Raphael's 'Lady with a Unicorn' at the Galleria Borghese: A Portrait of Ideal Harmony

Raphael painted 'La Dame à la licorne' (Lady with a Unicorn) in 1505-1506 at age 22 while in Florence, where he absorbed the influence of Leonardo da Vinci, evident in the sitter's pose and serene expression reminiscent of the Mona Lisa. The oil-on-panel portrait (65 × 51 cm) depicts a young aristocratic woman in a loggia overlooking a Umbrian or Tuscan landscape, holding a unicorn—a symbol of purity. The work is housed at the Galleria Borghese in Rome. The identity of the sitter remains unknown; originally thought to be Saint Catherine of Alexandria due to a wheel and palm overpainted in 1935, restoration revealed the unicorn beneath, suggesting the subject is a young bride. X-ray analysis in 1959 detected a small dog under the unicorn, a symbol of marital fidelity, but the damage prevented its restoration. The painting prefigures Raphael's later Roman portraits, including 'La Fornarina,' also at the Galleria Borghese. The exhibition runs from March 29 to June 28, 2026, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.