Leonardo da Vinci and Flemish painting—On the Portrait of Ginevra

Articles
Leonardo da Vinci and Flemish painting
─On the Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci─
Eto Takumi
“Only the northern elements provide the right foil for the victorious classical form.”(1)
─E. H. Gombrich
1. The ethos of Flemish painting as a restraint on Classical pathos
Aby Warburg, who pioneered research on the relationship between Flemish and Florentine painting in 15th
century, focused on this theme based on Florentines’ taste during that era.(2) In 1888, Müntz published a list of assets
belonging to the Medici household as of 1492, giving insights into the important situation of Flemish panel paintings
and tapestries.(3) Florentine patrons were thought to have favored the progressive artists of the time, according to
records and documents; however, it has become clear that they were fond of the products of the Gothic North.
Classical and Gothic art were accepted side by side.(4) Since Flemish artwork can be found along with classic
sculptures in the Villa Medici, Warburg convinced that it was no longer possible to treat the art of the Gothic North
and Renaissance South separately, and that the background for the real Renaissance lies in the mutual complement of
these two arts. Warburg believed that the problem was the collective psychology that allowed the idea of supermen
and the realistic and devout art of the North to be compatible.(5)
Warburg found a hint as to the answer to this question in the linguistic theory of Hermann Osthoff, that is a
switch of the root word used in the superlative.(6) He stated that the reason why Indo-Aryan languages, in cases where
our emotions are most engaged, frequently do not form the degree of the comparison from the same root word, but
form each class from different root words is because those words thereby get the true emphasis.(7) Warburg applied
this theory to a clash of forces between southern and northern art in Florence, and found the conciliation of opposites
in The Adoration of the Shepherds by Ghirlandajo in the Sassetti Chapel. To yield too easily to the temptation of
pagan influence may render the pathos hollow and the movement theatrical.(8) Thus, to express the “superlative” of
devout concentration, Ghilandajo would be on the look-out for different roots, Hugo van der Goes’ adoring shepherds
from a Flemish model
Warburg stated that “because the image of these men who are totally engrossed in looking becomes an
unconscious symbol of that self-effacing objective observation in which the Flemings were psychologically superior
to the Italians with their classical education and their bent for rhetoric.(9) This led to the conclusion that the dangers
of “pathos formula,” the act of intensive sensationalism, are inhibited by the static and contemplative ethos of
Flemish painting. In other words, Northern element can be dual role as obstacle and ally to the threat of superfluous
classical rhetoric. As a result, Florentine art was able to attain the capacity for holding contrasts in equilibrium.(10) In
addition, Warburg argued that the products of Nothern oil painting were among the first to be collected and
appreciated for their own sake. This means that the Nothern influence provided a challenge to the Quattrocento
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Florence which had retained so much of mediaeval dependence on
ritual in the widest sense.(11)
From this perspective, the portrait as a theme is quite easy to
understand, as the style of the three-quarter portrait has its root in
Flanders.(12) However, according to Pope-Hennessy, we are never
justified in discussing the interaction of Flemish and Italian portraits
throughout the 15th century. In 1475, the first significant breakthrough
occurs with the arrival in Venice of Antonello da Messia, who came in
contact with Flemish painting. (13) The oil painting technique
introduced by the Flemish permitted pictorial expression of hair
texture and sparkling of eyes. In 1470s Florence, the Verrocchio
workshop was most active in introducing this oil painting technique,
and engaged Leonardo da Vinci as an apprentice.(14) Additionally,
Ginevra de’ Benci, which is closely associated with the Verrocchio
(Fig. 1) Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de’
Benci, ca. 1474, 38.8×36.7cm, National
Gallery of Art, Washington (Inv.2326)
workshop (Fig. 1), might be said to be the origin of Leonardo’s portraits.(15) That is why we can recognize this
portrait to be the strong influence of Flemish painting, for example, the landscape on the front and the juniper coat of
arms on the back of the painting.
