InStoria - Cecilia o la Dama con l'ermellino - Clothing and iconography: new discoveries

.	[ISSN 1974-028X]

EXTEMPORANEA

arte

N. 81 - Settembre 2014 (CXII)

Cecilia o la Dama con l’ermellino

Clothing and Iconography: New discoveries - PART i
by Elisabetta Gnignera

The present essay, here-published in world premiere was written between October 2012 and January 2013 on the basis of the newest discoveries by Pascal Cotte, recently disclosed in the volume entitled Lumiere on The Lady with an Ermine (English edition) / Lumiere sur La Dame à l'Hermine (French edition),Vinci Editions.

In Cotte’s volume, are in fact illustrated, the many discoveries that emerged thanks to the sophisticated scanning technique and multispectral analysis of images known as Layer Amplification Method (LAM), used by the Lumière Technology Multispectral Institute, Genève-Paris of which Cotte is the scientific director and partner together with Jean Penicaut. This technology, invented by Cotte, enables you to see “layer by layer”, any detectable trace under the outer surface of the painting such as: changes, erasures, eventual presence of the spolvero (technique used to recopy a sketch drawn on a sheet of paper onto another surface) etc.

On the basis of the findings that Pascal Cotte provided me during about two years of shared research, I could develop a detailed thesis – substantiated by precise documentary records – about the possible original iconographical inspiration, underlying the final version of the painting of The Lady with an Ermine. I also refer to several vestimentary contributions of mine, namely relating to clothing and concerning, among other things, new details of clothing discovered by Cotte, and pre-existing to the final version of the painting (Cotte, 2014, pp. 21-23, 78-87, 171, 178, 182, 217).

According to Pascal Cotte’s recent discoveries, the best-known version of the Painting would be the end-result of several revisions and remakes by Leonardo, among which Cotte includes the subsequent addition of a specimen of the family of Mustelidae (a weasel? A ferret?) then changed into an ermine, and whose size and position was modified “in the making” by the Tuscan Master. This essay, published in three parts in world premiere, is therefore the full version of a summary text entitled Summary for dating Conclusions by Elisabetta Gnignera included on pages 276-78 in Cotte’s volume: Lumière on The Lady with an Ermine (English edition) / Lumière sur La Dame à l’Hermine (French Edition).

By Analyzing the dress of The Lady with an Ermine, and when taking into account the evidence of preexisting vestimentary details hidden under the current version of the Portrait (Cotte 2014, p.114, 118, 146, 158-159, 164-165, 170-182, 201-204), I can state that both the Hairstyle and Clothes are influenced by the “trends” on fashion at the court of Milan in the decade going from 1490 to 1499. More specifically, I think that I can approximately date around 1491 and/or afterwards, the details of Dress as painted in the final version of the Painting. I also estimate the current datation (1489-1490) to be slightly early.

In the Painting are depicted both the trenzado: a Headdress of a Spanish type (also in use to the court of Naples) and the mantle, still originated in Spain, which was known in Italy by the name of sbernia. The sbernia is here-worn by covering one single shoulder according to the Spanish habit in use during celebrative occurrences as is the case of the Portrait of Our interest. Although such a connection, would lead me to propose 1491, that is the year of Beatrice d'Este’s arrival at the Sforza court, as a sort of vestimentary “watershed” marking the fully widespread adoption of these styles at the Milanese court, I cannot help but emphasize a particular circumstance involving Cecilia Gallerani: at the Sforza court, during the months elapsed from the arrival of Isabella of Aragon (January 1489) up to Beatrice d'Este’s marriage occurred in January 1491, Cecilia had adopted – almost instantaneously to their first appearance – the so-called fogge alla catalana of a Spanish type, (catalan styles) which presumably included the sbernia together with the coazzone (the long tail or braid of hair) and the trenzale (the veil or mesh envelopping the coazzone). When giving credit to Giacomo Trotti – the Este Family’s correspondent – it seems that, upon Her arrival at the Sforza court (in January 1489), Isabella of Aragon was so much friendly towards Cecilia Gallerani as to dress Her with the same fogge alla catalana (Catalan styles) that She used to wear: «This Duchess (referring to Isabella of Aragon) wishes that Cecilia could wear Catalan clothes and She holds Her in great esteem», wrote Giacomo Trotti (Pizzagalli, 2008, p. 84). Therefore, compared to other Ladies, Cecilia Gallerani, was a “privileged” Lady who was presumably allowed to wear – ahead of Her time – the trenzado headwear (composed of coazzone and trenzale) and sbernia that is exactly the same headdress and cloak of a Spanish type, which are depicted in the painting and which were adopted in the Aragonese court of Naples. Actually before 1491, the adoption of such Spanish styles in the Milanese area, was in my opinion linked to the occasional imitation of Isabella of Aragon who arrived at the Sforza court in 1489 to marry Gian Galeazzo Sforza.

