Beyond the Book

This article relates to Leonardo's Swans

A pictorial tour of Leonardo's Swans.

• According to Karen Essex, Isabelle d'Este is the the naked Venus in this painting by Mantegna.
• Ludovico Sforza.
• Sforza's 1st mistress, Cecilia Gallerani, in a painting by Leonardo da Vinci.
• A painting that some think is of Sforza's 2nd mistress, Lucrezia Crivelli.
• Recent conjecture suggests that Isabel of Aragon was the model for Leonardo's Mona Lisa. According to art historian Maike Vogt-Luerssen, Isabel "was close to Leonardo da Vinci, the painter at her court for 11 years, and remained a friend of his, and possibly more, for most of her life."
• Sforza's wife and Isabelle's sister: Beatrice d'Este
• Leonardo da Vinci.

Did you know? The Alfa Romeo car company logo is designed from two symbols taken from the Visconti-Sforza family coat of arms.

This "beyond the book article" relates to Leonardo's Swans. It originally ran in January 2006 and has been updated for the January 2007 paperback edition. Go to magazine.

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