Self-portrait

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio)

Zoom in Zoom out

Close Continuar a ficha de la obra Continuar a ficha de la obra

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio)

Pieve di Cadore, Belluno, Veneto (Italy), 1490 - Venice (Italy), 1576

See author's file

Self-portrait

Ca. 1562. Oil on canvas.
Room 041

Titian painted his first self-portrait before leaving for Rome in 1545. However, it was after his Roman stay that he showed the most interest in disseminating his image in order to fully establish his position in a context of intense rivalry with Michelangelo. In 1549 Paolo Giovio acquired a self-portrait by the artist for his Museo in Como, while in 1550 the painter had another one sent to Charles V that closely corresponds to the print of the artist produced that year by Giovanni Britto. In 1552 Philip II received another self-portrait that was lost in the fire at El Pardo in 1604, while in 1569 a circular one was recorded in Gabriele Vendramin’s inventory. Only two self-portraits by Titian have survied. The earlier one (Berlin, Gemäldegalerie), which the present author has suggested could be a ricordo, is datable to around 1546-7, while the present work in the Prado can be identified with the portrait that Vasari saw in 1566 in the painter’s studio as it corresponds to Titian’s age at that time, which was between seventy-three and seventy-five in 1562.

While in the mid-16th century the profile portrait was an unusual format (Titian only used it for deceased sitters: François I and Sixtus IV), the self-portrait in profile was exceptional, partly for the difficulty involved in its execution as it required various mirrors or a model. With regard to the latter, in Studi Tizianeschi I, 2003, Rearick published a drawing of a portrait by Titian attributed to Giuseppe Porta dated around 1562 whose similarity to the Prado image suggests it may have provided the model. The choice of this format was thus not a random one and responded to the association of this typology with the concept of fame derived from Roman coins. Titian was familiar with this association as he had been depicted in this manner by Leone Leoni in 1537 and by Pastorino de Pastorini around 1546. It seems likely that the artist, who was by this date extremely old, would wish to set down his appearance for posterity in this manner, ignoring the individual viewer for the sake of a universal one. This idea is not incompatible with the fact that the painting could have been made for his own family, as the fact that Titian still owned it four years later suggests.

As in the Berlin self-portrait, here Titian also emphasises his nobility through the inclusion of the golden chain that identifies him as a Knight of the Golden Spur, and his black clothing (the colour recommended for knights by Baldassare Castiglione in The Courtier, book II, 27, of 1527), but the fact that he is holding a brush suggests that he also wished to indicate that he owed his social elevation to his skills as a painter. As such, the present painting gives visual form to the motto that appears on Leoni’s medal: PICTOR ET EQUES, a concept also expressed by Vasari in relation to his visit to the painter in 1566. Titian’s image of himself projected in his self-portraits was carefully considered.

As Jaffé noted, by representing himself with a long beard, no fringe and wearing a cap, the artist was associating himself with images of contemporary intellectuals derived from an iconographical model of Aristotle that was notably popular in Italy from the end of the 15th century. As Leoni’s medal proves, Titian had used this type of presentation from at least 1537, probably as a consequence of his proximity to intellectual circles from the preceding decade onwards.

Falomir, Miguel (ed.), El retrato del Renacimiento, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2008, p.302-303

See work in timeline

RDF

Multimedia

Video

The Prado in Irapuato, Mexico: “Las Meninas”

Video

A Sixteenth‑Century Venetian Portrait: "Federico Gonzaga, 1st Duke of Mantua", by Titian

Video

Weekly sessions in English: New Prado Channel and "Pensar el Prado" series

Video

The Painter and the Others. Technical and Artistic Relationships with Other Artists

Video

Cruelty in "Diana and Actaeon", by Titian

Video

The restoration of: "The Virgin Dolorosa with her Hands apart"

Video

Restoration: Philip II offering the Infante Fernando to Victory, by Titian

Video

Commented works: The Burial of Christ, by Titian.

