Irene di Spilimbergo

c. 1560

Titian

Painter, Venetian, 1488/1490 - 1576

Gian Paolo Pace

Painter, Venetian, 1528 - 1560

Shown from the knees up, a pale-skinned woman wearing a muted red gown and shimmering coat stands against a stone column in front of a landscape in this vertical portrait painting. Her body angles to our left, and she looks off in that direction with gray eyes under curved brows. She has a round face with a slightly snub nose, flushed cheeks, double chin, and her thin lips are closed. Her strawberry blond hair is pulled back under a band wrapped with pearls. Her copper-red dress has a square neckline lined with lace, and a gold and pearl belt is looped around her waist as a long strand lies down the front of her skirt and off the bottom edge of the canvas. The voluminous coat she wears has a high, flaring collar lined with lace or patterned with black lines against white. The pale, almost iridescent golden-red fabric of the coat has a sheen, suggesting satin or silk, and it is decorated down the front, over the shoulders, and down the sleeves with a geometric design in copper red. The cuffs of the coat are lined with lace, and the woman wears a gold and silver earring in the ear we see and a strand of white pearls around her neck. The woman drapes her left arm, to our right, over the chest-high base of the column, and holds a ring of leaves in that hand. The other hand is by her side as she holds the coat belt to curve like a swag across her body. A pair of palm fronds feather out against the column that fills the right half of the background. A deep landscape on the left half has rolling hills, trees, and mountains reaching back to the horizon under a sky with puffy white clouds. A white unicorn lies on one hill and a dog chases an animal farther back. Beyond that, a person walking along a path back may carry a sack. The tonalities of the whole painting are shaded yellow, and some areas of the woman’s face and neck are in-painted in slightly different shades of pale peach. An inscription carved into the base of the column reads, “SI FATA TVLISSENT.”

Media Options

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Irene di Spilimbergo was about 20 years old when this painting was begun. Along with a pendant portrait of her older sister, Emilia, the two paintings were probably initially commissioned in anticipation of the prospective marriages of the two sitters. Instead, with the premature death of Irene two years later, the function of her portrait was suddenly changed to become an elegy for what might have been. The inscription on the lower right reads, “If the fates had allowed.”

Irene and her sister were educated under the supervision of their maternal grandfather, the wealthy Venetian citizen Zuan Paolo da Ponte, who encouraged their interest in the arts. Irene was remarkable in her ambition to excel. She persuaded Titian, a family friend who had painted both her grandfather and her mother, to allow her to copy his works and to give her instruction as a painter. But her very determination apparently led to overexertion and hence to illness and early death.

In honor of the gifted young woman who had died at such a tragically early age, two years later a volume of nearly 400 Latin and Italian poems was published. Irene’s portrait seems to echo the tone of that volume. The unicorn on the left refers to her perpetual virginity. The laurel crown in her hand presumably alludes to her achievements in the arts, and the evergreen palm to her everlasting fame.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 122 x 106.5 cm (48 1/16 x 41 15/16 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.9.83

More About this Artwork

Scholarly Article:  Italian Paintings of the Sixteenth Century: Irene di Spilimbergo, c. 1560

Scholarly Series:  Italian Paintings of the Sixteenth Century

Artwork history & notes

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.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1819

  • Di Maniago, Fabio. Storia della Belle Arti Friulane. Udine, 1819: 88-90.

1829

  • Hume, Abraham. Notices of the Life and Works of Titian. London, 1829: 47.

1838

  • Carrer, Luigi. Anello di Sette Gemme. Venice, 1838: 695.

1877

  • Crowe, Joseph Archer, and Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle. Titian, His Life and Times. 2 vols. London, 1877: 2:301-303.

1894

  • Berenson, Bernard. The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance. New York and London, 1894: 143.

1900

  • Gronau, Georg. Tizian. Berlin, 1900: 168-169.

1901

  • Venturi, Adolfo. Storia dell’arte italiana. 11 vols. Milan, 1901-1940: 9, part 3(1928):167.

1904

  • Fischel, Oskar. Tizian: Des Meisters Gemälde. Stuttgart [u.a.], 1904: 195.

1905

  • Reinach, Salomon. Répertoire de peintures du moyen âge et de la Renaissance (1280-1580). 6 vols. Paris, 1905-1923: 6(1923):76.

1907

  • Gronau, Georg. “Gian Paolo Pace.” In Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Edited by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 26(1932):117.

1910

  • Ulm, Oscar. “I ritratti d'Irene ed Emilia di Spilimbergo erroneamente attribuiti a Tiziano.” Emporium 31 (1910): 126-135.

1911

  • Carreri, Ferruccio. "Report in La Difesa, 17–18 August 1911." Reproduced in L’Arte 14 (1911): 394.

1914

  • Ridolfi, Carlo. Le maraviglie dell’arte, overo Le vite de gl'illustri pittori veneti, e dello Stato (Venice, 1648). Edited by Detlev von Hadeln. 2 vols. Berlin, 1914-1924: 1(1914):194.

  • Zotti, Ruggero. Irene di Spilimbergo. Udine, 1914: 22-28.

1916

  • Berenson, Bernard, and William Roberts. Pictures in the Collection of P.A.B. Widener at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: Early Italian and Spanish Schools. Philadelphia, 1916: unpaginated, repro., as by Titian.

1923

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1923: unpaginated, repro., as by Titian.

