Woman Holding an Apple

Painting by Titian

Woman Holding an Apple

Year	c. 1550–1555
Dimensions	97.8 cm × 73.8 cm (38.5 in × 29.1 in)
Location	National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Accession	1939.1.292

Woman Holding an Apple, also known as Portrait of a Lady, is an oil painting by Titian, made in around 1550, which hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Description

The subject stands at three-quarter length, turned to the left, looking at the spectator. She has long blonde hair and fair skin, and holds an apple in her hands. She wears a green robe, with jewelled border, over a white dress with long sleeves and gold border.

Analysis

In 1940, it was published in The Art News as "Portrait of a Lady in Green, presumably Giulia di Gonzaga-Colonna, Duchess of Traeetto".^[1] In 1941, the Duveen Brothers titled it "Portrait of Giulia di Gonzaga-Colonna [Presumed]".^[2] The tentative identification with the Italian noblewoman of that name is not accepted today, and cannot be sustained with any historical source. Indeed, it may not represent a particular woman in the traditional sense of portraiture, but rather an idealised form of female beauty. The model may be Lavinia, Titian's daughter, who is known to have posed for several of his pictures.^[3]

References

^ The Art News, 38(24): p. 9.
^ Duveen Brothers 1941.
^ Preliminary Catalogue 1941, p. 198.

Sources

Duveen Brothers (1941). Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York: William Bradford Press. pp. 1953–1954, nos. 155–157.
Frankfurter, Alfred M. (16 March 1940). "Great Renaissance Portraits: A Unique Exhibition of Twenty-five Italian Masterpieces". The Art News, 38(24): pp. 7–9, 21.
Morassi, Antonio (1967). "Titian". In Encyclopedia of World Art. Vol. 14. London: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited. col. 146.
"403. Portrait of a Lady (Giulia di Gonzaga-Colonna ?)". Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1941. pp. 197–198, no. 403.
"Portrait of a Lady". Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1945. p. 125.
"Woman Holding an Apple, c. 1550". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved 26 October 2022.

Titian

List of works

Portraits

Jacopo Pesaro being presented by Pope Alexander VI to Saint Peter (1503–1506)
A Man with a Quilted Sleeve (c. 1509)
La Schiavona (1510–1512)
A Man
- New York, c. 1512)
- (Indianapolis, c. 1515
Shepherd with a Flute (c. 1510–1515)
A Man in a Red Cap (c. 1510–1515)
A Sick Man (1515)
Jacopo Sannazaro (c. 1514–1518)
Gian Giacomo Bartolotti da Parma (c. 1515)
A Knight of Malta (c. 1515)
Vincenzo Mosti (c. 1520)
Young Woman in a Black Dress (c. 1520)
Man with a Glove (c. 1520)
Laura Dianti (c. 1520–1525)
Alfonso I d'Este (1523)
A Lady (c. 1525–1565)
Federico II Gonzaga (c. 1529)
Giacomo di Andrea Dolfin (c. 1531–1532)
Alfonso d'Avalos with a Page (1533)
Charles V with a Dog (1533)
Ippolito de' Medici (1532–1533)
Giacomo Doria (1533–1535)
Charles V (1533–1535)
Isabella d'Este (1534–1536)
La Bella (1536)
Girl in a Fur (1536–1538)
Count Antonio Porcia and Brugnera (c. 1535–1540)
A Man with a Falcon (c. 1537)
Eleonora Gonzaga della Rovere (1538)
Francesco Maria della Rovere (1538)
Cardinal Pietro Bembo (1539–1540)
Benedetto Varchi (c. 1540)
Pope Sixtus IV (c. 1540)
A Young Englishman (1540–1545)
Ranuccio Farnese (c. 1542)
Clarissa Strozzi (1542)
The Vendramin Family (1543–1547)
Pietro Aretino (1545)
Lavinia Vecellio (c. 1545)
Pope Paul III (1545–1546)
Pope Paul III Wearing a Camauro (1545–1546)
Pope Paul III and His Grandsons (1545–1546)
Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (c. 1545–1546)
Pier Luigi Farnese (1546)
Andrea Gritti (c. 1546–1550)
Charles V (on horseback) (1548)
Charles V (seated) (1548)
Isabella of Portugal (1548)
John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (c. 1550–1551)
A General (c. 1550)
Philip II in Armour (1551)
Cardinal Cristoforo Madruzzo (1552)
Philip II (1554)
Woman Holding an Apple (c. 1550–1555)
Christina of Denmark (1555–1556)
Girl with a Platter of Fruit (c. 1555–1558)
Fabrizio Salvaresio (1558)
An Unknown Lady (c. 1550–1560 – also attributed to Titian's workshop)
Jacopo Strada (1567–1568)
A Lady in White (c. 1561)

Self portraits

Self-Portrait (1546–1547)
Self-Portrait (c. 1560)

