Sketches of the bust of a woman, c.1490 (metalpoint on pale buff prepared paper)

Numerous sketches of the head and shoulders of a woman, done to study the juncture of the neck and shoulders, the features of the head being roughly indicated, except in a few instances. The neck is drawn in many positions. Leonardo drew his model in two basic positions, from the front with the bust turned to the left, and from behind looking over her left shoulder. The drawing was probably executed around 1490, and thus may well be a study for Leonardo's portrait of the Lady with the Ermine, which almost certainly depicts Cecilia Gallerani, the mistress of Ludovico Sforza. The sketch at centre left corresponds (so far as it goes) with the painting, where Cecilia and her ermine turn to look beyond the picture frame. That sense of sponantaneity is exactly what Leonardo was searching for here. Text adapted from 'Leonardo da Vinci: the Divine and the Grotesque'