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CATALOGUE ENTRY

Portrait of Andrea de’ Franceschi

about 1550
Workshop of Titian
Italian, about 1488–1576
oil on canvas
34-3/16 × 26-7/8 in.
(86.8 × 68.2 cm)
The Clowes Collection
2016.166
SEE TECHNICAL EXAMINATION REPORT

Marks, Inscriptions, and Distinguishing Features

None

Entry

This portrait depicts Andrea de' Franceschi (11 January 1473–13 January 1552), the grand chancellor of Venice.1 The painting is attributed to the workshop of Titian, or Tiziano Vecellio (1488/90–1576), a giant among sixteenth-century Italian artists.2 Here, De' Franceschi is portrayed at about 80 years of age, his keen intelligence and his perceptive gaze appear undiminished by time, and the letter that he holds alludes to his long career in diplomacy. De' Franceschi is shown wearing his official crimson robe that is representative of the highest state office available to one of his social rank, the cittadini, or Venetian bourgeoisie.3 From that position he led the Chancery of Secretaries, a select group of civil servants responsible for maintaining state records and state secrets.4

At an early age, Andrea de' Franceschi would have been enrolled in a special Chancery school that taught Latin, Greek, humanist script, and cipher.5 In 1492, as a young secretary, he was included on a diplomatic mission to the Hungarian court of Emperor Frederick III (1415–1493), whose journey over the mountainous Brenner Pass and across the Tyrol he recorded.6 On returning to Venice, De' Franceschi steadily advanced through the Chancery’s secretarial ranks.7 In 1500, he was elected to a junior position, followed, in 1503, by promotion to the post of secretary to the Consiglio dei Pregadi (Senate). Meanwhile, he continued to accompany envoys and was deployed throughout the Italian Peninsula and across the Mediterranean. In 1519, he was elected secretary to the Council of Ten, the body tasked with the security of the Republic. Finally, in 1529, he was elected grand chancellor, and a few years later his portrait was executed by Titian. Datable some 20 years later is the Clowes portrait, which presents a stately Andrea de' Franceschi in his crimson robe of office. The garment is cut with “ducal” or long, open sleeves—a detail reserved for only the most elite Venetians8—and they are lined with fur.9 The half-length format gives immediacy to the nearly life-sized figure, who stands in a three-quarter pose. This simple arrangement, set against a muted background, encourages the viewer to focus on the sitter’s level gaze.

The varied application of paint and brushstrokes builds forms describing draped velvet, luxurious fur, and silken hair. This manipulation of color, known as colorito (coloring), was a feature of sixteenth-century Venetian painting,10 while in central Italy, and especially Florence, leading artists such as Michelangelo (1475–1564) gave primacy to disegno (drawing or design).11 Thus, the biographer Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), a Florentine, criticized Titian for his lack of disegno, whereas the Venetian critic Lodovico Dolce (1508–1568) exalted the artist, writing, “And certainly colouring is so important and compelling that, when the painter produces a good imitation of the tones and softness of flesh, and the rightful characteristics of any object there may be, he makes his paintings seem alive."12 And so it is rendered in this Clowes portrait.

Among the known portraits of De' Franceschi, the earliest is Titian’s autograph work in the Detroit Institute of Arts from about 1532 (fig. 1).13 A similar composition is in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (fig. 2),14 however, handling in that version is comparatively coarse, and the most recently published attributions suggest it is by Titian’s workshop or a later copy.15 De' Franceschi is also included in a group portrait, attributed to an artist working after Titian, known as Titian and His Friends of about 1550–1560 (London, Royal Collection Trust).16 That painting is a compilation of likenesses that are derived from the Detroit portrait and two others by Titian: his Self-Portrait, of about 1550–1562 (Berlin, Gemäldegalerie), and the Portrait of a Friend of Titian, of about 1550 (Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco).17 That these three men were depicted together implies a shared friendship. In any case, the commission of more than one portrait would not have been unusual for a prominent patron such as De' Franceschi.18 In fact, De' Franceschi’s testament, written in 1535, states that he owned at least two portraits that Titian had painted of him, and in 1648, Titian’s biographer Carlo Ridolfi (1594–1658) reported seeing a portrait of the grand chancellor on view in a Venetian palace.19 These accounts are too cursory to indicate a specific painting, but the Detroit version is a reasonable candidate for the portrait that Ridolfi mentions.

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Figure 1: Titian (Italian, about 1488–1576), Andrea dei Franceschi, about 1532, oil on canvas, 31-1/4 × 25 in. Detroit Institute of Arts, Bequest of Mr. and Mrs. Edgar B. Whitcomb, 53.362.
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Figure 2: After Titian, Andrea dei Franceschi, late 16th or early 17th century, oil on canvas, 25-1/2 x 19-15/16 in. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.35.

Together, the Detroit and Clowes portraits document the beginning and end of De' Franceschi’s unusually long, 20-year tenure as grand chancellor. In noting the general similarities of the two paintings, Mark Roskill wrote, “the face-mask and turn of the head correspond closely here, particularly with the Detroit version, and this suggests an attribution to the studio of Titian."20 Later, Harold Wethey, the author of the most comprehensive catalogue on the artist’s oeuvre to date, reassigned it to the Venetian School, with the assertion: “This mechanical portrait surely has no suggestion of Titian’s hand."21 It is true that the Detroit and Clowes paintings are alike in composition and size, but the Clowes version is not a slavish reproduction.22 Consider the differences in the positioning of the torsos and hands. These are inspired alterations that seem to go beyond mere copying (fig. 3).23 Underdrawing visible in the infrared reflectogram of the Clowes portrait indicates that a carbon-based, liquid medium was used at the planning stage to outline the general form around the head and shoulders. A bold line in the area of the hand that was applied only after the painting process had begun implies a later adjustment. Both infrared and X-ray imaging provide evidence of improvised adjustments to the bulk of the proper right sleeve. In addressing the complexities associated with replicas, recent scholarship prudently cautions against the oversimplification of the practices used by Titian and his workshop.24 That this versatile artist did not repeat himself or produce replicas is misleading. A recent example is revealed by analysis of the portrait of Daniele Barbaro of 1545 (Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada) (fig. 4), which, after extensive study, is now understood as a working version that Titian painted more or less at the same time as that of the Prado version. It is not simply a prototype; it reveals aspects of Titian’s planning process as he refined the composition (fig. 5).25

