Рафаэльдің «Жас әйелдің портреті» суреті

Painting by Raphael
the painting

The Portrait of a Young Woman (also known as La fornarina) is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance master Raphael, made between 1518 and 1519. It is in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Palazzo Barberini, Rome. It is probable that the picture was in the painter's studio at his death in 1520, and that it was modified and then sold by his assistant Giulio Romano. Art history tradition or legend identifies the woman as the fornarina ("baker" or "baker's daughter") Margherita Luti, Raphael's Roman lover who refused to marry him, though this identification has been questioned. An alternative view sees the work not as a portrait of a specific woman, but rather as Raphael's interpretation of a belle donne genre and a depiction of a courtesan. Still another interpretation identifies the figure as a witch.

The painting depicts a nude woman wearing a thin veil to cover her lower abdomen and is seen half covering her left breast. She wears a blue and yellow turban over her dark hair; a thicker red cloth covers her legs and genital region. The figure appears healthy with smooth skin, full proportions and a faint pink tint in her cheeks. Her eyes are looking towards the left, and she wears a small, possibly amused smile. La Fornarina is also wearing an armband engraved with the painter's signature, "Raphael Vrbinas".

X ray analyses have shown that in the background was originally a Leonardesque style landscape in place of the myrtle bush, which was sacred to Venus, goddess of love and passion. An overpainted ruby ring on the sitter's third left finger has caused speculation on whether there might have been a secret marriage with Raphael.

According to an explanation on the museum website, enticing the viewer to look upon her naked body and imagine what she is hiding behind her thin drape. The Venus pudica pose is inspired by ancient sculptures of Venus in which the goddess is nude, but keeps her breasts and genitalia covered with either a hand or thin drape. Raphael makes the woman more risqué by enlarging her breasts, hardening her nipples, and giving her a possible flirty yet shy glance towards the viewer. She was his muse

Positioned a quarter of the way away from the viewer, it has been suggested by professor Carlos Hugo Espinel that the right hand over the left breast reveals a cancerous breast tumor. Even with the positioning, one can identify differences between her two breasts. The right breast is perceived as a fully formed and proportional breast, accompanied by healthy looking skin and an unremarkable nipple upon a normal looking areola. The viewer is given a better look at the left breast due to her positioning and thus can identify more problematic aspects that might not appear in the right breast. With the side view of the left breast, a viewer can see that it is enlarged and deformed by an indentation on the lower rim of the breast; the indentation begins where a possible mass ends. The mass extends from the woman’s armpit medially along the lower half of her breast, and is seen to reach its apex at the spot just above her right index finger. Further evidence to a possible cancer is the sickly blue hue to the skin of the left breast in relation to the healthy, pink undertones of the right one; the coloring is most prominent on the indentation and suspected tumor, but extends slightly above and below this area to the rest of the breast. Another possible indication of a cancerous tumor is that her left arm is swollen as a result of a lymph node in her armpit being enlarged. Enlarged lymph nodes and swelling are possible signs of a cancer diagnosis once metastasized. The owl goddess is not specified in the play, but supposedly originates from hell; during this time, witches were seen as servants of Satan who practiced satanic magic. Segal states that La Fornarina was more fond of black cats than children, which at the time was not common because the main goal of most was to get married and procreate. Segal's interpretation differs from the belle donne theme in that she believes the figure herself is a witch and not a general depiction of witches. Jacob Burckhardt analyzes witch craft as neither good or evil, the women who practiced magic did so to support themselves by providing potions and spells for her patrons' desires. The physical features of Fornarina are completely unlike other painted women of the time; she was more healthy looking with ample body parts (full lips, large breasts, wide hips, etc). Segal says the reason for this was because Raphael hated the wraith like bodies that were the subjects of other artist’s paintings.