Il ritratto della Belle Ferronnière di Leonardo da Vinci e l'epigramma di Antonio Tebaldeo

This essay attempts a reappraisal of the content and form of a Latin epigram attributed to Antonio Tebaldeo. It is dedicated to a presumed portrait of Lucrezia Crivelli by Leonardo da Vinci which some critics have identified with the famous Leonardo portrait of the Belle Ferronnière datable to 1493-1494 (Paris, Louvre Museum, on loan at the Louvre in Abu Dhabi). As known, Tebaldeo's Latin text is handed down by two slightly different manuscripts: one appears in the Codex Atlanticus of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana (c. 456, formerly 167 recto-c) dated to the 1490s; the other, an early 16th-century apograph, is comprised in the section "pictura" of the Codex Ottobonianus 2860, c. 160r (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana). So far, neither version has properly been investigated, and this has prevented us from reaching a correct evaluation of Tebaldeo's epigram. In an earlier essay (still unpublished), I made an endeavor to evaluate both versions: this may provide us with some clues to the fortuna critica of the epigram from the late 15th century onwards. In the present abbreviated paper I shall briefly investigate both poems with regards to notions of Beauty and Nature. Leonardo's inventiveness, his ability to portray Crivelli's likeness and convey immortality to it through his art, are exalted in both versions. Literally speaking, Tebaldeo's epigram highly praises Lucrezia's beauty, being considered a great gift of Nature to her which, however, is doomed to perish as a consequence of time. Yet, Lucrezia's physique will remain ineffaceable thanks to Leonardo's pictorial art, thus becoming timeless. The essay briefly explores both concepts contained in Tebaldeo's epigram: that of immortal beauty created by art and considered a real and threatening challenge to Nature; and that of human beauty perpetuated through art; in this case, Leonardo's marvelous pictorial invention.