La Fornarina

The Portrait of a Young Woman is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance master Raphael, made between 1518 and 1519. It is in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Palazzo Barberini, Rome. It is probable that the picture was in the painter's studio at his death in 1520, and that it was modified and then sold by his assistant Giulio Romano.

Art-history tradition or legend identifies the woman as the fornarina Margherita Luti, Raphael's Roman lover who refused to marry him, though this identification has been questioned. An alternative view sees the work not as a portrait of a specific woman, but rather as Raphael's interpretation of a belle donne genre and a depiction of a courtesan. Still another interpretation identifies the figure as a witch.