Painting: Enhanced Beauty

One of the most pampered and mysterious ladies of the Italian Renaissance took up official residence in Washington last week. With a minimum of fanfare, Leonardo da Vinci's Ginevra dei Bend (see color), acquired from the private collection of Prince Franz Josef II of Liechtenstein for more than $5,000,000 last month, went on display in solitary splendor in the National Gallery's "Lobby B," a small anteroom with a 28-ft. ceiling, limestone walls and a marble floor.

The painting was protected by a bullet-resistant Plexiglas case surrounded by crimson velvet and framed in a period frame specially adapted for it by...

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