La belle ferronnière [SEP] creator
La belle ferronnière
La belle ferronnière is a portrait of a lady, usually attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, in the Louvre, Paris. It is also known as "Portrait of an Unknown Woman." The painting's title, applied as early as the seventeenth century, identifying the sitter as the wife or daughter of an ironmonger (a "ferronnier"), was said to be discreetly alluding to a reputed mistress of Francis I of France, married to a certain Le Ferron. Later she was identified as Lucretia
painted, under the erroneous assumption that it portrayed Madame Le Féron, a reputed mistress of Francis I of France; or another mistress who was allegedly an iron merchant's wife. The literal translation of "ferronnière" in English is "ironmonger." In their catalogue, the Louvre suggest that "La belle ferronnière" was so-called because of her forehead ornament, a theory that is supported by other scholars, but other sources conclude that the ornament was named after the painting, due to the term's specific application