Titian in Basel
July 21 2020
Picture: Kunstmuseum Basel
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here's a story that AHN seems to have missed last September. Xavier F Salomon, Deputy Director of the Frick Collection, penned a interesting article regarding his involvement in the rediscovery of Titian's 1527 portrait of the poet Pietro Aretino (pictured). The attribution of this painting had been the subject of much conjecture during the twentieth century.
Last June Salomon had gone to the Kunstmuseum in Basel to inspect the painting alongside recently commissioned x-ray images. Detailed examination revealed that painting suffered from poor restoration in the past including having been cut down. It is the opinion of Salomon that this fragment may well have been the original painting that Titian had sent to Federico Gonzaga in the 1520s.
Here is a link to the museum's website where high-resolution images can be viewed online.
