Leonardo da Vinci’s Portrait of Ginevra de’Benci

Shannon Keith
Art History 336: Women in the Renaissance
January 12, 2010
 Keith 2

In order to understand Da Vinci’s masterpiece portrait of Ginevra de’Benci, one

must first understand the woman herself. Born in 1457, Ginevra was the granddaughter of

Giovanni de’Benci, general manager of the Medici bank. In 1474, Ginevra married Luigi

Niccolini who was respectable, but not wealthy. Despite her long life, Ginevra apparently

suffered from poor health given her childless marriage and Niccolini’s statement in 1480

“that his wife had been in the hands of doctors for a long time.”1 The laurel and palm on

the reverse side of the portrait symbolize poetry and victory and lend credence to the fact

that Ginevra was known as a poet.2 Garrard suggests that the inscription strung between

the laurel and the palm, “VIRTUTEM FORMA DECORAT” (Beauty Adorns Virtue),

has a double meaning in that it refers both to Ginevra’s feminine chastity and the

masculine form of virtue defined as “cultural pursuits”.3 Thus, one might safely conclude

that Ginevra de’Benci lived the life of a wealthy and cultured woman of Renaissance

Florence.

Some confusion exists regarding who commissioned the painting and to what end.

Some critics claim that the painting was commissioned by a family member to

commemorate Ginerva’s nuptials. Others assert a more scandalous and unusual origin.

Many art historians surmise that portraits of women during the late 15th century

were painted shortly after their marriages. These portraits served to display the woman’s

wealth and respectability and, by association, the status of her birth and newly-adopted

families.4 As is the case for most Renaissance portraits, no definite date of creation exists.

1
. Walker, 1-2.
2
. Garrard, 63. See Figure A.2 in the Appendix to view the inscription.
3
. Ibid.
4
. Woods-Marsden, 64-65.
 Keith 3

Stylistically, this portrait may be placed between 1476 and 1481, some years after

Ginevra’s marriage. Without a known and verifiable date, we cannot be certain that this

was not a marriage portrait. According to Woods-Marsden, although, a “strong case can

be made” that portraits celebrate the dowry and social honor of merging families, “no

documentary evidence confirms that Florentines commissioned likenesses when they

married.”5 Given a lack of verifiable documentation, it remains impossible to prove that

the commissioning of this portrait was unusual; ergo, we must look more closely at the

portrait itself.

Considering the purpose of most female portraits, Ginevra’s lack of jewels in her

rendering seems odd. However, Florence’s newly-enacted sumptuary laws restricting

appearance and dress might explain the aberration. Previously, Florentine sumptuary laws

targeted only matrons. However, in 1471 and 1472 the laws were extended to include

brides and newlyweds. Although these laws did not concern themselves with portraits to

be displayed in private homes, other portraits of Florentine women at this time—Fra

Bartolommeo’s portrait of Costanza de’Medici, for example—also show a lack of

personal adornment. This change, according to Woods-Marsden illustrates the “reflexive

relationship between art and society.”6 Ginerva’s marriage in 1474 would have been after

the advent of the expanded sumptuary laws, which means hers may indeed have been a

wedding portrait.

Not the personal effects—or lack thereof—but the expression on the face of the

sitter herself, gives the greatest pause in the debate as to whether this paper’s subject was

intended as a wedding portrait. Though most comparable portraits of young women are

5
. Ibid., 65.
6
. Ibid., 73.
 Keith 4

somewhat stern in expression, this one goes further. “Ginevra’s almost hostile coldness,”

Walker writes, “would have made the painting a peculiar marriage portrait.”7 The

expression of wedding portraits by other artists tends to be rather stoic, effectively

dehumanizing the sitter. In addition, the conventional profile position distances the

painting’s subject from the viewer, making her remote and untouchable. This distance is

suitable for women who were little more than the property of their husbands, not even

allowed to approach a window lest they be seen.8 These women are “beautiful but passive

possessions of male heads of households, inert mannequins for the display of family

wealth.”9 Ginevra, however, is infused with personality. She looks directly at the viewer,

which ascribes to her an amount of independence. In addition, her expression is full of

stern melancholy, hardly appropriate for a demure merchant’s wife.

