La fornarina
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since January 2007. |
 |
| Portrait of a Young Woman (La fornarina) |
| Raphael, 1518-1519 |
| Oil on wood |
| 85 × 60 cm |
| Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome |
The Portrait of a Young Woman (also known as La fornarina) is a painting by Italian High Renaissance master Raphael, between 1518 and 1520. It is housed in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Palazzo Barberini, Rome.
In the 16th century the picture was in the house of the Countess of Santafiora, a Roman noblewoman, and subsequently became property of the Duke Buoncompagni and then of the Galleria Nazionale which still possesses it.
The woman is traditionally identified with the fornarina (bakeress) Margherita, the semi-legendary Roman lover of Raphael (see biography), but probably the true meaning of the picture has still to be cleared up. The woman is pictured with bare breasts — she tries to cover her left breast, or to turn it with her hand, and is illuminated by a strong artificial light coming from the external. Her left arm has a narrow band carrying the signature of the artist, RAPHAEL URBINAS. Art historians and doctors debate whether the right hand on the left breast reveal a cancerous breast tumour detailed and disguised in a classic pose of love [1]. The particular fixed glance of the young woman also contributes to the artificiality of the whole composition.
