| Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1492 at a Tuscan | | | | ermine was considered to be a symbol of virtue |
| farmhouse in Anchiano, Italy, near the town of | | | | and purity. And finally, it was a play on Cecilia |
| Vinci where he spent most of his childhood. He | | | | Gallerani's name since the Greek name for ermine |
| was the son of Ser Piero and a girl called Caterina | | | | is "galee". |
| who worked for him. After Leonardo was born, | | | | In Leonardo's notebooks, he wrote that the |
| the father and mother did not remain together. | | | | ermine eats every other day. Most likely the |
| Only recently have details of Leonardo's birth | | | | ermine, an animal related to the sable and weasel, |
| mother come to light. In 2002, Alessandro | | | | stayed in the studio while the painting was being |
| Vezzosi, Director of the Leonardo da Vinci | | | | completed. In the Renaissance period, soft-hair |
| Museum in Vinci, Italy, told the press they had | | | | paint brushes were made of ermine tail tips. |
| found substantial proof Leonardo's mother was a | | | | Brushes were also made from squirrel fur and |
| slave girl and not a peasant girl, as previously | | | | fastened into goose or hen feathers - another |
| believed.(1) Vezzosi went on to report that | | | | reason the ermine might have been at home in |
| Leonardo's father was a craftsman who owned a | | | | the studio. |
| Middle-Eastern female slave named Caterina. And, | | | | Leonardo da Vinci included cats in many of his |
| according to their discovery, a few months after | | | | sketches. On one sheet of animal sketches in his |
| Caterina gave birth to Leonardo, she was married | | | | notebook, the artist portrayed more than twenty |
| off to one of the workers. | | | | cats, and one dragon. He drew cats in different |
| Leonardo lived in Anchiana and in Vinci until he was | | | | poses, alone, with other cats, and being cuddled |
| eight years old. Afterwards, he moved to | | | | and held. His sketches are lively and reveal the |
| Florence with his father. When Leonardo was 14, | | | | solemn affection he had for felines. |
| he became an apprentice under the famed | | | | Throughout the mid to late 1470s, Leonardo |
| sculptor and painter Andrea del Verrocchio in | | | | worked on a series of different studies relating to |
| Florence. In that period, Verrocchio was the | | | | the theme of the Madonna and the Christ Child, |
| leading Florentine artist. By the time Leonardo was | | | | holding a cat. It was originally thought that no |
| between 21 and 23 years old, he had become a | | | | paintings existed beyond his initial studies for these |
| very skilled painter. Verrocchio permitted | | | | paintings. Recently; however, Madonna with the |
| Leonardo to help with an important painting, The | | | | Cat, which is in the collection of industrialist Carlo |
| Baptism of Christ (Uffizi Gallery, Florence). | | | | Noya in Savona, Italy, was discovered to be a |
| Leonardo painted the background and the kneeling | | | | painting by none other than Leonardo.(2) The |
| angel. It is said that when Verrocchio saw that | | | | painting is based on a legend about a cat being |
| Leonardo could paint better than anyone he had | | | | born at the same moment as the baby Jesus. |
| ever seen, including himself, he gave up painting | | | | Other sketches for paintings that feature animals |
| for good. Verrocchio decided he would | | | | and are based on a legend or myth is that of |
| concentrate on sculpture. | | | | Leda and the Swan. Although no actual paintings |
| Leonardo da Vinci was said to have a great love | | | | exist, there are countless drawings. The story is |
| for animals, and his journals further illustrates this. | | | | that Leda was seduced by the God Zeus in the |
| He was a vegetarian, at least in the latter part of | | | | form of a swan and bore two eggs, which |
| his life (we don't have definite proof that he was | | | | resulted in the creation of Helen of Troy with |
| a strict vegetarian in his early life). He wrote, "The | | | | Clytemnestra, and Castor with Pollux. |
| time will come when men such as I will look upon | | | | Although there are countless studies and sketches |
| the murder of animals as they now look on the | | | | made by Leonardo, only 13 or 14 actual paintings |
| murder of men." He also remarked, "The smallest | | | | exist today. One of these is Madonna and Child |
| feline is a masterpiece." | | | | with St. Anne, painted from 1508 to 1510. The |
| In the 1480s, Leonardo painted Lady With The | | | | figures depicted all relate to one another, and the |
| Ermine. The Lady in the painting is Cecilia Gallerani, | | | | baby Jesus is shown tightly holding a little lamb. Da |
| the 17-year-old mistress of Ludovico Sforza, | | | | Vinci painted the lamb with sensitivity and detail. |
| Duke of Milan. She carries an ermine for three | | | | The lamb is symbolic of Jesus Christ's sacrificial |
| reasons. First, for the Duke of Milan, having been | | | | death for mankind. Leonardo's animal subjects are |
| appointed to the Order of the Ermine by | | | | based on reality and are filled with vitality. |
| Ferdinand I of Naples, the ermine was the symbol | | | | Sources: 1. 2. |
| of heraldry on his coat of arms. Second, the | | | | |