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Figure 3: Tracing of the Detroit Institute of Arts' portrait of Franceschi superimposed over the Clowes portrait by Fiona Beckett, former Clowes conservator of paintings.
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Figure 4: Titian (Italian, about 1488–1576), Daniele Barbaro, 1545, oil on canvas, 33-13/16 x 28-3/16 in. National Gallery of Canada, Purchased 1928, 3567.
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Figure 5: Titian (Italian, about 1488–1576), Daniele Barbaro, Patriarch of Aquileia, about 1545, oil on canvas, 31-13/16 × 27-1/8 in. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, P00414.

Titian produced more portraits than any other genre, and throughout the 1520s–1530s his reputation as a fashionable artist within Venice developed into one of international fame. During this period, he increasingly worked for non-Venetians, garnering rates that nearly priced him out of the local art market.26 His illustrious patrons included Federico II Gonzaga (1500–1540), the Duke of Mantua, through whom he was introduced to Emperor Charles V (1500–1558) and, later, the emperor’s son Philip II of Spain (1527–1598). He also worked for Francesco Maria della Rovere (1490–1538), the Duke of Urbino, and, in Rome, for the Farnese Pope Paul III (1468–1549). In Venice, he continued to produce work for the Ducal Palace and for those who could afford to patronize him.

But in addition to his work for powerful rulers, he also painted for his friends, who are assumed to have included De' Franceschi. The basis for this claim appears to originate with Titian’s biographer. Ridolfi tells us that Andrea de' Franceschi was “amorevolissimo del pittore” (very dear to the painter).27 However, no support for this claim, such as that cited of the close friendship between Titian and the famous literatus Pietro Aretino (1492–1556), exists.28 Ridolfi made his statement in connection with De' Franceschi’s supposed depiction in Titian’s Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple, of about 1534–1538 (Venice, Gallerie dell’Accademia), an identification that has since been refuted.29 Certainly de' Franceschi knew the artist, as is evident by his various portraits, but the depth of their relationship is not clear. It is plausible that an accord between the two may have arisen during Titian’s application for a sanseria (a special privilege) that was awarded by the Council of Ten in 1523.30 It is not known whether De' Franceschi facilitated this outcome, but given his position, he certainly had access to this information. At the time, Titian’s star was on the rise, and it is conceivable that De' Franceschi recognized the artist’s ambition and shrewdly seized the opportunity for a portrait commission. Furthermore, Titian was known to have worked in exchange for favors among his network of associates.31 Consider, too, De' Franceschi’s own aspirations. Not only did he have social standing as a cittadino originario, he was also a very competent administrator and, importantly, possessed the financial means to facilitate his assent through the ranks.32 At the very least, theirs was an accord between a leading artist and an affluent patron.

G.H.A. Clowes secured written expertises from the Italian Renaissance scholars Georg Gronau and Giuseppe Fiocco in 1928, and from Evelyn Sandberg Vavalà in 1935. Gronau and Fiocco dated the portrait to about 1550, whereas Sandberg Vavalà more broadly ascribed it to 1540–1550.33 The art historian William Suida later noted the corresponding detail of the hand in the similarly dated portrait of Philip II in armor in the Prado.34 Indeed, their form is comparable, as is also the hand depicted in the workshop Portrait of Marcantonio Trevisan, Doge of Venice, of about 1553–1554 (Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts) (figs. 6 and 7).35 In 1957, Bernard Berenson expressed doubt about the authorship, attributing it to Titian with a question mark, but it seems that he knew the Clowes portrait probably through a photograph.36 In 1965, Francesco Valcanover also doubted the attribution; Rodolfo Pallucchini listed it in 1969 as by a follower of Titian; Terisio Pignatti catalogued it in 1981 as a variant of the Detroit painting, and it is was excluded from the catalogues by Filippo Pedrocco and Peter Humfrey, in 2001 and 2007 respectively.37

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Figure 6: Titian (Italian, about 1488–1576), Philip II, 1551, oil on canvas, 76 × 44 in. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, P00411.
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Figure 7: Titian (Italian, about 1488–1576), Portrait of Marcantonio Trevisan, Doge of Venice, about 1553–1554, oil on canvas, 39-5/16 × 34 in. Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, 4223.

The portrait has survived in relatively good condition with losses generally restricted to areas of the background, the garment, and along the bottom of the canvas. (For a full report of the painting’s treatment history see the Technical Examination Report that accompanies this essay.) According to records, the conservator William Suhr treated the painting on three separate occasions.38 The first was in 1935, shortly after the acquisition, of which Dr. Clowes wrote to inform Grassi that “Mr. Suhr has been very successful in cleaning the picture. …the general effect is immeasurably finer than it was before being cleaned.” 39 In response, Grassi wrote, “I was also interested and quite amazed hearing of the retouches on the hand—which I recall your considering swollen."40 The painting was returned to Suhr again, in 1955, for a second treatment that included cleaning. Comparative analysis between the photograph dated to about 1928 and those photographs taken both before and after the 1955 cleaning are informative of the changes that were made (figs. 8 and 9).41 These illustrate the marked improvement to the area of the hand mentioned by Dr. Clowes, above. Another notable difference is that the letter held by De' Franceschi no longer extends below his hand. The later photograph also reveals scattered paint losses over much of the painting (also see the X-ray). Suhr’s third treatment, of 1960, was intended to address “a weakness in the bond between the support, in this case canvas, the ground and the paint film, which causes the flaking losses which has plagued us twice before. Fortunately, these blemishes are restricted to the garment. I will have to take off the varnish, fasten all loose paint, and attenuate the few losses, and then re-varnish the painting."42 These findings do not contradict Wethey’s later observation that the painting was “considerably restored,” but they are important in providing a more accurate account of its condition over time.43

