'Beauty adorns virtue'

Dijk, S.J. van (2015)

Doctoral Thesis

This thesis deals with dress in Leonardo’s portraits of women: his Ginevra de’ Benci, the Lady with an Ermine, La Belle Ferronnière, the portrait cartoon of Isabella d’Este and Mona Lisa. Leonardo portrayed his sitters in strikingly plain dress, without the sumptuous gold brocaded silk fabrics and lavish jewellery favoured by their contemporaries. This preference for austerity is discussed in the context of Leonardo’s art theory and his vision of female beauty. As the portraits are studied chronologically, a picture emerges of Leonardo’s approach to dress in portraiture and how that approach developed over time.

• Leonardo da Vinci
• Dress in art
• Clothing
• Portraiture
• Feminine beauty

• All authors: Dijk, S.J. van
• Supervisor: Fock, C.W.; Sman, G.J.J. van der
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS), Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University
• Date: 2015-06-18