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Titian and His Mistress

A work made of etching and engraving in black on ivory laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of etching and engraving in black on ivory laid paper.

Date:

c. 1620

Artist:

Lucas Vorsterman (Dutch, 1595-1675)
after Anthony van Dyck (Flemish, 1599-1641)

About this artwork

Anthony van Dyck’s print of a lost self-portrait by the Venetian master Titian shows the artist with a luxuriously dressed woman who is significantly younger than he is. Included within the work is a popular Venetian verse that comments on the woman’s beauty and declares that she is expecting a child, while calling Titian “great” and praising his artistic skill. The woman’s arm rests on a box containing a skull, and her eyes look away from the aged Titian, indicating the artist’s mortality and man’s inevitable decline into old age. The master reaches out to touch the abdomen of the young, sumptuous woman, contrasting himself with the new life of her unborn child.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Anthony van Dyck

Title

Titian and His Mistress

Place

Flanders (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1615–1625

Medium

Etching and engraving in black on ivory laid paper

Dimensions

Image/plate: 30.4 × 30.3 cm (12 × 11 15/16 in.); Sheet: 34.5 × 27.5 cm (13 5/8 × 10 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Clarence Buckingham Collection

Reference Number

1928.190

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/55983/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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