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Figure 8: Workshop of Titian, Portrait of Andrea de’ Franceschi, as found in the William Suhr Papers, GRI, The Getty, depicting the painting before cleaning
Figure 9: Workshop of Titian, Portrait of Andrea de’ Franceschi, as found in the William Suhr Papers, GRI, The Getty, depicting the painting after cleaning.

Recent technical examination of the Clowes portrait has included materials analysis and scientific imaging.44 Cross-sections prepared from paint samples taken from the edges of existing areas of loss located at the proper left eye and hand indicate the thinner application of paint in both areas (fig. 10). This corresponds with the finer handling of the head, which has been finished to a higher degree and is notable for its remarkably preserved state. The facial features are distinctly modeled—hollows of the eyes, sunken cheeks, and the length of nose—and framed by the sitter’s hair and beard, strands of which remain delineated by fine brushstrokes. In contrast, the sample taken from the area of the robe reveals a rich and vibrant layering of paint and glazes accomplished through the judicious application of color (fig. 11). The brushstrokes used to build up the garment are loose and free, whereas the fur lining—executed with a dry brush—is white lead paint dragged along the seam and finished in quick, staccato-like strokes suggesting a downy texture. The muted background is a broadly applied copper-resinate pigment. This palette is representative of pigments used in the sixteenth century and available through Venice’s renowned vendicolori (specialist pigment sellers).45 The materials and techniques used here are consistent with Titian and his workshop practices.46 These results, which neither prove nor disprove the attribution of this portrait, provide important information that adds to our understanding of this painting and the methods used in its execution.

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Figure 10: Cross-section sample from the area of the eye. Workshop of Titian, Portrait of Andrea de’ Franceschi, about 1550, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, The Clowes Collection, 2016.166.
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Figure 11: Cross-section sample from the area of the robe. Workshop of Titian, Portrait of Andrea de’ Franceschi, about 1550, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, The Clowes Collection, 2016.166.

The Clowes Portrait of Andrea de’ Franceschi is a frank portrayal, and one that was very likely commissioned by De' Franceschi himself. It is known from his testament that he intended to bequeath two of his earlier portraits to a nephew, and the Clowes version demonstrates the continued interest in his commemoration.47 The high degree of finish given to the painting and its scale imply that it was hung at an accessible level to the viewer. It may have been installed in conjunction with his other likenesses, forming a type of picture gallery. Space within the Venetian home of that period was permeable, with rooms that, today, we might consider private, then also functioned as public areas; thus, the home of a civil servant necessarily straddled both the domestic and civic realms. Within this context, the display of portraiture such as the Clowes painting was intended to impress a varied audience.

Focusing on this image of the grand chancellor, we can note the change from his earlier portrait. Gone is the distant stare of a newly elected official; his familiar face is now animated as his eyes engage the viewer. The reference back to the Detroit version may be intentional. There, De' Franceschi is depicted proffering a freshly creased document, its seal broken.48 Given the date of that portrait, it is possible that the letter he holds announces his election to the post of grand chancellor. Years later, in the Clowes portrait, De' Franceschi is again shown with a letter, and this time he holds it tightly. There is no seal, and the somewhat ruffled edges suggest that the document has been read and refolded often. Do the portraits depict the same document, symbolically referring to his longevity in office? Alas, any inscription that it once bore has long since abraded beyond legibility, so one can only speculate.49

Author

Rebecca Norris

Provenance

Angela Rossati Bono, Venice, probably by decent within the family of the sitter;50

(Arturo Grassi, Florence and New York);51

G.H. A. Clowes, Indianapolis, in 1935;

The Clowes Fund, Indianapolis, 1958–2016, and on long-term loan to the Indianapolis Museum of Art since 1971 (C10074);

Given to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, now the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, in 2016.

Exhibitions

John Herron Art Museum, Indianapolis, 1959, Paintings from the Collection of George Henry Alexander Clowes: A Memorial Exhibition, no. 55, as Titian;

The Art Gallery, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 1962, A Lenten Exhibition, no. 47, as Titian;

Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, 1965, Italian and Spanish Paintings from the Clowes Collection, no. 20, as Titian;

Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, 2019, Life and Legacy: Portraits from the Clowes Collection, as Workshop of Titian.

References

Catalogue of the Paintings and Sculpture given by Edgar B. Whitcomb and Anna Scripps Whitcomb to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts, 1954), 107;

William Suida, “Miscellanea Tizianesca—Part II,” Arte Veneta 10 (1956): 76 [71–81], fig. 74. (reproduced);

Bernard Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Venetian School (New York: Phaidon Press, 1957), 1:186;

Paintings from the Collection of George Henry Alexander Clowes: A Memorial Exhibition, exh. cat. (Indianapolis: John Herron Art Museum, 1959), no. 55 (reproduced);

Francesco Valcanover, Tutta la pittura di Tiziano (Milan: Rizzoli, 1960), 2:66, no. 155B (reproduced);

A Lenten Exhibition, exh. cat. (Notre Dame, IN: The Art Gallery, University of Notre Dame, 1962), no. 47;

Italian and Spanish Paintings from the Clowes Collection, exh. cat. (Bloomington: Indiana University Art Museum, 1965), no. 20;

