Raphael, Portrait of Lady with a Unicorn
Speaker: Dr. Heather Graham
A portrait with a unicorn
Learn to read the painting, Lady with a Unicorn (c. 1505), created by Raphael, the Italian renaissance artist. Images like this one of a living person observed from life, what we call portraits, were just one of the many innovations developing out of the period in Europe known as the Renaissance (c. 1300–1600). Everyday people (not just rulers) began having themselves represented in art in ways that expressed how they wanted to be seen in the world. Raphael’s image cleverly points to both the realities and fantasies of life as a renaissance woman.
Raphael, Lady with a Unicorn, c. 1505–06, oil on panel, now on canvas, 26 x 20 in. (65 x 51 cm). Galleria Borghese, Rome. Photo: © Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank
Portraits were highly valued in the Renaissance. Your portrait was meant to represent who you were, both inside and out, and the very best artists were called upon to make them. Artists, like Raphael, who created portraits, used visual signs to tell viewers about the person shown (what we call the “sitter”). Clothing, accessories, movements, gestures, and facial expressions were all carefully selected to communicate specific information about the sitter’s identity (and just like today, sometimes that identity was more wishful thinking than reality!). This means that, like a story, a portrait can be read.
The traditions of portraiture developed in the Renaissance have had a lasting influence on how we represent ourselves today. This video invites us to think about how we construct our own identities.
Video Chapters
0:06 Introduction to Raphael’s “Lady with a Unicorn”
0:46 A closer look at Raphael’s painting
1:25 The Italian renaissance
1:46 What is a portrait?
2:07 Who is the Lady with a Unicorn?
2:54 Portraiture and patrons during the Italian renaissance
3:11 Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci
4:05 Hiring an artist as a business deal
4:49 The meaning of the unicorn in Raphael’s painting and gender in the Renaissance
6:16 Renaissance portraiture and identity today
Learn more
See more resources about Raphael.
Learn more about early modern Europe.
Find more resources about the Italian Renaissance.
Looking for an activity related to Raphael? Check out these materials.