The Mona Lisa, created by Leonardo during his second stay in Florence from 1503 to 1506, can be considered to
be a surmmit of developmental process of his portrait pictures. Although the portrait is often regarded as
representative of classicism, according to Kenneth Clark, its subtlest facial expressions, including a gothic smile, are
anti-classical, filled with un-Mediterranean features.(16) Furthermore, he concludes that Leonardo gained a new
quality of classical completeness by idealizing the gothic sense. Heinrich Wölfflin has argued similarly, that the
antithesis of idealism and realism is thought to represent the essencial difference between classic and Quattrocento
art.(17) In other words, it is the gothic idealism to transcend the limits of Quattrocento naturalism. That is the reason
why I tackle this theme at present. The root of the question lies in how Flemish painting was involved in the
formation of classicism from 1500 to 1525, during the so-called High Renaissance.
2. Provenance and current situation of Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci
Leonardo da Vinci’s Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci (Fig. 1), estimated to have been painted in 1474, is currently
on exhibit at the National Gallery in Washington, DC. This panel painting was purchased by the Mellon Foundation
in 1967. Its dimensions are close to square (39 cm high and 37 cm wide), and it is clear that, for several reasons, the
bottom part of the panel has been cut away.(18) In the top right portion of the back side, there is a red wax seal with
the arms of Prince of Josef Wenzel of Liechtenstein and the date 1733.(19) It seems that the painting had acquired by
one of his ancestors, but its previous owners are unknown. One theory suggests that among the collection confiscated
from Ludovico Sforza of Milan and sent to France by Louis XII in 1499, “le visage d’une fame” in the inventory is
discribed as “Genevra,” and this portrait may be identical with the painting in question.(20) In the catalogue of
Liechtenstein published by J.Dallinger in 1780, it was regard as “Lucas Cranach, une tête de femme” and was joined
with a fir wood and repaired in retouching (42 x 37 cm).(21) Yet, in 1866, Gustav Waagen attributed the “une tête de
femme,” exhibited in the Liechtenstein gallery (Nr. 2326) in Vienna then, to Leonardo or his disciple Boltraffio as a
working hypothesis.(22) This hypothesis was accepted later by Müller-Walde and Bode.(23)
In his The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, Vasari wrote that “Leonardo made a
portrait of Ginevra, the wife of Amerigo Benci, an extremely beautiful painting.”(24) In 1518, Antonio Billi praised its
lifelikeness “painted with such perfection that it was none other than she.”(25) Yet, The Life of Leonardo da Vinci,
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Leonardo da Vinci and Flemish painting ─On the Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci─
written by Paolo Giovio in 1527, does not mention this portrait.(26) Anonimo
Gaddiano, the direct source for Vasari’s Life of Leonardo da Vinci, written
by an anonymous author between 1537 and 1546 and found in the Gaddiano
Archive in Florence, repeats Billi’s passage nearly verbatim: “completed so
perfectly that it semmed to be not a portrait but Ginevra herself.”(27) Based
on these records, the sitter for the portrait was identified as Ginevra who
was born in 1457 and the daughter of wealthy Florentine merchant Amerigo
de Benci.(28)
The bush surrounding the head of Ginevra is juniper, which is called
ginepro in Italian and genevra in the Tuscan dialect, punning on the sitter’s
name.(29) On the reverse, there is decorate with an “arboreal rebus” (Fig.2),
which is the earliest Italian example. The central juniper sprig is encircled
with the wreath of laurel and palm branches. A scroll with the inscription
(Fig. 2) Computer reconstruction: The
impresa on the back of fig. 1 and the
motto: VIRTVTEM FORMA DECORAT (Beauty Adorns Virtue), Department of Imaging and Visual Services,
National Gallery of Art, Washington.
