Portrait of Benedetto Varchi

Portrait of Benedetto Varchi
Artist	Titian
Year	c. 1536–1540
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	119.3 cm × 92.7 cm (47.0 in × 36.5 in)
Location	Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Accession	GG_91

Portrait of Benedetto Varchi, also called Portrait of a Man, is an oil on canvas painting by Titian. It was painted c. 1536-1540, and hangs today in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, in Vienna.

Analysis

According to Walter Gronau, the indication that the person here represented is Benedetto Varchi, the Florentine historian and humanist scholar, seems in no way proved. It is signed "Titianus F.", with some repainting. Though restored, Gronau thinks it a genuine work by Titian. From the style, he thinks that this portrait must have been painted about 1550, possibly somewhat later. The Kunsthistorisches Museum, however, identifies the sitter as Benedetto Varchi without any qualification, and states that it was probably painted during his stay in Venice in 1536–1540.

Provenance

• 1636—Collection of Bartolomeo della Nave, Venice;
• 1638–1649—Collection of the Duke of Hamilton;
• 1659 —Collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, Vienna.

Gallery

• 
  Original portrait by Titian, c. 1540
• 
  Engraved by Lucas Vorsterman the Elder after Titian for the Theatrum Pictorium, 1673

See also

• List of works by Titian

Sources

• Gronau, Georg (1904). Titian. London: Duckworth and Co; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 276.
• Ricketts, Charles (1910). Titian. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd. p. 176, plate cxix.
• "Benedetto Varchi". Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. Retrieved 23 November 2022.