Shortly before the beginning of the new academic year of 2010, we went to a exhibition featuring the collection from Galleria Borghese in Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. One of the major artworks of this exhibition is Raphael's 'Portrait of a Lady with a Unicorn'. Before seeing it in person, I was not entirely sure if I would like it, or if it would just be another painting by a Renaissance master to me.
It is an oil painting of 67 * 56 cm, hung on a corner in a subdued light. It was an immediate amazement when I turned around the corner to see it.
The azure color of the sky in the background (which cannot be seen in the picture here) was alluring, and the immaculate and rather expression-less face of the young woman was equally mysterious.
The artwork also had an interesting history itself. Before 1935, it was accredited to another painter, and the unicorn, which was invisible then, was covered up by another image of, as I could recall, books. After the 1935 restoration, the unicorn was revealed, and such a discovery has led scholars to believe that it was done by Raphael.
There was a steel ball outside the museum.
I miss the big bean in Chicago!
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