Ginevra de’ Benci (obverse)
c. 1474-1478
Leonardo da Vinci painted this striking portrait of a young Florentine woman around 1474, cleverly placing a juniper bush behind her head as a visual pun on her name, Ginevra. Notice her incredibly pale, almost glowing skin and those striking, heavy-lidded eyes that seem to look right through you. It's actually the only Leonardo painting you can find in the Americas, hanging proudly in Washington D.C. Originally, the portrait included her hands, but it was chopped off at the bottom at some point in history, leaving us with just her hauntingly beautiful face.
Location: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
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