BARTOLOMEO, Fra
(b. 1472, Firenze, d. 1517, Pian' di Mugnone)

Worship of Venus

c. 1516
Black chalk, 220 x 290 mm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Alfonso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (1476-1534) commissioned several painters to contribute to the decoration of his private apartments. Fra Bartolomeo arrived in Ferrara in 1516, presumably to receive instructions about his allocated subject, the Worship of Venus, and to present his design. But when Fra Bartolomeo died in November 1517, without having even begun his canvas, it was natural for Alfonso to pass on his subject to Titian.