Doge Andrea Gritti
c. 1546/1550
Painter, Venetian, 1488/1490 - 1576
This painting is regarded as one of the finest of all Titian’s portraits. Doge Andrea Gritti’s ferocious expression and imposing figure convey an awe-inspiring authority. Titian’s handling of paint is boldly sketchy and energetic throughout. The architecture of Gritti’s face is emphasized with rich impasto (thick buildup of paint), and the extravagance of his robes is communicated through sheen and highlights.
Andrea Gritti (1455–1538) first came to public attention among Venetians in 1502, when following several years of residence in Constantinople, where he had been active both as a grain merchant and as a spy, he was instrumental in negotiating a peace treaty with the Turks. He was appointed commissioner of the Venetian army and eventually elected doge in 1523. Gritti had a highly ambitious, even autocratic personality. Despite his impatience with the complexities of the Venetian constitution, he nevertheless succeeded in becoming one of the most effective and influential of all post-medieval doges and played a major role as a patron of art and architecture.
The forceful hand gesture in Gritti’s portrait may be a quotation of Michelangelo’s famous sculpture of Moses (c. 1513–1515), perhaps implying a comparison between Gritti and Pope Julius II, for whose tomb the Moses was made. Both rulers were renowned for their terribilità, or their domineering personalities as leaders in war and politics. Julius also provided a striking precedent for Gritti in his vigorous promotion of art and culture as an expression of political renewal.
The composition and character of the portrait suggest that it was conceived not as an official image for a public building, but rather as a private commission, and subsequently remained in the possession of the Gritti family. The work gives powerful expression both to the majesty of the office of doge and to the physical and intellectual vitality of Gritti the man.
West Building Main Floor, Gallery 23
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 133.6 x 103.2 cm (52 5/8 x 40 5/8 in.)
framed: 160.2 x 128.9 x 9.5 cm (63 1/16 x 50 3/4 x 3 3/4 in.) -
Accession
1961.9.45
More About this Artwork
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Purchased 1626 in Italy for Charles I, King of England [1600-1649], Whitehall Palace, London;[1] (Charles I [Commonwealth] sale, Somerset House, London, 23 October 1651); purchased by the Syndicate of the Twelfth Dividend, organized by John Jackson, lawyer.[2] Wenzel Anton, Prince von Kaunitz-Rietburg [d. 1794]; by inheritance to Wenzel Alois, Prinz Kaunitz; (Kaunitz sale, Vienna, 13 March 1820, no. 178);[3] purchased by Johann Rudolf, Count Czernin von Chudenitz [1757-1845], Vienna;[4] by inheritance through the Czernin von Chudenitz family, Vienna, to Count Eugen Czernin von Chudenitz [1892-1955], Vienna, as of 1933, until at least 1948; on commission January 1954 from Willy Haene, lawyer for Czernin, with (M. Knoedler & Co., New York); sold 1954 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[5] gift 1961 to NGA.
[1] On a label on the reverse of the painting is written "Bought for His Majesty in Italy, 1626." It is not known from whom in Italy the picture was bought. As pointed out by Erica Tietze-Conrat, “Titian’s Workshop in His Late Years,” The Art Bulletin 28 (1946): 81, it is certainly identifiable with the item in Abraham Van der Doort’s 1639 inventory of Charles I’s collection, placed in the Privy Lodging Room of Whitehall Palace, and described as follows: “Item Above the doore. Duke grettie of Venus wth his right hand houlding his roabes: Bought by the Kinge halfe figures So bigg as the life. In a black wodden guilded frame. Done by Tichian” (Oliver Millar, “Abraham van der Doort’s Catalogue of the Collection of Charles I,” Walpole Society 37 [1960 ]: 21). (The handwriting on the label, while apparently of the 17th century, is not that of Van der Doort, cataloger of the royal collection.) The dimensions, given as 4 feet 4 inches high by 3 feet 4 inches wide, also correspond closely. See also Francis Haskell, “Charles I’s Collection of Pictures,” in The Late King’s Goods. Collections, Possessions and Patronage of Charles I in the Light of the Commonwealth Sale Inventories, ed. Arthur MacGregor, London and Oxford, 1989: 204. The royal stamp of a CR surmounted by a crown was once visible on the back of the canvas (as reported by Karl Wilczek, Katalog der Graf Czernin’schen Gemäldegalerie in Wien, Vienna, 1936: 88-89), but the 1955 transfer of the canvas to a new stretcher has concealed it.