Francesco Valcanover, All the Paintings of Titian, trans. Sylvia J. Tomalin, part 4 (New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1965), 98, no. 155b (reproduced);

Mark Roskill, “Clowes Collection Catalogue” (unpublished typed manuscript, IMA Clowes Archive, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, 1968);

Rodolfo Pallucchini, Tiziano, 2 vols. (Florence: G. C. Sansoni, 1969), 1:223 and 348; 2: fig. 672 (reproduced);

Francesco Valcanover, L’opera completa di Tiziano (Milan: Rizzoli, 1969), 107, no. 157 (reproduced);

Harold E. Wethey, The Paintings of Titian (London: Phaidon Press, 1971), 2:164, no. X-39, pl. 253 (reproduced);

A. Ian Fraser, A Catalogue of the Clowes Collection (Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1973), 26 (reproduced);

Fern Rusk Shapley, Catalogue of the Italian Paintings (Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1979), 1:508;

Terisio Pignatti, Titian, ed. David Piper, trans. Judith Landry (New York: Rizzoli, 1981), 2:78, no. 574 (reproduced); John Shearman, The Early Italian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 270;

Filippo Pedrocco, Titian (New York: Rizzoli, 2001), 152;

Deborah Howard, “Titian’s Portraits of Grand Chancellor Andrea de' Franceschi,” Artibus et Historiae 37, no. 74 (2016): 146 [139–151], fig. 8 (reproduced).

Technical Notes and Condition

Cusping along all four edges indicates that the canvas is close to its original size. From damage visible in the X-ray there is evidence to suggest that, at one point, it was resized to fit a smaller stretcher. This is evident from lines along all four sides of the canvas (consistent with loss of ground and paint) that indicate a folding edge. This was later reincorporated into the current composition, so that the painting is now closer to its original size. The original plain-weave canvas has been glue lined with a more thickly woven lining canvas. Infrared reflectography reveals evidence of underdrawing used to sketch the general form of the sitter in areas around the head, robe, and hand. The paint is medium thickness and loosely applied with broad brushstrokes, with the exception of the areas of the face and hand that show a finer handling. There is filling and retouching in areas of previous damage and loss primarily in the sitter’s hand, robe, and background. The writing on the letter is abraded beyond legibility. The painting is in stable condition. Past conservation treatments include removal of overpainting and discolored varnish, stabilization of flaking, inpainting, and varnishing.

Notes

  1. I am thankful to Professor Deborah Howard and Dr. Carlo Corsato for their perceptive comments on an earlier version of this essay. I am also grateful to Professor Peter Humfrey for his generous advice. During the final stages of this essay’s preparation, I benefited greatly from the expertise and practical assistance of Professor Paul Joannides.

    Sergio Zamperetti, “Andrea de' Franceschi,” in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 36 (Rome, 1988): 24–26. Thomas Weigel, “Begräbniszeremoniell und Grabmäler venezianischer Grosskanzler des 16 Jahrhunderts,” in Praemium Virtutis: Grabmonumente und Begräbniszeremoniell im Zeichen des Humanismus, ed. Joachim Poeschke, Britta Kusch, and Thomas Weigel (Münster: Rhema, 2002), 147–173, especially 148 and 165–67. An eighteenth-century print identifies the sitter as De' Franceschi. On this identification, see Deborah Howard, “Titian’s Portraits of Grand Chancellor Andrea de' Franceschi,” Artibus et Historiae 37, no. 74 (2016): 139–151, especially 143. ↩︎

  2. Harold E. Wethey, The Paintings of Titian: Complete Edition (London: Phaidon Press, 1971), 2:164, cat. no. X-39, pl. 253. Harold Wethey’s three-volume (1969–1975) catalogue raisonné remains the most thorough treatment of the Titian’s oeuvre. Other catalogues include Rodolfo Pallucchini, Tiziano, 2 vols. (Florence: G.C. Sansoni, 1969); Francesco Valcanover, L’opera completa di Tiziano (Milan: Rizzoli, 1969); Terisio Pignatti, Titian, ed. David Piper, trans. Judith Landry (New York: Rizzoli, 1981); Filippo Pedrocco, Titian (New York: Rizzoli, 2001); and Peter Humfrey, Titian: The Complete Paintings (Ghent: Ludion, 2007). ↩︎

  3. As a sign of rank, the grand chancellor wore a robe of deep red or purple (paonazo). Within the hierarchy of the Chancery, the wearing of crimson (the most lavish red) was followed by scarlet, worn by the secretaries of the Council of Ten. Stella Mary Newton, The Dress of the Venetians, 1495–1525 (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1988), 23–24. Venetian politics were as distinctive as its lagunar environment. On Venetian history, see David Rosand, Myths of Venice: The Figuration of a State (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007). In the sixteenth century, Venice’s social hierarchy broadly consisted of three main divisions: 4.5% nobles (patriciate), 5.3% citizenry (e.g., merchants, lawyers, doctors, and civil servants), and 90% general population (e.g., artisans, laborers, servants, and slaves). This abbreviated outline serves to underscore De' Franceschi’s elite standing within Venice’s incredibly complex social matrix. On this hierarchy, see Stanley Chojnacki, “Social Identity in Renaissance Venice: The Second Serrata,” Renaissance Studies 8, no. 4 (1994): 341–358, and Gerhard Rösch, “The Serrata of the Great Council and Venetian Society, 1286–1323,” in Venice Reconsidered: The History and Civilization of an Italian City-State, 1297–1797, ed. John Martin and Dennis Romano (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000), 67–88. Specifically, De' Franceschi was a cittadino originario, or “original” citizen. David Chambers, Jennifer Fletcher, and Brian Pullan, Venice: A Documentary History 1450–1630 (Toronto, Buffalo, and London: University of Toronto Press, 2001), 276–278. ↩︎

