Portrait of Titian

Although an optical illusion makes Titian’s bust portrait seem to change size, the two impressions of Agostino Carracci’s Portrait of Titian (1938.1432 and 1919.2562) represent two subsequent states printed from the same reworked copper plate. The background lines at the top of the plate were burnished down to accommodate additional text celebrating Titian’s fame. This sheet has also been repaired in several places, with some of the details and lettering redrawn by hand, making the two prints seem oddly dissimilar on first glance, although Titian’s silhouette has in fact never changed.