The canvas “Lady with Unicorn” painted by Raffaello Sanzio is shown for the first time in Moscow at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. The display has been organized as part of the Year of Italian Culture in Russia and will run until May 10.
The fate of this canvas is full of mysteries. For several centuries, no one knew who created it, and authorship was attributed to various artists of the Renaissance. When the portrait was scanned by X-ray, it was revealed that in the course of centuries it had been repeatedly repainted.
The museum director, Irina Antonova, said that initially there was a small dog seated in the woman’s lap. Later, it was painted over with the figure of a unicorn – a mythological creature, symbolizing chastity.
Further studies of the paining are to be continued.
Muscovites will be able to see it starting tomorrow.