Titian, 'An Allegory of Prudence', about 1550

Three male heads at different stages of life are paired with three animal heads: the elderly bearded man in the red cap with a wolf; the middle-aged man with a lion; and the young man with a dog. A Latin inscription divided to correspond to the three heads is written above them. It translates as: ‘Learning from Yesterday, Today acts prudently lest by his action he spoil Tomorrow.’ The meaning and purpose of this painting has been the subject of much debate.

Valeriano’s Hieroglyphica, published in Venice in 1556, proposed as an emblem of Prudence a serpent with the three heads of a dog, a wolf and a lion. So it may be that the painting is an allegory of Prudence. However, the composition was extensively revised during painting. The animal heads were added at a late stage and are fairly summarily executed.

X-ray images and infrared reflectography reveal that the composition was painted over a different figure, seemingly wearing a wide collar and seen from the back looking to the left. Furthermore, alterations were made to the head of the old man at left during its execution. The execution of the heads is of varied finish and quality, with the central one being the most subtle and vibrant. Some observers have seen the intervention of a studio assistant, especially in the head at the right, as well as the animals. Such variety of finish is not unusual for Titian, however, and it is hard to imagine why he would have called upon assistants for such an unusual and comparatively simple composition.

The somewhat inexpressive young man closely resembles the heads added at a late stage, perhaps by an assistant, to Titian’s Vendramin Family. The painting has generally been considered a late work, but is not inconsistent with Titian’s painting style of the late 1540s, for example the Sisyphus in the Prado Museum, Madrid, and the central head is similar to Titian’s work of that period, notably the Vendramin Family.

The painting is lit from the right, which is unusual in the work of a right-handed artist, suggesting that it may have been made for a specific location, and perhaps meant to be seen from afar. One possibility is that it was intended for the attic frieze of the Camerino (chamber) of Gabriel Vendramin, recorded in contemporary sources as by Titian, where a heraldic composition and symbolic subject would have been appropriate. A triple head but with two young faces is carved on one of the pilasters on the facade of Palazzo Vendramin at S. Fosca in Venice. It is also possible that the painting was made as a cover for a portrait (a Venetian innovation that was popular in north-east Italy from the 1520s), or possibly even as the door of a cupboard.

It has been suggested that the painting may be autobiographical in nature and represent Titian (left), his son Orazio (centre) and nephew Marco Vecellio (right), which would date the picture to the late 1560s. However, although the three heads match the relative ages of the three members of Titian’s family fairly well, they don’t especially look like them.