RCA Fashion and Painting Students Recontextualise Restored Raphael Painting

The painting, called Portrait of a Young Woman but known as ‘La Muta’, meaning the silent one, is believed to date from around 1507, when Raphael was living in Florence. The identity of the subject is a mystery, but studies have revealed culturally interesting oddities. There is an earlier version beneath the painting, showing a younger woman depicted in a different style and dress, and scientific examinations have also shown that the gold necklace is a later addition to the portrait. As well as the necklace, the woman wears three rings: one set with a ruby, another with a sapphire, and another enamelled in the style popular in northern Europe. Overall, the painting is the perfect inspiration for a project bringing together the worlds of fashion and art.

Having undergone restoration at the Fortezza da Basso Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, La Muta took its place in the exhibition on 25 March. The occasion was marked by a special opening ceremony, with the launch of an accompanying publication, with works in the exhibition judged by a distinguished panel, including: Antonella Antonelli, Director, Marie Claire Italia; Davide Burchiellaro, Vice Director, Marie Claire Italia; Paolo Canevari, artist; Alberta Ferretti, fashion designer; Arianna Rosica, Editor in Chief, Flash Art; Andrea Viliani, Director, Museum of Contemporary Art Donna Regina (MADRE), Naples.

For Alex Gibbs, Cibelle Cavalli Bastos and Lucy Mayes from Painting, and Paula Knorr, Vivi Raila and Chu-Ting Lee from Fashion Womenswear, the project has been an opportunity to explore the historic crossover and union between fashion and art. Together with Matteo Fato, Dario Picariello, Anna Laura Facchini, Georgia Tribuiani, Ettore Frani and Andrea La Rocca from the Urbino Academy of Fine Arts, they are celebrating the rich tradition of cultural connection between Italy and the UK, offering a moment for artistic and design re-interpretation as well as an opportunity for confrontation and exchange.

For Vivi Raila, the project was an extension of her final year work on flower arrangement and the spontaneity of dressing up. During the exhibition opening she presented a live performance, recording the current state of herself as designer, stylist, model and photographer by uploading ‘selfies’ to Instagram.

Portraiture and the self were also inspirations for Cibelle Cavalli Bastos whose SELF.i.e. invites participants to adopt a specific pose in front a mirror and sit, and observe, for as long as they can. It is a meditation on the self and the performance of the self, and can be a challenging experience for the viewer. She said: ‘I thought of the lady in La Muta maintaining that posture for such a long time and how tiring it must have been. Then I thought about how much women are conditioned to pose and be self-conscious in public, and that perhaps the effort of sitting for Raphael was not much more effort than the lady’s everyday experience of simply taking a seat.’

Lucy Mayes, whose installation pays close attention to a minute finger deformation she noticed in the original portrait, said: ‘The Italian artists and fashion designers were wonderfully friendly and welcoming. They were incredibly proud to be a part of the exhibition, which was a very important event for the town, and it was an amazing project for us to be involved with.’

La Muta of the Third Millennium: Beyond the Silence is open now and runs until 3 May at Casa Natale di Raffaello, Bottega Giovanni Santi, Urbino.

The project is presented and supported by The Provincial Artisans Association of Pesaro and Urbino (CNA) in collaboration with the Marches Regional Government, along with the Urbino Academy of Fine Arts and the Royal College of Art.