La Fornarina

She half covers herself, half smiles, and wears the painter's name on her arm. For five centuries people have asked who she was to Raphael.

The story behind the painting

This portrait, also known as La fornarina, was painted by Raphael between 1518 and 1519, according to Wikipedia; Wikidata gives no date. It is probable that it was still in his studio when he died in 1520, and that his assistant Giulio Romano modified and then sold it. Tradition identifies the woman as Margherita Luti, the fornarina or baker's daughter, Raphael's Roman lover who is said to have refused to marry him. That identification has been questioned. The painting now hangs in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Palazzo Barberini, Rome, and measures 87 by 63 centimetres according to Wikidata.

What to look for

She sits nude, a thin veil drawn across her lower body and half covering one breast, a heavier red cloth over her legs. A blue and yellow turban crowns her dark hair. Her cheeks hold a faint pink tint, her eyes look to the left, and her lips carry a small, perhaps amused smile. Now find the armband on her upper arm: it is engraved Raphael Vrbinas, the painter's signature. Behind her grows a myrtle bush, sacred to Venus. X-rays show that a landscape in the manner of Leonardo was originally there, and that a ruby ring on her left hand was painted over.

Meaning and intent

Who is she? One reading follows the legend of Margherita, Raphael's muse, with the signed armband and the hidden ring hinting at a bond, even a secret marriage; experts are divided on the stories around her. Joanna Woods-Marsden instead reads the painting through the belle donne theme, an ideal of beauty, perhaps a half Venus, posed like the ancient Venus pudica who covers herself with a hand or a veil. Other writers have proposed that she represents a courtesan, or even a witch. The painting holds all these possibilities without settling any of them.

Legacy

La fornarina has inspired copies as well as theories. According to the museum, the Borghese Gallery in Rome holds two copies. One is listed in inventories of 1626 and 1682 as by Raphael but is a copy after the Barberini picture; the other, once given to Giulio Romano, has recently been ascribed to Raffaellino del Colle and lacks the ring. In the 16th century the original passed through the house of the Countess of Santafiora, then to Duke Boncompagni, before reaching the Galleria Nazionale. Today it remains one of Raphael's most intimate and debated images.

¿Sabías que…?

Painted 1518-1519 according to Wikipedia; Wikidata gives no date.
The armband is inscribed Raphael Vrbinas (Wikipedia).
X-rays show an earlier landscape and an overpainted ring (Wikipedia).
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Palazzo Barberini, Rome (Wikipedia, Wikidata).

Wikipedia · Wikidata