Portrait of a Lady in White

Painting by Titian

Portrait of a Lady in White

Artist	Titian
Year	c. 1561
Location	Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden

Portrait of a Lady in White is a painting by Titian, made about 1561, of an unknown gentlewoman dressed in white; it is now in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.

Identity of the sitter

Speculation about the sitter has ranged from a young bride to a prostitute or some family member of the artist.^[1] Detailed analysis of her jewelry, dress and hairstyle may give more clues, as does the fan she is carrying. It has long been assumed that Titian had depicted his daughter Lavinia in her bridal gown. However, she married six years before this painting was created, and his fourth child and other daughter, Emilia, didn't marry for another seven years. Titian probably created an ideal image of feminine beauty and used a model that he also used in other paintings. The painting was copied by Peter Paul Rubens, and a similar painting is also in the collection at Dresden.

Exhibitions

The painting was lent to the Columbus Museum of Art in 2018, and to the Norton Simon Museum in 2019.^[2]^[1]

Copies

Copy by Rubens, c. 1614
Miniature after a lost Titian
Copy of a lost Titian, c. 1650
Engraving of a lost Titian, 1660

Related portraits

Portrait of a Lady, c. 1555
Portrait of Hurrem Sultan, c. 1550
Portrait of Lavinia, 1545
Portrait of Lavinia, 1560–1565

References

^ ^a ^b Who Was The 'Lady In White'? Titian Painted A Mystery Masterpiece, interview on NPR, February 2019
^ Titian’s Lady in White on show from August 31, 2018 – December 9, 2018 on CMOA website

Titian

List of works

Portraits

Jacopo Pesaro being presented by Pope Alexander VI to Saint Peter (1503–1506)
A Man with a Quilted Sleeve (c. 1509)
La Schiavona (1510–1512)
A Man
- New York, c. 1512)
- (Indianapolis, c. 1515
Shepherd with a Flute (c. 1510–1515)
A Man in a Red Cap (c. 1510–1515)
A Sick Man (1515)
Jacopo Sannazaro (c. 1514–1518)
Gian Giacomo Bartolotti da Parma (c. 1515)
A Knight of Malta (c. 1515)
Vincenzo Mosti (c. 1520)
Young Woman in a Black Dress (c. 1520)
Man with a Glove (c. 1520)
Laura Dianti (c. 1520–1525)
Alfonso I d'Este (1523)
A Lady (c. 1525–1565)
Federico II Gonzaga (c. 1529)
Giacomo di Andrea Dolfin (c. 1531–1532)
Alfonso d'Avalos with a Page (1533)
Charles V with a Dog (1533)
Ippolito de' Medici (1532–1533)
Giacomo Doria (1533–1535)
Charles V (1533–1535)
Isabella d'Este (1534–1536)
La Bella (1536)
Girl in a Fur (1536–1538)
Count Antonio Porcia and Brugnera (c. 1535–1540)
A Man with a Falcon (c. 1537)
Eleonora Gonzaga della Rovere (1538)
Francesco Maria della Rovere (1538)
Cardinal Pietro Bembo (1539–1540)
Benedetto Varchi (c. 1540)
Pope Sixtus IV (c. 1540)
A Young Englishman (1540–1545)
Ranuccio Farnese (c. 1542)
Clarissa Strozzi (1542)
The Vendramin Family (1543–1547)
Pietro Aretino (1545)
Lavinia Vecellio (c. 1545)
Pope Paul III (1545–1546)
Pope Paul III Wearing a Camauro (1545–1546)
Pope Paul III and His Grandsons (1545–1546)
Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (c. 1545–1546)
Pier Luigi Farnese (1546)
Andrea Gritti (c. 1546–1550)
Charles V (on horseback) (1548)
Charles V (seated) (1548)
Isabella of Portugal (1548)
John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (c. 1550–1551)
A General (c. 1550)
Philip II in Armour (1551)
Cardinal Cristoforo Madruzzo (1552)
Philip II (1554)
Woman Holding an Apple (c. 1550–1555)
Christina of Denmark (1555–1556)
Girl with a Platter of Fruit (c. 1555–1558)
Fabrizio Salvaresio (1558)
An Unknown Lady (c. 1550–1560 – also attributed to Titian's workshop)
Jacopo Strada (1567–1568)
A Lady in White (c. 1561)

Self portraits

Self-Portrait (1546–1547)
Self-Portrait (c. 1560)