“VIRTVTEM FORMA DECORAT (Beauty Adorns Virtue),” which is the
beginning of a hexameter in Latin, entwins around the branches.(30) This
seeming ambiguity of the inscription will be discussed in detail later. Since
the lower part of the branches are not crossed, the bottom panel must have
been cut down. John Walker conjectured that the bottom of the panel was
placed agaist a damp wall, so moisture has raisen up the panel by capillary action.(31) On the other hand, Goldscheider
suspects that the lower part of painting was unfinished.(32) In 1903, Bode attempted to restore the missing portion :the
picture was once about one-third longer than it currently is.(33)
What was the lower part of the front surface of Ginevra de’ Benci like? There are several samples that could
provide clues. For example, a marble bust in Bargello, Lady with a Bunch of Flowers (Inv.115), is pressing wild roses
against her chest with her left hand. The marble, created at the Verrocchio workshop to which Leonardo belonged,
has similar face and hairstyle shapes to that of Ginevra de’ Benci.(34) Another piece called Portrait of a Lady (Fig.3)
now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was in Florence, is attributed to Lorenzo di Credi, who belonged to the
same Verrocchio workshop. The arboreal background is also presumed to be
juniper, and the inscription “GINEVRA D’AMERIGO BENCI” can be found
on the back; thus, the sitter is assumed to be the same as the Leonardo.(35) She
crosses her arms in front of her abdomen, holding a ring with her fingers of the
left hand. But the X-ray photograph shows that the index finger of the left hand
has been changed at some time. Furthermore, Credi’s Portrait of a Young
Lady, located in Forli, is also assumed to have been painted under the influence
of Leonardo’s Ginevra de’ Benci.(36) Another similar piece is a sketch in silver
point called Study of Hands, possessed by Royal Library at Windsor Castle. It
has been thought that Leonardo’s silverpoint drawing of hands in Winsor is a
preliminary study for this passage. (37) From these examples, it can be
conjectured that Ginevra was originally holding a bouquet in front of her
abdomen; indeed, a computer reconstruction of such an image was recently
published.(38)
(Fig. 3) Lorenzo di Credi, Portrait of a
Young Lady, 1490–1500, 58.7×40cm,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York (Inv.43.86.5)
3. The issue of who commissioned the Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci
Leonardo’s Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci is usually dated 1474 on the supposition that it was executed to
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325
commemorate her marriage to a wool merchant, Luigi di Niccolini.(39) As Ginevra was born in 1457, the sitter was
estimated to have been about 17 years old.(40) Möller assumed that after Niccolini passed away in 1505, the portrait
was returned to the Benci family, and it presumably became a possession of Liechtenstein until the family had been
extinct in 1611. (41) However, there is no evidence of its actual whereabouts during these days. It is entirely
conceivable that the Niccolini and the Benci families never owend the portrait.(42)
In contrast, scholars like Walker and Fletcher regard Bernardo Bembo, who had a relationship with Ginevra, as
the original custmomer for the painting.(43) If it was commissioned during his second stay in Florence (1478–1480),
Ginevra’s age would have been around 23. Recently, we have found convincing proof to support this claim. The
examination with an infra-red camera has revealed beneath the present inscription other Latin letters, “VIRTUS ET
HONOR,” corresponding to Bembo’s own motto.(44) Furthermore, the wreath that combines palm and laurel branches
is quite similar to the garland on the cover of a manuscript of Paolo Marsi’s poem describing Bembo’s journey to
Spain in 1468-69.(45) If it was Bernardo Bembo who commissioned the painting, it is possible that Bembo, staying in
Burgundy as a Venetian ambassador in 1471-74, brought the “arboreal rebus” to Leonardo and had the portrait
painted in the Flemish mode.(46)
The reason why the romantic relations between Ginevra de’ Benci and Bernardo Bembo were in the open is that
the Neoplatonist poets of the Medici circle, Cristoforo Landino and Alessandro Braccesi, sang of the love affair of
the two in Latin.(47) If we may rely on the poems, Bernardo met Ginevra at a friend’s house and fell in love at first
sight. After the exchange of a few words, he was enthralled by her. Later on, Ginevra dropped a violet that she was
wearing on her breast on the way back from the church, and sent it to Bernardo through the poet.(48) Bernardo may
have commissioned the work before he left Florence in 1480.(49)
If Bernardo Bembo can be considered as the customer, what possible interpretations of the portrait exist? As
was already mentioned, through the ex-ambassador to Burgundy, the connection between Leonardo and Flemish
painting becomes stronger. In addition, as Fletcher argued, Bembo—who idolized Petrarch—compared Ginevra to
Petrarch’s lover, Laura.(50) This can be deduced by the fact that Bernardo’s son Pietro Bembo owned a copy of
Simone Martini’s Portrait of Laura.(51) It was a common knowledge back then that Simone frescoed St. George on
the portico of a church in Avignon; it contained a likeness of Laura, who lived in Avignon, disguised as Mary
Margdalene.(52) If Ginevra was likened to Laura, the portrait would be contained some symbolic meaning.
