Hidden Layers of Raphael Masterpiece Reveal Century Long Struggle Over Female Identity

Uncover how Raphael’s "Portrait of a Young Woman with a Unicorn" was altered over centuries, shifting from a symbol of purity to a tragic Christian martyr.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 10, 2026, 8:26 AM EDT

Source: BBC Culture

The Anti-Mona Lisa and the Pursuit of Clarity

Created while Raphael was studying in Florence, the portrait clearly draws structural inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. However, where Leonardo employed sfumato to create a hazy, inscrutable atmosphere, the young Raphael opted for radical clarity. The sitter is positioned in a similar three-quarter pose, yet the background is bright and the gaze is described by art historians as "blue-steel"—a frosty, direct stare that lacks the ambiguous warmth of her Leonardesque counterpart. This stylistic choice anchors the subject in a world of physical certainties rather than psychological mysteries.

From Virginity to Martyrdom: The 17th-Century Erasure

The most profound transformation of the work occurred roughly 160 years after Raphael’s death. Around 1682, an unknown artist was commissioned to paint over the central mythological symbol: the unicorn. In its place, a heavy mantle was added to cover the woman’s shoulders, and a spiked execution wheel was inserted. This effectively turned a secular portrait of a bride-to-be into a depiction of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a 3rd-century martyr. By replacing a folklore creature with a torture device, the owners of the painting shifted the narrative from youthful virtue to pious suffering, a lie that persisted until the mid-20th century.

Radiographic Discovery and the Missing Fidelity Symbol

The "true" nature of the painting only began to surface in the 1930s when X-ray analysis revealed the hidden unicorn. However, subsequent radiographic scans in the 1950s suggested an even deeper original intent. Beneath the unicorn itself, researchers found traces of a small lapdog—a traditional Renaissance symbol of marital fidelity. This discovery suggests that even Raphael may have "filtered" his own work during its creation, upgrading the symbolism from common domestic loyalty to the more exalted, mythical status of the unicorn to suit the elevated pedigree of the commissioning family.