Audio Stop 611

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This square portrait shows the head and shoulders of a young woman in front of a spiky bush that fills much of the background except for a landscape view that extends into the deep distance to our right. The woman's body is angled to our right but her face turns to us. She has chalk-white, smooth skin with heavily lidded, light brown eyes, and her pale pink lips are closed. Pale blush highlights her cheeks, and she looks either at us or very slightly away from our eyes. Her brown hair is parted down the middle and pulled back, but tight, lively curls frame her face. Her hair turns gold where the light shines on it. She wears a brown dress, trimmed along the square neckline with gold. The front of the bodice is tied with a blue ribbon, and the lacing holes are also edged with gold. A sheer white veil covers her chest and is pinned at the center with a small gold ball. The bush fills the space around her head with copper-brown, spiky leaves. A river winds between trees and rolling hills in the distance to our right. Trees and a town along the horizon, which comes about halfway up the painting, is pale blue under an ice-blue sky.

Leonardo da Vinci

Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], c. 1474/1478

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 6

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LEONARDO DA VINCI, GINEVRA DE’

BENCI

ACTOR: GINEVRA

Buon giorno. My name is Ginevra de’ Benci. I posed for Leonardo da Vinci 500 years ago.

MALE NARRATOR

Leonardo was 22 when he painted Ginevra. She was about 16. Both were living in Florence, Italy. It was Leonardo’s first portrait.

Ginevra is wearing a brown dress with elegant details: blue ribbon lacing, gold edges, and a sheer white blouse fastened with a delicate gold pin. The black scarf draped over her slender shoulders and neck was a fashionable accessory at the time.

Her golden-brown hair is parted in the middle and pulled back in a bun. Leonardo used the end of his brush to help create the ringlets around her face.

Look at Ginevra’s porcelain complexion, her pink cheeks, and lips drawn together in a quiet line. She looks out with brown, almond shaped eyes but her expression is hard to read. Leonardo himself said:

ACTOR: LEONARDO

“A face is not well done unless it expresses a state of mind.”

NARRATOR

What do you suppose Ginevra might be thinking about?

ACTOR: GINEVRA

It’s my secret.

NARRATOR

Ginevra is shown in an outdoor scene. On the right, small trees line the banks of a pool of water. A town is nestled in the hills under a misty sky. Behind Ginevra’s head is a juniper bush, a large evergreen with sharp, spiky leaves. Ginepro is the Italian word for juniper, so this is a witty pun on Ginevra’s name!

After Leonardo finished this portrait, someone asked him to create a painting on the reverse. Now walk around to look at the back.

ACTOR: GINEVRA

Virtutem Forma Decorat. This is my personal motto written in Latin on the scroll. In English it means “Beauty adorns virtue.”

NARRATOR

Ginevra was a poet, and the people who knew her praised her for her intellect and virtuous character. While the front of the painting is a portrait of her appearance, this side is painted with symbols that describe her inner character. This is called an emblematic portrait.

Follow the scroll from the left side where it wraps around a stalk of laurel to the sprig of juniper in the center and finally, to its curl around the palm branch on the right. The laurel is meant to represent Ginevra’s intelligence. The juniper identifies her by name, and the palm branch symbolizes her strong moral values.

Imagine that you could have Leonardo paint your portrait. Think of the facial expression, clothing, and words or phrase you would ask him to use to capture what makes you unique.