Woman with a Veil by Raphael was created in c. 1512 – 1515. The painting is in Galleria degli Uffizi Florence. The size of the work is 82 x 60,5 cm and is made of oil on canvas.
The veil over the hair, from which the name of this splendid work by Raphael is derived, indicates that the woman is married, yet her precise identity is unknown. According to Giorgio Vasari (1550, 1568), who observed the painting in the house of the merchant Matteo Botti in Florence, the work features Margherita Luti, known as La Fornarina, a woman who Raphael loved throughout his life, but the exquisite gown and jewels are more indicative of a commissioned portrait of a young noblewoman.
It is a three-quarter portrait where one of the shoulder set behind, as already explored by Leonardo da Vinci, emphasizes the spatial depth and modulations of light and shade. The dark background highlights the pink skin tones of the young woman and the luminosity of her pale silk clothing… (read more in Galleria degli Uffizi)
About the Artist: Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance Raphael was born in the small but artistically significant central Italian city of Urbino in the Marche region. Most modern historians agree that Raphael at least worked as an assistant to Perugino from around 1500. Raphael led a “nomadic” life, working in various centres in Northern Italy, but spent a good deal of time in Florence, perhaps from about 1504. Although there is traditional reference to a “Florentine period” of about 1504–1508, he was possibly never a continuous resident there… read more
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