Arcadópolis
La Velata (The Veiled Woman)
Raphael, c. 1516
What you see
The young woman appears half-length and looks calmly out at us. A pale veil covers her head and falls on either side like a frame around her face and shoulders. Her right hand rests on her chest. The eye travels from her eyes to the necklace and down to the great sleeve that fills most of the lower part.
Her warm skin and the ivory and gold tones glow against the dark background. Seek out the small pearl pinned in her hair, the black bows at the neckline of her blouse, the amber beads of the necklace and the gathered edge of the blouse across her shoulders.
About Raphael
Raphael Sanzio was born in Urbino and learned painting very young from his father, who was also a painter. His gentle Madonnas and harmonious compositions made him famous in Florence and Rome, where he decorated the pope’s rooms. He lived only 37 years but left an enormous body of work.
More by Raphael
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