Subsequently, in January 1491, upon the arrival of Beatrice d'Este in Milan, we can say, by using today’s words, that what was a simple “trend”, became instead a “ true fashion”.

Consistent to a plausible hypothesis of datation (referring to the Lady with an Ermine…), I also consider it appropriate to express supplementary reflections about the quite singular iconographic choice made by Leonardo da Vinci in portraying (the presumed) Cecilia Gallerani.

Thanks to the fundamental evidences brought to light by Pascal Cotte about the subsequent addition and remaking of the ermine (Cotte 2014, pp. 147-154, 208-216), I was able to reconsider in detail the symbolism underlying the representation of a specimen coming from the family of Mustelidae such as ferrets and weasels.

Actually, according to Pascal Cotte, the definitive iconography, that is to say, the last known version of the Lady with an Ermine might have been previously modified several times: the very first version of the painting was without any animal and it was more like a court portrait, tout court [Figure 1]; indeed, one of the subsequent versions – as highlighted by Cotte – showed, in place of the ermine, a specimen of the same family but of reduced dimensions.

As a consequence, the earlier version could contain in my opinion, a specific reference to a mythical story which, if properly mirrored in the vicissitudes of the Sforza court at the turn of the fifteenth century, it was indeed too overtly allusive of the events going on at that time in the court. I am referring to the gradual marginalization of Cecilia Gallerani, who, being the Mistress of Ludovico and the Mother of His natural son (Caesar Visconti Sforza), obviously was considered an unwelcome “guest” in the Sforza court. The marginalization of Cecilia was certainly operated at the evident instigation of Beatrice d' Este, and this occurrence was likely to be brought to light by such a specific iconography arising from different versions of the same Grecian Myth that illustrated the birth of Hercules. This ancient legend was also echoed in the Homer’s Iliad (Iliade 19,100 ss.) as well as in Ovid’s Metamorphoses where it is narrated the story of Galanthis (Ovidio, Metamorphoses, 9, 281-323): a young maiden then transformed into a weasel, always in relation to the episode of the Birth of Hercules. Different versions of this Myth combine to create approximately the following “plot” [story] which is functional, in my opinion, to convey the iconographic message of Leonardo da Vinci: Zeus, afflicted with the miseries that threatened mankind, decided to procreate a Hero who could save mankind.

Figure 1

Graphic simulation of an early version of the Painting, when there was still absent the animal then inserted and changed in size and position, before coming to the final version of the Painting. This graphic simulation is based on the discoveries made by Pascal Cotte, disclosed in the book Lumière on The Lady with an Ermine (English edition) / Lumière sur La Dame à l'Hermine (French edition), Vinci Editions. Image: courtesy Pascal Cotte

To give birth to the Hero, Zeus chose Alcmene “ the strong” who surpassed all the women of the time for the beauty of the face and the resistance of the body.

Alcmene was the wife of Amphitryon, King of Tiryns, and therefore niece of Perseus. Zeus flew to Thebes to meet the beautiful Alcmene, exiled with her husband in that city because Amphitryon had been banished from his kingdom. By taking the guise of Amphitryon, Zeus succeeded in his plan to join with Alcmene and procreate Heracles (the Roman Hercules).

In the days close to the childbirth of Heracles, Zeus, had openly proclaimed to all the other Gods: Gods and Goddesses, listen to me so that I can express what the heart dictates to me! Today Ilithyia the Goddess of childbirth, is bringing to life a man of my blood; He shall rule over all the bordering nations! (Iliad, 19, 100 ff). His wife Hera, pretending not to believe Him, pressed Zeus to swear that the “man of His blood” coming to the light on that day, and falling at the feet of a woman, would actually reign over the populations surrounding Him. Then Hera, protector of Childbirth, hurried from Olympus to Argos where Nicippe, daughter of Pelops and wife of Sthenelus (son of Perseus), was seventh months pregnant. Hera caused Nicippe to give birth to Her baby prematurely and, at the same time, She delayed Alcmene’s birth pains. After driving away from Alcmene, Ilithyia (the goddess of Childbirth), Hera told Zeus that the man who would be King of the Argives was born: Eurystheus, son of Sthenelus. Zeus then grabbed Ate – the goddess of deception – by Her hair and threw Her down from Olympus, among men. However, despite the trickery committed, according to the legend, it seems that Heracles came to light, that very same day. In the vestibule of the Palace, Alcmene was lying into birth pains while the three Fates (the Goddesses supervising everybody’s destiny) were keeping the legs crossed and the hands fixed on the knees to hinder Hercules’ birth: suddenly a weasel passed by.

