Portrait of the Urbinian Duke Francesco Maria della Rovere by Titian Vecellio

Portrait of the Urbinian Duke Francesco Maria della Rovere by Titian Vecellio

Francesco Maria della Rovere, the governor of Urbino from 1508. The portrait was ordered, as documents prove, in 1536 and sent to the customer in 1538. Titian apparently made from nature only the sketch of the face, and the portrait itself was painted in Venice where the artist was sent the precious armor of the duke.

In one of his letters to his attorney in Venice, Leopardi, the duke asks to tell Titian that the armor is very expensive and must be treated with care. Judging by the preparatory drawing in the Uffizi, in these armor Titian was posing in Venice a model. Pietro Aretino dedicated this portrait to an enthusiastic letter and a sonnet, sent to him on November 7, 1537 by the poetess Veronica Gambar. The portrait entered Florence from Urbino in 1631 with the legacy of Vittoria della Rovere

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