Irene di Spilimbergo
Titian·c. 1560
Historical Context
This companion portrait depicts Irene di Spilimbergo, sister of Emilia, painted around 1560 by the same assistant in Titian's orbit. The paired portraits of the Spilimbergo sisters document two young noblewomen from the cultural elite of sixteenth-century Friuli. Irene outlived her more famous sister and these portraits together preserve the memory of a family connected to the highest circles of Venetian artistic and literary culture.
Technical Analysis
The painting demonstrates the Titianesque portrait style with warm flesh tones and the characteristic dark background that focuses attention on the sitter. The execution is competent but lacks the spontaneous touch of Titian's own hand, showing the careful, studied approach of a workshop assistant.
Provenance
Commissioned by the Spilimbergo family, Spilimbergo, Italy; by inheritance to Count Giulio di Spilimbergo, Domanins, by 1819;[1] by inheritance to Count Niccolò d'Attimis Maniago, Florence, by 1904;[2] and Count Enrico d'Attimis Maniago, Florence, until 1909; Elia Volpi [1858-1938], Florence; sold 1909 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London and New York); sold October 1909 to Peter A.B. Widener [1834-1915], Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;[3] Inheritance from the Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park. [1] Fabio di Maniago, _Storia delle belle arti friulane_, Udine, 1819: 201. [2] Recorded in his possession by Oskar Fischel, _Tizian: Des Meisters Gemälde_, Stuttgart [u.a.], 1904: 195. [3] Corrado Ricci, “Ritratti ‘tizianeschi’ di Gian Paolo Pace,” _Rivista del R. Istituto d’Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte_ 7 (1929): 257-258. The 1909 Duveen Brothers stock book for their New York office records this painting and NGA 1942.9.82 as "bt. Count Maniago, Florence." See Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: Series I.A. New York House, 1886-1960: sales, 1901-1910, p. 62, reel 4, box 5; stock book, 1909, p. 76, reel 5, box 6; copies in NGA curatorial files.
