Portrait of a Woman
Artistworkshop of
Titian
(Italian, c. 1488 - 1576)
Dateca. 1515-20
CultureItalian
MediumOil on canvas
ClassificationPaintings
ProvenanceBy 1612, Riccardo Romolo Riccardi (1558–1612), Palazzo del Giardino di Valfonda, Florence. Sold by 1815 to Lucien Bonaparte (1775–1840), Prince of Canino, Rome; (offered Bonaparte sale, William Buchanan, London, 16 May 1815, lot 116, not sold). (Bonaparte sale, George Stanley, London, 15 May 1816, lot 122, sold for £152–5s). (By 1843, Farrer, London); purchased in 1843 by Robert Stayner Holford (1808–1892), Dorchester House, London; by descent to Sir George Lindsay Holford (1860–1926), Dorchester House, London; (sold Holford sale, Christie’s, London, 15 July 1927, lot 116, for £4,200, to Julius Böhler); John Ringling (1866–1936), Sarasota, Florida; bequest in 1936 to the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida.
Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936
Object numberSN58
Titian was the most important Venetian painter of the sixteenth century, and his work continued to influence European art long after his death. The woman in this painting is dressed in a style associated with the Ottoman Empire (centered in what is today Turkey, but which encompassed a vast area, including the Middle East). Titian and his workshop produced a number of paintings of women in "exotic" (Near Eastern or Turkish) dress, to satisfy local demand. Although in the past this painting has been thought to represent a specific person, it is more likely an idealized representation. Such <i>bella donna</i> (beautiful woman) paintings were sometimes commissioned as wedding presents for a bride.
On View
On viewCollections
Unframed support: 39 3/16 H x 30 1/2 W in. (99.5 x 77.5 cm)
ca. 1580s-90s
c. 1740s
first quarter of the 1700s
