Renaissance painters almost never chose the subject matter of major works, and Leonardo was no exception. In fact, two of Leonardo’s best-known portraits are thought to be of mistresses of his patron, Ludovico Sforza. Lucrezia Crivelli, mother of one of Sforza’s illegitimate children, may have been the sitter for Portrait of a Lady from the Court of Milan. Support for this claim is offered by a letter of praise for the painting, written by a court poet and found with Leonardo’s notes. As you read the document and examine the painting, consider what they tell you about Leonardo’s relationship with the duke, a man the author of the document refers to by his nickname, il Moro (the Moor).

How well the master’s art answers to nature. Da Vinci might also have rendered the soul as he has rendered the rest. But he did not, so that his picture might be a better likeness. For the soul of his model is possessed by Il Moro, her lover. The Lady’s name is Lucrezia to whom the gods gave all things lavishly. Beauty of form was bestowed on her and Leonardo painted her. Il Moro loved her; one is the greatest of painters the other of princes. By this likeness the painter roused the jealousy of nature and of the goddesses on high. Nature lamented that the hand of man could attain so much, the goddesses that immortality should have been bestowed on so fair a form which should have been perished. But Leonardo did it for Il Moro’s sake, and Il Moro will protect Leonardo. Men and gods alike fear to injure Il Moro.

Source: Leonardo da Vinci, Notebooks, ed. Thereza Wells (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), pp. 308–309.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER