DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42863#0314
284
TITIAN’S PORTRAIT
Titian, begging him to accept these pictures of his
two friends, which he thinks may be agreeable to
His Excellency, whose love of painting is well known,
and has been proved by his generous patronage of
Messer Giulio Romano. Both Federico and his
mother were delighted with these portraits, now
alas! lost to the world, and endeavoured by every
means in their power to bring Titian to Mantua.
The painter, however, was not able to accept their
pressing invitations until March 1529, when Alfonso
d’Este sent him to Mantua with a letter, cordially
recommending this favourite master to his nephew,
but begging him not to keep him too long. It was,
there can be no doubt, during the month which he
spent at the court of the Gonzagas, at this time,
that Titian painted his first portrait of Isabella.
Unfortunately this precious picture, the only portrait
of the Marchesa which Titian painted from life, went
to England, where it was described as a “ Duchess
of Mantua, in a red gowne,” and valued at £50 at
the time of the King’s sale, after which it was never
heard of again. Before this, however, it was copied
by Rubens when he visited Mantua early in the seven-
teenth century, and the Flemish master’s copy now
hangs in the Imperial Gallery at Vienna.1 Rubens has
coarsened the features and vulgarised the forms of
Titian’s model, but, in the absence of the lost original,
his work is of great interest, and gives us some idea
of Isabella’s appearance in ripe middle age. The Mar-
chesa wears a handsome robe of crimson velvet with
a gold girdle, a long necklace round her bare throat,
and an open chemisette of frilled muslin, studded
with gems. Her dark locks have not yet lost the
1 No. 845.
TITIAN’S PORTRAIT
Titian, begging him to accept these pictures of his
two friends, which he thinks may be agreeable to
His Excellency, whose love of painting is well known,
and has been proved by his generous patronage of
Messer Giulio Romano. Both Federico and his
mother were delighted with these portraits, now
alas! lost to the world, and endeavoured by every
means in their power to bring Titian to Mantua.
The painter, however, was not able to accept their
pressing invitations until March 1529, when Alfonso
d’Este sent him to Mantua with a letter, cordially
recommending this favourite master to his nephew,
but begging him not to keep him too long. It was,
there can be no doubt, during the month which he
spent at the court of the Gonzagas, at this time,
that Titian painted his first portrait of Isabella.
Unfortunately this precious picture, the only portrait
of the Marchesa which Titian painted from life, went
to England, where it was described as a “ Duchess
of Mantua, in a red gowne,” and valued at £50 at
the time of the King’s sale, after which it was never
heard of again. Before this, however, it was copied
by Rubens when he visited Mantua early in the seven-
teenth century, and the Flemish master’s copy now
hangs in the Imperial Gallery at Vienna.1 Rubens has
coarsened the features and vulgarised the forms of
Titian’s model, but, in the absence of the lost original,
his work is of great interest, and gives us some idea
of Isabella’s appearance in ripe middle age. The Mar-
chesa wears a handsome robe of crimson velvet with
a gold girdle, a long necklace round her bare throat,
and an open chemisette of frilled muslin, studded
with gems. Her dark locks have not yet lost the
1 No. 845.