Ginevra Requests the Honor of your Presence and Critique

Inspired by Alcuin’s poem posted last week,  I researched Ginevra de’ Benci  and then tried to craft what might be going on in her own mind in this mysterious painting, while complementing Alcuin’s form. This was a woman who was married at age 16 to a man more than twice her age. She was known for being both beautiful and intelligent, and for being in love with another man leading to an ill-fated love affair. Although the painting by Leonardo is thought to be a marriage portrait, there is a school of thought that believes it was really commissioned by her lover. Juniper, the tree haloing her head, represents chastity, but for a wedding portrait, people have long wondered why she looks so somber.