Raphael's Lady with a Unicorn Leaves the Met for a Free Show in Vimercate

Fatti principali

• Raphael's Lady with a Unicorn will be shown at the MUST – Museo del Territorio in Vimercate from 29 October to 11 December 2026.
• The painting is normally conserved at the Galleria Borghese in Rome and has just returned from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
• It is the first time the work is exhibited in Lombardy, and the Vimercate display is free.
• The loan is organized within the fourth edition of La Grande Arte in Brianza, promoted by Fondazione Costruiamo il Futuro with Gallerie d'Italia di Intesa Sanpaolo, Galleria Borghese, Comune di Vimercate and Edison.
• The painting is dated between 1505 and 1506, during Raphael's Florentine period.
• The sitter's identity is uncertain; one hypothesis identifies her as Maddalena Strozzi, wife of the Florentine merchant Agnolo Doni.
• Roberto Longhi proposed the attribution to Raphael, confirmed during the 1936 restoration, which removed overpaint and revealed the unicorn.
• The work appeared in the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition Raphael: Sublime Poetry.
• Vimercate's municipal administration has also converted a former school auditorium on Via Adda into a new Teatro civico, with an investment exceeding 500,000 euros, including 340,000 euros from Fondazione Cariplo's 'Luoghi da rigenerare' call and 182,000 euros from the Comune.
• Mayor Francesco Cereda told Corriere della Sera that cultural investment should not be measured solely by economic return but by broadening cultural provision and participation.