''The Vendramin Family Venerating a Relic of the True Cross'' (also, ''Portrait of the Vendramin Family'') is a large painting by the 16th century Venetian master

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

and his workshop, executed in the early 1540s, and now in the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

in London. The canvas was commissioned by the patrician

Vendramin The House of Vendramin (, ) was a rich merchant family of Venice, Italy, who were among the ''case nuove'' or "new houses" who joined the patrician class when the ''Libro d'Oro'' was opened after the battle of Chioggia (June 1380). Andrea Ven ...

family, and portrays, as was the typical Venetian custom, only male members of the dynasty. It includes the brothers Andrea and Gabriele Vendramin, and Andrea's seven sons. However Andrea was apparently only three years older than Gabriele, which one would not think from the two figures here. It remains uncertain which is which. The three young boys kneeling on the left were added later by another artist, and are markedly lower in quality. The figures are next an altar holding a

reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...

of the

True Cross The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...

, which still exists. This was connected with a miracle in 1370-82 depicted by

Vittorio Carpaccio Vittore Carpaccio ( UK: /kɑːrˈpætʃ(i)oʊ/, US: /-ˈpɑːtʃ-/, Italian: itˈtoːre karˈpattʃo c. 1460/66 – 1525/26) was an Italian painter of the Venetian school who studied under Gentile Bellini. Carpaccio was largely influenced ...

Gentile Bellini Gentile Bellini (c. 1429 – 23 February 1507) was an Italian painter of the school of Venice. He came from Venice's leading family of painters, and at least in the early part of his career was more highly regarded than his younger brother Giova ...

and other artists - when accidentally dropped into a canal during a congested procession it did not sink but hovered over the water, evading others trying to help, until an earlier Andrea Vendramin dived in and retrieved it. This Andrea had been presented with the relic in 1369, in his capacity as head of the

confraternity A confraternity ( es, cofradía; pt, confraria) is generally a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy. They are most c ...

Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista The Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista is a confraternity building located in the San Polo ''sestiere'' of the Italian city of Venice. Founded in the 13th century by a group of flagellants it was later to become one of the five ''Scuole G ...

; they still hold the relc and its reliquary. Both the large Bellini painting, ''The Miracle of the True Cross near San Lorenzo Bridge'', of 1496–150

and the Carpaccio of 1494, are now in the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Accademia museum in Venice. Titian's painting has been described as, "one of the greatest group portraits in history". It balances youth and wisdom as well as demonstrating the power of this family and their public commitments to the Republic. The relic is a central part of the portrait and was seen as both a symbol of the Serene Republic, and a personal symbol for the Vendramin family. The painting was clearly designed for a specific location, presumably in one of the various Vendramin palaces in Venice, perhaps on a stairway. The lighting and very low

vanishing point A vanishing point is a point on the image plane of a perspective drawing where the two-dimensional perspective projections of mutually parallel lines in three-dimensional space appear to converge. When the set of parallel lines is perpendicul ...

suggest that the primary viewing point was anticipated to be at the left of the canvas, with the lower edge at about head height.

History

This painting remained in Venice until at least 1636 when it was bought by

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

who was painter at the court of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

. After his death it was claimed as the property of Lady Anne Middleton by her son, Sir John Wittewronge. After claiming possession Sir John sold the painting to

Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland, 4th Baron Percy, KG, JP (29 September 160213 October 1668) was an English aristocrat, and supporter of the Parliamentary cause in the First English Civil War. The Percies had been the leading famil ...

, one of Van Dyck's major patrons, and passed by descent through the Earls and Dukes of Northumberland and Somerset until 1929, when it was bought by the National Gallery. At some point it has been cut down on both sides and at the bottom.Gould, 284

References

Sources

* * Penny, Nicholas, National Gallery Catalogues (new series): ''The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, Volume II, Venice 1540–1600'', 2008, National Gallery Publications Ltd,

External links

National Gallery
{{Titian 1543 paintings Paintings by Titian in the National Gallery, London

Dogs in paintings by Titian Group portraits by Italian artists