La Velata
Artist	Raphael
Year	1514-1515
Medium	Oil on canvas
Location	Palatine Gallery, Palazzo Pitti, Florence
Dimensions	32 in × 23.8 in
	82 cm × 60.5 cm

The famous Italian Renaissance artist Raphael Sanzio da Urbino is credited for many magnificent pieces of art. One such piece is La Velata which he painted in c. 1514. This masterpiece depicts a woman wearing a veil and portrays some of Raphael’s particular techniques, such as his control over shade and color and a peacefulness that contrasts with the style of his advisers and fellow artists of his time.

The Veiled Woman

The painting of La Velata was perhaps the one masterpiece that propelled Raphael’s artistic ability to fame. The vivid detail of the subject coupled with the exquisite perfection of the subject’s skin tone and vivid colors gives the viewer the impression that the subject is almost real and could easily be touched. His paintings are full of unrealistic beauty and human splendor.

The Epitome of Perfection

Raphael’s paintings of women exude beauty and feminine elegance. Of all painters of this era he seemed to be the one with the amazing ability to paint his subject as though they were standing or sitting before you, with splendid and stark detail. Giorgio Vasari, a renowned painter himself and 16th century biographer, called Raphael the Prince of Painters for his haunting ability to create his subjects on canvas as if they were not painted at all, but very real.

Raphael Sanzio da Urbino an Italian Renaissance artist whose art has long been admired for its purity and ease of the craft. It is the visual success of the school of mystical philosophy of the third century A.D. Along with two other great men, he formed the great triangle of great master artists of that era.

The Legacy of a Great Man

Raphael was an exceptionally successful artist who, despite his young age of just 37 at his death left behind an amazing portfolio of accomplished and infamous works of art still remembered and prized today.