Leonardo painted the young Florentine Ginevra de' Benci, probably around her betrothal, pale and unsmiling against a dark juniper bush. The juniper, ginepro in Italian, puns on her name and stood for female virtue. The panel was cut down at the bottom, probably losing her hands, and it is the only painting by Leonardo on public view in the Americas.
Look closer
The back of the panel is painted too: a juniper sprig inside a wreath of laurel and palm, with the motto VIRTVTEM FORMA DECORAT, "beauty adorns virtue".
Looks like this
Compared by a vision model