  4. On the Chancery, see David Chambers, Jennifer Fletcher, and Brian Pullan, Venice: A Documentary History 1450–1630 (Toronto, Buffalo, and London: University of Toronto Press, 2001), 59–61. On the College of Secretaries, see Margaret L. King, Venetian Humanism in an Age of Patrician Dominance (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1986), 76–79. ↩︎

  5. Felix Gilbert, “The Last Will of a Venetian Grand Chancellor,” in Philosophy and Humanism: Renaissance Essays in Honor of Paul Oskar Kristeller, ed. E.P. Mahoney (Leiden: Brill, 1976), 502–17, on 516. Also see Deborah Howard, “Contextualising Titian's ‘Sacred and Profane Love’: The Cultural World of the Venetian Chancery in the Early Sixteenth Century,” Artibus et Historiae 34, no. 67 (2013): 186. ↩︎

  6. Andrea de' Franceschi, Itinerario di Germania delli Magnifici Ambasciatori Veneti m. Giorgio Contarini, Conte di Zapho, e m. Paolo Pisani alli Serenissimi Federico III Imperatore et Maximiliano, suo fiolo, Re dei Romani, ed. E. Simonsfeld, in Miscellanea di storia veneta 9 (1903): 277–345. ↩︎

  7. On De' Franceschi’s career, see Sergio Zamperetti, “Andrea de' Franceschi,” in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 36 (Rome, 1988), 24–26. ↩︎

  8. Stella Mary Newton, The Dress of the Venetians, 1495–1525 (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1988), 23–24. On sumptuary laws and fashion, see Jane Bridgeman, “‘Pagare le Pompe’: Why Quattrocento Sumptuary Laws Did Not Work,” in Women in Italian Renaissance Culture and Society, ed. Letizia Panizza (Oxford: Legenda, 2000), 207–226. ↩︎

  9. Types of fur used to line Venetian garments include marten, sheared lamb, wolf, squirrel, and miniver. Stella Mary Newton, The Dress of the Venetians, 1495–1525 (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1988), 11. ↩︎

  10. Paul Hills, Venetian Colour: Marble, Mosaic, Painting, and Glass, 1250–1550 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999). ↩︎

  11. For a general discussion of the debate, or paragone, between design and color, see Claire Pace, “Disegno e Colore,” in The Dictionary of Art, vol. 9 (New York: Grove, 1996), 6–7. ↩︎

  12. “E certo il colorito è di tanta importanza e forza, che quando il pittore va imitando bene le tinte e la morbidezza delle carni, e la proprietà di qualunque cosa, fa parer le sue pitture vive….” Lodovico Dolce, Dialogo della pittura (Venice: Gabriele Giolito, 1557), 216, as quoted in Claire Pace, “Disegno e Colore,” in The Dictionary of Art, vol. 9 (New York: Grove, 1996), 7. ↩︎

  13. Harold E. Wethey, The Paintings of Titian: Complete Edition (London: Phaidon Press, 1971), 2:100–101, cat. no. 34, pl. 63. John Shearman, The Early Italian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 270. Portrait information given here is taken from the website of the holding institution. Detroit Institute of Arts, “Titian, Andrea dei Franceschi, ca. 1532 (53.362),” accessed 17 May 2022, https://www.dia.org/art/collection/object/andrea-dei-franceschi-63579. Also see Peter Humfrey, Titian: The Complete Paintings (Ghent: Ludion, 2007), 149, cat. no. 99. ↩︎

  14. Many thanks to David Essex, curatorial assistant, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, and Anne Halpern, Department of Curatorial Records, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, for facilitating access to this painting and its documents on 31 August 2017. Harold E. Wethey, The Paintings of Titian: Complete Edition (London: Phaidon Press, 1971), 2:100–101, cat. no. 35, pl. 61. Portrait information given here is taken from the website of the holding institution. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, “Andrea dei Franceschi, late 16th or early 17th century (1937.1.35),” accessed 17 May 2022, https://purl.org/nga/collection/artobject/42. In this portrait, the robe is scarlet red, a hue associated with the secretaries of the Council of Ten, but they were also known to have worn black. Email communication between Rebecca Norris and Jola Pellumbi, 22 July 2017. Also see Jola Pellumbi, “Revealing and Concealing: Official Male Dress in Early Modern Venice, 1520–1610,” PhD thesis, King’s College University, London, 2017. ↩︎

  15. Most recently on this painting see Peter Humfrey, “Anonymous Artist, Titian/Andrea de' Franceschi/late 16th or early 17th century,” Italian Paintings of the Sixteenth Century, NGA Online Editions, accessed 14 January 2021, https://purl.org/nga/collection/artobject/42. ↩︎

  16. My thanks to Lucy Whitaker, senior curator of paintings of the Royal Collection Trust, for granting access to the painting on 29 June 2017. Portrait information given here is taken from the website of the holding institution. Royal Collection Trust, “After Titian, Titian and His Friends, 1550–1560 (RCIN 402841),” accessed 17 May 2022, https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/themes/exhibitions/portrait-of-the-artist/the-queens-gallery-buckingham-palace/titian-and-his-friends. On this portrait, also see Deborah Howard, “Titian’s Portraits of Grand Chancellor Andrea de' Franceschi,” Artibus et Historiae 37, no. 74 (2016): 139–151. ↩︎

  17. On the Berlin and San Francisco portraits, the information given here is taken from the websites of their respective holding institutions. Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, “Tiziano, Self-Portrait (163),” accessed 17 May 2022, http://www.smb-digital.de/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&objectId=872023&viewType=detailView. Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, “Titian, Portrait of a Friend of Titian (Marco Mantova Benavides), about 1550 (61.44.17),” accessed 17 May 2022, https://art.famsf.org/tiziano-vecellio-titian/portrait-friend-titian-marco-mantova-benavides-614417. On the identity of the sitter and interpretation of the inscribed letter in the San Francisco portrait, see Charles Davis, “Titian, ‘A singular friend,'” in Kunst und Humanismus: Festschrift für Gosbert Schüßler zum 60. Geburtstag, ed. Wolfgang Augustyn and Eckhard Leuschner (Passau: Dietmar Klinger Verlag, 2007), 261–301. ↩︎

