How are you?
Currently, I am introducing
the stories about various artists and their paintings with the title “Interesting Art
Stories”.
The 69th story is “Woman with a
Mirror” by Titian.
“Woman with a Mirror” is a painting by Titian in circa 1515 and now
in the Musée du Louvre.
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| Self-Portrait, Titian (c. 1567) |
It is known that this painting was purchased by Charles I of England
from Gonzaga family in Mantua. After Charles I was executed, the painting was
purchased by Louis XIV of France for the Palace of Versailles.
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| Louis XIV of France |
To date, several attempts have been made to identify the woman in this
painting. These attempts included Titian's lover, Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of
Ferrara’s lover Laura Dianti, or Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua’s lover
Isabella Boschetti, but it is still debating.
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| Portrait of Laura Dianti, Titian (c. 1520–25) |
Titian painted Dianti in his “Portrait of Laura Dianti”. She also seems
to be the model not only as several Madonnas and the clothed figure in “Sacred
and Profane Love” but also in the “Flora” in the Uffizi Gallery, the “Vanity”
in Alte Pinakothek, Munich, “Salome” in the Doria Pamphilj Gallery, Rome, and
the “Violante” and the “Young woman in a black dress” in the Kunsthistorisches
Museum, Vienna.
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| Sacred and Profane Love, Titian (1514) |
Many versions of this painting, which are identical in quality to the
original but smaller in size, exist, and the best of which are in the Museu
Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona, the gallery of Prague Castle and the
National Gallery of Art in Washington.
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| Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona |
A woman of idealized beauty overlooks a parapet and caresses her hair
with her right hand while touching a bottle placed on the parapet (which
appears to contain a perfume or ointment) with her left hand. A mirror held by
a man behind her shows the back of the woman and the window illuminating the
room, and also the woman is staring at another small mirror the man is holding
while dressing up.
This painting shows a harmony of color and composition typical of the
young Titian, who enhanced the beauty and sensuality of his subjects.
Thank you.
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