The Portrait of Alvise Contarini (?) was acquired by the Wildenstein House as a Titian and, in fact, was attributed to Titian by various scholars, such as L. Venturi (who dated it c. 1550), Suida (who dated it c. 1540), Berenson, Bologna, and, nally, Pallucchini, who later attributed the work to a follower of the master. Wethey’s catalogue included the painting under the section dedicated to the school of Titian. A. Morassi rejected the idea that the portrait had been painted by Titian (verbal communication to the museum), and as far back as 1959 Bardi transferred its attribution to Bordon. is new attribution was later independently ratied by studies carried out by Fossaluzza. According to Fossaluzza (1985, p. 183), there are two distinct tendencies that can be detected in Bordon’s portraits: one of a more intimate nature, and the other associated with the celebration of events. is portrait would fall into the second classification. Wethey considers it appropriate to date the work c.1525, whereas Berenson and Wildenstein (n.d.) would date it c.1545. Abraham Hume (1829, p. 66) mistakenly identified the subject of the portrait as being the famous Latinist poet, Andrea Navagero (a friend of Titian’s, portrayed by Raphael, who died in 1529), and also mentioned that the portrait was originally from the Contarini Palace, in Venice. This opinion led to the assumption that the portrait, which was still in the family, showed one of the Contarinis and this was subsequently mentioned by Ridol (1648, II, p. 225). is assumption was confirmed by Eleonora Fatigati (letter of March 11, 1994, addressed to the Museum), who identified the model as Alvise Contarini, based on two comparisons. e rst is with a marble bust of Alvise Contarini, and the second is with the gure in the foreground of the painting The Miracle of St. Agnes, painted by Jacopo Tintoretto and kept at the Venetian Church of Madonna dell'Orto, which, according to Fatigati, was commissioned by Alvise’s uncle Tommaso and by the sitter himself. Like the portrait of Cristoforo Madruzzo, by Titian, at the Masp, this portrait depicts a table clock (orologio da tavola) which is identical to the clocks on exhibit in the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, in Milan. e clock could well be an allusion to the passing of time, in which case this portrait would acquire a moralizing or melancholy connotation in the best tradition of the Vanitas iconography.

— Unknown authorship, 1998

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