Raphael's "The Woman with the Veil" at the Milwaukee Art Museum

From March 27 through June 6, 2010, the visitors to the Milwaukee Art Museum will have the rare opportunity to see one of the most celebrated paintings from the Italian Renaissance and once considered the world's most famous painting, loaned by the Pitti Palace in Florence (Italy)

Completed c. 1516 (four years before the artist's death at 37 years of age) by Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael), "The Woman with the Veil" (La Donna Velata) features the portrait of young beautiful woman who's veil suggests an engagement.

Art historians have often identified this woman as a patron’s bride and as a Raphael’s mistress, for she appears as a model in many of the artist's most important works.

Made possible by the Foundation for Italian Art & Culture in New York and organized by the Portland Art Museum, this exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities and counts with the additional support from the Fine Arts Society.