A masterpiece of High Renaissance art and one of only four surviving female portraits by Leonardo da Vinci. It depicts 17-year-old Cecilia Gallerani, the cultured mistress of the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza. The ermine held in her arms carries layered allegorical meanings: representing purity, serving as Sforza’s heraldic emblem, and forming a pun on Cecilia’s Greek surname (galê). Leonardo revolutionized portraiture here through a dynamic three-quarter pose, revolutionary light control, and compelling psychological nuance.