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Titian, 'Portrait of a Young Man', about 1515-20

About the work

Following its display in the National Gallery Sainsbury Wing exhibition, Renaissance Faces: van Eyck to Titian, Titian’s 'Portrait of a Young Man' returns to the main floor on long-term loan. The loan will strengthen the Gallery’s exceptional collection of portraits by this Venetian master.

The subdued and elegant portrait provides a fascinating comparison to the National Gallery’s Portrait of Gerolamo (?) Barbarigo. Both portraits show the sitter in three-quarter profile behind a parapet. This format may reflect Titian's knowledge of portrait prints by Dürer.

The pose enables Titian to show off his skill in painting fabrics. He uses broad brushstrokes and subtle tonal variations to convey the density and sheen of the black silk of the sleeve.

The red section of the sleeve is constructed using short, dry strokes to evoke the texture of cut velvet. The young man holds a kidskin glove that he has removed in order to take off his large hat. The fingernails apparent on the empty glove may be the impression of his own, or form part of the design of the glove.

The sitter’s face appears luminous against the dark background of a niche. The strip of classical-style relief sculpture on the left enlivens the gloom of the interior and may allude to the sitter’s tastes. It includes a scrolled tablet with a capital 'C' preceded by another letter which is now illegible. Above this are vine scrolls, a beaked serpent's head and a mask which may be clues to the sitter's identity.

Titian’s careful observation and sensitive portrayal demonstrate why he was so highly sought after as a portraitist. He used the sitter’s features to convey his personality and mood.

The man’s large, pale eyes and pensive gaze suggest that he is contemplative. By contrast his strongly defined eyebrows accentuate his brow, implying intelligence. His long neck conveys his nobility, while his firm jaw is expressive of inner resolve.

Although the man’s identity remains a mystery, Titian’s astonishing naturalism eternalised not just his appearance but also his soul.

Key facts

Full title
Portrait of a Young Man
Artist
Titian
Artist dates
active about 1506; died 1576
Date made
about 1515-20
Medium and support
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
92.7 × 70.7 cm
Acquisition credit
On loan from a private collection
Inventory number
L611
Location
Not on display
Image copyright
On loan from a private collection, © The Earl of Halifax
Collection
Main Collection

