Beschreibung:

Circle of Tiziano Vecelli, "Titian" (ca. 1535-1545) "Portrait of Girolamo della Torre, Count of Valdessina, Baron of Vercelli, and of Leibnitz (ca. 1510-1590)" oil on canvas name and title inscribed in Latin along upper edge. Presented in an antique carved and pierced giltwood frame. 49-3/4" x 37-5/8", framed 61-5/8" x 51" Provenance: Deaccessioned from Friends University, Wichita, Kansas; gifted to the University by the Sam and Rie Bloomfield Foundation, Newport Beach, California. Notes: For years this painting was attributed to Titian; in the first half of the 20th century, it was marketed, sold and bought as a Titian; in the second half of the 20th century, it was appraised, gifted to the museum, conserved and exhibited as a Titian. In 1992, a representative from Christie's Old Masters Department in New York suggested it was instead by Titian's apprentice Paris Bordone without articulating why. Was it because of the similarities between this portrait and his bravura in rendering a variety of textures and forms through color? Was it the luminescence of Girolamo della Torre's flesh, created through the transparent layering of glazes and framed by the short, quick brushstrokes in his beard and hairline, or was it the more Mannerist style of the figure's long, immense black-robed form and the saturation of the green table cloth? While these characteristics are consistent with many Bordone portraits, namely the portrait bust of the red-headed gentleman in the Uffizi in Florence or his portrait of Nickolaus Korber in the Liechtenstein Collection in Vienna, they are visible, in varying degrees, in most of Titian's pupils. Though Bordone traveled throughout the courts of northern Italy in the 1530s and 1540s, he preferred mythical subjects to portraits, and is not known to have had paintings commissioned by the della Torre family. Titian, on the other hand, painted members of the della Torre family, including Girolamo's uncle Francesco Savorgnan della Torre in 1545. Three years later, Girolamo sent Titian to Augsburg with a letter of recommendation intended for the Cardinal of Trent. Why would Girolamo recommend Titian to the cardinal and friend of his brother Michele (also a cardinal) if he had not painted his portrait? Is it possible that the portrait of Girolamo was indeed executed by Titian's studio? If not by Titian, then who? Lorenzo Lotto another Venetian painter strongly influenced by Titian, who also painted the della Torre family? The Della Torres, known in German as Thurn (tower) und Valsassina, is a prominent Italian/Austrian family, whose peerage persists under the titles Count or Countess of Thurn and Valsassina-Como-Vercelli. They originated from Valsassina in the Alps of Lombardy, and ruled Milan from the 12th to the 14th century. The sitter, Girolamo, was destined for an ecclesiastical career, but abandoned it in 1549 in favor of politics when he betrothed Giulia Bembo, the daughter of a Venetian patrician. Lotto painted Girolamo Torre's uncle and much older cousin in an early portrait, "Giovanni della Torre and his son, Niccolo", ca. 1513-1516, now in the National Portrait Gallery in London. Niccolo's son, also named Niccolo, was more closely allied in age and status to his father's cousins - Girolamo and his brothers Luigi/Alvise and Michele. In 1533, all four were conferred as "counts of Valsassina" by Emperor Charles V. It is also reported that Lotto painted a portrait of the della Torre brothers, which was exhibited throughout the latter half of the 19th century in Brescia at the Galleria Lecchi. Later portraits by Lotto certainly suggest that this portrait of Girolamo could be by the hand of the artist, such as "Laura da Polo" (1544), now in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan. Da Polo is depicted in the same diamond-patterned black velvet robe with a similar oversaturated lime green taffeta curtain in the background. The brushwork that conveys the tight red curls at the hairline recalls Girolamo's temples, as
In generally very good restored condition (restored some time ago). Slight looseness to canvas. Rubbing along edges. Pinprick-sized losses to shoulders, arms, lower edge and right edge. Canvas relined. Very difficult for UV light to penetrate the thick varnish layer, although some evidence of past restoration to beard, ears and background. Slight unevenness to the varnish layer. Probably several campaigns of restoration.