The surprising story of how a masterpiece of portraiture was
discovered to be by Titian.
Titian's portrait of Guidobaldo II with his son Francesco Maria
represents the Duke of Urbino in his full power as supreme commander of
papal troops, with his heir next to him. This rare, full-length double
portrait has only recently been attributed to Titian after undergoing
extensive analyses and restoration, revealing a beautiful painting in
non finito or "not finished" manner, with bravura impasto passages
entirely characteristic of the master, all of which is illustrated and
explained in this new book.
This volume provides the first comprehensive examination of the
painting's provenance, outlining the portrait's vicissitudes and
reception at different moments in its near five-hundred-year history,
reexamining its past ownership and presenting new documentary evidence
to expand on and fill gaps in our knowledge of its whereabouts. The
authors reflect on the technique, date, recent conservation, and
authorship of the painting, proving it to be a masterpiece that only the
great Titian could have created.