Cecilia Gallerani

Cecilia Gallerani

Cecilia Gallerani (early 1473 – 1536) was the favorite companion of Ludovico Sforza, known as Lodovico Il Moro, Duke of Milan. She is best known as the subject of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting, Lady with an Ermine, made around 1489.

She helped Leonardo meet with Milanese intellectuals. At these meetings, people talked about important ideas in philosophy and other subjects. Cecilia often led these discussions.

Family and early life

Cecilia was born in early 1473 into a large family from Siena. Her father, Fazio Gallerani, had important jobs at the Milanese court, including being an ambassador to the Republic of Florence and the Republic of Lucca. Her mother was Margherita Busti, whose father was a well-known doctor of law.

She learned Latin and literature with her six brothers. When she was ten, in 1483, Cecilia was promised to marry Stefano Visconti, but this promise was broken in 1487 for reasons that are not known. In May 1489, she left home to go to Monastero Nuovo.

Mistress of Ludovico Sforza

Cecilia Gallerani was a smart woman who loved music and writing poetry in Latin and Italian. When she was just 16 or 18 years old, she became a close friend and companion of Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, also called "il Moro." She often hosted smart and learned people in her rooms in his castle. Even though she was very important to the duke, they could not marry because of her lower social status. After their son Cesare was born in 1491, the duke helped her family by giving them beautiful homes, arranging a marriage for Cecilia to an Italian count, and giving important church positions to their son.

Cecilia and her son lived in the Sforza Castle for about a year. Then, the young Duchess Beatrice d'Este found out about their relationship and asked them to leave. They first stayed in the Verme Palace, and later Cecilia was given a palace in Carmagnola in 1492, where she married the son of a duke from the House of Carminati, who served the duke.

Lady with an Ermine

Main article: Lady with an Ermine

Leonardo da Vinci painted a famous portrait called Lady with an Ermine, and many experts believe it shows Cecilia Gallerani when she lived in the Sforza Castle. Leonardo was an artist and engineer for the duke. The painting was bought in 1800 by a Polish prince as a gift for his mother, Isabella d'Este, who admired da Vinci’s work.

Later life, death, and legacy

Cecilia Gallerani and her husband were given a palace by the Duke of Milan in 1492 as a wedding gift. They had five children together. After her son passed away in 1512 and her husband in 1515, she chose to live quietly in a castle near Cremona.

Gallerani passed away in 1536, though the exact date is not known. She was said to be buried in a family tomb in a church in the same area. She was remembered for supporting artists, and some believe her gatherings were among the first of their kind in Europe.

San Giovanni in Croce
Cremona
Bandello
salon

Issue

Cecilia Gallerani had a son named Cesare Sforza with her lover, Ludovico Sforza. Cesare later became a church leader in Milan.

She also had four sons and one daughter with her husband. One of her sons, Francesco, married into the Sforza family, but this marriage was not recognized later. Her daughter, Maria Felice, married into the Visconti family.

Cultural references

The painting of Cecilia Gallerani by Leonardo da Vinci is part of the story in the book Fatherland by Robert Harris. In the book, bad Nazi leaders took the painting during World War II. The book says the painting was later found in Germany and returned to Poland.

The painting is also important in the novel The Night Portrait by Laura Morelli. The book tells stories from the late 1400s when Leonardo painted the portrait and from the 1940s when people fought over the painting.

In San Giovanni in Croce, there is a small theater dedicated to her.