“Lady with a Unicorn”
Let us welcome in November with one of the artists of the Italian High Renaissance.
“Lady with a Unicorn” is a gorgeous oil on panel, transferred to canvas, painting by the Italian artist, Raphael. It was painted circa 1505 to 1506 and is thought to have been directly influenced by the recently painted “Mona Lisa” (“La Joconde”) by Leonardo da Vinci. This piece is sometimes referred to as “Young Woman with a Unicorn”.
In this piece, Raphael paints a Florentine girl wearing a red gamurra with low shoulders and wide sleeves. Her shoulders exhibit the unnatural deep sloping angle which was a sign of beauty in the Renaissance. She sits in a loggia with a Florentine landscape behind her. This has been interpreted as a wedding portrait. Many details within the painting are heavy with symbolism, from the unicorn’s promise of chastity to the knot, gemstones, and pearl stone on the necklace. The woman sits in the contrapposto pose, when the subject is depicted at half turn; a compositional trend made famous by the “Mona Lisa”.
For hundreds of years, this painting was believed to have been made by Pietro Perugrino, an Italian artist contemporary with Raphael. In the mid-1600s, the painting had been altered, with the addition of a cloak, broken wheel, and palm frond, covering over the unicorn exposed today. This added to the confusion and misidentification, and it was identified as a painting of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, who was seen with her usual relics of a broken torture wheel and palm frond. It is unclear why the painting was altered over a century later. It has been speculated that perhaps a new owner wanted to remove the mythical aspect of the painting and replace it with a more severe martyrdom aspect.
The painting was restored between 1934 and 1936. Originally an oil on panel, it was cleaned, the added layers of paint from the 1600s were removed, then conservators transferred the painting to canvas. Further testing done in 1959 revealed that a dog was painted prior to the unicorn, which Raphael then painted over. The dog likely acted as a model for the unicorn.
After its restoration, it was recognized as a painting by Raphael, made during his time in Florence, Italy. He had gone there in 1504, drawn by the notoriety of such talents as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. He remained in Florence until 1508, when Pope Julius II called him to Rome.
“Lady with a Unicorn” or “Young Woman with a Unicorn” is currently on display at the Galleria Borghese in Rome, Italy.
For more on Raphael, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