[2] “Gritto doge de venetia; done by Tytsyan. Sold to Jackson a/ o 23 October 1651” (for £40) (Oliver Millar, “The Inventories and Evaluations of the King’s Goods, 1649-1651,” Walpole Society 43 [1970-1972]: 71). For John Jackson and his syndicate, see also W.L.F. Nuttall, “King Charles I’s Pictures and the Commonwealth Sale,” Apollo 82, no. 44 (1965): 308.
[3] Catalogue des tableaux provenants d’une galerie célèbre, Vienna, 13 March 1820: no. 178 (“Le Portrait du Doge de Venise Gritti à mi-corps avec manteau et bonnet ducal, vu de face, et regardant à gauche. Tableau qui a été acheté en Italie pour le Roi Charles Ier d’Angleterre”).
[4] Wilczek 1936, 88-89.
[5] See letter of 1 July 1986 from Nancy C. Little, Knoedler Librarian, and M. Knoedler & Co. Records, accession number 2012.M.54, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: Commission book no. 5A, no. CA4519; Sales book no. 17, p. 50. Knoedler's bill of sale for the painting is dated 2 February 1954, and payment was made in two installments in March and June of the same year. The letter, copies from Knoedler & Co. Records, and a copy of the bill of sale, with annotations, are in NGA curatorial files. See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/670.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1935
Mostra di Tiziano, Ca' Pesaro, Venice, 1935, no. 31.
1947
Europäische Barockmalerei aus Wiener Privatgalerien, Kunstmuseum, Bern, 1937-1948, no. 47.
1990
Tiziano [NGA title: Titian: Prince of Painters], Palazzo Ducale, Venice; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1990-1991, no. 37, repro.
Bibliography
1829
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1866
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1905
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1910
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1911
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1918
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1921
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1922
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1923
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1925
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1930
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1932
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1933
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1935
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1936
Berenson, Bernard. Pitture italiane del rinascimento: catalogo dei principali artisti e delle loro opere con un indice dei luoghi. Translated by Emilio Cecchi. Milan, 1936: 496.
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1937
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1939
Da Mosto, Andrea. I Dogi di Venezia. Venice, 1939: 302.
1941
Stepanow, Giovanni. Tizian. Leipzig, 1941: xviii, xlvi.
1946
Riggs, Arthur Stanley. Titian the Magnificent and the Venice of His Day. New York, 1946: 160, 209.
Tietze-Conrat, Erica. “Titian’s Workshop in His Late Years.” The Art Bulletin 28 (1946): 81 n. 44.
1947
Europäische Barockmalerei aus Wiener Privatgalerien. Exh. cat. Kunstmuseum, Bern, 1947: 14 no. 47.
1950
Tietze, Hans. Titian. The Paintings and Drawings. London, 1950: 399.
1953
Pallucchini, Rodolfo. Tiziano. Lezioni di storia dell’arte. 2 vols. Bologna, 1953-1954: 1:165, 203-205.
1955
Dell’Acqua, Gian Alberto. Tiziano. Milan, 1955: 120.
1956
Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1951-56. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida and Fern Rusk Shapley. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1956: 178-181, no. 71, repro.
Walker, John. "The Nation's Newest Old Masters." The National Geographic Magazine 110, no. 5 (November 1956): 622, 624, color repro. 639.
1957
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 73.
Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Venetian School. 2 vols. London, 1957: 1:189.
1959
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 192, repro.
Morassi, Antonio. “Titian.” In Encyclopedia of World Art. 17+ vols. London, 1959+: 14(1967): col. 143.
1960
The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 26.
Valcanover, Francesco. Tutta la pittura di Tiziano. 2 vols. Milan, 1960: 1:72.
1961
Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 120-121, repro. pl. 114, 116.
