What the Ermine Saw: The Extraordinary Journey of Leonardo da Vinci's Most Mysterious Portrait

by Eden Collinsworth Narrated by Cassandra Campbell

Overview

The remarkable true story behind one of history's most enigmatic portraits-"a glorious picaresque of unbridled passions and unmitigated scoundrels, a glorious romp through the great palaces and palazzos of Europe" (Amanda Foreman, New York Times best-selling author of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire)

Five hundred and thirty years ago, a young woman sat before a Grecian-nosed artist known as Leonardo da Vinci. Her name was Cecilia Gallerani, and she was the young mistress of Ludovico Sforza, duke of Milan. Sforza was a brutal and clever man who was mindful that Leonardo's genius would not only capture Cecilia's beguiling beauty but also reflect the grandeur of his title. But when the portrait was finished, Leonardo's brush strokes had conveyed something deeper by revealing the essence of Cecilia's soul. Even today, The Woman with an Ermine manages to astonish.
 
Despite the work's importance in its own time, no records of it have been found for the two hundred and fifty years that followed Gallerani's death. Readers of The Hare with the Amber Eyes will marvel at Eden Collinsworth's dexterous story of illuminates the eventual history of this unique masterpiece, as it journeyed from one owner to the next-from the portrait's next recorded owner, a Polish noblewoman, who counted Benjamin Franklin as an admirer, to its exile  in Paris during the Polish Soviet War, to its return to WWII-era Poland where-in advance of Germany's invasion-it remained hidden behind a bricked-up wall by a housekeeper who defied Hitler's edict that it be confiscated as one of the Reich's treasures. Fans of Anne-Marie O'Connor's The Lady in Gold will treasure the story of this criss-crossing journey and the enigmatic woman at its heart.
 
What the Ermine Saw is a fact-based story that cheats fiction and a reminder that  genius, power, and beauty always have a price.

Editorial Reviews

JUNE 2022 - AudioFile

The clarity, precision, and mellow grace of Cassandra Campbell’s narrations have made her a favorite for a wide range of audiobook subjects, often the most challenging. Here she animates and maintains the continuity of a history that might easily seem esoteric, fractured, and, for long stretches, cloudy. The subject is one of da Vinci’s most intriguing portraits and the background of that painting and its travels through the centuries. The combination offers a unique vantage for some fascinating historical tableaux, in particular the relations between Poland and Russia before and after Poland’s partition. This long step between Milan in the 1400s and the court of Catherine the Great to the Nazi Hans Frank illustrates the importance of a steady, focused, sustaining voice. Here, Golden Voice Campbell is at her very best. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

03/07/2022

Former publishing executive Collinsworth (Behaving Badly) delivers an intriguing if occasionally dubious history of Lady with an Ermine (c. 1490), one of only four portraits of women painted by Leonardo da Vinci. Tracking the painting across five centuries, Collinsworth reveals that the portrait’s subject was most likely Cecelia Gallerani, the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan (the ermine is a reference to one of the duke’s honors). After Gallerani lent the painting to Sforza’s sister-in-law, it fell out of the historical record for nearly two and half centuries before reemerging in the collection of Polish princess Izabela Czartoryski. Confiscated by Nazi official Hans Frank during WWII, it was recovered in Bavaria in 1945 and sent back to the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków. Collinsworth also delves into technical aspects of art restoration and conservation, explaining that a 2014 analysis revealed that the work was completed in three stages, with the ermine added late. Though Collinsworth conveys the vicissitudes of European history and the enduring fascination of da Vinci’s work, some of her anecdotes—including an allegation that Ludovico Sforza’s wife “found a numbing self-relief in sex orgies” and died soon after participating in one—strain credulity. Still, this is an entertaining and accessible study of a masterpiece. Illus. (May)

From the Publisher

FINALIST FOR THE 2022 MARFIELD PRIZE

"With. . .dizzying effect, Collinsworth—a former Hearst executive and now a think-tank chief of staff—vaults between granular detail and grand context. What the Ermine Saw bolts through wars and empires, art-making and state-making across the continent in the last 500 years." –New York Times Book Review

"What the Ermine Saw is a glorious picaresque of unbridled passions and unmitigated scoundrels. Eden Collinsworth takes us on a glorious romp through the great palaces and palazzos of Europe as she traces the extraordinary adventures of one of Leonardo da Vinci’s greatest masterpieces." –Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire

"Collinsworth unwinds a thoroughly captivating story about a single painting. . .Filled with beauty, passion, greed, and evil, Collinsworth’s search is a spirited art history yarn." –Kirkus Reviews

