Re-framing Titian
November 19 2014
Picture: The Frame Blog
The National Gallery is hoping to raise £27,000 to reframe the above picture by Titian, called An Allegory of Prudence. The new frame is on the right, the current one on the left. The new one is eye-wateringly expensive. But it's a good cause worth supporting, which you can do here. They're at 55% so far.
The painting is one of my favourite pictures in the National, mainly by virtue of its message. There's an inscription above the heads which translates as: 'The present does well to remember the past, lest future generations go astray'. It's an appropriate motto for a historians' trade union.
Personally, I hope the National spends some money getting the picture into conservation; they call it 'Titian and studio', but I suspect the 'less good' aspects of the picture that are deemed 'studio' are actually due to condition issues.
You can read more about the new frame and why it's such a good thing to re-frame the picture here on The Frame Blog.
Update - a reader isn't so keen:
I have to confess that I like the old frame. It may just be that the 2 photographs differ slightly but the reddish gold on the new frame cancels out the red in the skin tones of the portraits and makes the painting look dull in comparison to when the picture was in the earlier frame. It looks like a waste of money but I'm sure it will brighten the overall decorative effect in the room, even if it 'kills' the painting!
