Man in Military Costume

In the latter part of his career Titian continued to give much care to portraits, though painting fewer. The most flamboyant is the Portrait of a Man in Military Costume dateable to the early 1550s. He is portrayed so theatrically that it is hard to take him seriously. Titian only adopted the full-length format for clients of the highest rank and surprisingly in so swagger an image the sitter has escaped identification. His outfit also needs to be better understood since it seems halfway between a military and a hunting costume.

The identity of the subject of this life-size painting is unknown, probably it represents Ferrante Gonzaga (1507-1557), a successful commander under Charles V and later viceroy of Sicily and governor of Milan. The Cupid fiddling with his magnificently decorated helmet sets the portrait in an allegorical-mythical context.