La Fornarina

Portrait of a Young Woman

Italian: La fornarina
Artist	Raphael
Year	1518–1519
Medium	Oil on wood
Dimensions	85 cm × 60 cm (33 in × 24 in)
Location	Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome

The Portrait of a Young Woman (also known as La fornarina) is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance master Raphael, made between 1518 and 1520. It is in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Palazzo Barberini, Rome.

It is probable that the picture was in the painter's studio at his death in 1520, and that it was modified and then sold by his assistant Giulio Romano.^[1] 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 Boncompagni and then of the Galleria Nazionale which still possesses it.

The woman is traditionally identified with the fornarina (baker) Margherita Luti, Raphael's Roman lover, though this has been questioned. The woman is pictured with an oriental style hat and bare breasts. She is making the gesture to cover her left breast, or to turn it with her hand, and is illuminated by a strong light coming from outside. Her left arm has a narrow band carrying the signature of the artist, RAPHAEL URBINAS. It has been suggested that the right hand on the left breast reveals a cancerous breast tumour disguised in a classic pose of love. Another speculation is that she is touching her left breast to remind herself which side she last fed her child on, the child being Raphael's, the high renaissance painter.^[2]

X-Ray analyses have shown that in the background was originally a Leonardesque-style landscape in place of the myrtle bush, which was sacred to Venus, goddess of love and passion.

See also

• La velata, another Raphael painting of the same sitter

References

External links

• Official website page (Italian) (English)
• Page at artonline.it (Italian)

Raphael
Early works	The Kinnaird Resurrection Baronci Altarpiece St. Sebastian Oddi Altar Solly Madonna Mond Crucifixion Three Graces St Michael Portrait of a Man Connestabile Madonna Madonna and Child The Marriage of the Virgin Vision of a Knight St George Colonna Altarpiece Portrait of Perugino 1 Madonna and Child with the Book
Florentine period	Portrait of Elisabetta Gonzaga 2 Portrait of Emilia Pia da Montefeltro 2 Portrait of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro Self-portrait Madonna of the Grand Duke Ansidei Madonna Young Man with an Apple Christ Blessing Madonna Terranuova Madonna of the Goldfinch Madonna of the Meadow Esterhazy Madonna Small Cowper Madonna St George and the Dragon La donna gravida Portrait of Agnolo Doni Portrait of Maddalena Doni Madonna of the Pinks Young Woman with Unicorn Madonna with Beardless St Joseph Saint Catherine of Alexandria Canigiani Holy Family La belle jardinière Deposition of Christ Portrait of a Young Woman Tempi Madonna Madonna Colonna Madonna de Bogota
Roman period	Portrait of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese La disputa The School of Athens Madonna of Loreto Aldobrandini Madonna Madonna with the Blue Diadem Portrait of a Cardinal Alba Madonna Niccolini-Cowper Madonna The Parnassus Cardinal and Theological Virtues The Prophet Isaiah The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple Portrait of Pope Julius II Madonna of Foligno Madonna with the Fish Triumph of Galatea Sistine Madonna Madonna della seggiola Madonna dell'Impannata Madonna della tenda The Fire in the Borgo The Meeting of Leo the Great and Attila Deliverance of Saint Peter The Mass at Bolsena Portrait of Bindo Altoviti The Sibyls Ecstasy of St. Cecilia Portrait of Balthasar Castiglione La donna velata Portrait of Tommaso Inghirami Palazzo Branconio dell'Aquila Portrait of Andrea Navagero and Agostino Beazzano Portrait of Cardinal Bibbiena Church of Sant'Eligio degli Orefici Creation of the World Transfiguration Portrait of Pope Leo X with Two Cardinals Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary The Holy Family of Francis I Ezekiel's Vision St. Michael Vanquishing Satan Madonna of the Rose Self-portrait with a friend La fornarina Visitation Portrait of a Young Man Miraculous Draught of Fishes Christ's Charge to Peter Healing of the Lame Man Death of Ananias Stoning of St. Stephen Conversion of the Proconsul Sacrifice at Lystra St Paul in Prison St Paul Preaching in Athens Palazzo Jacopo da Brescia
1 Also attributed to Lorenzo di Credi 2 Attributed