4. The relationship between Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci and Flemish painting
Ever since Paul Hills’ research in 1980, it has been pointed out that the
cold stare, reinforced by a slight turn of the head, of Leonardo’s Portrait of
Ginevra de’ Benci is similar to that of Petrus Christus’ Portrait of a Young
Lady (Fig. 4). (53) For example, Paula Nuttall assumes that the similarity
between these two portraits cannot be fortuitous, and that Leonardo must have
scrupulously studied the above-mentioned portrait by Christus, presumably.(54)
David Brown stated that “Taken by scholars as a touchstone of Leonardo’s
interest in northern art, Ginevra de’ Benci betrays a striking resembrance to
Portrait of a Young Lady by Petrus Christus in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. […]
Though presumably incorporating the lady’s physiognomy, Leonardo’s
Netherlandish-inspired likeness is clearly not a straightforward record of her
appearance. Nor does it capture her unique personality in the sense of a
modern psychological portrait.”
(55)
In other words, he means that, in Portrait of
Ginevra de’ Benci, Leonardo realized his own unique idealism apart from
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Leonardo da Vinci and Flemish painting ─On the Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci─
(Fig. 4) Petrus Christus. Portrait of a
Young Lady, 1452–1457, 29×
22.5cm, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
(Kat.Nr.532).
Quattrocento naturalism or modern psychologism.
On the other hand, Hills stated, regarding Lamentation by Rogier van der Weyden—found at a villa of Medici in
Careggi near Florence—that “Leonardo was the first Italian fully to comprehend this meditative inwardness of
Flemish painting. In fusing this northern spirituality with the physical consciousness and sense of grace which was
the legacy of the antique, Leonardo created a style which is inexplicable by reference to a purely Italian tradition.”(56)
He also conjectured that the spirituality of the portrait by Leonardo would depend on the influence of Flemish
painting, which could not be explained by the legacy of the antique alone.
The possibility that Leonardo’s Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci was involved with the portrait by Christus is
supported to some extent by records of existing archives. What is especially important is the description of “a small
panel painted with the head of a French lady, coloured in oil, the work of Pietro Cresci from Bruges”(57) in the 1492
inventory of Lorenzo de’Medici’s collection. Quite a few scholars identify the small panel painting with Portrait of a
Young Lady by Christus.(58) This painting was owned by Edward Solly until 1821, who used to purchase his
collection in Italy.(59) Gustav Waagen initially believed that the sitter was a niece of the Talbot family of Shrewsbury,
based on an inscription on the original frame, which has been lost.(60) Yet, there are many objections to this
identification which argue that this does not mean that the portrait was not in Italy.(61)
Also, regarding Christus, there is an entry of payment for a “figura” to “Piero di Burges” in the 1453 ledger of
Duke Sforza. If we assume Piero to be Petrus and Burges to be Bruges, this implies that Christus created the portrait
for the court of Milan.(62) Some scholars interpret “Piero di Burges” as Piero della Francesca by assuming that it
means “Piero di Borgo.”(63) However, I suppose that unless the description of “Piero di Burges” in Milan agrees with
biographical records of Piero della Francesca, the potential that it refers to Petrus Christus is strong. Sterling stated
that, since Christus’s innate tendency for synthesis is akin to that of painters such as Antonello da Messina and
Konrad Witz, he might have been an appropriate messenger with these artists.(64)
As mentioned above, on the reverse side of Portrait of Ginevra de’
Benci is a Latin hexameter line, “VIRTVTEM FORMA DECORAT
(Beauty Adorns Virtue),” written on a scroll entwined in a juniper
sapling.(65) Painting an impresa such as arboreal rebus on the back of a
portrait was common in Flemish portraiture. For example, “Branch of
Holly” (Fig.5) is depicted on the reverse side of Portrait of a Man holding
an open Book, an early work of Rogier van der Weyden. On the upper
frame of the back inscribes a French epigram, “Je he ce que mord (I hate
that which I sting).”(66) Similarly, as an early Italian example, the impresa
like that is shown on the reverse side of Portrait of a Man by Jacometto
Veneziano circa 1490.(67) If we compare Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci
with the case of the Venetian school, we comprehend that the portrait by
Leonardo was an early example of the application of the Flemish style to
Italian art. Therefore, it is quite likely that he was inspired by the head of
a French Lady, stored in the Medici’s collection.