Video

The restoration of Danaë, Venus and Adonis. The early poesie

Video

Titian: Danaë, Venus and Adonis. The early poesie

Video

Collections Plan. New Exhibition Axis

See more multimedia content

Technical data

Clic para ampliar

Related artworks

Inventory number: P000407
Author: Titian (Tiziano Vecellio)
Title: Self-portrait
Date: Ca. 1562
Technique: Oil
Support: Canvas
Dimension: Height: 86 cm; Width: 65 cm
Provenance: Royal Collection (Royal Alcázar, Madrid, "pasillo de la mudita", 1701-1703, s.n.; New Royal Palace, Madrid, "primera sala de la Furriera", 1747, no. 44; New Royal Palace, Madrid, "antecámara de su majestad", 1772, no. 42?; New Royal Palace, Madrid, "pieza de comer", 1794, no. 42?).

Bibliography +

Justi, Carl, Miscellaneen aus drei Jahrhunderten spanischen Kunstlebens II, G. Grote, Berlín, 1908, pp. 299.

Sentenach y Cabañas, Narciso, Los retratistas renacentistas, Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Excursiones, 20, 1912, pp. 102.

Reinach, Salomon, Repertoire de Peintures du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance. I, Ernest Leroux, Paris, 1912, pp. 726.

Sentenach y Cabañas, Narciso, Los Grandes Retratistas en España, Hauser y Menet, Madrid, 1914, pp. 20.

Beroqui, Pedro, Tiziano en el Museo del Prado, Boletín de la Sociedad española de excursiones, 35, 1927, pp. 197.

Suida, W, Le Titien, Weber, Paris, 1935, pp. lám. 283-b.

Noul, M., Sotomayor, F., Muguruza, P., Les chefs-d'oeuvre du Musée du Prado, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Ginebra, 1939, pp. 35.

Sarfatti, Margarita G. De, Tiziano O de la Fe en la Vida, Editorial Poseidon, Buenos Aires, 1944, pp. 53/ lám.101.

Faure, Élie, Historia del arte, Editorial Poseidon, Buenos Aires, 1944, pp. 208.

Beroqui, Pedro, Tiziano en el Museo del Prado, Hauser y Menet, Madrid, 1946, pp. 170.

Pope-Hennessy, John, The Portrait in the Renaissance, Phaidon Pres Ltd, Londres-Nueva York, 1966, pp. 293/ lám.324.

Pallucchini, Rodolfo, Tiziano, I, G.C. Sansoni, Florencia, 1969, pp. láms. 516, 517.

Cagli, Corrado, La obra pictórica completa de Tiziano, Noguer, Barcelona. Madrid, 1971.

Sánchez Cantón, Francisco Javier, Museo del Prado. Catálogo de las pinturas, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1972.

Gallego, Julián, El retrato en Tiziano, Goya: Revista de Arte, 135, 1976, pp. 161-173.

Pallucchini, Rodolfo, Profilo Di Tiziano, Aldo Martello, Florencia, 1977, pp. lám.55.

Rosand, David, Titian, Harrry N. Abrams, Nueva York, 1978, pp. 45/ lám.60.

Sutton, Denys, Charles Ricketts e Titian, Apollo, 107-108, 1978, pp. 433.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Museo del Prado: pintura italiana anterior a 1600, Gredos, Madrid, 1979, pp. 180.

Fasolo, Ugo, Ticiano, Becocci, Florencia, 1980, pp. 87.

Creighton. E. Gilbert, Some findings on early works of Titian, 38, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1980, pp. 65-66.

Rosand, David, Titian. His World and His Legacy, Columbia University Press, Nueva York, 1982, pp. 9.

Chastel, André, L'Art Italien, Flammarion, Paris, 1982, pp. 385.

Birr, Frederic, Autoportraits, Editons Frederic Birr, Paris, 1982, pp. 70.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Catálogo de las pinturas, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1985, pp. 694.

Palomino de Castro y Velasco, Acisclo Antonio 1653-1726, Vidas, Alianza Editorial, Madrid, 1986, pp. 47.

Freedberg, Sidney J., Il musicista punito: il supplizio di Marsia, FMR, 1986, pp. 151.

Rapp, Jürgen, Tizians Marsyas in kremsier, Pantheon, 1987, pp. 70, 81 / lám. 18.

Fernández Miranda y Lozana, Fernando, Inventarios Reales. Carlos III. 1789-1790. Vol. I, Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid, 1988.

Wilde, Johannes, La pintura veneciana: de Bellini a Ticiano, Nerea, Madrid, 1988, pp. 257/ lám.203.

