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A young woman looks out from behind a stone parapet, her head turned slightly, wearing a jewel on a band across her forehead. Painted by Leonardo da Vinci in Milan around 1490–1497, La Belle Ferronnière is one of his four portraits of women.
In this article
A portrait at the Sforza court
La Belle Ferronnière was painted in Milan, probably in the 1490s, while Leonardo was working for Duke Ludovico Sforza. Like Lady with an Ermine, it shows a woman of the court, turned slightly to one side, against a dark background. Its attribution to Leonardo was debated for a long time, because his workshop assistants may have contributed, but today it is widely accepted as his work.
The sitter is unknown. She has often been identified as Lucrezia Crivelli, a lady-in-waiting and mistress of Ludovico Sforza, or as his wife Beatrice d'Este. The name La Belle Ferronnière comes from a later confusion with a mistress of King Francis I of France, said to be the wife of an ironmonger, a ferronnier.
The gaze
The woman's body faces left, but her eyes turn to the right, towards the viewer, without quite meeting our gaze. Her expression is reserved and grave, slightly distant. This subtle tension between the direction of the body and the eyes gives the portrait its life and mystery.
Detail 1
A reserved gaze
Her eyes look past us with a serious, distant expression. Leonardo's soft modelling gives the face its calm presence.
The jewel on the forehead
Across her forehead she wears a thin band with a small jewel at the centre. This ornament later became fashionable in the nineteenth century and was named a ferronnière after this painting. Leonardo painted the reflection of light on her cheek, coming from the red of her dress, an observation of reflected colour that was unusual at the time.
Detail 2The ferronnière
A fine band with a jewel crosses her forehead. The ornament took its name, ferronnière, from this painting.
Necklace and dress
She wears several strands of dark beads around her neck and a red dress with elaborate sleeves decorated with ribbons and gold embroidery, in the fashion of the Milanese court. The rich fabrics show her high status.
Detail 3The beaded necklace
Several strands of dark beads lie on her neckline, catching small highlights against the red dress.
The parapet
In front of the woman runs a stone parapet, a device Leonardo used to create distance between the sitter and the viewer, as if seen through a window. It adds to her dignity and reserve.
Detail 4Sleeves and parapet
Her embroidered sleeve rests just behind the stone ledge that separates her from the viewer.
Leonardo and the portrait
Leonardo transformed the Renaissance portrait. Instead of showing sitters in rigid profile, he turned them towards the viewer, gave them movement and expression, and placed them in convincing space. In La Belle Ferronnière, the slight turn of the head, the sideways glance and the reflected light on the cheek all serve to create a sense of a real person in a real moment. Leonardo's notebooks contain observations on how light bounces from coloured surfaces onto skin, and this painting is one of the few where we can see those ideas applied. Along with the Mona Lisa, Lady with an Ermine and Ginevra de' Benci, it is one of only four portraits of women securely linked to him, which makes it one of the rarest treasures of the Louvre.
Seeing the painting
The portrait measures about 63 by 45 centimetres, painted in oil on walnut. It came to the French royal collection under Francis I and is now in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, in the Grande Galerie near the Mona Lisa.
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Who is La Belle Ferronnière?
The sitter is unknown; she may be Lucrezia Crivelli or Beatrice d'Este, both linked to the court of Ludovico Sforza in Milan.
Why is it called La Belle Ferronnière?
The name comes from a confusion with a mistress of Francis I said to be an ironmonger's wife; the band on her forehead is now called a ferronnière.
Is La Belle Ferronnière by Leonardo?
It is widely accepted as Leonardo's work, painted in Milan in the 1490s, though some assistants may have helped.
Where is La Belle Ferronnière?
It is in the Musée du Louvre in Paris.
Sources and further reading
- Musée du Louvre, collection notes on the Portrait of a Woman, called La Belle Ferronnière
- Frank Zöllner, Leonardo da Vinci: The Complete Paintings (2003)
- Luke Syson (ed.), Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan (National Gallery, 2011)