1962
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Treasures from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1962: 34, color repro.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 146, repro.
1964
Morassi, Antonio. Titian. Greenwich, CT, 1964: 39.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 130.
Nuttall, W. L. F. “King Charles I’s Pictures and the Commonwealth Sale.” Apollo 82, no. 44 (1965): 308.
1966
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:174, color repro.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 116, repro.
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XV-XVI Century. London, 1968: 179-180, fig. 424-425.
Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 49, 51, color repro.
1969
Pallucchini, Rodolfo. Tiziano. 2 vols. Florence, 1969: 1:103-104.
Valcanover, Francesco. L’opera completa di Tiziano. Milan, 1969: 112.
Wethey, Harold. The Paintings of Titian. 3 vols. London, 1969-1975: 2(1971):23-24, 108-109; 3(1975): 160, 248.
1972
Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972: 203, 514, 647.
1973
Lane, Frederic. Venice: A Maritime Republic. Baltimore, 1973: 207-208.
Zeri, Federico, and Elizabeth Gardner. Italian Paitnings. A Catalogue of the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Venetian School. New York, 1973: 76-77.
Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: 89.
1974
Rossi, Paola. Jacopo Tintoretto: I ritratti. Venice, 1974: 48.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 346, repro.
1976
Gallego, Julian. “El retrato en Tiziano.” Goya 135 (1976): 170-171.
1977
Chastel, André. “Titien.” In Tiziano nel Quarto Centenario della sua Morte, 1576-1976. Venice, 1977: 21.
Muraro, Michelangelo. “Tiziano pittore ufficiale della Serenissima.” In Tiziano nel quarto centenario della sua morte, 1576-1976. Venice, 1977: 98.
Pallucchini, Rodolfo. Profilo di Tiziano. Florence, 1977: 39.
Perocco, Guido. “Tiziano e alcuni committenti a Venezia.” In Tiziano nel quarto centenario della sua morte, 1576-1976. Venice, 1977: 70-71.
Perocco, Guido. “Tiziano e il mondo politico e sociale di Venezia.” In Tiziano Vecellio. Convegno indetto nel IV centenario dell’artista (1976). Rome, 1977: 51-52.
1978
Finlay, Robert. “Politics and the Family in Renaissance Venice: the Election of Doge Andrea Gritti.” Studi Veneziani N.S. 2 (1978): 106.
1979
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:488-490; 2:pl. 346, 346A,B.
Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 39, pl. 23.
1980
Fasolo, Ugo. Titian. Florence, 1980: 41-42.
Gilbert, Creighton. “Some Findings on Early Works of Titian.” The Art Bulletin 62 (1980): 75.
Meller, Peter. “Il lessico ritrattistico di Tiziano.” In Tiziano e Venezia: Convegno internazionale di studi (1976). Vicenza, 1980: 328-329.
1981
Hale, J. R. “Andrea Gritti.” In A Concise Encyclopaedia of the Italian Renaissance. Edited by J. R. Hale. New York, 1981: 164.
1982
Alsop, Joseph. The Rare Art Traditions: The History of Art Collecting and Its Linked Phenomena Wherever These Have Appeared. Bollingen series 35, no. 27. New York, 1982: 460-461.
1983
Shearman, John. The Early Italian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen. Cambridge, 1983: 263.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 204, no. 246, color repro.
Puppi, Lionello. “Iconografia di Andrea Gritti.” In “Renovatio Urbis”: Venezia nell’età di Andrea Gritti, 1523-1538. Edited by Manfredo Tafuri. Rome, 1984: 218-220.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 398, repro.
1987
Puppi, Lionello. “La consegna dell’anello al Doge. Anatomia di un dipinto.” In Paris Bordon e il suo tempo: Atti del convegno internazionale di studi (1985). Treviso, 1987: 102-103.
1989
Haskell, Francis. “Charles I’s Collection of Pictures.” In The Late King’s Goods. Collections, Possessions and Patronage of Charles I in the Light of the Commonwealth Sale Inventories. Edited by Arthur MacGregor. London and Oxford, 1989: 204.
