Posted on 09/17/2005 10:25:39 PM PDT by FairOpinion
LONDON (Reuters) - A unique portrait by Italian Old Master Titian, painted over and rediscovered more than 400 years later, is expected to make more than 9 million dollars when it is sold at auction in December.
Revealed by X-rays and painstakingly restored, Titian's Portrait of a Lady and her Daughter was unfinished when the Renaissance master died in 1576 and painted over with Tobias and the Angel, probably by one of Titian's pupils, Leonardo Corona.
"It is a singularly beautiful picture. There is an intimacy in the relationship between the mother and daughter. There is no doubt about that," said Francis Russell, deputy chairman of auction house Christie's at a pre-sale viewing Friday.
"The fact that the picture was left unfinished means that it would not have been considered of value at the time but it also indicates that it was probably not a commission," he said.
The coats of paint that hid the original portrait preserved it from the ravages of time, and the absence of varnish meant that restorer Alec Cobbe knew he was approaching the original when he reached a layer of grime that covered it.
The painting shows a young woman staring calmly but resolutely out of the canvas with her left arm protectively draped over the shoulder of a young girl who is gazing reverentially upwards.
It is unique in that not only did Titian, whose real name was Tiziano Vecellio, rarely paint women, he was previously thought never to have painted a mother and daughter together.
There is no record of the work, probably painted in the 1550s when the elderly Titian was already the most famous and sought-after painter in Italy, but it is believed to be of the artist's own daughter Emelia and her daughter.
The first reference to Tobias and the Angel does not appear until the mid 18th century when it is described as a Titian.
The painting changed hands several times -- forming part of Czar Nicholas I's collection at one point -- before ending up in the hands of renowned French dealer Rene Gimpel in the 1920s.
When the German army invaded France in 1939, Gimpel shipped his collection to London for safekeeping, but took the secret of its temporary destination, a lock-up garage in the Bayswater district, with him when he died in a concentration camp in 1944.
It took his sons Ernest and Jean until 1946 to find where he had had the valuable collection stored.
In 1947 and again in 1963, Tobias and the Angel failed to sell as a Titian at auctions by Sothebys and then Christie's.
Eventually Jean Gimpel sent the picture for X-ray by the Courtauld Institute, which found the underlying composition.
After years of intermittent and painstaking restoration by Cobbe, the purity of the original finally saw the light of day as the centerpiece of an exhibition in Madrid in 2003.
The painting will go to auction for the first time in its new, and original, guise in London on December 8.
A staff member of Christie's auction house looks at a rediscovered portrait by the Italian Old Master Titian, entitled Portrait of a Lady and her Daughter, before its auction in London September 16, 2005. The painting, which lay hidden for more than 400 years after being overpainted, probably by one of the Renaissance master's pupils Leonardo Corona, is expected to fetch more than five million pounds ($9 million) at its auction in December. (Russell Boyce/Reuters)
Art ping
Gorgeous. BTT.
"...expected to make more than 9 million dollars when it is sold at auction in December."
--but if it sold in November?
Beautiful woman from that period of time.
And from this period of time (the woman standing, looking at the masterpiece).
The painting, which lay hidden for more than 400 years after being overpainted, probably by one of the Renaissance master's pupils Leonardo Corona, is expected to fetch more than five million pounds ($9 million) at its auction in December.
Does that price include the frame ?
Art ping.
Let Sam Cree or me know if you want on or off this ping list.
Ping us if you ever find a larger close-up to post.
Thank you.
Leni
I don't know if I'd say that Titian rarely painted women. I don't know of many portraits of women, but I have to show the other images of the Venuses. He was famous for his luscious nudes, which set a new trend in Renaissance painting from Venice. This is called the Venus of Urbino and is probably of a mistress of the man who commissioned it. I like to think it is the mistress of the house, but it could be that other kind of mistress. The maids in the back are getting her clothes to wear, so she is not a slut. Bathing and dressing were always acceptable subjects for a nude. Note the play of white and red that Manet keeps in his updated version, below. The lovely golden sky is typical of the Renaissance in Venice. Also, the dog (which she owns as she is in turn owned by her man) is changed to a cat in Manet's version.
below, Titian's Venus of Urbino c. 1520s
below, Edouard Manet's Olympia from 1863
He also did many images of the Virgin, which have always been a bit busy for my taste. Below, Assumption of the Virgin.
It's supposed to be important that he has created a triangle of red between the Virgin and two of the people on the ground. Perhaps I don't get into these religious pieces as much because I'm not Catholic, and I always have trouble with people flying around in the skies.
for one penny more....
Art Education/Appreciation ping.
Let me know if you want on or off this list.
My pings have been slow because of the busy semester, but I hope to do something on Renaissance art sometime soon, and this thread will relate to that post.
Talk about a deer-in-the-headlights look.
I don't know the significance of the bust in the corner. Perhaps someone else will.
Thanks for posting. Thanks for the ping. Great painting.
Leni
Very interesting article and discussion here. Thanks for starting the thread.
Interesting story and thread. Thank you for posting it.
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