LEONARDO DA VINCI 1452-1519

Leonardo da VINCI Vinci, 1452–Amboise, 1519 Studies of Hands Charcoal and metalpoint heightened with white About 1485–1492 Art critics do not agree on the date and purpose of this magnificent study of hands, which appear to hold a flowered branch. Although it is often associated with the Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci from the 1470s, the expert use of the metalpoint technique would suggest the early 1490s and a possible connection with the Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani, the Lady with an Ermine. Windsor, The Royal Collection, RL 12558, loaned by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Gian Cristoforo Ganti, known as Gian Cristoforo Romano Rome, 1465–Lorette, 1512 Beatrice d’Este Marble About 1489–1490 This bust may have been made shortly before the wed- ding of Beatrice d’Este and Ludovico il Moro in January 1491.The inscription on the base refers to the ‘divine Beatrice’, daughter of the Duke of Ferrara. Her dress is decorated with the intertwined emblems of the two families: a diamond ring wound about with leaves for the Este family, and a buratto (a sieve held by two divine hands) for the Sforzas. Department of Sculptures, Musée du Louvre, Paris, ML 10 0 69 0 70