TITIAN (TizianoVecellio)
CIRCA 1480/90-1576
48 Nude Man Carrying a Rudder
on His Shoulder
Black chalk and white chalk heightening on blue paper;
H: 28.7cm(n^5 /i6Ín.); W: 15.5 cm (6Vsin.)
8y.GB.35
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: (Recto) at bottom right
corner, collection mark of Sir Peter Lely (L. 2092); on
mount, inscribed Titian in black ink by Sir Anthony Van
Dyck(?); (verso) inscribed Tiziano in brown ink; on
mount, unidentified collection mark; inscribed Snjcj, 19,
4750 in brown ink.
PROVENANCE: Sir Anthony Van Dyck(?); Sir Peter Lely,
London; Dr. and Mrs. Francis Springell, Portinscale,
Cumberland (sale, Sotheby's, London, June 28, 1962, lot
20); Lord Wharton, London and Switzerland; by
descent.
EXHIBITIONS: Old Master Drawings, P. andD. Colnaghi,
London, 1935, no. 63; Drawings by Old Masters from the
Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Francis Springell, P. and D. Col-
naghi, London, October-November 1959, no. 25 (cat-
alogue by J. Byam Shaw); Italian Art and Britain, Royal
Academy of Arts, London, 1960, no. 561 (catalogue by
A. E. Popham).
BIBLIOGRAPHY: None.
THIS DRAWING WAS FIRST ATTRIBUTED TO TlTIAN (P.
and D. Colnaghi 1935), a view supported by Byam Shaw
(1959) and Popham (1960). In the latter two publications
the opinion of K. T. Parker is cited as alternatively sug-
gesting attributions to Paris Bordone or Palma Vecchio.
No further comment was made until the drawing resur-
faced in 1986 and was firmly ascribed to Titian by W. R.
Rearick and K. Oberhuber.^1 Rearick compared it to
drawings by Titian for the Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
(Venice, Gesuati) and proposed that it may have been a
study for the figure at the extreme right of the votive
painting of Doge Antonio Grimani (Venice, Palazzo Du-
cale). Excepting their arms, the poses of the two are very
similar, and Rearick suggested that Titian may have
planned the figure in the Getty drawing as a symbol of
civic constancy, an idea that was discarded in favor of the
more conventional soldier when the painting was com-
pleted by others many years later. This ingenious hy-
pothesis cannot be proven but at the very least is worth-
while in drawing attention to the similarity between the
two figures.
There are additional reasons to favor the attribution
to Titian. Although more meticulous and less animated
than the famous sheet showing an amorous couple in the
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (inv. 2256), both share
a tendency toward small, rather abstract heads. More im-
portantly, the Getty study was made with a fineness of
modeling and an almost impressionistic rendering of
surface which are entirely in accord with Titian's late style
in painting. Parallels range from Actaeon in the Death of
Actaeon (National Gallery) to the figure at the left in the
Crowning with Thorns (Munich, Alte Pinakothek). In ad-
dition these and other examples from the artist's later
work share with the drawing a figure style in which the
image is shown twisting in space and somewhat tilted
with Mannerist complexity and at the same time is com-
posed with the most naturalistic observation. These
qualities support Rearick s proposed date of 1555-56 for
the Getty drawing. It may be added that nowhere in the
work of Palma Vecchio can any comparable form or
technique be seen. Equally, while Bordone tried to em-
ulate precisely this kind of drawing by Titian, his black
chalk studies entirely lack the sensitive observation of
texture, varied rendering of light, and clarity of form
that characterize this sheet.i. W. R. Rearick to the former owner, October 31, 1986; con-
versation with G. Goldner, 1987. Oberhuber expressed his sup-
port to G. Goldner for the attribution to Titian during a visit to
Malibu in 1987.124 ITALIAN SCHOOL • TITIAN