“Raphael Revealed,” about the great Renaissance painter and architect, opens at the M.V. Film Center and online Oct. 20. Directed by awardwinner Phil Grabsky, “Raphael Revealed” uses imaginative camera work and editing to describe Raphael’s life and work through the largest exhibition ever of his work. This exhibition, at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome, […]
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
Wanted in Rome
22 Jan, 2021
The Pantheon is located at
Piazza della Rotonda in Rome s historic centre. Mon-Sat 09.00-19.30, Sun 09.00-18.00. Last admissions are
15 minutes before closing time. During midweek public holidays, opening hours are 09.00-13.00. Guided visits are not allowed during Masses, which take place on feast days at 10.30 and Sat at 17.00.
1. The Pantheon was built by Emperor Hadrian
The Pantheon in the historic centre of Rome was built by Emperor Hadrian between 119-128 AD. Before that, two buildings had existed on the same site but both burned to the ground leaving little trace, one in 80 AD and the second in 110 AD. Historians estimate that the original building was constructed somewhere between 29-19 BC by Marcus Agrippa, a Roman architect and consul, close friend, son-in-law and right-hand man to Emperor Augustus.