“Collinsworth conveys the vicissitudes of European history and the enduring fascination of da Vinci’s work. . . this is an entertaining and accessible study of a masterpiece.” –Publishers Weekly

“Collinsworth brings it all together and makes the story accessible and juicy, reveling in the more sordid details of courtly life and general scandal. . . Art lovers and history buffs will enjoy this fast-paced, entertaining romp from the Renaissance to the present day, focusing on one painting by one of the world’s most famous, intriguing, and mysterious artists.” –Library Journal

“Among the felicities of Ms. Collinsworth’s book is its cast of appealing and sympathetic women who carved their own identities and public profiles to attain their aims. . .In recounting the portrait’s tale, Ms. Collinsworth proves herself a skilled portraitist in her own right.” –Wall Street Journal

“Almost all the key events of modern Europe were seen through the eyes of this painting, which Collinsworth vividly brings to life in her writing. . .Collinsworth’s fantastic book is a testament, for those with the eyes to see, of that ancient and enduring truth that beauty cannot be destroyed.” –Merion West

Library Journal

04/01/2022

Collinsworth (Behaving Badly: The New Morality in Politics, Sex, and Business) takes readers on a time-travel journey across the world and tells the backstory and history of Leonardo da Vinci's enigmatic painting Lady with an Ermine. Inquisitive and with an eye for social commentary, Collinsworth moves at a dizzying pace: What century is it? Did the war end already? Several existing books also speak to elements about Lady with an Ermine, and the hands it has gone through over time, but they can be quite dry or only give part of the story. Collinsworth brings it all together and makes the story accessible and juicy, reveling in the more sordid details of courtly life and general scandal. Although some readers will recognize Leonardo's famous portrait of Cecilia Gallerani, young mistress of the Duke of Milan, and her sleek pet, many others will be surprised at how it came to be and all the drama surrounding its survival. VERDICT Art lovers and history buffs will enjoy this fast-paced, entertaining romp from the Renaissance to the present day, focusing on one painting by one of the world's most famous, intriguing, and mysterious artists.—Kelly Karst

JUNE 2022 - AudioFile

The clarity, precision, and mellow grace of Cassandra Campbell’s narrations have made her a favorite for a wide range of audiobook subjects, often the most challenging. Here she animates and maintains the continuity of a history that might easily seem esoteric, fractured, and, for long stretches, cloudy. The subject is one of da Vinci’s most intriguing portraits and the background of that painting and its travels through the centuries. The combination offers a unique vantage for some fascinating historical tableaux, in particular the relations between Poland and Russia before and after Poland’s partition. This long step between Milan in the 1400s and the court of Catherine the Great to the Nazi Hans Frank illustrates the importance of a steady, focused, sustaining voice. Here, Golden Voice Campbell is at her very best. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2022-02-26
Chasing down the mysterious history of a priceless painting.

Collinsworth unwinds a thoroughly captivating story about a single painting. She begins “some 530 years ago” in Milan with Ludovico, a powerful, wealthy duke who commissioned a portrait of his young lover, “most probably Cecilia Gallerani.” Barely two feet by a foot and a half, it was meticulously conceived and presented by a young Leonardo da Vinci. Known simply as Lady With an Ermine, it was one of only four known portraits of women he painted. Da Vinci, writes the author, “made Cecilia so palpably real with paint that we are able to imagine the faint pulse at the base of her throat and can almost hear her breath, but what he achieved is more than artistic precision. The portrait is not just a visual transmission of what she looked like; it’s also a psychological narrative.” Collinsworth goes into lush detail chronicling the colorful, often violent times when the work was created and reveals some fascinating biographical elements about da Vinci. When Ludovico married a 15-year-old named Beatrice, the painting hung in his private apartments while Cecilia and her son resided in the same building. When forced out by Beatrice, she took the painting with her. After Beatrice died, her conniving, art-collecting sister Isabella secured the painting from Cecilia—or did she? For the next 250 years, despite rumors, the painting’s location was unknown until 1800, when a roving Polish nobleman purchased it in Italy from an unknown seller as a gift for his mother in Russia, where it was subsequently misidentified and Cecilia’s “very essence” was lost. Collinsworth meticulously charts the painting’s circuitous path throughout Europe during political unrest and two world wars to a German governor-general who was busy creating “a systematic campaign to eradicate Polish culture.” Finally transferred to the National Museum in Kraków, the painting has since been exhibited around the world.

Filled with beauty, passion, greed, and evil, Collinsworth’s search is a spirited art history yarn.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940176225846
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	05/24/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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