Titian's creative old age

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

In 1570, Tiziano (Titian) is in his eighties. Since the death of Bellini half a century earlier, he is the undisputed master of Venetian painting. A favorite of doges, emperors and kings, he was their prolific portraitist, as well as the greatest painter of his time for mythological, religious or intimate scenes.

His creativity is still alive, but he has nothing more to prove for increasing his glory. Painter of sensuality and characters, he then became the painter of passion. He opens the way to the great artists of the following century: Hals, Rembrandt, Velazquez, Van Dyck.

On 24 January 2008, Sotheby's sold in New York for $ 4.5 million charge included a penitent Magdalene. This is a young woman of the artist's time, her wet eyes lifted skyward, completely taken by her passion, offering an undeniable presence. Another variant of the same portrait was sold 2,85 M€ by Finarte in Venice in 2003 (source: Artvalue).

On January 29, it is now Salome who is coming to Sotheby's in New York. From the same period as the Magdalene, she has similar characteristics, but the attitude is still more dramatic. The contrast is striking between the clarity on the person of the young woman and the dark foreground with the head of the Baptist.

The passion of this woman is the true subject of this painting. She is bearing at arm's length the disgusting dish and she turns the head, but she also looks back at an angle to the object of her glory.

At the time of Charles I, this painting is in the royal British collections. The link is known: van Dyck was a fervent admirer of Titian. Having restored it led to finding the mark of the royal collection, and it was recognized as an indisputable autograph work of Titian. It expects $ 4 million.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

For the price, there was no buyer for the Titian. That's unfortunate ...