''Vanity'' is an oil painting by the Italian late

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

painter

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 ...

, dated to around 1515 and now held at the

Alte Pinakothek The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pin ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

History

The work was perhaps in

Emperor Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg), Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–16 ...

's gallery in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, before becoming part of that of the Electors of Bavaria. It has part of the Munich museum's collection since 1884. The first mention dates to 1748, as a work by Francesco Salviati. It was later attributed to

Palma the Elder Palma Vecchio ( – 30 July 1528), born Jacopo Palma, also known as Jacopo Negretti, was a Venetian painter of the Italian High Renaissance. He is called Palma Vecchio in English and Palma il Vecchio in Italian ("Palma the Elder") to distingu ...

Giorgione Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco (; 1470s – 17 September 1510), known as Giorgione, was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the High Renaissance, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic quality of his work, ...

il Pordenone Pordenone, Il Pordenone in Italian, is the byname of Giovanni Antonio de’ Sacchis ( – 14 January 1539), an Italian Mannerist painter, loosely of the Venetian school. Vasari, his main biographer, wrongly identifies him as Giovanni Anton ...

and finally

. Radio analysis has proved the presence of workshop additions (in particular to the mirror) above an original, probably by Titian, based on the '' Woman at the Mirror''.

Description

The painting portrays an idealized beautiful woman, a model established in the Venetian school by Titian's master

with his '' Laura''. She holds an oval mirror with a frame, which reflects some jewels and a maid who is searching in a case. The woman was portrayed by Titian in numerous other works of the period, including the '' Woman at the Mirror'', ''

Salome Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...

'' and ''

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

'', as well as some Holy Conversations.Francesco Valcanover, ''L'opera completa di Tiziano'', Milan, Rizzoli, 1969 (Italian)

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vanity 1515 paintings Collection of the Alte Pinakothek Allegorical paintings by Titian Portraits of women