Secular

Detroit Trio (c. 1500 – also attributed to Giorgione and others)
The Birth of Adonis (c. 1506–1508)
The Legend of Polydoros (c. 1506–1508)
Justice (c. 1508)
Pastoral Concert (c. 1509 – also attributed to Giorgione)
Dresden Venus (with Giorgione, c. 1510)
The Lovers (c. 1510 – attributed)
The Three Ages of Man (c. 1512–1514)
Sacred and Profane Love (c. 1514)
The Feast of the Gods (1514)
Venus and Cupid (1510–1515)
Lucretia and her Husband (1515)
The Bravo (c. 1515)
Flora (c. 1515)
Vanity (c. 1515)
Violante (c. 1515)
Woman with a Mirror (c. 1515)
The Worship of Venus (1518–19)
Venus Anadyomene (c. 1520)
Bacchus and Ariadne (1520–1523)
The Bacchanal of the Andrians (1523–1526)
Allegory of Marriage (c. 1530–1535)
Eleven Caesars (1536–1540)
Venus of Urbino (1538)
Alfonso d'Avalos Addressing his Troops (1540)
Venus and Musician (several versions, 1540s–1570s)
Tityus (1549)
Sisyphus (1549)
Danaë (several versions; 1543–1565)
Venus and Adonis (several versions)
Mars, Venus and Amor (c. 1550)
Pardo Venus (1551)
Venus with a Mirror (1555)
Perseus and Andromeda (1554–1556)
Diana and Actaeon (1556–1559)
Diana and Callisto (1556–1559)
The Death of Actaeon (c. 1559–1575)
The Rape of Europa (c. 1560–1562)
The Concert (c. 1543–1564)
Venus Blindfolding Cupid (c. 1565)
Allegory of Prudence (c. 1565–1570)
Nymph and Shepherd (c. 1570)
Tarquin and Lucretia (comp. 1571)
Flaying of Marsyas (1570–1576)

Religious

Christ Carrying the Cross (c. 1505 – also attributed to Giorgione)
Bache Madonna (c. 1508)
Flight into Egypt (c. 1508)
Lochis Madonna (1508–1510)
St. Mark Enthroned (c. 1510)
The Gypsy Madonna (c. 1510)
Holy Family with a Shepherd (c. 1510)
Christ and the Adulteress
- Glasgow, c. 1510)
- (Vienna, c. 1520
Madonna and Child with St Anthony of Padua and St Roch (c. 1511)
The Resurrected Christ (c. 1511–12)
Bapitsm of Christ (c. 1512)
Virgin and Child with Saint Stephen, Saint Jerome and Saint Maurice (c. 1510–1525)
Miracle of the Jealous Husband (1511)
Rest on the Flight into Egypt (c. 1512)
Balbi Holy Conversation (c. 1513)
Noli me tangere (c. 1514)
The Archangel Raphael and Tobias (c. 1512–1514; c. 1540–1545)
Salome
- Rome, c. 1515)
- (Madrid, c. 1550)
- (Private, c. 1570
Madonna of the Cherries (1515)
The Tribute Money (c. 1516)
Assumption of the Virgin (1516–1518)
The Virgin and Child with Saint George and Saint Dorothy (1516–1518)
Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and an Unidentified Saint (c. 1515–1520)
Madonna and Child with Four Saints (c. 1516–1520)
Pesaro Madonna (1519–1526)
Madonna and Child with Three Saints (c. 1519)
Gozzi Altarpiece (1520)
Mary with Child and Saints Stephen, Jerome and Mauritius (c. 1520)
Malchiostro Annunciation (c. 1520)
The Entombment of Christ (c. 1520)
Averoldi Polyptych (1520–1522)
Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata (1525)
The Assassination of Saint Peter Martyr (1529)
Aldobrandini Madonna (1530)
Madonna of the Rabbit (1530)
Madonna of the Roses (c. 1530)
Penitent Magdalene (1531)
Saint Jerome in Penitence (1531)
Pilgrims at Emmaus (c. 1533–1534)
Supper at Emmaus (c. 1534; c. 1545)
The Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple (1534–1538)
Saint John the Baptist (1540)
Sciarra Madonna (c. 1540)
The Crowning with Thorns (1542–43)
Ecce Homo
- Vienna, 1543
David and Goliath (c. 1542–1544)
Abraham and Isaac (c. 1543–1544)
Cain and Abel (c. 1543–1545)
Serravalle Altarpiece (1548)
Castello Roganzuolo Altarpiece (1549)
The Fall of Man (c. 1550)
Penitent Magdalene (c. 1550)
Saint Jerome in Penitence (1552)
The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence (c. 1548–1559)
La Gloria (1554)
Christ Appearing to his Mother after his Resurrection (1554)
Mater Dolorosa (c. 1555)
Saint Jerome in Penitence (1575)
Crucifixion (1558)
The Entombment (1559)
St Margaret and the Dragon (c. 1559)
Annunciation (1559–1564)
Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria (c. 1560)
Penitent Magdalene (1565)
Saint Dominic (c. 1565)
Judith with the Head of Holofernes (c. 1570)
Religion saved by Spain (1572–1575)
Saint Sebastian (c. 1575)
The Crowning with Thorns (1576)
Pietà (1576)