Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll

Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll by Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci's Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll is best understood as the other side of a famous portrait. It is the reverse of Ginevra de' Benci, the two-sided panel in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. On the front, Leonardo painted the young Florentine woman before a dark juniper bush and a distant landscape. On the back, he painted a compact emblem of plants, motto and identity ^{[1] [2]}.

That relationship matters. The reverse is not a separate picture that simply happens to be linked with Ginevra. It belongs to the same object, the same format and the same act of interpretation. The National Gallery identifies the reverse as Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll inscribed Virtutem Forma Decorat [reverse], dated c. 1474/1478, by Leonardo da Vinci, in tempera on panel ^[1]. The obverse is the portrait of Ginevra herself, dated to the same period and listed as oil on panel ^[2].

Seen alone, the reverse can look almost like a decorative device. Seen with the front, it becomes a second portrait: not a likeness of a face, but a portrait made from name, virtue, social relation and poetic emblem.

At a Glance

• ArtistLeonardo da Vinci
• WorkWreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll
• Full source titleWreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll inscribed Virtutem Forma Decorat [reverse]
• Datec. 1474/1478
• MediumTempera on panel
• CollectionNational Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
• Accession1967.6.1.b
• Companion objectReverse of Ginevra de' Benci
• InscriptionVIRTVTEM FORMA DECORAT

Contents

1. Introduction
2. At a Glance
3. The Reverse of Ginevra de' Benci
4. Laurel, Palm and Juniper
5. The Scroll and Motto
6. Bernardo Bembo and the Evidence
7. A Painted Emblem
8. Material Facts and the Cut Panel
9. Why This Companion Page Matters

The Reverse of Ginevra de' Benci

The most important fact about this image is physical as well as symbolic: it is the back of Ginevra de' Benci. The two sides are catalogued separately by the National Gallery, but they belong together. The obverse carries the painted likeness of Ginevra; the reverse turns the sitter into an emblem ^{[1] [2]}.

This is why the page deserves a focused reading rather than a broad retelling of the Ginevra story. The front explains the woman, her pose, her landscape and Leonardo's early experiments in portraiture. The back asks a different question: how could a Renaissance portrait speak without showing a face?

The answer is through a language of signs. A central sprig of juniper stands within a wreath formed from laurel and palm. A scroll crosses the lower portion of the design, carrying a Latin motto. A red seal appears near the upper right. The whole composition is economical, but it is not simple. It turns a small panel into a compact statement about name, virtue and social identity.

Laurel, Palm and Juniper

The central plant is juniper. In Italian, juniper is ginepro, a word that echoes Ginevra's name. The front of the portrait already uses juniper behind her head; the reverse makes the plant the centre of the image ^{[1] [2]}.

Around it, laurel and palm curve toward one another. The National Gallery explains these as signs of intellectual and moral virtue ^[1]. That reading fits the work's larger purpose. This is not a casual bunch of leaves. The plants act like a verbal and visual sentence: Ginevra's name is placed inside signs of excellence.

The format also reminds us that Renaissance portraits did not always work like modern photographs. A portrait could include a face, but it could also include a device, motto or emblem. The NGA publication Virtue and Beauty places Leonardo's Ginevra in a wider history of Florentine portraiture, where images of women carried social, poetic and moral meanings as well as likeness ^[3].

The Scroll and Motto

The scroll bears the motto VIRTVTEM FORMA DECORAT. The National Gallery translates the phrase as “Beauty Adorns Virtue” ^[1]. It is a short phrase, but it does a great deal of work.

The motto links outward beauty to inner worth. It does not say that beauty replaces virtue. It says that beauty adorns it. In that sense, the reverse clarifies how a viewer might approach the front. Ginevra's appearance is not meant to be read only as physical attractiveness. It is tied to virtue, reputation and the cultivated language of elite Florentine society.

This is also why the reverse should not be treated as a decorative afterthought. It changes the way the whole object behaves. A viewer who knows both sides sees the portrait as a dialogue: the front offers likeness and presence; the reverse offers a moral and poetic key.

