Art Institute of Chicago

Titian and His Mistress

Lucas Vorsterman (Dutch, 1595-1675)

Date

c. 1620

Medium

Etching and engraving in black on ivory laid paper

Culture

Flanders

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

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.

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