The ''Portrait of Jacopo Strada'' is an oil on canvas portrait of the court librarian

Jacopo Strada Jacopo Strada (Mantua, 1507 – Prague 1588) was an Italian polymath courtier, painter, architect, goldsmith, inventor of machines, numismatist, linguist, collector, and merchant of works of art. His portrait by Titian has kept his image fami ...

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

, from 1567-1568. It is held in the

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien ( "Vienna Museum of art history, Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, i ...

, in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

History

Strada was not only an official bookkeeper, but also had many other qualities, and this portrait portrays him in his study surrounded by objects displaying his knowledge. He is shown wearing a gold chain, probably awarded him the previous year (1566), when he was appointed ''Antiquarius Caesareus'' by his employer Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor. The inscription upper right reads ''JACOBVUS DE STRADA CIVIS ROMANVS CAESS. ANTIQVARIVS ET COM. BELIC. AN: AETAT: LI: et C.M.D.L. XVI'' (Jacopo de Strada, citizen of Rome, imperial Antiquary and Minister, aged 51 in the year 1566). The painting is signed top left: "TITIANVS F (ECIT)". The letter on the table additionally contains the words ''Titian Vecellio Venezia''.

Description

Jacopo Strada, who commissioned the work, is portrayed at the age of 51. Quite unusually for this type of portrait at the time is the fact that the sitter does not look directly at the viewer, but is depicted while doing his work. Strada's attitude seems to express that he is communicating with a person at his side, out of frame, to whom he is presenting a statuette depicting the goddess

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

. Several coins are scattered on the table, indicating Strada's numismatic interest. To give a little dynamism to the composition and to emphasize the movement of the sitter, the artist lets Strada's opulent fur cape slide over his right shoulder so it is only supported by his left shoulder. This fur, the shiny red silk doublet with the black velvet waistcoat over it, documents the sitter's prosperity. The gold chain wound in four turns around the neck bears a pendant where a helmeted head can be seen in profile. The chain and sword identify the model as a nobleman. The cartouche mounted on a pillar at the top right bears an inscription. The pillar itself is structurally incomprehensible and probably serves the sole purpose of carrying the cartouche. A century later this painting was documented in David Teniers the Younger's catalog '' Theatrum Pictorium'' of the art collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in 1659 and again in 1673,92
in Theatrum Pictorium, 1673 but the portrait had already enjoyed notoriety in Teniers' portrayals of the Archduke's art collection: File:Arolsen Klebeband 13 115.jpg, 1673 engraving from Teniers' catalog, by Lucas Vorsterman II File:David Teniers (II) - The Gallery of Archduke Leopold in Brussels - WGA22066.jpg, 1640 File:David Teniers (II) - Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria in his Gallery - WGA22064.jpg, '' Gallery of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm (Brussels)'', 1651 File:David Teniers d. J. 008.jpg, '' Gallery of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in Brussels (Vienna)'', 1651 File:David Teniers the Younger - Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Art Gallery in Brussels.jpg, 1651

References

External links

Urbanissime Strada: Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court
by Jansen, Dirk Jacob, 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Portrait of Jacopo Strada 1568 paintings 16th-century portraits Paintings in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Portraits by Titian Paintings in the collection of the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria