It’s said he got musicians to play and entertained her with jokes when she posed for the painting we know as the Mona Lisa. Most fascinatingly, there was his encounter with one Lisa, wife of the Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo. He was also friends with Isabella d’Este, ruler of Mantua and art connoisseur. He clearly got on well with Cecilia Gallerani, mistress of the ruler of Milan, whom he portrayed holding a very phallic pet mink, perhaps to symbolise her power over men. If the makers of Leonardo wanted a strong woman character, they had plenty of historical options. Phallic … Lady With an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci, 1489-90.