| Description : Leonardo da Vinci (1452‐1519) was an Italian painter,
sculptor, architect, anatomist, mechanic, engineer and natural philosopher. He is considered one of the most famous polymaths
of all time. In 1489/1490 he was commissioned by the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, to paint a portrait of one of his
mistresses, Cecelia Gallerani (1473‐1536). The Lady with the Ermine belongs to the holdings of the Czartoryski
Museum in Krakow. Cecelia Gallerani's smoothly parted hair is covered with a transparent bonnet (cuffia) of gauze, the edge of
which can be seen just above the eyebrows and the straps of which run below the chin. The bonnet is held by a horizontal narrow
band (lenza). At the back of her head she wears a short plait. The coin depicting a detail of the painting bears the inscription
"LEONARDO" on the left, next to it the ligature "RI" (Repubblica Italiana, Italian Republic) as the country abbreviation, and
below it the initials "M.A.C." of the coin designer Maria Angela Cassol. On the right, the "R" the mint mark of the
Italian mint Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato in Rome, below it "1519" as the year of Leonardo da Vinci's death
and the year of issue "2019". |