(Fig. 5) Rogier van der Weyden, Branch of
Holly :Reverse of Portrait of a Man holding an open Book, the inscription: Je he ce
que mord (I hate that which I sting), ca.
1436, 34×24cm, Courtauld Institute of
Art, London.
5. Conclusion
According to the above reasoning, it is obvious that Leonardo’s Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci would be
influenced by the Flemish painting. Its idealized, mysterious atmosphere is closer to that of Flemish portraitures than
to that of Italian ones of the time. Both of these portraitures are common to the fine finish of the oil painting and the
arboreal rebus on the back. The style of the portraiture established in thoese days would have been the cornerstone
Journal of International Philosophy, No.4 2015
327
for the Mona Lisa, engaged during Leonardo’s second Florentine period, after 1500. In this respect, it is important to
elucidate the relationship between Leonardo’s early work and Flemish painting.
Yet, upon considering this relationship, we must return to the first problem posed by Warburg. According to
Osthoff’s linguistic theory on which Warburg depended, for our language in case where our emotions are most
engaged, mere logical inflections from familiar roots become unsatisfactory. The same principle operates in the field
of visual art; thus, the expression of the static and contemplative ethos of Flemish painting inhibited the excessive
expression of antique pathos. It seems that the fundamental reason why Leonardo focused on Flemish portraiture was
likely his unconscious awareness of this principle. As Hills stated, “In fusing this northern spirituality with the
physical consciousness and sense of grace which was the legacy of the antique, Leonardo created a style which is
inexplicable by reference to a purely Italian tradition.”(68) That is precisely why Leonardo made a great contribution
to the history of the portraiture.
Notes
Abbreviations: AB: Art Bulletin, BM: Burlington Magazine, GBA: Gazette des Beaux-Arts
1) Gombrich, Ernst, Aby Warburg: An intellectual Biography, London, 1970, p.159.
2) Warburg, Aby, “Flandische Kunst und florentinische Frührenaissance (1902),” Gesammelte Schriften, Bd.1, 1998, p.187.
3) Müntz, Eugène, Les collections des Médicis au XVe siècle: Le Musée, La Bibliothèque, Le Mobilier, Paris/London, 1888,
(reprint, 2014). Gombrich, op.cit., p.133.
4) Gombrich, Aby Warburg, 1970, p.132.
5) Ibid., p.135.
6) Ibid., p.178.
7) Osthoff, Hermann, Vom Suppletivwesen der indogermanischen Sprachen, Heidelberg, 1899 (reprint, New Delhi, 2013), p.20.
8) Gombrich, Aby Warburg, 1970, p.180. The idea that excessive antique production threatened art was originally pointed out
by Karl Woermann in 1879. Woermann, Karl, “Domenico Ghirlandajo,” Kunst und Künstler Italiens, Ed. R. Dohme, I,
Leibzig, 1878, pp.65-80.
9) Warburg, op.cit., p.166.
10) Gombrich, Aby Warburg, 1970, p.167.
11) Ibid., p.167.
12) Campbell, Lorne, Renaissance Portraits: European Portrait-Painting in the 14th, 15th and 16th Centuries, New Haven, 1990,
p.61. Künstler, Gustav, “Vom Entstehen des Einzelbildnisses und seiner frühen Entwicklung in der flämischen Malerei,”
Wiener Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte, 27, 1974, p.21. Panofsky, Erwin, Early Netherlandish Painting, Cambridge, 1953,
p.171.
13) Pope-Hennessy, John, The Portrait in the Renaissance, London, 1966, pp.59-63.
14) Eastlake, Charles, Methods and Materials of Painting of the Great Schools and Masters, Vol.2, New York, 1960, p.81.
15) Bode, Wilhelm, “Bildwerke des Andrea del Verrocchio,” Jahrbuch der königlich preussischen Kunstsammlungen, Bd.III,
1882, p.260.
16) Clark, Leonardo da Vinci, London, 2005, p.165.
17) Wölfflin, Heinrich, Die klassische Kunst: Eine Einführung in die italienische Renaissance, Basel, 1907, p.245, p.249.
18) Shapley, Fern, Catalogue of the Italian Paintings: National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979, p.253.
19) Walker, John, “Ginevra de’Benci by Leonardo da Vinci,” National Gallery of Art: Report and Studies in the History of Art
1967, Washington, 1967, p.7.
