Titian, 'The Tribute Money', about 1560-8 (perhaps begun in the 1540s)

The Pharisees (chief priests) and scribes are recorded in the Gospels as the opponents of Christ. They ask Christ whether it is right to pay tax to the Romans, who rule Palestine. Christ, sensing the 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 unto God the things that are God’s’ (Matthew 22; Mark 12; Luke 20).

Titian has painted the Pharisee in the foreground offering the golden coin to Christ, and a scribe wearing spectacles behind him. The subject is rare in art. Titian may have been the first artist to represent it in his famous painting of about 1516 for Duke Alfonso I d'Este of Ferrara (now in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden), which has a broadly similar arrangement. The National Gallery’s picture is almost certainly the painting that Titian described in October 1568 as recently completed and sent to King Philip II of Spain. Titian’s letter suggests that he painted this picture with the King in mind, although he may have chosen the subject himself, as he almost always did in paintings for him. For 200 years it hung in the Sacristy at Philip’s royal residence and monastery of El Escorial.

X-ray images reveal that Titian made many changes to the picture during painting, particularly to the Pharisee and his clothing, Christ’s head and the coin. The strips of canvas at the left and bottom of the picture were probably added by him rather than at a later date.The painting was worked on over a long period. In its original conception, with its powerful contrasts of characterisation and texture, strong gestures and lighting, it recalls Titian’s Ecce Homo (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna), which was completed in 1543.

The painting is in good condition but colour changes and the deterioration of earlier restorations now affect its appearance. The shadows in the folds of Christ’s blue cloak have blanched, altering our sense of its form; the upper part of Christ’s arm no longer appears to project from his body. The distracting dash of white in the drapery beside the thumb of Christ’s raised hand must have once been less bright – a red lake glaze painted over it may have faded. The Pharisee’s scarf contains red pigments and must originally have been purple in colour, but the blue pigment used for it, smalt, has turned brown over time.