Washington ARTS MOVIES MUSIC BOOKS ARTWORK

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