At the sight of the weasel, the goddesses took fright and raised their hands causing the opening of what was previously occluded... Alcmene then, gave birth to Heracles and Iphicles: this last, was the son of Amphitryon and younger than Hercules of one single night. Finally, according to one of the existent versions for this Myth, Zeus and Hera agreed that Eurystheus should be the Lord of Argolis and that Heracles would be in His service until He had fulfilled His “twelve labours”: whereupon He would achieve the immortality. As for the transformation of Galanthis (or Galinthia, from the greek Galè/weasel) into a weasel, according to one of the versions of the grecian Myth, the maiden was the blond servant of Alcmene who assisted her during Her pregnancy.At the behest of Hera who was jealous of the imminent birth of Heracles, Alcmene’s parturition was hampered by Ilithyia, the goddess of Birth, and by the three Fates. They physically hindered Alcmene to give birth. Galanthis, managed to save Her Mistress Alcmene by convincing the goddesses that the childbirth had already occurred. Caught by surprise, the Fates withdrew their hands, allowing Alcmene to give birth to Heracles.

The goddesses (but according to other versions, the same Hera…) in revenge of Galanthis’ deception, immediately turned Her into a weasel. The transformation of Galanthis into a weasel, as narrated in the grecian Myth, is revived and partly modified, in Ovid's Metamorphoses where it is mainly the Galanthis’ sudden laughter, to provoke the anger of the goddess: Galanthis, while looking at the Goddess Lucina with Her fingers intertwined on Her knees, announced that Alcmene had just given birth (to Her child). The surprise provoked Lucina’s raising Her hands so that Alcmene was allowed to give birth (to Her child). Pleased with the success of Her stratagem, Galanthis burst into laughter ; the inexorable Goddess, took revenge of Her, by transforming Her into a weasel. Moreover, it is worth noting in this context, that a copy of the very same Metamorphoses of Ovid, is recorded among the texts owned by Leonardo da Vinci and listed into the Codex of Madrid II (1503-1505) at the folios 2v-3r under the following description: Ricordo de’ libri ch’io lascio serrati nel cassone (my English translation: Records of the books that I keep locked up into the chest; for the original source, see: Vecce, 1992, pp. 257-61).

Precisely in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, in the episode of the birth of Heracles, We find the echo of an ancient belief, according to which the weasel was believed to conceive through the ear and to give birth through the mouth. Furthermore, the literary persistence of this ancient symbolism, is recorded, for example, into a passage of the Mondo Nuovo (the New World), a poem by Tommaso Stigliani printed in Rome in 1628 where it is written: Similarly to what happens with the Lion who fails to defend himself through his feet and armed mouth if a weasel stays in (his) ear by affecting the Lion’s brain (my English translation; for the original source see Stigliani, 1628, p.69; italics mine).

Such a deep-rooted belief is at the base of the subsequent analogy with the Virgin Mary of whom the weasel became the allegory; in fact, if Galanthis, through mendacious words (which were heard by the Goddesses through their ears), helped Alcmene to give birth to Heracles, the Virgin Mary, through the words of the Angel agreed to conceive the son of God.

There is a clear affinity between the Lady with an Ermine’s posture and the one that is traditionally assumed by the Virgin announced when listening to the Angel’s Speech, especially in the Tuscan figurative tradition [Figura2], in particular in the Florentine one. In this case Cecilia’s posture slightly differs from the usual one: She is turned to the right and not to the left of the observer, as it happens with the most of Virgins announced by the Angel. This affinity seems to have been recorded, in a somewhat incidental manner, even by the Florentine court poet, Bernardo Bellincioni. In the sonnet On Leonardo’s Portrait of Madonna Cecilia, composed within 1492, the year of His death. In this sonnet Bellincioni wrote these “enlightened”verses: [...] The honour is yours, even if in his painting / He makes Her seem to listen and not to speak [...] (Bellincioni, 1876, I, sonnet XLV,p.72: my English translation and italics mine) The connoisseurs of the cultural climate of the Italian courts in late Quattrocento, cannot but recognizing how beautifully, this hypothesis of a sophisticated “re-actualization” of the Myth, is matching with the predilection of the time, for the witticism, enigma and puns, quite appreciated by the contemporary milieu of noblemen and intelligentsia.