Secular

Detroit Trio (c. 1500 – also attributed to Giorgione and others)
The Birth of Adonis (c. 1506–1508)
The Legend of Polydoros (c. 1506–1508)
Justice (c. 1508)
Pastoral Concert (c. 1509 – also attributed to Giorgione)
Dresden Venus (with Giorgione, c. 1510)
The Lovers (c. 1510 – attributed)
The Three Ages of Man (c. 1512–1514)
Sacred and Profane Love (c. 1514)
The Feast of the Gods (1514)
Venus and Cupid (1510–1515)
Lucretia and her Husband (1515)
The Bravo (c. 1515)
Flora (c. 1515)
Vanity (c. 1515)
Violante (c. 1515)
Woman with a Mirror (c. 1515)
The Worship of Venus (1518–19)
Venus Anadyomene (c. 1520)
Bacchus and Ariadne (1520–1523)
The Bacchanal of the Andrians (1523–1526)
Allegory of Marriage (c. 1530–1535)
Eleven Caesars (1536–1540)
Venus of Urbino (1538)
Alfonso d'Avalos Addressing his Troops (1540)
Venus and Musician (several versions, 1540s–1570s)
Tityus (1549)
Sisyphus (1549)
Danaë (several versions; 1543–1565)
Venus and Adonis (several versions)
Mars, Venus and Amor (c. 1550)
Pardo Venus (1551)
Venus with a Mirror (1555)
Perseus and Andromeda (1554–1556)
Diana and Actaeon (1556–1559)
Diana and Callisto (1556–1559)
The Death of Actaeon (c. 1559–1575)
The Rape of Europa (c. 1560–1562)
The Concert (c. 1543–1564)
Venus Blindfolding Cupid (c. 1565)
Allegory of Prudence (c. 1565–1570)
Nymph and Shepherd (c. 1570)
Tarquin and Lucretia (comp. 1571)
Flaying of Marsyas (1570–1576)

Religious

Christ Carrying the Cross (c. 1505 – also attributed to Giorgione)
Bache Madonna (c. 1508)
Flight into Egypt (c. 1508)
Lochis Madonna (1508–1510)
St. Mark Enthroned (c. 1510)
The Gypsy Madonna (c. 1510)
Holy Family with a Shepherd (c. 1510)
Christ and the Adulteress
- Glasgow, c. 1510)
- (Vienna, c. 1520
Madonna and Child with St Anthony of Padua and St Roch (c. 1511)
The Resurrected Christ (c. 1511–12)
Bapitsm of Christ (c. 1512)
Virgin and Child with Saint Stephen, Saint Jerome and Saint Maurice (c. 1510–1525)
Miracle of the Jealous Husband (1511)
Rest on the Flight into Egypt (c. 1512)
Balbi Holy Conversation (c. 1513)
Noli me tangere (c. 1514)
The Archangel Raphael and Tobias (c. 1512–1514; c. 1540–1545)
Salome
- Rome, c. 1515)
- (Madrid, c. 1550)
- (Private, c. 1570
Madonna of the Cherries (1515)
The Tribute Money (c. 1516)
Assumption of the Virgin (1516–1518)
The Virgin and Child with Saint George and Saint Dorothy (1516–1518)
Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and an Unidentified Saint (c. 1515–1520)
Madonna and Child with Four Saints (c. 1516–1520)
Pesaro Madonna (1519–1526)
Madonna and Child with Three Saints (c. 1519)
Gozzi Altarpiece (1520)
Mary with Child and Saints Stephen, Jerome and Mauritius (c. 1520)
Malchiostro Annunciation (c. 1520)
The Entombment of Christ (c. 1520)
Averoldi Polyptych (1520–1522)
Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata (1525)
The Assassination of Saint Peter Martyr (1529)
Aldobrandini Madonna (1530)
Madonna of the Rabbit (1530)
Madonna of the Roses (c. 1530)
Penitent Magdalene (1531)
Saint Jerome in Penitence (1531)
Pilgrims at Emmaus (c. 1533–1534)
Supper at Emmaus (c. 1534; c. 1545)
The Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple (1534–1538)
Saint John the Baptist (1540)
Sciarra Madonna (c. 1540)
The Crowning with Thorns (1542–43)
Ecce Homo
- Vienna, 1543
David and Goliath (c. 1542–1544)
Abraham and Isaac (c. 1543–1544)
Cain and Abel (c. 1543–1545)
Serravalle Altarpiece (1548)
Castello Roganzuolo Altarpiece (1549)
The Fall of Man (c. 1550)
Penitent Magdalene (c. 1550)
Saint Jerome in Penitence (1552)
The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence (c. 1548–1559)
La Gloria (1554)
Christ Appearing to his Mother after his Resurrection (1554)
Mater Dolorosa (c. 1555)
Saint Jerome in Penitence (1575)
Crucifixion (1558)
The Entombment (1559)
St Margaret and the Dragon (c. 1559)
Annunciation (1559–1564)
Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria (c. 1560)
Penitent Magdalene (1565)
Saint Dominic (c. 1565)
Judith with the Head of Holofernes (c. 1570)
Religion saved by Spain (1572–1575)
Saint Sebastian (c. 1575)
The Crowning with Thorns (1576)
Pietà (1576)