20) Adhémar, Jean, “Une Galerie de Portraita Italiens a Amboise en 1500,” GBA, 84, 1975, p.100.
21) Möller, Emil, “Leonardos Bildnis der Ginevra dei Benci,” Münchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst, 12, 1937/38, p.207.
22) It was located in the 6th room of the Liechtenstein Art Gallery in Vienna. Waagen believed that the sitter was the wife of a
diplomat, Alice Talbot, based on the inscription on the frame. Waagen, Gustav, Die vornehmesten Kunstdenkmäler in Wien, I,
Wien, 1866, p.276.
23) Müller-Walde, Paul, Leonardo da Vinci: Lebensskizze und Forschungen über sein Verhältniss zur florentiner Kunst und zu
Rafael, München, 1889, p.66. Bode, Wilhelm, “Leonardo’s Bildnis der Ginevra dei Benci,” Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst,
14, 1903, p.274.
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Leonardo da Vinci and Flemish painting ─On the Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci─
24) Vasari, Giorgio, Le Vite de’più eccellenti pittori scultori ed architettori, IV, ed. Gaetano Milanesi (abbreviated herein as
Vasari, Le Vite., ed. Milanesi), Florence, 1879, p. 39.
25) Fabriczy, Cornelio de, “Il Libro di Antonio Billi e le sue copie nella biblioteca nazionale di Firene,” Archivio Storico
Italiano, serie V, VII, 1891, p.331. Frey, Carl, Il Libro di Antonio Billi : Esistente in due copie nella biblioteca nazionale di
Firene, Berlin, 1892, p.51.
26) English translation by Richter can be found in the chapter on Leonardo in Three Dialogues on Famous men and women,
written circa 1527 by Giovio. Richter, Jean, The Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci, Vol.I, New York, 1970, p.3.
27) Milanesi, “Documenti inediti Risguardanti Leonardo da Vinci,” Archivio Storico Italiano, serie III, XVI, 1872, p.225.
Fabriczy, Cornelus, Il Codice dell’Anonimo Gaddiano nella biblioteca nazionale di Firenze, (Cod. Magliabechiano XVII,17),
Firenze, 1893, (reprint, Farnborough, 1969), p.89. The original sentence was as follows: “Ritrasse in Firenze dal natural la
Ginevra d’Amerigho Bencj, la quale tanto bene finì, che non il ritratto ma la propria Ginevra pareva” [fol.91r]. The English
translation by Goldscheider was referenced. Goldscheider, Ludwig, Leonardo: Paintings and Drawings, New York, 1969,
p.31.
28) Carnesecchi, Carlo, “Il ritratto leonardesco di Ginevra Benci,” Rivista d’Arte, VI, 1909, p.292. Cook, Herbert, “The Portrait
of Ginevra dei Benci by Leonardo da Vinci,” BM, 20, 1912, p.346.
29) The interpretation of this paronomasia was supposedly proposed by Aby Warburg. Bode, op.cit., p.276. Möller, op.cit., p.196.
30) Shapley, op.cit., p. 253. According to Hills, this is the earliest example of an “arboreal rebus” painted in the back of a portrait
in Italy. Hills, Paul, “Leonardo and Flemish Painting,” BM, 122, 1980, pp.609-615. Recently, based on Thiis’s proposal, the
wreath on the reverse side of Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci was restored. Thiis, Jens, Leonardo da Vinci: The Florentine
Years of Leonardo & Verrocchio, trans. by J.Muir, London, 1913, p.105.
31) Walker, “Ginevra de’Benci by Leonardo da Vinci,” 1967, p.12. Möller, op.cit., p.192.
32) Goldscheider, op.cit., p. 155. Cook conjectured that probably the sitter held a ring. Cook, op.cit., p.345.
33) Bode, op.cit., p.274. Möller, op.cit., p.192.
34) Bode, op.cit., p. 276. Gould pointed out the possibility that Lady with a Bunch of Flowers would have been carved by
Leonardo, as like as two beans in a pod . Gould, Cecil, Leonardo: The Artist and the Non-Artist, London, 1975, p.31.
35) Bode, op.cit., p.276. Möller, op.cit., p.205. This portrait (Inv.43.86.5), at the Annunziata Monastery in Florence at first,
entered the Pucci collection. Dalli Regoli, Gigetta, Lorenzo di Credi, Cremona, 1966, p.145.
