On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P00408
- Author
- Titian [Vecellio di Gregorio Tiziano] (Italian)
- Title
- Federico Gonzaga, I Duke of Mantua
- Chronology
- 1529
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 125 cm x 99 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- COLECCION REAL
- Procedence
- Royal Collection
A portrait of Federico II Gonzaga
(1500-1540), duke of Mantua,
wearing a blue jerkin adorned with
a rosary and holding a sword in his
left hand. He is accompanied by a
Maltese dog.
Federico was a patron of some of
the greatest Italian artists of the
sixteenth century, including Giulio
Romano, Correggio and Titian, who
painted several portraits of him.
The present one is part of a
strategy thought up by the Duke in
1529 in order to find a wife. This
type of dog, which appears more
frequently in female portraits,
alludes to conjugal faithfulness
and the rosary is an attempt to
redeem his dissolute past.
The portrait passed from the Ducal
collection of Mantua to Charles I
of England. When he died, it was
acquired by the Marquis of Leganés
and is listed in his inventories of
1642 and 1655. His heirs gave it to
Felipe IV (1605-1665). Its first
mention in Spain is in the 1666
inventory of Madrid's Alcázar
Palace. It entered the Prado Museum
in 1821.
Location on the map
