Famous Paintings: Man with a Glove

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Famous Paintings: Man with a Glove

Posted by Susan Benford

An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.

Famous paintings by Titian (c. 1490-1576) are among the most revered Renaissance paintings, dominating the Italian Renaissance and legendary in art history. Born Tiziano Vecelli, which is anglicized to "Titian", he was trained by Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430-1516) and Giorgione da Castelfranco (c. 1477-1510), known simply as "Giorgione". Upon the latter's death, Titian was the master of Venetian painting for the next fifty years, renowned for his skill with color, composition and portraiture. "The works of Titian", comments Fred Kleiner in Gardner's, "establish oil color on canvas as the typical medium of our pictorial tradition."

After the death of Raphael (1483-1520), Titian became the undisputed master of portrait painting - over fifty of his portraits survive today. Among the best known of these famous paintings

Titian. Man with a Glove, c. 1519. Oil on canvas, approx. 39" by 35". Louvre, Paris.

is Man With a Glove. The subject appears to be close to twenty and is dressed in current Venetian fashion, a black doublet with a pleated shirt. Against a shadowy, dark background, he leans on a block of marble with his left hand, which is grasping two gloves that point to his right hand; the V-shaped opening of his shirt draws one's eye to his face and back again to his right hand.

Art history experts have never established beyond doubt the identity of the Man with a Glove. It is apparent, though, he is an aristocrat: he has coiffured hair, a ring bearing a coat of arms, and a medallion with a pearl and sapphire, in addition to his stylish clothes and leather gloves. But his identity and name are incidental - Titian's famous painting is a psychological portrait in which the sitter's personality is conveyed through a palette of limited but strongly contrasting colors. The man, turned slightly away from the viewer, appears aloof and preoccupied, yet his eyes convey sensitivity. Again as described in Gardner's, "Titian's Man with a Glove is as much the portrait of a cultivated state of mind as of a particular individual". The ability of Titian to create such a convincing psychological portrait has cemented his stature as one of the most famous painters in art history.

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Tags: art history, renaissance paintings, Titian paintings, Italian renaissance

Comments

What is the coat of arms? The glove off usually means a duel. The pearl symbolizes Venus. The sapphire symbolizes...?

Posted @ Wednesday, December 15, 2010 7:58 PM by Sheryl

Some etymologists propose an old Sanskrit origin to the Semitic word "sappir": a dark colored precious stone called "Shanipriya" (शनिप्रिय), from "shani" (शनि) meaning "Saturn" and "priya" (प्रिय), precious, i.e. "precious to Saturn".[1]

Ref: Blue sapphire

Posted @ Thursday, December 16, 2010 8:40 AM by Sheryl

Sheryl,
Thanks for the insight on "sapphire" - I'd read the coat of arms and the medallion merely as markers of wealth. In this case, I'd say "gloves off" isn't indicative of a duel -- The Man is far too dreamy for that!

Susan

Posted @ Thursday, December 16, 2010 9:07 AM by Susan Benford

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Famous Paintings: Man with a Glove

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