Girl with a Fan

In the 1560s Titian began to record himself and his family. His daughter Lavinia, who was born after 1530, has been associated with the Girl with a Fan as well as with the Young Woman with a Dish of Fruit, and both portraits are characterized by a pride and affection that suggests a strong personal bond with the artist. The Prado Self-Portrait of c. 1560 shows Titian as withdrawn and distant in near profile, in contrast to an earlier Self-Portrait in Berlin, where he appears without the tools of his trade but as if staring critically at an unseen canvas as described by Palma Giovane.

This painting is in exceptionally good condition, allowing one to admire the stiff silk of the dress conjured up by a dense weave of brushstrokes.