It was “authoritatively” spoken, in the past, of the figurative puzzle «scattered in the manuscripts of Leonardo by referring to a large series of short sequences of icons whose figured objects’ primary meaning, gives rise to a full-sense text and whose significance is quite different from what might today be called a “rebus” [...]. Leonardo's inventions’ method is a somewhat more scientific one: objects of well-defined semantic domains, are represented: animals and plants taken from the bestiaries and the herbals [...]. Still open, remains the question of Leonardo’s rebus’ aim and their effective utilization. Besides the pure and simple private fun, We can consider that the “ingenious collection” of icons as a collective game which was carried out in the court, was similar to the game of puzzles, riddles, exchanged through notes and scrolls (Vecce, 1995, pp. 174-175: my English translation).

Thanks to the discoveries of Pascal Cotte, it is maybe possible to decode the original intent of the artist to paint a weasel, belonging to the same family - and very much like the ermine - but smaller thereof [Figure 3]. If so, from the symbolic point of view, the “unfolding” of the narrative plot would be surprisingly explosive and dangerously allusive.

Figure 2

Guido di Pietro Trosini (known as Beato Angelico),Virgin of the Annunciation, detail, 1440-50, fresco. Florence, Convent of San Marco. The posture of the Virgin in listening to the angel, of genuine Tuscan tradition, closely resembles that of the Lady with an Ermine (but mirrored), in the early version, without ermine, as detected by Pascal Cotte [Fig.1]

Figure 3

Graphic simulation showing the presence of a “small” animal from the Mustelidae’s family (weasels, ferrets, ermines...) which is smaller than the one pictured in the final version of the painting and based on the findings of Pascal Cotte, disclosed in the book Lumière on The Lady with an Ermine (English edition) / Lumière sur La Dame à l'Hermine (French edition), Vinci Editions. Image: courtesy Pascal Cotte

I think appropriate to openly accept herein, the suggestion, expressed at first by Charles J. Holmes, then-editor of the Burlington Magazine, (later director of the National Gallery of London) into an editorial note added to the Article of A. Edith Hewett, A Newly Discovered Portrait by Ambrogio de Predis, edited in February 1907, where He wrote the following annotation: «Is it not possible, since the Greek for weasel is γαλέη that the animal was introduced into the picture as a humanistic pun upon Cecilia’s surname?» (Hewett, 190, p. 310, italics mine). Consequently, at this stage, I wish to emphasize the relevance of a possible figurative allusion by the hand of Leonardo da Vinci, to the myth of the woman-weasel (from the greek γαλέη / Galè, weasel) who – by distracting the Moor (Ludovico il Moro), onomatopoetically evoked through the goddesses “Moire”/ “the Fates” present in the Greco-Roman mythological tale – gave birth to Ludovico’s natural son: a Novello Hercules. In such a case, the assonance, and more, the correspondence of the names of the protagonists of the famous mythological legend with the characters revolving around the historical figure of Cecilia Gallerani, would lead us to consider at least two scenarios for the same event: such an interpretation refers not only to a specific lapse of time when this Portrait was conceived and completed but also, to a very specific socio-cultural climate in which a real struggle was taking place between Beatrice d'Este, mother of the legitimate Heir and Cecilia Gallerani, the Moro’s mistress and mother of Caesar, his natural son.

The first interpretation can be illustrated, in my opinion, as if the weasel of the Myth (possibly assimilated to Cecilia Gallerani?) by distracting/ attracting the attention of the Moro (maybe the Moire/Fates of the myth), made possible the birth of His son Cesare (Heracles the real Hero? The firstborn? The son entitled to primogeniture?).

This interpretation is supported, in my view, by an internal reference enclosed into the sonnet XX. Del Belincione per risposta all’ antecedente per le rime (my English translation: Of Belincione in response to the prior) where Bellincioni is rhetorically answering back to the previous sonnet XIX.To Mr. Lodovico of Paulo Jeronimo of Fieschi, for Caesar’s birth (my English translation), where the Poet compares Caesar to a son of Jupiter, the “Roman Zeus”, of which Mars is envious: this hint allows us to suppose that the Poet is exactly referring to Hercules, because the half-brother of Hercules Mars-Ares, the son of Jupiter- Zeus and Juno-Hera, is notoriously one of the main enemies of Hercules-Heracles:

[...]

Aeneas and Didione together, were not so much happy, as the tree of Thisbe (the Moor) with its progeny, with the Island (Cecilia-Sicily) known to have said: I’m separated from Your Italy only by the sea. The fruit of Jupiter falls from the sky to Us: At my high fortress – He says – I ascribed Him, And yet His father preserved my Reign (?). His name is Caesar, I dedicated to Him my work (the poem): Mars held the wrath, (since He was) envious of me That day when Phoebus his face seemed to hide

[...]

