Italy · 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452 near the Tuscan town of Vinci. He received his artistic training in Florence (Florenz) in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio. Later, he worked in Milan (Mailand), Florence (Florenz) and Rome, among other places. In addition to painting and sculpture, he studied anatomy, mechanics, architecture, hydraulic engineering and flying machines. Many of his technical designs remained studies, but they show how closely he combined artistic observation and the study of nature.

Leonardo spent a large part of his professional career at the Milanese court of the Sforza. The portrait used for the coin was created there around 1489/1490. The young woman depicted is identified as Cecilia Gallerani. She came from a Milanese family, was well educated in literature and belonged to the circle of Ludovico Sforza, the ruler of Milan at the time, with whom she was in a relationship.

The ermine is interpreted in different ways. It was regarded as a symbol of purity and may also allude to Ludovico Sforza, who had been admitted to a chivalric order whose heraldic animal was the ermine. A linguistic connection between the family name Gallerani and the Greek term for the animal has also been suggested. The portrait differs from many contemporary depictions through the turned position of the body, the sideways gaze and the carefully rendered hand. As a result, the figure appears not static, but captured in a brief moment of movement.

In the final years of his life, Leonardo accepted an invitation from the French king Francis I (Franz I.) and lived at the Château du Clos Lucé near Amboise. He died there. Italy took up the anniversary year because Leonardo is closely associated with the art and scholarly culture of the Italian Renaissance. The choice of a work created during his time in Milan (Mailand) also refers to his work at various Italian courts and to the international transmission of his works.