Titian
Portrait of a Gentleman
1561
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, 34 1/4 x 28 in. (87 x 71.1 cm.)
Credit Line
The Jacob Epstein Collection
Object Number
1951.115
There was almost no famous lord, nor prince, nor great woman, who was not painted by Titian.
Giorgio Vasari, biographer and art critic of the Renaissance
Titian was in his seventies when he sat at his easel before this unnamed Venetian aristocrat. Using his brush freely and laying down his colors loosely without regard to firm outlines, he created the soft ermine collar and the shimmering surface of the red double. The gentleman looks aside in the artist’s presence, preserving the privacy of his thoughts.
The Baltimore Museum of Art on deposit; The Baltimore Museum of Art on extended loan, 1929-1951; the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, by bequest, 1945; Jacob Epstein, by purchase from the M. Knoedler & Co., NY, 1925; Max Rothschild of the Sackville Gallery, London, by purchase from Christie's, 1924; The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, by bequest from Charles Brinsley-Marlay, 1912; P. & D. Colnaghi, by purchase at the de Zoete Sale, Christie's, London, May 9, 1885; Maynard, by purchase at Phillips, London, May 20, 1856; Thomas B. Brown, prior to 1856; Farrer, by purchase at Henry Metcalfe Sale, Christie's, London, June 15, 1850, lot 67; Henry Metcalfe, by bequest from Philip Metcalfe; Philip Metcalfe, probably purchased at the Reynolds sale, Christie's, London, March 16, 1795 (third day of sale), lot 70; Probably collection of Sir Joshua Reynolds
"Bellini, Giorgione, Titian and the Renaissance of Venetian Painting," National Gallery of Art, Washington, June 18-September 17, 2006.
"Le Titien - Le pouvoir en face," Musee du Luxembourg, September 13, 2006 - January 21, 2007, pp. 192-193, ill.
"Le Titien - Le pouvoir en face," Musee du Luxembourg, September 13, 2006 - January 21, 2007, pp. 192-193, ill.
Rosenthal, Gertrude. Themes and Variations in Painting and Sculpture: [Exhibition] April Fifteenth to May Twenty-Third, Nineteen Hundred and Forty-Eight. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1948, cat. no. 20, page 15.
Humfrey, Peter, "Titian: The Complete Paintings," Ludion, Ghent, Belgium, 2007, p. 312, illus. 241.
On View: Jacobs, Gallery 1