  18. Deborah Howard, “Titian’s Portraits of Grand Chancellor Andrea de’ Franceschi,"Artibus et Historiae 37, no. 74 (2016): 139–151. On patronage and members of the Chancery, see Deborah Howard, “Contextualising Titian's ‘Sacred and Profane Love’: The Cultural World of the Venetian Chancery in the Early Sixteenth Century,” Artibus Et Historiae 34, no. 67 (2013): 187. For comparative studies on citizenry patronage, see Blake de Maria, Becoming Venetian: Immigrants and the Arts in Early Modern Venice (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010), and Monika Schmitter, “‘Virtuous Riches’: The Bricolage of Cittadini Identities in Early Sixteenth-Century Venice,” Renaissance Quarterly 57, no. 3 (Autumn, 2004): 908–969. ↩︎

  19. “…il retratto mio secundo facto de mano de Ticiano…. Item il mio primo ritracto depento da mano de Tician.” Testament dated 1 March 1535 transcribed in Michel Hochmann, Peintres et Commanditaires à Venise 1540–1628 (Rome: École Française de Rome, 1992), 357–358. Ridolfi states, “il quello del Gran Cancellier Franceschi.” He claimed to have seen the portrait in the Palazzo Widmann (also spelled Widman, Vidmani, and Vidiman). Carlo Ridolfi, Le maraviglie dell’arte: Ovvero Le vite degli illustri pittori veneti e dello stato, ed. Detlev Freiherrn von Hadeln (Berlin: G. Grote, 1914), 1:201. For a transcription of the inventory of paintings in the Palazzo Widmann mentioning the portrait of the grand chancellor by Titian, see Fabrizio Magani, Il Collezionismo e la committenza artistica della famiglia Widmann, patrizia veneziani, dal seicento all’ottocento (Venice: Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, 1989) 33–42, especially 34 and 42. In tracking the provenance, it is not clear if the Widmanns were descendants of De' Franceschi. Franz Schroeder, Repertorio genealogico delle famiglie confermate nobili e dei titolati nobili esistenti nelle provincie venete (Venice: Alvisopoli, 1830), 372–373. ↩︎

  20. Mark Roskill, “Clowes Collection Catalogue” (unpublished typed manuscript, IMA Clowes archive, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, 1968). ↩︎

  21. Harold E. Wethey, The Paintings of Titian (London: Phaidon, 1971), 2:164, cat. no. X-39. Wethey was in correspondence with the Clowes and had visited the Clowes Collection while researching his earlier book, El Greco and His School (1962), and it follows that he would also have had access to the Portrait of Andrea de’ Franceschi. Letter from George H.A. Clowes to Harold Wethey, 18 November 1957, Correspondence Files, Clowes Registration Archive, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. ↩︎

  22. I am grateful to Eve Straussman-Pflanzer, Elizabeth and Allan Shelden Curator of European Paintings, and Ellen Hanspach-Bernal, conservator of paintings, at the Detroit Institute of Arts, and also to my colleagues Fiona Beckett, former Clowes conservator of paintings, and Erica Schuler, former Clowes fellow in paintings conservation, for sharing their observations while examining the Portrait of Andrea dei Franceschi (53.362) during our consultation at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Visual examination at the Detroit Institute of Arts, 21 September 2016. ↩︎

  23. Similar analysis using comparative tracings are illustrated in Miguel Falomir, “Titian’s Replicas and Variants,” in Titian, ed. David Jaffé (London: National Gallery, 2003), 60–73. ↩︎

  24. Replication arose in response to the growing demands of artistic patronage and was an established practice in artists' workshops, such as that of the Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini (1431/1436–1516). See Andrea Golden, “Creating and Re-creating: The Practice of Replication in the Workshop of Giovanni Bellini,” in Giovanni Bellini and the Art of Devotion (Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art, 2004), 91–127. Regarding Titian, see Miguel Falomir, “Tiziano: réplicas,” in Tiziano, exh. cat. (Madrid: Museo del Prado, 2003), 77–91, 326–332. Giorgio Tagliaferro, Bernard Aikema, Matteo Mancini, and Andrew John Martin, Le botteghe di Tiziano (Florence: Alinari 24 Ore, 2010). On replicas, see Paul Joannides, “An Attempt to Situate Titian’s Paintings of the Penitent Magdalene in Some Kind of Order,” Artibus et Historiae 37, no. 73 (2016): 157–194; Paul Joannides, “Titian’s Repetitions,” in Titian: Materiality, Likeness, Istoria, ed. Joanna Woods-Marsden (Turnhout: Brepols, 2007), 37–49, on 37–38. Bruce Cole, “Titian and the Idea of Originality in the Renaissance,” in Andrew Ladis, Carolyn Wood, and William U. Eiland, The Craft of Art: Originality and Industry in the Italian Renaissance and Baroque Workshop (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1995), 86–112. Hans Tietze, “An Early Version of Titian’s Danae: An Analysis of Titian’s Replicas,” Arte Venete 8 (1954): 199–208. ↩︎

