Raphael - La Donna Velata
Quite possibly Raphael’s most beautiful portrait (and without question, the most beautiful of his works that I have seen in real life) - La Donna Velata, or “The woman with the veil”, is perhaps only rivalled by Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Johannes Vermeer’s “Woman with a Pearl Earring” as being the most sublime portrait of a woman in western art history.
Only, unlike those other two masterpieces . . . with Raphael’s lady, we actually know who she really was!
Margarita Luti - otherwise known as La Fornarina (the baker’s daughter) - was not just Raphael’s model and mistress; rather, she quickly came to be the women he adored most in the world. (Despite the artist’s wider reputation for being, as Giorgio Vasari said, “an overly amorous man . . . very fond of the ladies”)
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The two of them met for the first time while Raphael was living in Rome, working in service of the Vatican.
His main residence at the time was in Trastevere - close to the banks of the River Tiber, where Margarita could often be found sitting alone, bathing her feet in the waters.
And it’s possible her choice of that particular spot was no accident. After all, Raphael was well known at the time as one of the most charming men in the city - hence, it would not be all that surprising to imagine a young girl like Margarita hoping to engineer a meeting with the famed artist.
But equally, Rome is a “Romantic” city by definition - with a particular habit of fixing these kinds of meetings by sheer quirk of fate too. So even if Margarita really had just chosen her riverside spot by accident - then, still, it would not have taken much for a man like Raphael to notice her extraordinary beauty.
Of course, we can imagine that first glance - and the artist walking over to strike up a conversation - and inviting the lady to visit studio - and asking her is she had ever considered modelling.
These were well trodden lines that Raphael would likely have used with countless other models and muses in the past . . . only, this time, it seems he quickly felt something very different about Margarita!
In fact, Raphael later said that he fell in love with her from the moment he realised "her mind is even more beautiful than her body”
And from that point on, his infatuation with Margarita became so overwhelming, it actually started affecting his ability to work!
While commissioned to paint a series of frescos at Villa Farnesina, his patron Agostino Chigi apparently became so frustrated with the lovestruck Raphael being unable to concentrate enough to complete his paintings . . . eventually, he ended up inviting Margarita to stay with them at the Villa too; if only so that the artist would actually turn up to work on time.
And in another life, perhaps the story of Raphael & Margarita really would have gone on become Art History’s greatest love affair of all.
But sadly, their time together was destined never to last as long as either of them might have hoped.
Due to social pressure, Raphael eventually found himself being talked into a more formal engagement with another woman named Maria Dovici (The daughter of one of his more important patrons - hence, this was likely just as much of a business move as a romantic liaison).
And admittedly, we can’t overlook the fact that the artist’s amorous nature still remained just as strong as ever too; leading him through countless other affairs, and very likely contributing to his early death in 1520 at the age of only 38. (Something which many of his contemporaries blamed on the great man’s over indulgent lifestyle . . . i.e he had simply exhausted himself through passion)
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Yet still, when we return to look at Raphael’s defining portrait of Margarita - we can see just how much this lady meant to him.
He does not paint her just as another woman . . . rather, he seems intent on raising her to an almost divine status; with her opulent white and gold dress, gemstone necklace, and that familiar pearl in her hair.
And while we do not know exactly what happened to Margarita after Raphael’s death - still, with this one image alone, her place in the pages of art history had been secured forever.
Though countless lovers over the years may have charmed Raphael’s mind, body, and heart . . . there is no doubt, Margarita is the only one who ever truly captured his soul.
Bonus Section
The story of Raphael and Margarita has been open to a lot of mythologizing over the years (As all love stories are). - from history, to fiction, to poetry and film
But, just for a little extension here today, I couldn’t resist including three more bonus paintings, which show the impact this story has had on some other really great artists over the years too.
Brilliant piece! Especially the bonus works.
What a beautiful painting. I like it even more than the Mona Lisa.