The Portrait of a Young Woman, also known as La Muta, is a portrait by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael, c. 1507-1508. It is housed in the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, in Urbino.
The picture portrays an unknown noblewoman over a near-black background, showing some Leonardesque influences. Although only recently attributed to Raphael, it is ranked among the best portraits by his hand.
The neatness of the large areas of colour which emerge in lighter tones from the background, and the analytical treatment of the details of the woman's clothing are characteristic of Raphael. The dispersive effect of this attention to detail is fully compensated by the tones of colour - used here in a fairly limited range - which unify the composition as a whole.
X-ray analysis have showed the presence of an early Raphael years drawing under the painting, showing a female, young face with soft features, with later modifications.
Famous quotes containing the words portrait, young and/or woman:
“Long before Einstein told us that matter is energy, Machiavelli and Hobbes and other modern political philosophers defined man as a lump of matter whose most politically relevant attribute is a form of energy called “self-interestedness.” This was not a portrait of man “warts and all.” It was all wart.”
—George F. Will (b. 1941)
“Family is the first school for young children, and parents are powerful models.”
—Alice Sterling Honig (20th century)
“Where neither love nor hatred plays a part, a woman plays indifferently.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)