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

More works by Titian

(Showing 6 of 19 works)
An Allegory of Prudence
An Allegory of Prudence
Titian
Three male heads at different stages of life are paired with the heads of three animals: a wolf, a lion and a dog. The Latin inscription divided to correspond to the three heads translates as: ‘Learning from Yesterday, Today acts prudently lest by his action he spoil Tomorrow.’ The meaning and pu...
Not on display
Bacchus and Ariadne
Bacchus and Ariadne
Titian
One of the most famous paintings in the National Gallery, Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne illustrates a story told by the classical authors Ovid and Catullus. The Cretan princess Ariadne has been abandoned on the Greek island of Naxos by Theseus, whose ship sails away in the distance. Bacchus, god o...
Not on display
Diana and Actaeon
Diana and Actaeon
Titian
While hunting, Actaeon accidentally stumbles upon the secret bathing place of Diana, chaste goddess of the hunt, and sees her naked. His fate is foretold by the stag’s skull on the plinth and the skins of Diana’s former prey hanging above her head. The conclusion of the story is shown in another...
Not on display
Diana and Callisto
Diana and Callisto
Titian
The nymph Callisto was the favourite of Diana, virgin goddess of the hunt. Jupiter, king of the gods, noticed her beauty and disguised himself to seduce her. Titian has painted the moment Diana forces Callisto to strip and bathe after hunting and discovers her pregnancy. The drama is heightened b...
Not on display
Noli me Tangere
Noli me Tangere
Titian
Risen from the dead, Christ appears to his grieving follower, Mary Magdalene, in the Garden of Gethsemane. At first she mistakes him for a gardener but then reaches out her hand in wonder. Christ says, ‘Do not touch me’ (in Latin, noli me tangere); it is time for his followers to let go of his ea...
Not on display
Portrait of a Lady ('La Schiavona')
Portrait of a Lady ('La Schiavona')
Titian
Titian painted this picture when he was in his early twenties, at a time when private portraits of individual women were still rare. We don‘t know the identity of the sitter, if indeed this is a portrait in the traditional sense, rather than a general picture of a woman designed to encourage such...
Not on display
Portrait of Gerolamo (?) Barbarigo
Portrait of Gerolamo (?) Barbarigo
Titian
In this, one of Titian’s earliest portraits, the sitter turns to look at us over his shoulder and momentarily meets our gaze. Our attention is focused on the raised brow above his right eye, which is positioned midway across the picture. The man’s elbow rests on a parapet and his voluminous quilt...
Room 15
Portrait of Girolamo Fracastoro
Portrait of Girolamo Fracastoro
Titian
Girolamo Fracastoro (1476/8–1553), a celebrated medical doctor, as well as an astronomer, mathematician and poet, proposed the theory of contagion and in 1530 wrote an epic poem that gave the name ’syphilis' to the virulent, sexually transmitted disease that was ravaging Italy in that period.Alth...
Not on display
The Aldobrandini Madonna
The Aldobrandini Madonna
Titian
The Virgin and Child are accompanied by the young Saint John the Baptist and a kneeling woman, who cannot be clearly identified. She holds the infant Christ in her arms and gazes at him in adoration.It is not clear which, if any, New Testament episode is shown here. The shepherd and herdsman in t...
Not on display
The Death of Actaeon
The Death of Actaeon
Titian
The story of Actaeon is told in the Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid. In Titian’s earlier Diana and Actaeon, painted for King Philip II of Spain in 1556–9 and now jointly owned by the National Gallery and the National Galleries of Scotland, Actaeon disturbs the goddess Diana and her nymphs at...
Not on display
The Holy Family with a Shepherd
The Holy Family with a Shepherd
Titian
This is one of Titian’s earliest surviving works. It shows the Adoration of the Shepherds – the flying angel in the distance announces Christ’s birth to them. Saint Joseph presents the infant Christ to a young shepherd, who kneels in reverence.It is unusual to find only one shepherd in attendance...
Not on display
The Tribute Money
The Tribute Money
Titian
The Pharisees (chief priests) ask Christ whether it is right to pay tax to the Romans, who rule Palestine. Christ, sensing a trap, asks whose likeness and name are on the coinage: ‘They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then he saith unto them, render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and...
Not on display
The Vendramin Family
The Vendramin Family
Titian
This is Titian’s largest group portrait. The man in a red robe is probably Gabriel Vendramin (1484–1552). The man holding the altar may be Gabriel’s brother, Andrea Vendramin (1481–1547), and the boys are his seven sons. On the altar is a reliquary of the True Cross that their great-great-grandfa...
Not on display
The Virgin suckling the Infant Christ
The Virgin suckling the Infant Christ
Titian
The Virgin Mary gazes at the infant Christ who feeds from her breast. The naked child is encircled in his mother’s arms and twists away from us. Our eye is drawn from the Virgin’s delicate fingers, up the line of Christ’s back and to the expression of devotion on her face.Titian appears to be cit...
Not on display
A Boy with a Bird
A Boy with a Bird
Titian or workshop of Titian
The infant cradling a dove to his cheek closely resembles Cupid in two versions of Titian’s Venus and Adonis, dating to around 1560, in Washington and New York. Yet the way in which the picture is painted and the range of colours used are characteristic of Titian’s work of the 1520s.This apparent...
Not on display
The Music Lesson
The Music Lesson
Possibly by Titian
A boy sings from a partbook while his music master beats time with his finger and perhaps sings along. A woman leans her arm against the teacher’s shoulder, her head tilted with a faraway look as if she is listening to the music. A youth accompanies the boy on a viol da gamba, while a young man b...
Not on display
Mythological Scene
Mythological Scene
Follower of Titian
Reminiscent of Titian’s style, this painting is typical of the kind of mythological scene made for learned, private patrons in Venice that he helped pioneer. Cupid, god of love, raises his arrow to pierce a woman embracing a youth who holds a golden apple.The central couple may be Hippomenes and...
Not on display
Venus and Adonis
Venus and Adonis
Workshop of Titian
Naked Venus, the goddess of love, throws her arms around handsome young Adonis to stop him from going out to hunt. The story is told in Book 10 of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Venus falls in love with the youth Adonis when Cupid accidentally wounds her with one of his arrows. She goes hunting with Adoni...
Not on display
The Trinity ('La Gloria')
The Trinity ('La Gloria')
After Titian
This is a copy of Titian’s large canvas known as ‘La Gloria’ (The Glory) or The Trinity. Titian’s painting was commissioned by Emperor Charles V of Spain in 1551, and is now in the Prado, Madrid.The Emperor and Empress with their son Prince Philip and his sisters kneel in their burial shrouds bef...
Not on display
You've viewed 6 of 19 works