Conversely, one wonders how much the subject’s look depended on Da Vinci’s

artistic interpretation. His renderings of Cecilia Gallerini and Mona Lisa characterize his

ability to create powerfully-expressive portraits of women. Both sitters are portrayed with

highly-individualized expressions. It is entirely possible that Da Vinci articulated his idea

of artistic truth by creating a melancholy demeanor for the woman who sat for him

without reference to the purpose of the finished painting. Moreover, the concept of

depicting the personality and emotions of the sitter, as well as her features, was wholly

new to Renaissance Italy. Consequently, it seems unlikely that the commissioner would

have requested a particular emotion be portrayed in the painting.10

7
. Walker, 18.
8
. Woods-Marsden, 70-71.
9
. Garrard, 60.
10
. Proof of this, of course, would rely on an examination of commission contracts of the period, if
any exist.
 Keith 5

In Ginevra de’Benci: by Leonardo da Vinci, John Walker suggests that Ginevra’s

melancholy expression is due to an unhappy love affair. Her suitor, a Venetian

ambassador called Bernardo Bembo, first arrived in Florence in 1475, a year after

Ginevra’s marriage. Two poets, Cristoforo Landino and Alessandro Braccessi, whom

Bembo supported as patron, recorded the affair. However it is impracticable to discern

the truth in their writings, especially considering their patronage. Verification by another

source remains difficult as little is known of the affair beyond the poetic record.

According to poems by Lorenzo de’Medici, Ginevra went to live in the country

some time after 1478 in order to escape from the sin of the city. Walker suggests that she

fled the city, where her lover and temptation lived, in order to lead a pious existence. He

also suggests that the portrait was commissioned for Bembo to bring with him to Venice.

This offers a viable explanation for her melancholy expression: as a comfort to himself,

Bembo wished to immortalize his mistress as pining after him. A viewer could read the

branches of laurel and palm encircling a sprig of juniper (ginepre, in Italian) as evidence

of this affection. Clearly, this is a play on the name Ginevra. It also mirrors Bernardo’s

personal device found in other artworks he commissioned. Garrard admits that this

interpretation is “useful for moving the work out of the category of the conventional

marriage portrait and for permitting a stylistically more plausible dating, between 1476

and 1481” than the year of her marriage. Garrard continues, however, “the new theories

have problems too”.11 While there is no compelling evidence that Walker is wrong about

the portrait and the affair, neither is there compelling evidence that he is right. As

romantic as his conjectures are, they remain purely conjecture.

11
. Garrard, 61-62.
 Keith 6

Leonardo’s portrait of Ginevra de’Benci is a beautiful, compelling, and

revolutionary portrayal of a cultured, wealthy woman of the Florentine Renaissance.

While one might infer a vast deal about the art, society, and culture of the time from

placing this painting in the available context, of Ginevra’s personality and what led to the

creation of this work, almost nothing is known. Lacking new and concrete information,

settling the debate as to who commissioned this piece and why remains as indeterminable

as Ginevra’s own expression.

 Keith 7

Appendix

Figure A.1. Ginevra de’Benci, by Leonardo Da Vinci, from the front.

 Keith 8

Figure A.2. Back of the painting.

 Keith 9

Bibliography

Garrard, Mary D. "Leonardo Da Vinci: Female Portraits, Female Nature." In The

Expanding Discourse: Feminism and Art History, edited by Norma Broude and

Mary D. Garrard, 58-86. New York, NY: IconEditions, 1992.

Walker, John. Ginevra De'benci by Leonardo Da Vinci. Washington, D.C.: National

Gallery of Art : For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 1967.

Woods-Marsden, Joanna. "Portrait of the Lady, 1430-1520." In Virtue & Beauty:

Leonardo's Ginevra De' Benci and Renaissance Portraits of Women, edited by

David Alan Brown, 63-97. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 2001.