1990
Titian, Prince of Painters. Exh. cat. Palazzo Ducale, Venice; National Gallery of Art, Washington. Venice, 1990: 252-254.
1992
Ost, Hans. Tizian-Studien. Cologne, 1992: 88-96.
1993
Echols, Robert. "Titian's Venetian Soffitti: Sources and Transformations." Studies in the History of Art 45 (1993):20.
Weber, Annette. Venezianische Dogenporträts des 16. Jahrhunderts. Sigmaringen, 1993: 62-67.
1996
Howard, Deborah. “Andrea Gritti.” In The Dictionary of Art. Edited by Jane Turner. 34 vols. New York and London, 1996: 13:678.
1997
Puppi, Lionello. “Dal mito allo stato. Nota sull’illustrazione pittorica di una tarda integrazione dell’agiografia marciana.” In Venezia da Stato a Mito. Exh. cat. Fondazione Giorgio Cini. Venice, 1997: 68.
1998
Kaminsky, Marion. Titian. Cologne, 1998: 90.
Martin, Thomas. Alessandro Vittoria and the Portrait Bust in Renaissance Venice. Oxford, 1998: 79.
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):1103.
Cole, Bruce. Titian and Venetian Painting, 1450-1590. Boulder, 1999: 133-136.
Valcanover, Francesco. Tiziano: I suoi pennelli sempre partorirono espressioni di vita. Florence, 1999: 43, 267.
2000
Kirsh, Andrea, and Rustin S. Levenson. Seeing Through Paintings: Physical Examination in Art Historical Studies. Materials and Meaning in the Fine Arts 1. New Haven, 2000: 121-122, 262, fig. 112, color fig. 113.
Finlay, Robert. “Fabius Maximus in Venice: Doge Andrea Gritti, the War of Cambrai, and the Rise of Habsburg Hegemony, 1509-1530.” Renaissance Quarterly 53 (2000): 988.
2001
Pedrocco, Filippo. Titian: The Complete Paintings. New York, 2001: 50, 189.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 104-105, no. 79, color repro.
Humfrey, Peter, et al. The Age of Titian: Venetian Renaissance Art from Scottish Collections. Edited by Aidan Weston-Lewis. Exh. cat. Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 2004: 128-129.
2007
Humfrey, Peter. Titian: The Complete Paintings. Ghent and New York, 2007: 210.
Ferino-Pagden, Sylvia, ed. Der späte Tizian und die Sinnlichkeit der Malerei. Exh. cat. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice. Vienna, 2007: no. I.7, 179-183, 471-473, repro. (not in the exhibition).
Ferino-Pagden, Sylvia. Late Titian and the Sensuality of Painting. Exh. cat. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice. Vienna, 2007: no. 1.4, 155-159, repro. (not in exhibition).
2008
Penny, Nicholas. National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, Vol. 2: Venice 1540-1600. London, 2008: 211.
2010
Cranston, Jodi. The Muddied Mirror: Materiality and Figuration in Titian’s Later Paintings. University Park, PA, 2010: 93-95.
Overdick, Michael. Tizian: Die späten Porträts 1545-1568. Düsseldorf, 2010: 5-10, 59-61.
2011
Biferali, Frabrizio. Tiziano: Il genio e il potere. Rome, 2011: 86-87.
2012
Gentili, Augusto. Tiziano. Milan, 2012: 311, 313.
2013
Nichols, Tom. Titian and the End of the Venetian Renaissance. London, 2013: 112-115.
Dunkerton, Jill, Jennifer Fletcher, and Paul Joannides. “A Portrait of Girolamo Fracastoro by Titian in the National Gallery.” The Burlington Magazine 155 (2013): 15 n. 74.
2018
Krischel, Roland, ed. Tintoret: naissance d'un génie. Exh. cat. Musée du Luxembourg, Paris; Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne. Paris, 2018: 26 fig. 3 (not in exhibition).
Inscriptions
upper left, in black paint: ANDREAS GRITI DOGE / DI VENETIA; center right, in gold leaf: TITIANVS E. F. (Titian, Knight, made it); reverse, on paper: Bought for His Majesty in Italy, 1626.[1]
Wikidata ID
Q20176414