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49 Portrait of Francis I of France

The great sixteenth-century Venetian painter Titian was renowned throughout Europe. This portrait is thought to have been commissioned from Titian by Pietro Aretino, a poet living in Venice, as a gift for King Francis I of France (r. 1515–1547).

Titian had met Francis I more than twenty years earlier, but he had no opportunity to meet the king again while working on this portrait. Instead, he used as a reference a profile portrait medal of Francis I created by the Italian artist Benvenuto Cellini in 1537. Although portraits in strict profile had become somewhat old-fashioned by this point, Titian harnessed the implied authority of this format, which derived from ancient Roman imperial coins, while introducing a sense of movement by posing the king’s torso in three-quarter view. Masterfully conveying the dignity and vitality befitting a monarch, this work went on to become the most famous portrait of Francis I and had a profound and lasting influence on later generations of artists.