36) X-rays photograph reveals that the left index finger has been changed at some time . Walker, op.cit., p. 16. Cook, op.cit., p.
346; Dalli Regoli, op.cit., p. 130.
37) Walker, op.cit., p. 13. Many scholars believe that the silver point of folded hands at Windsor (no. 12558) has been
associated with Ginevra de’ Benci. However, Gould regards the Windsor drawing as the style around the 1480s or later, and
is not convinced that the relationship between the two is clear. Gould, op.cit., p. 30.
38) Brown, David, Leonardo da Vinci: Origins of a Genius, New Haven, 1998, p.106. Some scholars like Cook assume that she
was holding the ring instead of the bouquet. Cook, Herbert, “The Portrait of Ginevra dei Benci by Leonardo da Vinci,” BM,
20, 1912, p.345.
39) Carnesecchi, op.cit., p.282.
40) Cook, “The Portrait of Ginevra dei Benci by Leonardo da Vinci,” 1912, p.345. Thiis, op.cit., p.106.
41) Möller, op.cit., pp. 206-207. Walker denied this hypothesis. Walker, op.cit., p. 8.
42) Walker, “Ginevra de’Benci by Leonardo da Vinci,” 1967, p.8.
43) Fletcher, Jennifer, “Bernardo Bembo and Leonardo’s portrait of Ginevra de’Benci,” BM, 131, 1989, p.811.
44) Brown, Leonardo da Vinci, 1998, p.119.
45) Fletcher, “Bernardo Bembo and Leonardo’s portrait of Ginevra de’Benci,” 1989, p.811.
46) Fletcher supposes that the Leonardo picture has a relationship to Bembo’s stay in Flanders. Ibid., p. 816.
47) Walker, “Ginevra de’Benci by Leonardo da Vinci,” 1967, p.3.
48) Both of the Latin poems of Landino and Braccesi were published in the 20th century, but the original texts and English
versions are found in the appendix to Walker’s paper. Walker, op. cit., pp. 28-37.
49) Walker, op.cit., p.8. Fletcher, op.cit., p.813.
50) Fletcher, “Bernardo Bembo and Leonardo’s portrait of Ginevra de’Benci,” 1989, p.816.
51) In 1520s, Marcantonio Michiel stated that he saw “a portrait copied from the mural of Avignon based on a portrait of Laura”
at the home of Pietro Bembo in Padua. Frimmel, Theodor, Der Anonimo Morelliano: Marcanton Michiel’s notizia d’opere
del disegno, Wien, 1888, pp.22-23.
Journal of International Philosophy, No.4 2015
329
52) Burioni, Matteo, “Die Immunität Raffaels: Lehre, Nachahmung und Wettstreit in der Begegnung mit Pietro Perugino,”
Perugino: Raffaels Meister, A.Schumacher ed. München, 2011, pp.141-143.
53) Hills, “Leonardo and Flemish Painting,” BM, 1980, p.615.
54) Nuttall, Paula, From Flanders to Florence: The Impact of Netherlandish Painting, 1400-1500, New Haven /London, 2004,
p.226.
55) Brown, Leonardo da Vinci, 1998, p.110.
56) Hills, “Leonardo and Flemish Painting,” 1980, p.613.
57) The original text is as follows: “Una tavoletta, dipintovi di(sic) una testa di dama franzese, cholorita a olio, opera di Pietro
Cresci da Bruggia.” Spallanzani, Marco, Libro d’inventario dei beni di Lorenzo il Magnifico, Firenze, 1992, p.52, This
description first appeared in the Müntz’s catalogue of the Medici’s collection. Müntz, op. cit., 1888, p. 79.
58) The representative art historian who proposed this hypothesis is Panofsky, and Sterling confirmed the influence of Fouquet
on a Portrait of Young Lady. Panofsky, Early Netherlandish Painting, 1953, p.491. Sterling, Charles, “Observations on
Petrus Christus,” AB, 53, 1971, p. 19.
59) Panofsky, op.cit., p.491. Bode, “La Renaissance au Musée de Berlin,” GBA, 35, 1887, p.217.
