La Belle Ferronniere

A famous name that does not belong to her

The Louvre catalogues this painting as Portrait of a Woman, wrongly called La Belle Ferronnière. The nickname originally belonged to another female portrait in the royal collection and was transferred to this one by mistake. It stuck.

The woman’s real identity is still debated. One suggestion, mentioned by the Louvre, is Lucrezia Crivelli, a mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. Leonardo was working at Ludovico’s court in the 1490s, and the Louvre dates the portrait to about 1490 to 1497.

It is painted in oil on walnut and measures 63 by 45 centimetres. It was almost certainly at the château of Fontainebleau by 1642, part of the French royal collection.

Her eyes avoid ours

Her body is turned, and her head nearly faces us, but her eyes look slightly past the viewer to the left. The effect is reserved, even guarded. She seems aware of being looked at without inviting it.

A thin band crosses her forehead with a small jewel at the centre. This type of ornament later took the name ferronnière, after the painting. The fine network of cracks visible across the face is the age of the paint surface, not a feature of her skin.

Embroidery and knotted ribbons

Her red dress has a square neckline edged with a gold embroidered band. Several strands of dark beads hang around her neck. Light falls on her throat and the upper chest, which are smooth and pale.

The sleeves are tied to the bodice with golden ribbons, and white fabric puffs out where they meet. This was the fashion of the Milanese court. Leonardo painted the shine of the ribbons and the softness of the cloth with equal care.

A stone ledge separates her from us

Across the bottom of the picture runs a stone parapet. It cuts the figure at the waist and creates a barrier between her space and ours. This device was common in fifteenth-century portraits, especially in Venice and the north.

The dark, plain background sets off the figure completely. There is no landscape and no room, only the woman, the ledge and the light.

Leonardo, or his workshop?

The attribution has been debated. Some scholars have suggested the involvement of Leonardo’s pupils, particularly in parts of the dress. Today the Louvre presents it as a work by Leonardo, and its quality, especially in the modelling of the face, supports that view.

Its relationship to Lady with an Ermine is also close. Both show women from Ludovico Sforza’s court, both turn the head against the body, and both were painted in Milan in the same decade.

One of Leonardo’s Milan portraits

During his first stay in Milan, from about 1482 to 1499, Leonardo painted a small group of portraits for the Sforza court. Lady with an Ermine, now in Kraków, and this portrait in the Louvre are the best known. Both show young women connected with Ludovico Sforza, and both break with the tradition of the stiff profile portrait.

Comparing the two is revealing. Cecilia Gallerani in Kraków turns and moves, caught in a moment of action. The woman in the Louvre is still, set behind a parapet, but her eyes slide sideways as if to avoid ours. Both pictures show Leonardo’s interest in the inner life of his sitters.

Eyes that avoid ours

Her body faces left, her head turns towards us, but her eyes look slightly past the viewer, to the right. The effect is unsettling. We feel observed and ignored at the same time. Many visitors notice that the eyes seem to follow them around the room, a sensation that comes from the careful angle of the gaze.

A soft reflection of red from her dress appears on her cheek and jaw. This small detail shows Leonardo’s study of how light and colour bounce from one surface to another, an observation recorded in his notebooks.

Milanese fashion

Her dress is red with gold embroidery, with slashed sleeves tied with ribbons, a fashion of the Milanese court. A thin band, called a ferronière, crosses her forehead and holds a small jewel. Her hair is smoothed close to the head and gathered under the chin, a style typical of Milan in the 1490s.

The ferronière band is the source of the painting’s popular name, though, as the Louvre notes, the name was first given to a different picture.

A painting for French kings

The portrait entered the French royal collection early, probably in the sixteenth century, during the reign of Francis I, who invited Leonardo to France. It has remained in the French collection ever since. In 2015 it was restored, revealing fresher colours and the subtlety of the modelling.

Where to see it

La Belle Ferronnière hangs in the Louvre in Paris, in the same wing as the Mona Lisa. Our hand-painted oil reproduction follows this composition. For more portraits of women, explore our famous paintings of women.

Questions about La Belle Ferronnière

Who is the woman?

Her identity is uncertain. Lucrezia Crivelli, a mistress of Ludovico Sforza, is one suggestion.

Why is it called La Belle Ferronnière?

The name was transferred by mistake from another portrait in the royal collection. The Louvre catalogues it as wrongly called.

Where is the original?

Musée du Louvre, Paris (INV 778).

How large is it?

63 × 45 centimetres, oil on walnut.

What is a ferronière?

A thin band worn across the forehead, holding a small jewel, fashionable in the Renaissance.

Is it related to Lady with an Ermine?

Both are portraits from Leonardo’s years at the Sforza court in Milan.

Sources and image credit

• Louvre collections: Portrait of a Woman, wrongly called La Belle Ferronnière, INV 778
• Wikimedia Commons: La Belle Ferronnière

Faithful public-domain reproduction of La Belle Ferronnière (about 1490 to 1497), via Wikimedia Commons. Detail images are crops of the same historical painting; no reconstruction or upscaling.