  25. Portrait information given here is taken from the websites of the holding institutions. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, “Titian, Daniele Barbaro, 1545 (3567),” accessed 17 May 2022, https://www.gallery.ca/collection/artwork/daniele-barbaro. Peter Zimonjic, “Re-claiming Titian,” National Gallery of Canada, 6 December 2012, accessed 17 May 2022, https://www.gallery.ca/magazine/in-the-spotlight/re-claiming-titian. Museo del Prado, “Titian, Daniele Barbaro, Patriarch of Aquileia, about 1545 (P00414),” accessed 17 May 2022, https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/daniele-barbaro-patriarch-of-aquileia/642c4a9c-6894-47a4-a328-abe97b4626f0. Also see Peter Humfrey, Titian: The Complete Paintings (Ghent: Ludion, 2007), 196–197, cat. nos. 141–42; Miguel Falomir, “Tiziano: réplicas,” in Tiziano, exh. cat. (Madrid: Museo del Prado, 2003), 198, cat. no. 25, 373–374. ↩︎

  26. Charles Hope, “Titian’s Life and Times,” in Titian, ed. David Jaffé (London: National Gallery, 2003), 9–28, especially 18–20. ↩︎

  27. Carlo Ridolfi, Le maraviglie dell’arte: Ovvero Le vite degli illustri pittori veneti e dello stato, ed. Detlev Freiherrn von Hadeln (Berlin: G. Grote, 1914), 2:178. ↩︎

  28. There is no specific mention linking De' Franceschi and Titian in contemporary writings by those such as Marino Sanudo (1466–1536), Pietro Aretino, Lodovico Dolce, or Francesco Sansovino (1521–1586). Aretino was an author, playwright, poet, and satirist who had attained considerable wealth and influence, in part through literary flattery and infamous blackmail. He directly contributed to Titian’s celebrity through his widely published letters. Pietro Aretino, Lettere sull’arte di Pietro Aretino, ed. Ettore Camesasca, 3 vols. (Milan, 1557). ↩︎

  29. Carlo Ridolfi, Le maraviglie dell’arte: Ovvero Le vite degli illustri pittori veneti e dello stato, ed. Detlev Freiherrn von Hadeln (Berlin: G. Grote, 1914), 1:154. For the argument against De' Franceschi’s portrayal in the Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple, see David Rosand, “Titian’s Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple and the Scuola della Carità,” The Art Bulletin 58, no. 1 (March, 1976): 55–84, on 76. Also see Bernard Berenson, “While on Tintoretto,” in Festschrift von Max J. Friedländer zum 60. Geburtstage (Leipzig: E. A. Seemann, 1927), 224–243, especially 232; Suida notes, File 2016.166 (C10074), Clowes Registration Archive, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. However, De' Franceschi appears featured in Palma il Giovane’s Pope Alexander III and Doge Ziani Sending Otto to Negotiate Peace with His Father Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, dated to the 1580s (Venice, Ducal Palace). This posthumous inclusion is curious, as is the teal color of his robe. (A variant of paonazzo?) ↩︎

  30. The sanseria was a coveted privilege that provided for an annuity, and it was awarded to the foremost artists of Venice. On this see Charles Hope, “Titian's Role as Official Painter to the Venetian Republic,” in Tiziano e Venezia: Convegno Internazionale di Studi, Venezia 1976 (Vicenza: Neri Pozza, 1980), 301–305. On the sanseria as the possible basis for their friendship, see Deborah Howard’s discussion in “Titian’s Portraits of Grand Chancellor Andrea de' Franceschi,"Artibus et Historiae 37, no. 74 (2016): 147n33. ↩︎

  31. On the mention of favors, see Jennifer Fletcher, “Tiziano retratista,” in Tiziano, exh. cat. (Madrid: Museo del Prado, 2003), 63–75 and 320–326, especially 321. ↩︎

  32. On the cittadino originario, see note 3. Grand chancellors received a relatively substantial salary. De' Franceschi’s wealth is enumerated in his testament, which lists household possessions that reflect a sophisticated range of objects, including silverware with the family coat of arms; books, such as a copy of Homer printed by the famous Aldine Press; various antiquities, including ancient Greek and Roman coins; a marble bust “that was always kept on my table”; and even a harpsichord. These objects personalize the image of a rich and cultured life. Michel Hochmann, Peintres et Commanditaires à Venise 1540–1628 (Rome: École Française de Rome, 1992), 357–358. De' Franceschi’s musical appreciation is documented in his Itinerario. See note 6. ↩︎

  33. The certificates of expertise by George Gronau, Giuseppe Fiocco, and Evelyn Sandberg-Vavalà, are dated respectively 2 August 1928, 20 August 1928, and 1 January 1935, File 2016.166 (C10074), Clowes Registration Archive, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. Such documents are illustrative of early twentieth-century appraisal practices, as well as of perceptions of authority and connoisseurship. The three written for this portrait provide comparative approaches to the practice. ↩︎

  34. Undated notes written by William Suida, File 2016.166 (C10074), Clowes Registration Archive, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. Writing in a later article, Suida maintained his support of the Titian attribution. William Suida, “Miscellanea Tizianesca—Part II,” Arte Veneta 10 (1956): 76–78. ↩︎

  35. Portrait information given here is taken from the websites of the holding institutions. Museo del Prado, “Titian, Philip II, 1551 (P00411),” accessed 17 May 2022, https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/philip-ii/d12e683b-7a51-41db-b7a8-725244206e21. Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, “Portrait of Marcantonio Trevisan, Doge of Venice, ca. 1553–1554 (4223),” accessed 17 May 2022, https://www.szepmuveszeti.hu/mutargyak/marcantonio-trevisan-dozse-kepmasa/. ↩︎

  36. Bernard Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance (Phaidon: New York, 1957), 1: x–xi, 186. That Berenson did not have intimate knowledge of the portrait is indicated by a letter in which Dr. Clowes offered to share with Berenson, via his assistant Dr. Luisa Vertova, information on his collection, including the Portrait of Andrea de’ Franceschi. Letter from G.H.A. Clowes to Luisa Vertova, 24 March 1954, Correspondence Files, Clowes Registration Archive, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. ↩︎