1924

  • Fischel, Oskar. Tizian: Des Meisters Gemälde. 5th ed. Stuttgart, 1924: 208-209.

1926

  • Molmenti, Pompeo. La storia di Venezia nella vita privata dalle origini alla caduta della Repubblica. 3 vols. Bergamo, 1926–1928: 2(1928):122, 249, 275, 373-374.

1929

  • Ricci, Corrado. “Ritratti ‘tizianeschi’ di Gian Paolo Pace.” Rivista del R. Istituto d’Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte 7 (1929): 257-258.

1931

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 112, repro., as by Titian.

1932

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and Their Works with an Index of Places. Oxford, 1932: 574.

1938

  • Waldmann, Emil. “Die Sammlung Widener.” Pantheon 21–22 (1938): 340.

1941

  • Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 162, repro., as by Titian.

1942

  • Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 7, as by Titian.

1948

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 25, repro., as by Titian.

1949

  • Muraro, Michelangelo. “Il memoriale de Zuan Paolo da Ponte.” Archivio Veneto 79 (1949): 82-84.

1953

  • Tietze, Hans, and Erica Tietze-Conrat. “I ritratti Spilimbergo a Washington.” Emporium 67 (1953): 99-107.

1957

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Venetian School. 2 vols. London, 1957: 1:192.

  • Camesasca, Ettore, ed. Lettere sull’Arte di Pietro Aretino. Commentate da Fidenzio Pertile. 3 vols. Milan, 1957-1960: 3(1960):397.

1960

  • Valcanover, Francesco. Tutta la pittura di Tiziano. 2 vols. Milan, 1960: 2:70.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 130.

1966

  • Vasari, Giorgio. Le vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori nelle redazioni del 1550 e 1568. Edited by Rosanna Bettarini and Paola Barocchi. 8 vols. Florence, 1966-1987: 6(1987):167-168.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 117, repro.

1969

  • Pallucchini, Rodolfo. Tiziano. 2 vols. Florence, 1969: 1:221.

  • Valcanover, Francesco. L’opera completa di Tiziano. Milan, 1969: 141, no. 633.

  • Wethey, Harold. The Paintings of Titian. 3 vols. London, 1969-1975: 2(1971):178, 198.

1972

  • Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972: 203, 517, 646.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 346, repro., as by Titian.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 211, no. 263, color repro.

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:500-503; 2:pl. 351.

1980

  • Heinemann, Fritz. “La bottega di Tiziano.” In Tiziano e Venezia: convegno internazionale di studi (1976). Vicenza, 1980: 438.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 210, no. 257, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 399, repro.

1991

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 193, repro.

  • Schutte, Anne Jacobsen. “Irene di Spilimbergo: The Image of a Creative Woman in Late Renaissance Italy.” Renaissance Quarterly 44 (1991): 45.

1993

  • Lloyd, Christopher. Italian Paintings before 1600 in the Art Institute of Chicago. Princeton, 1993: 248.

  • Ferrazza, Roberta. Palazzo Davanzati e le collezioni di Elia Volpi. Florence, 1993: 101 fig. 95, 104-105, 137-138 nn. 81-86, 196 fig. 198.

1995

  • King, Catherine. “Looking a Sight: Sixteenth-Century Portraits of Woman Artists.” Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 58 (1995): 391.

1999

  • Burke, Peter. “Il ritratto veneziano del Cinquecento.” In Pittura nel Veneto. Il Cinquecento. Edited by Mauro Lucco. 3 vols. Milan, 1996-1999: 3(1999):1108.

2001

  • Pedrocco, Filippo. Titian: The Complete Paintings. New York, 2001: 31.

2002

  • Quodbach, Esmée. "The Last of the American Versailles: The Widener Collection at Lynnewood Hall." Simiolus 29, no. 1/2 (2002): 70, 95.

2005

  • Borean, Linda. “Il carteggio di Abraham Hume e Giovanni Maria Sasso.” In Il Collezionismo a Venezia e nel Veneto ai Tempi della Serenissima. Edited by Bernard Aikema, Rosella Lauber and Max Seidel. Venice, 2005: 338.

  • Furlan, Caterina. “Tiziano nella storiografia artistica friulana tra Sette e Ottocento.” Studi Tizianeschi 3 (2005): 92-95.

2006

  • Dal Pozzolo, Enrico Maria. “La ‘bottega’ di Tiziano: sistema solare e buco nero.” Studi Tizianeschi 4 (2006): 80.

2009

  • Tagliaferro, Giorgio, and Bernard Aikema, with Matteo Mancini and Andrew John. Le botteghe di Tiziano. Florence, 2009: 61-62, 121, 160, 168-172, 201.

2012

  • Biffis, Mattia. “Di Zuan Paolo Pace, chierico e laico”. Studi Tizianeschi 7 (2012): 55-56, 64.

  • Hale, Sheila. Titian: His Life. London, 2012: 585.

2013

  • "Vasari and the National Gallery of Art." National Gallery of Art Bulletin 48 (Spring 2013): 21, repro.

2017

  • Van Kessel, Elsje. The Lives of Paintings: Presence, Agency and Likeness in Venetian Art of the Sixteenth Century. Berlin, 2017: 131-179.

Inscriptions

lower right on base of column: SI FATA / TVLISSENT (If the fates had allowed)

Wikidata ID

Q20176667

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