NATIONAL GALLERY, Ginevra De Benci By Leonardo Da Vinci

This painting is the only one by Leonardo da Vinci, the most famous and well-known artist of the Renaissance, that you can see in the Americas.

It is an oil-on-wood portrait, painted by Leonardo in Florence when he was just 21 years old in 1474, with the glaze technique, where light layers of color are spread over one another in a way that only oil painting allows, because the colors are transparent.

This is a technique that Leonardo learned from the Flemish painters, who he also imitates in terms of his style in this canvas, especially regarding the brightness of her hair and the paleness of her face.

The subject is Ginevra de Benci, the sixteen-year-old daughter of one of Leonardo’s best friends in Florence. The girl’s name is symbolized by the juniper plant, with the Italian name for the plant being pronounced similarly to Ginevra –ginepro....