Leonardo da Vinci's "Ginevra de'Benci (c. 1475, oil on panel) shows less of the sfumato of other paintings, but the range of values used highlights the portrait of the woman. This painting was probably done as a gift to a friend--the poet wife of Giacondo Ginevra de'Benci. Notice that the gaze of the woman is not specific. Leonardo changed the way that portraits were done, since the more typical way of doing a woman's portrait was to do a profile. This portrait, and especially the portrait of "Woman on the Balcony (also known as the "Mona Lisa"), show the woman looking out at the viewer.
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© Annette Milligan 1998