  37. See note 2. ↩︎

  38. Regarding the three treatments by Suhr dated to 1935, 1955, and 1960, see the letters from G.H.A. Clowes to Arturo Grassi, 13 June 1935; Arturo Grassi to G.H.A. Clowes, 27 June 1935; G.H.A. Clowes to William Suhr, 20 October 1955; and William Suhr to Edith Whitehill Clowes, 11 January 1960, File 2016.166 (C10074), Clowes Registration Archive, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. William Suhr Papers, Series 1, Box 79, Special Collections, Getty Research Institute, The J. Paul Getty Trust, http://archives2.getty.edu:8082/xtf/view?docId=ead/870697/870697.xml. Incidentally, Suhr also treated the Detroit portrait. Conservation notes, Detroit Institute of Arts, 21 September 2016. According to Dr. Clowes, at the time of the portrait’s first treatment, Suhr was still working at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Letter from G.H.A. Clowes to E.P. Richardson, 30 March 1950. Evidence exists for two other unconfirmed treatments. One was proposed in a letter from Ludwig Furst to G.H.A. Clowes, 4 January 1949; and another that was initially proposed and then cancelled is mentioned over the course of several letters written between Allen Clowes and the restorer Daniel Goldreyer in the period from 1 February 1962 to 20 July 1962, File 2016.166 (C10074), Clowes Registration Archive, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. According to two letters dated to 1964, Goldreyer was to resume restoration, but there is no documentation to confirm that this work was, in fact, executed. Letter from Daniel Goldreyer to Edith Whitehill Clowes, 21 April 1964, and letter from Daniel Goldreyer to Allen Clowes, 6 May 1964, File 2016.166 (C10074), Clowes Registration Archive, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. ↩︎

  39. Letter from G.H.A. Clowes to Arturo Grassi, 13 June 1935, File 2016.166 (C10074), Clowes Registration Archive, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. ↩︎

  40. Letter from Arturo Grassi to George H.A. Clowes, 27 June 1935, File 2016.166 (C10074), Clowes Registration Archive, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. ↩︎

  41. William Suhr Papers, Series 1, Box 79, Special Collections, Getty Research Institute, The J. Paul Getty Trust. ↩︎

  42. Letter from William Suhr to Edith Whitehill Clowes, 11 January 1960, File 2016.166 (C10074), Clowes Registration Archive, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. That this treatment was executed is indicated by a handwritten note on the letter by Mrs. Clowes: “Jan. 14, 1960 Please proceed with the above—E. W. Clowes.” ↩︎

  43. Harold E. Wethey, The Paintings of Titian (London: Phaidon, 1971), 2:164. Presumably, Wethey was familiar with the portrait through his previous contact with Dr. Clowes. See note 21. ↩︎

  44. I am indebted to my colleague Fiona Beckett, the Clowes Conservator of Paintings, for her expert sampling and material analysis. Many thanks also to Gregory Dale Smith, Otto N. Frenzel III Senior Conservation Scientist of Newfields' Conservation Science Lab, for his assistance with material analysis. Sampling and technical analysis conducted in March 2017, in part, assisted by the author. Results from this analysis were co-presented by Fiona Beckett and Rebecca Norris, “Technical Analysis of the Portrait of Andrea de' Franceschi by Titian’s Workshop,” Midwest Art History Society Conference, Cleveland Museum of Art, 7 April 2017. ↩︎

  45. Louisa C. Matthew, “‘Vendecolori a Venezia’: The Reconstruction of a Profession,” The Burlington Magazine 144, no. 1196 (November 2002): 680–686. ↩︎

  46. For technical analysis on other works by Titian, see Jill Dunkerton et al., “Titian’s Painting Technique before 1540,” National Gallery Technical Bulletin 34 (2013); Jill Dunkerton et al., “Titian’s Painting Technique from 1540,” National Gallery Technical Bulletin 36 (2015); Jill Dunkerton, “Titian’s Painting Technique,” in Titian, ed. David Jaffé (London: National Gallery, 2003), 46–59; and Susanna Biadene and Filippa Maria Aliberti Gaudioso, Titian: Prince of Painters, exh. cat. (Venice: Marsilio, 1990), 377–400. ↩︎

  47. Michel Hochmann, Peintres et Commanditaires à Venise 1540–1628 (Rome: École Française de Rome, 1992), 357–358. ↩︎

  48. The script on the Detroit letter is heavily abraded. John Shearman tentatively read “eas Franceschinus… Ma…A…M.D.L.” John Shearman, The Early Italian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 270. As observed by Peter Humfrey, among others, the purported date, 1550, is too late to coincide with the sitter’s actual age or with developments in Titian’s style. On letter-locking systems, see Jana Dambrogio, https://letterlocking.org/categories, accessed 17 May 2022. Jana Dambrogio, telephone communication with author, 27 March 2017. ↩︎

  49. By about 1928, the letter depicted in the Clowes portrait was no longer legible, as shown by the photograph associated with the certificates of expertise. This is confirmed in a letter from Arturo Grassi to G.H.A. Clowes, 27 June 1935, File 2016.166 (C10074), Clowes Registration Archive, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. ↩︎

  50. Bill of sale, 5 June 1935, in File C10074, Clowes Registration Archive, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. According to Grassi, Angela Rossati Bono was a descendant of the sitter and had inherited the portrait by descent. Grassi’s information was later amended by G.H.A. Clowes, who wrote that the painting had been found in the attic of a Venetian army officer; letter from G.H.A. Clowes to E. P. Richardson, 30 March 1950, in File C10074, Clowes Registration Archive, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. ↩︎

  51. Files relating to this dealer were lost after the death of his father, Luigi Grassi, in 1937. Customs stamps on the back of the painting, from 1928 and 1931 respectively, indicate that this painting may have been on the move prior to its sale to G.H.A. Clowes; see Technical Examination Report. ↩︎