Tiziano (c.1488-1576)
Ritratto del conte Antonio di Porcia e Brugnera (Portrait of Count Antonio Porcia and Brugnera)
1535–1540
Oil on canvas, 115 x 93 cm
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milano
The painting, signed on the windowsill, portrays the Friulian nobleman Antonio di Porcia, born around 1508. It dates back to the mature phase of Titian‘s portraiture, in which the artist emphasizes the social importance of the subjects (the knight’s collar, the sword, the black suit) not only highlighting the ideal aspects as in his youthful works. The window opens onto a river and mountain landscape, according to a compositional formula already used in previous portraits. From the Porcia family castle in Pordenone, the work had passed to Milan, to the residence of Alfonso Porcia, from there it was inherited by Eugenia Litta Visconti Arese: the latter donated it to Brera in 1891. (Brera)
See also:
• Porcia e Brugnera, Count Antonio di (c.1508-)