This library is built in the open.
If you spot an error, have a suggestion, or just want to say hello — we’d love to hear from you.
Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileThe woman is shown from the waist up, framed by two columns and positioned before a distant landscape. She wears a rich dress with puffed sleeves and a necklace featuring a square-cut ruby and a pendant pearl, while cradling a miniature unicorn in her lap.
The unicorn is a traditional symbol of purity and chastity derived from medieval bestiaries, which asserted the creature could only be captured by a virgin. The work reflects the High Renaissance Neoplatonic ideal that physical beauty is an outward manifestation of a virtuous soul.
Physiologus
This ancient text established the foundational lore for the unicorn as a symbol of purity and its unique relationship to virgins.
Marsilio Ficino
His Neoplatonic theories on the 'splendor of the divine light' manifest in human beauty heavily influenced portraiture during Raphael's Florentine period.
Object
Oil on panel
portrait
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 1, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.