Cecilia Gallerani

Cecilia Gallerani (early 1473 – 1536) was the favorite and most celebrated 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, created around 1489.

While she posed for this beautiful artwork, Cecilia also invited Leonardo to meet with Milanese intellectuals. During these gatherings, people talked about important ideas in philosophy and other subjects. Cecilia herself led these interesting discussions.

Family and early life

Cecilia was born in early 1473 into a large family from Siena. Her father, Fazio Gallerani, held 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, and it was there that she possibly met Ludovico.

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 one of the close friends and companions 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 still 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. Some think the ermine in the painting stands for purity, while others believe it is connected to Cecilia’s name or the duke’s nickname, “l'Ermellino.” 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. Cecilia once said the painting no longer looked like her because she had been much younger when it was painted, but she let Princess Isabella borrow it anyway.

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 became a church leader in Milan.

With her husband, she had four sons and one daughter. One son, Francesco, married into the Sforza family but the marriage was later not recognized. Her daughter, Maria Felice, married into the Visconti family.

Cultural references

The painting of Cecilia Gallerani by Leonardo da Vinci is an important part of the story in the book Fatherland by Robert Harris. In the book, the painting is taken by bad Nazi leaders during World War II. The book ends by saying that in real life, the painting was found in Germany after the war and brought back to Poland.

The painting is also a main focus in the novel The Night Portrait by Laura Morelli. The book switches between stories from the late 1400s when Leonardo was painting the portrait, and the 1940s when the Nazis and the "Monument Men" were fighting over the painting.

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