Portrait of a Young Woman known as La Fornarina is attributed to Raphael or Raphael's workshop. The identity of the sitter is unknown. She could be Margherita Luti, a daughter of a baker from Roman district of Santa Dorotea in Siena or maybe a naked interpretation of Mona Lisa.
The position of Raphael's signature is very unusual for this time. It is incorporated in the painting as a gravure on a bracelet, which is even more realistic than Durer’s tablets.
What does it mean? We can see Ingres’ commentary in his painting of Raphael and La Fornarina (about 1814, Cambridge, Fogg Art Museum). Two people are united in one (like on Leonardo’s Virgin and Child with Saint Anne) and they look like the same person?! |
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