Arcadópolis
Cardinal Georges d’Armagnac and His Secretary
Titian, c. 1536–1539
What you see
Two men share the canvas at different heights. On the left, Cardinal Georges d’Armagnac, larger and closer, wears black with a fur collar and a black cap; he holds an open letter and looks off to the right. Beside him and lower down, his secretary, quill in hand over some papers, raises his eyes toward him. Behind them are a dark column and an opening onto trees.
Black dominates, broken by the white of the papers and faces and by the secretary’s red doublet embroidered in gold. In the distance, a golden sky lights the treetops. Watch for the inkwell on the table and the gilded relief faintly visible on the wall at left.
About Titian
Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) was the great painter of Venice and worked for more than seventy years. He was a magician of colour: his reds, golds and blues seem to glow with their own light. Kings, popes and emperors all wanted him to paint their portraits.
More by Titian
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