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Titian's portraits of Grand Chancellor Andrea de' Franceschi

Deborah Howard

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Abstract

Andrea dei Franceschi, Grand Chancellor of Venice from 1529 until his death in 1552, owned two portraits of himself by Titian. This paper considers these portraits in the light of his public and private life. His likeness also appears in a triple portrait attributed to Titian, now in the Royal Collection, of Andrea de’ Franceschi, Titian and Another Man. The third figure in this portrait, painted out at some point in its history, was revealed during the restoration completed in 1958. The paper discusses this perplexing picture in the context of its adoption by Alan Bennett in his play Question of Attribution as a metaphor for the complex career of Anthony Blunt, then Keeper of the Queen’s Pictures.

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What this paper is about

Andrea dei Franceschi, Grand Chancellor of Venice from 1529 until his death in 1552, owned two portraits of himself by Titian. This paper considers these portraits in the light of his public and private life. His likeness also appears in a triple portrait attributed to Titian, now in the Royal Collection, of Andrea de’ Franceschi, Titian and Another Man. The third figure in this portrait, painted out at some point in its history, was revealed during the restoration completed in 1958. The paper discusses this perplexing picture in the context of its adoption by Alan Bennett in his play Question of Attribution as a metaphor for the complex career of Anthony Blunt, then Keeper of the Queen’s Pictures.

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Available abstract

Andrea dei Franceschi, Grand Chancellor of Venice from 1529 until his death in 1552, owned two portraits of himself by Titian. This paper considers these portraits in the light of his public and private life. His likeness also appears in a triple portrait attributed to Titian, now in the Royal Collection, of Andrea de’ Franceschi, Titian and Another Man. The third figure in this portrait, painted out at some point in its history, was revealed during the restoration completed in 1958. The paper discusses this perplexing picture in the context of its adoption by Alan Bennett in his play Question of Attribution as a metaphor for the complex career of Anthony Blunt, then Keeper of the Queen’s Pictures.

Key concepts: Portrait, Queen (butterfly), Metaphor, Context (archaeology), Art history, Art, History, Philosophy

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