Artist: Tiziano Vecellio (Titian)
Topic: Family Saints Virgin Mary Woman Saints People
Date: 1519
Museum: Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari (Venice, Italy)
Technique: Oil On Canvas
Francesco Maria della Rovere (1490-1538) succeeded his uncle Guidobaldo da Montefeltre as ruler of Urbino. Though at first protected by his uncle Pope Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere), he lost power under the Medici Pope Leo X, but was able to regain his territories after his death. He was one of Italy's most important military leaders and frequently served the Republic of Venice.Perhaps because of the limitations of the court-portrait, perhaps also because he had not his sitter actually present - we know that the latter dispatched his armour to the painter at Venice with the request that he should hurry on the work - this portrait, although impassioned and full of pride, lacks something of the spiritual profundity of many others by the artist.In creating a pair of paintings of Francesco Maria della Rovere and Eleonora Gonzaga, duke and duchess of Urbino, Titian predictably reprised many of the themes seen in Piero della Francesca's double portrait of their predecessors, Federico da Montefeltre and Battista Sforza. Once again, the male portrait is more rugged and individualized, emphasizing military exploits and adventures. Francesco Maria poses alert in his stunningly rendered, glinting armor, his right arm and baton dramatically thrust out into the viewer's space. Behind him a splendid, plumed parade helmet, reflecting the vibrant, pulsating red of a velvet drape, faces a jauntily angled set of lances. In marked contrast, Eleonora Gonzaga sits primly in her chair, immobile within her highly detailed but much less lovingly depicted court dress. Her pet dog lies bored on a table in front of a window. Titian's landscape is expansive but untraversible, marked by a church tower in its idealized blue distance.Francesco Maria della Rovere (1490-1538) succeeded his uncle Guidobaldo da Montefeltre as ruler of Urbino. Though at first protected by his uncle Pope Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere), he lost power under the Medici Pope Leo X, but was able to regain his territories after his death. He was one of Italy's most important military leaders and frequently served the Republic of Venice.
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