The 'Ferret' painting of Queen Elizabeth I is, presumably, the famed
'Ermine Portrait', located at Hatfield House.  It's reproduced
frequently in books on Elizabeth, although I can't recall which ones
off the top of my head.
        (The beast depicted is clearly intended to be an ermine.  I have
heard it suggested that a ferret was used to pose, but not only is
the animal much too small--the idea of a ferret holding still long
enough to be painted is to laugh!)
        If the DaVinci painting is the one I have seen, the animal is not
an ermine, but a ferret (or something very close to it)--much too
big.  But I could have a different one in mind.
        BTW, a bit of choice ferret trivia:  the 'official' term for a collec-
tion of them (as in 'a pride of lions', 'a herd of deer', etc) was
'A Busyness of Ferrets'.  Apt.
 
[Posted in FML issue 0485]