What Does the Paint Hide? History of the Examination of “Lady with an Ermine”

The first information about the state of preservation of the painting can be found in the catalog of Puławy collection, where a phrase “although very old – it is preserved splendidly” is written by Princess Izabela.

It confirms the thesis that the painting had been earlier prepared for sale in Italy - the walnut panel was glued to an oak cradle, the face side was cleaned and the background was painted black.

The first documented examination of the painting was done in 1945 in the Doerner Institute in Munich. Karol Estreicher carried out a detailed analysis of the painting technique confirming Leonardo’s authorship.

At that time probably the overpaint layer was removed from two areas showing parts of the original background (in the top right corner and in the bottom right quarter).

Removals of overpaint might have been done also by a Rudolf Kozłowski in 1952 in the Czartoryski Museum.

Conservator inspected the painting using the stereo microscope, UV radiation, microphotographs and chemical examination of a ground sample.

The ground was identified as a thin layer of lead white on oil or tempera binding-an innovatory way of this type of grounding compared to popular in those times in Italy.

Kozłowski discovered a signature in the bottom of left corner. He noticed similarity with other preserved pieces of Leonardo’s handwriting but didn't speak definitively about authenticity.

Next examination was carried out in the Conservation Workshop at the National Museum in Warsaw by Professor Kazimierz Kwiatkowski in 1952–55.

Kazimierz Kwiatkowski used macro and micro-photographs, X‐ray radiography, UV, infrared (IR) and sodium light photography.

Basing on the analysis of UV photograph, he put forward a thesis on the existence of an outline of a window or a door on the right side of the painting. Other techniques have not confirmed this.

The first foreign journey of the painting took place in 1991-92. The Lady was loaned to the National Gallery in Washington, where it was subjected to physico‐chemical examination by David Bull.

The microscopic observations led to a discovery of pieces of the original background, which can be seen in places next to the outline of the figure.

Bull defined color of the background as grayish‐blue with different intensity of tone. He rightly questioned the thesis on the existence of a window and putative originality of the signature.

In 2007, Pascal Cotté carried out multi‐spectral imagining of the painting. He presented new assumption that originally the painting was the portrait of Cecilia Gallerani without the ermine!

It is difficult to agree with the thesis because analysis of the radiograph shows that the animal was painted making use of the lead white layer with which the panel was grounded.

In 2012, conservators and scientists from the National Museum in Krakow conducted sixth research campaign on the materials and methods used by the artist together with the state of preservation of the Leonardo's painting.

All tests and analyzes were made with non-destructive methods and the research fully confirmed the thesis about the good state of preservation of the object.

Thanks to the thermographic analysis it was possible to reveal the range of damage of the support caused by insects, which until this point was unknown.

For the first time attention was paid to a mechanical, very aggressive way of removing the wooden cradle and the damage to the thin panel caused by it.

Near‐infrared images and a scan made by hyper‐spectral camera revealed presence of two kinds of drawing - result of direct transfer of the drawing and correcting lines.

Comprehensive physical tests allowed for definitively determine the appearance of the original background. None of the analyses discovered spectral lines of copper.

This rules out existence of the blue copper pigment – azurite, which would indicate presence of a hypothetical landscape that was the subject of some researchers’ speculations. The original background was dark gray, plain, and probably gave an illusion of indefinite space with slight gradation of light and darkness.

Comprehensive analysis and documentation of the current state of preservation made in 2012 represents high standard of preservation of works of art. Developed by specialists from the National Museum in Krakow the documentation has become basic comparative material for monitoring all changes during each next evaluation.

It seems that aesthetics of the work could be improved by some correction. The background is overpainted, and a debate about removing it could be started after very careful recognition of the actual state of preservation of the original layer. Despite overpainting, the painting should be unquestionably acknowledged as one of the best preserved works of Leonardo da Vinci.