Studio of Tiziano Vecellio, called Titian Pieve di Cadore circa 1485/90 (?) - 1576 Venice

The present painting belongs to a group of portraits of lovely young women painted by Titian and his studio from about 1555 and on.  Although attempts in the past have been to identify the sitters, it seems more likely that these were idealized portraits made for sale to a ready clientele, rather than depictions of specific women.  Wethey grouped together a number of these portraits, all with variations in details of costume and pose, and holding different attributes (in the case of the present canvas, an apple, but other examples depict the women holding wreaths of flowers, a vase, cats and even a weasel; see H. Weathey, The Paintings of Titian, vol. II, The Portraits, London, 1971, pp. 186-87, under cat no. X-112).  The prototype of the composition by Titian himself would appear to be the so-called Portrait of a Sultana or Rossa, the composition of which would appear to be best represented by a period studio replica in the collection of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida.  The present canvas, however, is closest in pose and conception to an example in the Kress Collection in National Gallery of Art (inv. 1939.1.292, see F.R. Shapley, Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection, Italian Schools XV-XVI Century, London 1968, pp. 186-87, illus., fig. 435, or Wethey, op. cit., fig. 268), which shows the sitter gently cradling an apple in her hands in the same position, and with a similar jewelled wreath placed at an angle on her head.  The Kress picture does not, however, include the device of open vista to the left of the sitter.