Why is the La Belle Ferronni¨re arranged near The Lady with an Ermine at the National Gallery in London? I have to write a 750-word discussion...

Walter Fischer

Discussing or explaining the arrangement of La Belle Ferronniere
and The Lady with an Ermine without reference to Leonardo da Vincis
personal life constitutes a dubious proposition given the artists relationship to the women
believed depicted in each painting.  Ludovico Maria Sforza was the Duke of Milan and da Vincis
patron.  Both women, it is believed, were his mistresses, Cecelia Gallerani being first,
followed by Lucrezia Crivelli.  Gallerani is believed to be the model for The Lady
with an Ermine, and Crivelli is believed to be the subject of La Belle
Ferronniere.  La Belle Ferronniere is the subject of
considerable debate regarding its origins, and it is questionable whether da Vinci was even its
artist.  Given the possible connections of both women to Ludovico Sforza and the relationship of
Sforza to da Vinci, the suggestion that the subjects of both paintings are linked by their
presumed and sequential affairs with the duke lends their placement an air of mystery
that...

href="http://www.lairweb.org.nz/leonardo/belle.html">http://www.lairweb.org.nz/leonardo/belle.html
href="https://www.timeout.com/london/art/decoding-da-vinci-the-lady-with-an-ermine">https://www.timeout.com/london/art/decoding-da-vinci-the-...
href="https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/a012rp.ErmineChristmas2003htm.html">https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/a012rp.Ermine...]]>