The mystery of "Ladies with the Unicorn": Why no one recognized Raphael's painting at the beginning of the twentieth century

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

At the beginning of the 16th century, Raphael Santi created the painting "The Lady with the Unicorn", which was included in the "golden fund" of the painting of the High Renaissance. The author could not have imagined that in a few centuries his canvas would be changed beyond recognition, and art critics would argue whose authorship it belongs to.

The Lady with the Unicorn has a fascinating story. Art critics agree that the young Raphael painted this picture under the impression of the canvas he saw by Leonardo da Vinci "Mona Lisa". The artist depicted the girl from the same perspective as the great master and used the same techniques. One of Raphael's sketches, miraculously preserved in the Louvre, indirectly confirms this conjecture.

Raphael wrote "The Lady with the Unicorn" in 1506, and at the beginning of the twentieth century she was already known as St. Catherine of Alexandria. Researchers argued, whose brush belonged to the painting - Perugino, Ghirlandaio, Granacci?

The disagreement came to an end after X-ray exposure of the canvas. As it turned out, the picture had several additions. In the 17th century, the girl was finished with a cloak that chastely covered her shoulders, and in the place of the unicorn, an unknown artist depicted the broken martyr's wheel of St. Catherine and the palm branch of martyrdom.

Further research revealed another mystery. It turns out that initially the lady was not holding a unicorn, but a dog. Some believe that the animal was copied by Raphael himself.

In those days, the dog was considered a symbol of fidelity, and its appearance in the picture indicated an imminent marriage. The unicorn, on the other hand, represents purity. According to ancient beliefs, a unicorn can only be caught by a virgin. So, the author himself changed the symbols, instead of devotion, he focused on chastity.

In 1959, the painting was in a terrible state, and a decision was made to restore it. The specialists decided to remove the finished layers. Thus, the cloak and the wheel with the palm branch were removed. The restorers tried to restore the dog, but then abandoned this idea. The risk of damage to the painting was too great.

During his short life, Raphael created several dozen paintings and frescoes. There were forty-two images of the Virgin Mary alone. Looking at the master's canvases, one can only say one thing: his Madonnas had no flaws.