60) Waagen, Handbuch der deutschen und niederländischen Malerschulen, Vol.I, Stuttgart, 1862, p.94. Sharf considerd the sitter
to be a young lady of the Talbot family. Sharf, George, “Observations on the Portrait of Edward Grimston, and Other
Portraits of Same Period,” Archaeologia, 40, 1866, p.479. Bazin and others proposed that it was Isabelle de Bourbon, the
wife of Charles the Bold. Ainsworth, Maryan, Petrus Christus: Renaissance Master of Bruges, New York, 1994, p.166.
Crowe and Cavalcaselle, The Early Flemish Painters, London, 1872, p.145. Bazin, Germain, “Petrus Christus et les rapports
entre l’Italie et la Flandre au milieu du XVe siècle,” La Revue des Arts, 1952, 2, p.199.
61) Nuttall, From Flanders to Florence, 2004, p.107.
62) According to the 1465 ledger , commission was paid to Antonello da Sicilia, Piero di Burges, and maestro Zannino.
Malaguzzi-Valeri, Francesco, Pittori Lombardi del Quattrocento, Milano, 1902, p.89, p.217.
63) Schabacker, op.cit., 1974, p.14.
64) Sterling, “Observations on Petrus Christus,” AB, 1971, p. 26.
65) Shapley, op. cit., p. 253.
66) Based on the headgear of the doctor, the sitter is assumed to be Guillaume Fillastre, who obtained his doctoral degree at
the University of Louvain in 1436. The reverse sideshows a holly branch and an old French motto , “Je he (haïr) ce que
mord.” Panofsky, op. cit., pp. 477-478.
67) Dülberg, Angelica, Privatporträts: Geschichte und Ikonologie einer Gattung im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert, Berlin, 1990, (Köln,
Univ., Diss., 1985), p.228, pl.122. Brown, op.cit.,1998, p.206.
68) Hills, “Leonardo and Flemish Painting,” 1980, p.613.
330
Leonardo da Vinci and Flemish painting ─On the Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci─
Authors（alphabetical order）
ETO, Takumi
Part-Time Lecturer, Toyo University
GIRARD, Frederic
Professor, École française d'Extrême-Orient
FUJII, Chikayo
HORIUCHI, Toshio
ISHIHARA, Yuko
ISSHIKI, Daigo
IWAI, Shogo
KANEKO, Tomotaro
MIURA, Setsuo
MIYAMOTO, Hisayoshi
MOREAU, Pierre-Francois
MURAKAMI, Katsuzo
MUTO, Shinji
NAGAI, Shin
NUMATA, Ichiro
OBERG, Andrew
ONISHI, Yoshitomo
SATO, Atsushi
SHIRAI, Masato
SIEG, Urlich
SONI, Luitgard
TAKENAKA, Kurumi
TAKEMURA, Makio
WATANABE, Shogo
WATANABE, Hiroyuki
KANG, Mun-sun（Venerable Hyewon）
JSPS Research Fellow
Research Associate of IRCP
PhD student, University of Copenhagen
Project Researcher, the University of Tokyo
Associate Professor, Faculty of Letters, Toyo University
Assistant Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts
Professor, Faculty of Human Life Design, Toyo University
Professor, Faculty of Letters, Toyo University
Professor, Institut d’ histoire de la pensée classique, Ecole Normale
Supérieure de Lyon,
Professor, Faculty of Letters, Toyo University
Research Associate of IRCP
Professor , Faculty of Letters, Toyo University
Professor, Faculty of Letters, Toyo University
Lecturer, Faculty of Regional Development Studies, Toyo University
Associate Professor, Faculty of Letters, Kumamoto University
Specially-Appointed Professor at Senshu University
Research Associate of IRCP
Professor at the Philipps-Universität Marburg
Innsbruck
Doctoral student, graduate school of Letters, Toyo University
President of Toyo University
Professor, Faculty of Letters, Toyo University
Part-Time Lecturer, Toyo University
Professor, College of Buddhist Studies, Dongguk University
Journal of International Philosophy No.4
（Published in March 2015）
Edited by Editorial Board of International Research Center for Philosophy, Toyo University
（KIKUCHI Noritaka（Editor in chief）, IBUKI Atsushi, OHNO Takeshi）
Published by International Research Center for Philosophy（IRCP）, Toyo University
（Director: MURAKAMI Katsuzo）
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