Salvador Dali was one of the most famous men of the 20th century for more than a few reasons. Obviously his art is iconic, but it was his extremely odd
La Fornarina (1518–1520). Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
The Unconfirmed Bachelor: When Raphael died in 1520, he was, officially speaking, a bachelor who was engaged to the niece of a powerful Vatican cardinal. But rumors over the centuries endured that he had a mistress, one Margherita Luti, a baker’s daughter from Siena. If true, the disparity between their respective positions would have been almost unimaginable Raphael was a true celebrity of the Renaissance, known everywhere he went, and she, an unknown laborer.
An Artistic Nuptial Clue: Many art historians believe Raphael’s painting La Fornarina (which can be translated
The Baker’s Daughter) provides clues into his relationship with Luti and even suggests that the two wed in a secret ceremony. In the painting, a woman looks out from the canvas with a hypnotizing gaze, a diaphanous veil falling across her bare stomach, placing her hand atop her breast. It is a romantic riddle filled with possible allusions to nu