Dantraique, Pierre, La Peinture Venitienne, Ides et Calendes, Neuchatel, 1989, pp. 116-117.

Walther, Angelo, Tizian, E.A.Seemann Verlag, Leipzig, 1990, pp. 98.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Museo del Prado. Inventario general de pinturas (I) La Colección Real, Museo del Prado, Espasa Calpe, Madrid, 1990, pp. nº695.

Freedman, L., Titian's Independent Self-Portraits, Leo S.Olschki Editore, Florencia, 1990, pp. lám.2.

Tiziano, Marsilio Editori, Venecia, 1990, pp. 338.

Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E., De pintura y pintores: la configuración de los modelos visuales, Alianza, Madrid, 1993, pp. 39-52.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Catálogo de los cuadros del Museo del Prado de Madrid, [s.n.], Paris, 1993, pp. 660/ lám.8.

Checa Cremades, Fernando, Tiziano y la monarquía hispánica: usos y funciones de la pintura veneciana en España (siglos XVI y XVII), Nerea, Madrid, 1994, pp. 4; 274, n. 54.

Buendía, José Rogelio, El Prado. Colecciones de Pintura, Lunwerg Editores, Barcelona, 1994, pp. 270.

Bettagno, Alessandro, El Museo del Prado, Fonds Mercator Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1996, pp. 237.

Cole, Bruce, Titian and Venetian Painting 1450-1590, Westview Press, Colorado, Oxford, 1999, pp. 162.

La pittura nel Veneto. Il Cinquecento, Electa, Milán, 1999, pp. 1087/ lám.1178.

Museo Nacional del Prado, Pintura italiana del Renacimiento: guía, Museo del Prado, Aldeasa, Madrid, 1999, pp. 200.

Checa Cremades, Fernando, Carlos V. Retratos de Familia, Sec Felipe II Carlos V, Madrid, 2000, pp. 155.

Falomir Faus, Miguel, Tiziano, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2003, pp. 272/ lám.53.

Titian, Yale University Press, Londres, 2003, pp. 142.

Rearick, W. R., Da Tiziano a Caravaggio a Tiepolo, Studi Tizianeschi, I, 2003, pp. 34-38.

Gentili, Augusto, La pittura religiosa dell'ultimo Tiziano, Studi Tizianeschi, I, 2003, pp. 15 lám.8.

Belkin, Kristin Lohse, A House of Art: Rubens As Collector, Runenhuis, Antwerpen, 2004.

Artemisia Gentileschi: Taking stock, Brepols, Turnhout. Belgium, 2005, pp. 59.

Enciclopedia del Museo del Prado, II, T.F. Editores: Fundación Amigos, Madrid, 2006, pp. 429.

Der späte Tizian: und die Sinnlichkeit der Malerei, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, 2007, pp. 206.

Artisti a Roma: ritratti di pittori, scultori e architetti, De Luca Editori d´Arte, 2008, pp. 17.

Falomir, Miguel (ed.), El retrato del Renacimiento, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 2008, pp. 302-303.

L' ultimo Tiziano e la sensualità della pittura, Marsilio,, Venecia, 2008, pp. 176-178 nº 1.10.

Rosand, David, Titian draws himself, Artibus et Historiae an art anthology, 59, 2009, pp. 65-71.

Titien, Tintoret, Veronèse: rivalités à Venise, Hazan: Musée du Louvre, 2009, pp. 190-193.

Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: rivals in Renaissance Venice, MFA: Distributed Art Publishers, 2009, pp. 190-191.

Rubens im Wettstreit mit Alten Meistern. Vorbild und Neuerf, Hatje Cantz, 2009, pp. 82-115.

Le botteghe di Tiziano, Alinari 24 ORE, 2009, pp. 289.

Cranston, Jodi, The muddied mirror: materiality and figuration in Titian's later paintings, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2010, pp. 1-18.

Cassegrain, Guillaume, Tintoret, Hazan Editions, 2010, pp. 106.

Bodart, Diane H, 'Quizá mejor de Tiziano: Antonio Moro retratista' En: Maestros en la sombra, Fundación Amigos Museo del Prado, Madrid, 2013, pp. 131-162 [162].

Attardi, Luisa, 'Tiziano Vecellio. Autoritratto' En:, Tiziano, Silvana, Milan, 2013, pp. 262-265 n.39.

