Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of Florentine noblewoman Ginevra de' Benci (c. 1474-78) — the only Leonardo painting in the Americas, notable for the juniper bush (a pun on 'ginepro'/Ginevra) framing the face.
Leonardo's early portraiture innovation: Ginevra de' Benci is among the first European portraits to show a three-quarter view (breaking from the then-conventional profile), integrating the natural world (juniper, water, sky) as symbolic environment rather than plain background. The juniper/Ginevra pun demonstrates the Renaissance practice of visual wordplay. Technical analysis has revealed a back panel (laurel and palm with a ribbon bearing 'beauty adorns virtue') and shows Leonardo's sfumato developing earlier than previously documented.
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