Provenance
Presumably purchased in Florence by Prince Johann Adam Andreas I von Liechtenstein [1657-1712] before 1712, but certainly in the collection of the Princes of Liechtenstein by 1733, Vienna;[1] by descent to Prince Franz Josef II von und zu Liechtenstein [1906-1989], Vienna and later, Vaduz, Liechtenstein;[2] purchased 10 February 1967 by NGA.
[1] The name "Ginevra" was too common in the Renaissance to assume with Jean Adhémar ("Une galerie de portraits italiens à Amboise en 1500," _Gazette des Beaux Arts_ 86, no. 1281 (October 1975): 100), followed by Fern Rusk Shapley (_Catalogue of the Italian Paintings_, 2 vols., Washington, D.C., 1979: 1:251-255), that a portrait of a lady so named in an inventory made at Amboise in 1500 refers to Leonardo's painting, which the early sources, to the contrary, place in Florence. It is not known whether the painting belonged to the Benci family in the early sixteenth century, as Antonio Billi (_Il Libro di Antonio Billi esistente in due copie nella Biblioteca nazionale di Firenze_, ed. Carl Frey, Berlin, 1892: 51), who presumably saw it, does not give its location.
The picture may well have entered the Liechtenstein Collection by 1712 or earlier, as the 1733 red wax seal on the reverse, bearing the Liechtenstein arms, designated works that were part of the "Fideikommissgalerie" of Prince Johann Adam, held in trust but not personally collected by the then-reigning Prince Josef Wenzel (1696-1772) (see Reinhold Baumstark, "Collecting Paintings," in _Liechtenstein, The Princely Collections_, exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985: 183-185). The founder of the picture gallery at Feldsberg was Prince Karl Eusebius (1611-1684), a distinguished connoisseur who liked small cabinet-type paintings. He was succeeded by his son, the already mentioned Prince Johann Adam, also an avid collector who, however, preferred the Italian Baroque. Either could have obtained the painting in Florence, where both traveled (Olga Raggio, "The Collection of Sculpture," in _Liechtenstein, The Princely Collections_, exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985: 63-65). Leonardo's authorship, in any case, came to be forgotten, as the panel was attributed to Lucas Cranach in the Liechtenstein Catalogue of 1780.
[2] During World War II the picture was transferred, with the rest of the collection, from the Garden Palace in Vienna to the castle at Vaduz in the principality of Liechtenstein, and from there it was acquired from Prince Franz Josef II for the National Gallery of Art.
Accession Number
1967.6.1.a
Medium
oil on panel
Dimensions
overall (original panel only): 38.1 x 37 cm (15 x 14 9/16 in.) | overall (thickness of original panel): 1.1 cm (7/16 in.) | overall (with addition at bottom edge): 42.7 x 37 cm (16 13/16 x 14 9/16 in.) | overall (thickness of addition at bottom edge): 1.9 cm (3/4 in.) | framed: 59.7 x 57.8 x 3.8 cm (23 1/2 x 22 3/4 x 1 1/2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Background & Context
Background Story
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) painted Ginevra de' Benci around 1474-78, depicting a young Florentine noblewoman in what is one of the earliest three-quarter-view portraits in Italian painting and the only Leonardo painting in the Americas. Ginevra de' Benci (born 1457) was a Florentine noblewoman and poet whose portrait was likely commissioned to commemorate her engagement or marriage. The reverse of the panel bears a laurel wreath and palm with the motto VIRTVTEM FORMA DECORAT (Beauty adorns Virtue), suggesting the portrait was intended to celebrate her intellect and character as much as her appearance. Leonardo painted Ginevra when he was in his early twenties, and the portrait shows his revolutionary approach to portraiture—the three-quarter view, the atmospheric landscape, and the mysterious smile that would become his signature.
Cultural Impact
Ginevra de' Benci is one of the most important paintings in the history of portraiture because it represents Leonardo's revolutionary approach to the portrait—the three-quarter view, the atmospheric landscape, and the psychological depth that would define Western portraiture for centuries. The painting is the only Leonardo in the Americas and one of fewer than twenty surviving Leonardo paintings, making it one of the most significant works in any American collection.
Why It Matters
Ginevra de' Benci is the only Leonardo da Vinci painting in the Americas and one of fewer than twenty surviving Leonardos worldwide: a young Florentine noblewoman painted in the revolutionary three-quarter view with the atmospheric landscape and mysterious psychological depth that would define Western portraiture. The c. 1474-78 portrait shows the young Leonardo already transforming the portrait from record to revelation.