Portrait of a Lady ('La Schiavona')
- Artist: Titian
- Date: about 1510-12
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is the Portrait of a Lady ('La Schiavona') by Titian. We don't know the identity of the sitter, if indeed this is a portrait in the traditional sense, rather than a general picture of a woman designed to encourage such commissions. The title 'La Schiavona', meaning 'the Dalmatian woman', was given to the picture in the seventeenth century.
Titian's approach is original not only because the painting is three-quarter length and apparently life-sized but also because it was painted to make an impact from a distance. This self-possessed lady has a commanding gaze unlike any woman in an earlier European portrait. The profile bust portrait, inspired by ancient Roman sculpture and cameos, appears to represent the sitter herself but may commemorate a member of her family.
Some art historians believe that this portrait relates to the contemporary debate about the rival merits of painting and sculpture. And interestingly, the letters 'T.V.' inscribed on the parapet stand for Tiziano Veccellio, which is Titian's own signature.
See it in person
Portrait of a Lady ('La Schiavona') hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
