All About Self-portrait by Titian

Title of Artwork: “Self-portrait”

All About Self-portrait by Titian

Artwork by Titian

12 months Produced 1550 – 1562

Summary of Self-portrait

Titian’s oil on canvas self-portrait titled “Self-Portrait” dates to sometime in between 1546 and 1557.

This is one particular of only two surviving paintings of his self-portrait, nonetheless he is identified to have made a quantity of this sort of is effective in distinctive media.

The other one particular may well be uncovered in Madrid, and it dates back to close to 1560. They the two use a muted colour scheme, but this 1 has far more tonal variety and is improved balanced than the other.

All About Self-portrait

About sketched sections of his garment and his left hand are all that stay unfinished. Some have hypothesised that the portray on canvas is a preparatory sketch for a longer, extra elaborate piece that has considering that disappeared. Most likely it was painted following his death as a memorial for his cherished kinds.

In equally subject matter matter and method, the piece echoes his Portrait of Pietro Aretino from 1545. There are quite a few iterations, some designed by the artist himself (like drawings) and many others by his studio (like paintings).

The palms, the shadowed location bordering his facial area, and the draperies are all regions of the canvas that want much more get the job done. Some artwork historians believe its long stay in Titian’s Biri Grande, Venice, workshop is evidence that he intended it as a review, albeit this might be because of to the point that it was by no means finished.

As it was not offered through Titian’s lifetime, it is considered to be a person of the various self-portraits the Italian painter, architect, and writer Giorgio Vasari mentioned in 1568.

Opposite to Vasari’s relationship of the portrait to about 1562–64, this piece is really comparable to a report of a portrait introduced to Paolo Giovio in 1549.

The thick and uneven application of white paint in large parts harkens again to Titian’s perform from around 1560 in fashion. The fact that he seems about 60 lends validity to the earlier age estimate.

He is adorned with the triple-wrapped golden chain of the Get of the Golden Spur, which was bestowed to him by Emperor Charles V in 1533.

His newfound knighthood and substantial social standing are symbolised by the chain. Both paintings element him with a black cap, a widespread topic in his later on works.

The design’s backstory is a mystery, but it was probably picked to affiliate him with students like Aristotle and St. Jerome, who both equally wore very similar hats. He may well have been trying to conceal a bald location, which is yet another likelihood.

Titian is revealed seated at a table, with his back to the viewer, in a three-quarters profile check out, gazing off into the length.

While his perspective is convoluted and tricky to decipher, it can be viewed as far more forward-seeking and optimistic than in the 1567 Madrid self-portrait numerous art historians have pointed out the ageing and actual physical degeneration he experienced endured by the time of the latter piece.


All of his self-portraits are of him on the lookout away from the observer, maybe out of modesty but always in a dignified stance. He is depicted with broad shoulders and an attentive stare, providing off an impact of “combativeness,” “disquietude,” and “misgiving,” according to other folks.

Details Citations:

En.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/.

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