(Pieve di Cadore circa 1485/90–1576 Venice)
Portrait of a young Lady,
oil on canvas, 101 x 82 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Veneto

The present painting refers to a type of female portrait which was addressed several times by Titian and his workshop, as well as resumed by his students and followers.

By the great master of Cadore, the Gemäldegalerie in Dresden holds a Portrait of a lady in white (inv. no. 170) made around 1561, which resembles the present painting as for the three-quarter depiction, the way her hair is tied and the pearl jewelry. In the past, such female figure was identified with Lavinia, the daughter of the painter; in fact, the woman depicted by Titian would embody an idealised image of female beauty, to represent which the painter would have used a model, whom was also found in some of his other compositions, resumed by his workshop.

Similar portraits handmade by the master, resembling the present painting as for the female type and the three-quarter position on a neutral background, are kept in the Samuel H. Kress Collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington (inv. no. 1939.1.292) and at the Galleria Nazionale of Capodimonte (inv. no. Q 135); such figure has also been identified with Lavinia in the past or alternatively, as in the case of the Washington painting, with Giulia Gonzaga.

The present painting also presents some persuasive similarities to the Portrait of a young woman with a jar kept in the Gemäldegalerie in Dresden (inv. no. 173) made by Alessandro Varotari, called Il Padovanino after his home town, who repeatedly took on some of the models adopted by Titian. In addition to the three-quarter position and the tied hair that highlights the pearl earrings and necklace, such portrayed woman shows in fact the same pink dress with green bands and wears the same cuff to her left wrist as to the woman depicted in the present painting. However, the woman in the present Portrait holds a wreath of flowers in her hands, instead of the amphora visible in the Dresden painting.