Bernardo Bembo and the Limits of the Evidence

The reverse also introduces Bernardo Bembo, the Venetian ambassador to Florence. The National Gallery notes that laurel and palm were Bembo's personal emblem and that infrared examination revealed his motto, “Virtue and Honor,” underneath Ginevra's motto ^[1].

That evidence is important, but it has limits. The NGA states that Bembo likely ordered the emblematic painting on the reverse. It also states that it is possible, but not proven, that he commissioned the front ^[1]. The distinction should be kept clear.

In other words, the reverse makes Bembo highly relevant to the object, especially to the emblem. It does not let us turn the entire two-sided portrait into a fully documented Bembo commission. The safest language is therefore conditional: Bembo is probably connected to the verso; his connection to the obverse is plausible but not settled.

The uncertainty is part of the object's historical character. The reverse records a world of poetry, mottoes, social exchange and careful ambiguity, rather than a single fully documented commission story.

A Painted Emblem, Not Just a Back Panel

Because the front of Ginevra de' Benci is so famous, the reverse can seem secondary. But the reverse is not simply the back of a panel. It is an emblematic portrait. It gives the sitter a second identity in signs rather than features ^[1].

The emblem expands Ginevra's identity beyond likeness. She belonged to a Florentine world in which poetry, virtue, reputation and verbal play mattered. The National Gallery's account of the obverse notes her elite context and the importance of wordplay around her name ^[2]. A later NGA article places the portrait among Leonardo's early experiments in oil technique and pose, making the reverse part of the same early portrait project rather than a marginal curiosity ^[4].

It also changes the viewer's sense of time. A modern museum visitor usually sees the front first, then learns about the reverse. But the object was made as a two-sided thing. Its meaning is not complete until the viewer imagines turning it over.

Material Facts and the Cut Panel

The NGA lists the reverse as tempera on panel, with the original panel measuring 38.1 by 37 centimetres and the overall panel with the bottom addition measuring 42.7 by 37 centimetres ^[1]. Those measurements matter because the present object is not simply an untouched rectangle from the 1470s.

Both the obverse and reverse records distinguish the original panel from the later addition at the bottom edge ^{[1] [2]}. That distinction is especially visible on the reverse, where the lower parts of the wreath and scroll area make the panel's history harder to ignore. The safest reading is to speak about the surviving object and its documented additions, not to pretend we can see the complete original format.

The red seal on the reverse also belongs to the object's later history. The NGA provenance notes that the painting was certainly in the Liechtenstein collection by 1733 and was purchased by the National Gallery in 1967 ^[1]. The seal is therefore not part of Leonardo's original emblem, but it is part of the object as it has survived.

Why This Companion Page Matters

Read beside the portrait of Ginevra de' Benci, the reverse shows how Leonardo and his world could turn a likeness into a system of signs. The front remains the principal portrait image; the back explains how plants, motto and social meaning complete the object.

Read beside the main Ginevra de' Benci page, the reverse sharpens three ideas. First, it shows how Leonardo connected identity with natural forms. Second, it shows how motto and emblem could make a portrait speak. Third, it shows why commission history must be handled with care: the reverse points strongly toward Bembo, while the front still resists certainty.

The result is a small image with a large interpretive role. It is the hidden side of one of Leonardo's earliest portraits, and it asks viewers to read beauty, virtue and identity as deliberately as they read a face.

Frequently Asked Questions

References

1. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, “Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll inscribed Virtutem Forma Decorat [reverse],”.
2. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, “Ginevra de' Benci [obverse],”.
3. David Alan Brown et al., Virtue and Beauty: Leonardo's Ginevra de' Benci and Renaissance Portraits of Women, National Gallery of Art, published online January 1, 2001,.
4. National Gallery of Art, “10 Surprising Facts About Leonardo da Vinci's Ginevra de' Benci,” January 25, 2024,.

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