Venus with a Mirror
c. 1555
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 124.5 x 105.5 cm (49 x 41 9/16 in.) framed: 157.48 x 139.07 x 10.8 cm (62 x 54 3/4 x 4 1/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CIS-R
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Andrew W. Mellon Collection
Accession Number
1937.1.34
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
Titian’s *Venus with a Mirror*, painted around 1555, captures the goddess of love in a moment of quiet reflection. A leading figure of the Venetian Renaissance, Titian was celebrated for his luminous use of color and fluid brushwork in oil on canvas—a medium that allowed him to build rich textures and glowing skin tones. The painting’s intimate scale and warm palette invite viewers to share Venus’s gaze as she contemplates her reflection, blending sensuality with classical grace. This work reflects the Renaissance fascination with mythology and the human form, themes Titian explored throughout his long career. Oil on canvas enabled the artist to achieve remarkable depth and subtlety, techniques that influenced generations of painters across Europe. Housed in the National Gallery of Art’s Andrew W. Mellon Collection, the painting continues to exemplify Titian’s masterful ability to fuse ideal beauty with lifelike presence.
About the Artist
Titian · 1483–1576
Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488-1576), known as Titian, was the greatest painter of the 16th-century Venetian school and one of the most influential artists in Western art history. Born in Pieve di Cadore in the Venetian Republic, Titian revolutionized painting through his innovative use of color, expressive brushwork, and mastery of oil technique. Trained in Giovanni Bellini's workshop alongside Giorgi...