(My English translation, for the original source see: Bellincioni, 1876, I, sonnet XX, p.48, italics mine)

Referring to this passage of the sonnet, where Aeneas and Dido are mentioned in comparison to the tree of Thisbe that is the mulberry-moro (the emblem of Ludovico il Moro) and the island-cecilia-Sicily (the emblem of Cecilia Gallerani), the sense could be that Zeus ascribed Heracles among the Gods just as Ludovico did with Caesar. A further interpretation could be that the very same Bellincioni placed Caesar among the Gods through His verses and, as a consequence, Zeus-Ludovico preserved the Poet’s preminence.

On the contrary, Mars, that is Hercules’ main enemy, is envious of the Poet because He has dedicated the poem to Caesar, born in the year when “Phoebus hid his face”, because a solar eclipse took place in that year: this is an important clue for our purposes, because in 1491, the year when Cesare Visconti Sforza, the natural son of the Moor, was born, an annual solar eclipse occurred on May, 8^th, soon after the birth of Caesar, on May, 3^rd. Moreover, the literary work of Dmitry Merezhkovsky (1865-1941), The Romance of Leonardo da Vinci, a historical novel where, between the lines – since no bibliographical apparatus is present – are present references to plausible events and historical figures, contains an interesting dialogue between the court poet Bernardo Bellincioni and Ludovico Sforza: in reference to the new-born natural son of Ludovico Sforza and Cecilia Gallerani (Caesar), the Poet (Bellincioni) compares Him to Hercules in the cradle:

- Bernardo ! Hist ! Bernardo !

- Here, my lord. And the court poet, Bernardo Bellincioni, advanced with an air of mystery and servility, and he would have fallen on his knees to kiss the duke's hand: the latter, however, restrained him.

- Well? Well?

- All is right, my lord.

- Is she brought to bed?

- Last night saw her released from her burden.

- Felicitously ? Or shall I send my physician ?

- Nay, the mother is doing perfectly.

- Glory be to God ! And the child ?

- Perfect.

- Male or female?

- A man-child. And with a voice— ! Fair hair as his’ mother's; but the eyes black, burning and quick like those of your Grace. The princely blood shows itself. A little Hercules! Madonna Cecilia is beside herself with joy ; and bade me inquire the name that will please your Excellency.

- I have considered that. We will call him Caesar. What think you of that ?

- Tis a fine name; well mouthing, and ancient. Cesare Sforza ! A name meet for a hero.

(Merejkowski, 1904, p.66, italics mine).

Even if it is not possible to ascertain whether this dialogue was inspired to the author by Bellincioni’s above-mentioned sonnet or by any existing documentation or original sources consulted by the author with reference to this episode (because any reference bibliographical apparatus was omitted…), any case, these coincidental allusions to the mythological figure of Hercules, found both in Bellincioni’s sonnet and in the alleged Leonardo’s mythological iconography, as well as, in the above-mentioned passage from Merezhkovsky, composes, in my opinion, a quite singular scenario. According to this interpretation, even the original posture of the presumed weasel – with one paw resting /caught into Cecilia’s clothes and the other paw kept high and “rampant”– still maintained in the subsequent version with an ermine – may allude to the promptness with which the weasel appeared to the goddesses in the Grecian Myth but, also, to the very same promptness by which Galanthis was transformed into a weasel... for sure the laying of the animal is perfectly consistent with the teachings of Leonardo who expressed such recommendations in His Treatise on Painting: «[...] It is necessary to make their motions (the head’s motions) in a way so that they could exhibit a lively alertness and not asleep». (Manzi, 1817, p.185: my English translation). Moreover, the hypothesis – discussed by Carlo Pedretti (Pedretti, 1990, pp. 173-175) about the circumstance that the portrayed Lady is “caught out” by the Artist, as if She were walking, even if absolutely not complying with the presumed original version of the Painting detected by Pascal Cotte [Figure 1] before the introduction of the weasel/ermine... it becomes highly probable when considering the later versions of the Painting, including the last one: the posture of the Lady may recall the myth of Galanthis-the weasel who deceived the goddesses through a sudden apparition near the hall where Almena was lying.

In addition, the original presence of a weasel, then possibly changed into a ermine, seems to confirm a posteriori, the intuition of the English critic Robert Langton Douglas (Pedretti, 1990, p.174), who interpreted the ermine as a kind of double allusion to the portrayed Lady as well as to the Patron.