Raphael's Woman with the Veil

March 26–June 6, 2010

The Milwaukee Art Museum presents Raphael's Woman with the Veil, one of the most celebrated artworks of the Italian Renaissance, in a one-work masterpiece exhibition. On loan from the Pitti Palace in Florence, Woman with the Veil (La Donna Velata) is considered an invaluable treasure among the paintings in the collection. The portrait, which Raphael painted in about 1516, had a profound influence on artists both of his day and since; not only is it beautifully painted, but a myth of intrigue envelops the work—it is rumored that the sitter was the artist's mistress. At one point, the portrait was considered the most famous painting in the world.

Responding to Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Raphael developed in this portrait his own ideal of female beauty and deportment. The sitter's veil indicates that she is married, while the sleeve conveys both opulence and, in abstract terms, the sitter's hidden but complex psychology. Art historians have variously identified this beautiful woman as a patron's bride and as the artist's mistress, who appears as a model in many of Raphael's most important works.

Raphael's Woman with the Veil is organized by the Portland Museum of Art and the Foundation for Italian Art & Culture, New York. The exhibition is coordinated at the Milwaukee Art Museum by Director of Exhibitions Laurie Winters and sponsored by National City.

Images:

Raphael (nee Raphael Sanzio), Italian, 1483-1520, La Donna Velata or La Velata, c. 1516, (The Woman with a Veil), Oil on canvas, 85 x 64 cm, Collection of Istituti museale della Soprintendenza Speciale per il Polo Museale Fiorentino.