Portrait of Eleonora Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino.

This work was probably painted by Titian in the winter of 1536-1537, when the duchess was staying in Venice. It precedes, although only a few months, the portrait of her husband, Francesco Maria I della Rovere, Duke of Urbino.

Painted as a companion, and although not conceived as a comparison, strictly in terms of composition, it is deeply complementary, as one represents a prototype of the brave man-at-arms and the other is the perfect example of the faithful bride (the dog is , in fact, a symbol of marital fidelity), an embodiment of feminine virtue.

In November 1537, before the ducal diptych was given to the patrons, famous polygrapher, Pietro Aretino celebrated Titian's talent as a portraitist in two famous sonnets, describing the painter's wonderful ability to immortalize the inner qualities, the moral attributes of the subjects of his work. paintings, showing that it could even surpass the expressiveness of poetry.