Portrait of a Lady La Schiavona

Artist: Titian (Italian, 1490 - 1576)

Original Dimensions: 47" x 38"

Location: National Gallery of Art, London

About Artwork: (About 1510-12) "Titian painted this picture when he was in his early twenties, at a time when private portraits of individual women were still rare. We don‘t know the identity of the sitter, if indeed this is a portrait in the traditional sense, rather than a general picture of a woman designed to encourage such commissions. The title La Schiavona, meaning ’the Dalmatian woman‘, was given to the picture in the seventeenth century. ’La Schiavona‘ is self-possessed and has a commanding gaze unlike any woman in an earlier European portrait. Titian’s approach is original not only because the painting is three-quarter length and apparently life-sized but also because it was painted to make an impact from a distance. The profile bust portrait, inspired by ancient Roman sculpture and cameos, appears to represent the sitter herself but may commemorate a member of her family. It may relate to the contemporary debate about the rival merits of painting and sculpture. The letters ’T.V.' inscribed on the parapet stand for Tiziano Veccellio (Titian)." - (National Gallery of Art, London)