Lady with an Ermine

Leonardo's compositional novelty is the turning of the model's head in the opposite direction from that in which her body is directed.

An excerpt from the article 19 facts about Lady with an Ermine

The artist thus achieves the effect of movement and dynamism. Cecilia's subtle facial expressions and the ermine's behavior further add "truth" and "life" to the picture. The portrait reveals the model's personality and fulfills one of the fundamental aspirations of artists of the time - the desire to reproduce reality as closely as possible through art.