portrait of Francesco Maria, Duke of Urbino

Titian's execution of the portrait of Francesco Maria, Duke of Urbino, (1490-1538) is documented in the period 1536 to 1538.

In the summer of 1536, the duke requested the return of his parade armor, sent to Venice a few months earlier so that Titian could faithfully reproduce it in the portrait he was painting, making the most of the presence of the duke of Urbino. in Venice in his capacity as Captain General of the Serenissima.

Titian portrays Francesco Maria up to mid-thigh, with his Venetian staff in his fist and wearing polished armor that stands out against a background of crimson velvet cloth. Underneath the armor, as can be seen on the sleeves, the Duke wears an outfit in black and yellow, the heraldic colors of the house of Montefeltro, to remind us that he belongs to this family as the son of Giovanna da Montefeltro and grandson. of the famous condottiere, Federico.

On the shelf behind him, to the left, is a helmet surmounted by a dragon, while to the right are the commanding staffs of the papacy, Florence and Venice, with an oak branch in reference to Francesco's bloodline Maria and the house of della Rovere and its illustrious member, her uncle, Pope Julius II.

Along with the Portrait of Eleonora Gonzaga, his wife, painted as a companion to her husband's wife, the portrait arrived at the Doge's Palace in Pesaro in the spring of 1538, but not before Pietro Aretino admired it. Aretino declared the excellent art of the paintings in two sonnets that reinforced the representations of the duke and duchess, making them even clearer examples of complementary virtues, conveyed by Titian in his paintings. The expression on the duke's face, along with his pose, are obvious reflections of the moral qualities of a great condottiere: courage, pride, wisdom and honor. The painting is therefore one of the most successful examples of Titian's skills as a major portraitist, intended to convey effigies of the "powerful of the world" through the centuries.