Medusa was one of the scariest creatures that Greek mythology created. Her name in Ancient Greek means “guardian, protectress”. She was a monster, a Gorgon, generally described as a winged human female with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Her superpower was simple – gazers upon her face would turn to stone.

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One of the greatest masterpieces of Western art, Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci, presents Cecilia Gallerani (ca. 1473-1536). Young, beautiful and talented, especially in the areas of music and literature, she entered the Court of Milan and wrote poetry, unfortunately unknown today. She was the light of the Italian language. Her contemporaries compared her to famous women in antiquity, she was even called a new Sappho. All of this attracted Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, to Cecilia Gallerani.

The famous white ermine is actually a reference to Ludovico, who was decorated with the Neapolitan Order of the Ermine in 1488 by Ferdinand I, King of Naples, hence, he was also referred to as the White Ermine (Ermellino Bianco). Ludovico and Cecilia became lovers, but to fulfill some political responsibilities, he married Beatrice d’Este in January 1491. In May of that year, Cecilia gave birth to his son, Caesar. Constrained by his wife, he asked Cecilia to leave the Court and, richly endowed, married her off to Lodovico Carminati de Brambilla, Count Bergamini. It is believed that when she left she took the portrait with her. This is evidenced by a letter addressed to her by Isabella d’Este, the Marchioness of Mantua, in 1498, requesting that it be loaned.

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After Cecilia’s death, the portrait disappeared for several centuries before it resurfaced in Poland in 1800. For years, it was erroneously considered to be the likeness of the so-called “Belle Ferronière”, a reputed mistress of King Francis I. This is evidenced by the inscription LA BELE FERONIERE / LEONARD D’AWINCI in the upper left corner alongside the artist’s surname, which is spelled in the Polish manner. However, considering Polish history in the 20th century, it is amazing that the painting actually survived. Tugged back-and-forth between Poland and Germany during the occupation of Poland, The Lady miraculously survived World War II (unlike Raphael’s famous Portrait of a Young Man). In 1939, after the Nazi invasion of Poland, an SS soldier’s footprint was found on it. Now, The Lady is safe in the Czartoryski Museum in Cracow.

The Lady with an Ermine has been heavily overpainted. Unfortunately, the original background was probably overlaid in the 17th century. Also, Cecilia’s dress below the ermine was retouched and a transparent veil worn by the woman was repainted to match the color of her hair. The result of this last retouching was to give the appearance that her hair reaches down and underneath her chin. An X-ray of this painting also reveals the presence of a door in the original background.

The Lady has another secret. French scientist Pascal Cotte spent three years on an investigation which in 2014 revealed that Leonardo actually painted the work not just in one, but in three clearly differentiated stages. His first version was a simple portrait, with no animal. In the second attempt, the painter included a small grey ermine. In the third and final stage, the animal was transformed into a large white ermine.

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Liberty Leading the People is probably the best-known artwork of one of the greatest artists of French Romanticism Eugène Delacroix. The painting, which has become an icon, has already served as inspiration for much, from banknotes to a cover of a Coldplay album.

A Liberty Story

Liberty Leading the People is a painting usually associated with the July Revolution of 1830 in France. It is a large canvas showing a busty woman in the center raising a flag and holding a bayonet. She is barefoot, and walks over the bodies of the defeated, guiding a crowd around her. This is probably the most famous artwork of Eugène Delacroix, who is known as the most important artist of Romanticism.

Eugène Delacroix was a master of color and it is in Liberty Leading the People that he clearly expressed this. Carefully, Delacroix built a pulsating and dynamic scenario about an extremely current theme in his times. As he participated little in the fighting, he wrote: “If I can not fight for my country, I paint for it.”

The painting is about freedom and revolution. First, because that is exactly what it portrays. In July 1830, France rose up against King Charles X, who was extremely unpopular for, among other things, being very conservative in political terms and trying to restore an old regime that French people no longer wanted. In the artistic sense, the painting also represented a revolution – and more than that: freedom. In the time of Delacroix, painters generally obeyed the rules of the Academy of Fine Arts which stressed the mastery of drawing, disegno. Delacroix, however, put more emphasis on the use of color in an unobstructed way.

A year after its production, the painting was bought by the French Government and but was not on display for a long time. Currently, the artwork is part of the Louvre collection.

Liberty Characters

Okay, you already know that the woman in the center is Liberty. But what about the characters around her? Well, Delacroix had an illuminist formation and believed that ideals like freedom and fraternity were fundamental to building a better society. Because of this, he portrayed several social strata in this painting. On the left, he shows a simple worker alongside a bourgeois intellectual (who would be the artist himself) and on the right side a boy, symbolizing the strength of youth.

The defeated enemies on the ground and the smoke give the air that the battle is really coming to an end and that from then on freedom can take the citizens of France to a better future.

Marianne, the Allegorical Muse

The title makes it obvious, the woman represented here is the ideal of freedom. But even as an allegorical figure, the woman is more than that: her name is Marianne, which is probably the result of joining together two very common names in France at the time, Marie and Anne.

Curiously, 18 years after the July Revolution, Marie Anne Hubertine, a French activist who fought for the insertion of women in politics, was born. This is because, although the representation of freedom was feminine, women still couldn’t vote or stand for public office – although the female figure was always chosen to represent most of the allegories…

Even today there are references made to this painting: in Brazil where I live, the painting inspired the face on our currency, and it is found also in several other countries. Her face represents the republic.

And more: in 2008, the painting was chosen as an album cover for Viva La Vida by music band Coldplay!

In addition to the cover, the rock band also produced an alternative clip for the title song where the lead singer represents a king (maybe Charles X?) and he sings “I used to rule the world, I would rise when I gave the word. Now in the morning I sleep alone, sweep the streets I used to own” while we see the picture of Delacroix all the time. It seems that the Romantic painting and the dream of the French artist still can inspire us even today.

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