Sforza Family portraits in Santa Maria delle Grazie by Leonardo da Vinci

These portrait fragments once decorated the lunette wall of the refectory in Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, painted by Leonardo around 1497 as part of the same decorative program as The Last Supper on the opposite wall. The portraits depicted members of the ruling Sforza family — Ludovico il Moro, his wife Beatrice d'Este, and their children — reflecting the duke's patronage of the church. The paintings were largely destroyed when French troops occupied Milan in 1499, and only fragments and copies survive to document this important dynastic commission.

The surviving fragments and contemporary copies suggest Leonardo employed the same experimental secco technique he used for The Last Supper, painting on dry plaster with oil and tempera. The portraits reportedly featured the same psychological depth and naturalistic modeling that characterized Leonardo's finest portraiture, with careful attention to courtly costume and heraldic detail.