Nichols, Tom, The master as monument: Titian and his images, Artibus et historiae an art anthology, XXXIV, 2013, pp. 219-238 [222].

Cranston, Lodi, 'Disegnando se stesso: funzione e contesto dell' autoritratto a gessetto di Tiziano' En:, Tiziano. Un autoritratto. Problemi di autografia nella grafica tizianesca, Venecia, 2014, pp. 68-85 l.1.

Freedman, Luba, 'L'autoritratto disegnato di Tiziano quale dimostrazione della sua arte' En:, Tiziano. Un autoritratto. Problemi di autografia nella grafica tizianesca, Venecia, 2014, pp. 10-67 f.2.

Woods-Marsden, Joanna, 'Le autorappresentazioni di Tiziano' En:, Tiziano. Un autoritratto. Problemi di autografia nella grafica tizianesca, Venecia, 2014, pp. 86-117 fg.6.

Partridge, Loren, Art of Renaissance Venice 1400-1600, University of California Press, 2015, pp. 237-238 f.210.

Martínez Leiva, Gloria; Rodríguez Rebollo, Ángel, El inventario del Alcázar de Madrid de 1666. Felipe IV y su colección artística, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, 2015, pp. 551 nº 820.

Wivel, Matthias, Building the brand. Titian self-portraits, Artibus et historiae an art anthology, XXVII, 2016, pp. 119-138 [125,127-129 f.13, nt 49].

Bertling-Biaggini, Claudia, Tizian - Pictor Poeticus: Zum Phänomen des Diaphanen in sei., Georg Olms Verlag,, 2023, pp. 16 fg.1.

Other inventories +

Inv. Testamentaría Carlos II, Alcázar de Madrid, 1701-1703. Núm. 44.
Pasillo que llaman de la Modita [...] 44 / Ytten Ottra Pinttura de Vara y media de Altto y tres quartas de Ancho del Rettratto del mismo tiçiano y de su mano tasada en Zien Doblones .... 100

Inv. Felipe V, Palacio Nuevo, 1747. Núm. 44.
PINTURAS EXISTENTES ANTIGUAS [...] En la primera Sala de este Oficio [...] {10263} 44 / Otro retrato ovalado original del Ticiano y su retrato propio de vara y quarta de cayda y lo correspondiente de ancho = en 4000 rs.

Inv. Carlos III, Palacio Nuevo, 1772. Núm. ¿42?.
Antecamara de S. M. [...] {12667} 42-45-85-39-46-118-39-39 / Ocho retratos iguales de mas de medio cuerpo originales de Ticiano que el vno es el mismo otra el de su muger y los demas de otros sugetos que se ignoran de vara y quarta de alto y vara de ancho = [Nota al margen=] todos estos retratos en los primeros inventarios consta haber estado en óbalo pero despues se pusieron en quadro

Inv. Testamentaría Carlos III, Palacio Nuevo, 1794. Núm. ¿42?.
Pieza de comer [...] {32} 85, 42, 46 y 117 / Quatro retratos de hombres y mugeres desconocidos à excepción del uno que es Ticiano , de quien son hechos todos á cinco mil rs. cada uno importa ... 20.000

Inv. Real Museo, 1857. Núm. 695.
Tiziano / 695. Retrato del autor. / Barba larga y cabellos canosos. Al cuello tiene una cadena de oro, y en la mano un pincel. (figura de perfil, de medio cuerpo.) / Alto 3 pies, 1 pulg; ancho 2 pies, 4 pulg.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1872-1907. Núm. 477.
477.-Retrato del autor. / Alto 0.86. Ancho 0.65.-Lienzo. / Está representado de edad avanzada, casi de perfil, con lasrga barba blanca y cabello corto, también cano; vestido de ropilla y balandran de color muy oscuro. Tiene al cuello una cadena de oro, como caballero y conde palatino, y en la mano un pincel.-Figura de medio cuerpo y tamaño natural. / Este retrato vino al R. Museo del Pal. nuevo, donde estaba en tiempo del Sr. Cean Bermudez. Durante los reinados de Felipe IV y Carlos II estuvo colocado en el pasillo llamado de la Madonna, en el R.Alc. y Pal. antiguo. F.L.