In the year 1644, Cosmo, the son of Ferdinand II. de Medici, undertook a
journey, an account of which was written at the time by Philipe
Pizzichi, his travelling chaplain. This work was published at Florence,
in 1829. It contains some curious notices of persons and things, and,
among others, what will interest every lover of the fine arts. Speaking
of Verona, the diarist mentions the Curtoni Gallery of Paintings, in
which “the picture most worthy of attention is the Lady of Raffaello, so
carefully finished by himself, and so well preserved, that it surpasses
every other.” The editor of these travels has satisfactorily shown that
Raffaello’s lady here described is the true Fornarina; so that of the
three likenesses of her said to be executed by this eminent artist, the
genuine one is the Veronese, belonging to the Curtoni Gallery, then the
property of a Lady Cavalini Brenzoni, who obtained it by inheritance.