Violante (Titian)

Violante
Artist	Titian
Year	c. 1515
Type	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	64.5 cm × 50.8 cm (25.4 in × 20.0 in)
Location	Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Violante is an oil painting attributed to Titian, dated to around 1515 and now held at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

History

The work was part of the Venetian collection of Bartolomeo della Nave and in 1636, it was sold to the Duke of Hamilton, who brought it to London. In 1659, it was acquired by Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, whose collection later became part of the current museum.

The title refers to the traditional identification with Violante, the daughter of painter Palma the Elder (to whom the painting was assigned for a long time), which has however no proof. An etching by David Teniers the Younger show the painting having larger size, although a representation of the archduke's gallery from the same artist depicts it in the same current size.

The work was attributed to Titian by Italian art historian Roberto Longhi. The woman portrayed is very similar to that in the Balbi Holy Conversation and a series of female portraits of blonde, curly women such as the Woman at the Mirror, Flora, the Vanity, Salome and the Young Woman with Black Dress.

References

• Valcanover, Francesco (1969). L'opera completa di Tiziano (in Italian). Milan: Rizzoli.