Guidobaldo da Montefeltro
by RAFFAELLO Sanzio, Oil on wood, 71 x 50 cm
The delicate portrayals of Elisabetta Gonzaga and Guidobaldo da Montefeltro in the Uffizi are attributed to the young Raphael. Elisabetta Gonzaga was a sister of Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua and by marriage the Duchess of Urbino. Her husband was Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, the duke of Urbino. They married in 1489.
The identification of Guidobaldo is based on a convincing comparison to his portrait in a manuscript illumination originally in the Ducal Library at Urbino.
The attribution of the two portraits is debated. One possibility considered by scholars is that Giovanni Santi, the father of Raphael, may have worked on the portraits either in whole or in part.