Giorgio Cornaro with a Falcon by Titian, 1537
Tittian's Giorgio Cornaro with a Falcon, 1537, has been part of Omaha's Joslyn Art Museum's permanent collection since 1942. But 475 years of neglect and tinkering rendered it a drab, shadowy artwork known more for its Renaissance provenance than its mass appeal.
Then, in 2006, Joslyn's head curator, John Wilson, contacted the J. Paul Getty Museum's senior conservator of paintings, Mark Leonard, and asked if there was any hope for the aging masterpiece. Leonard took a look and felt that, "[he] had absolutely no doubt that it could look better, that what remained of the great power and force of the portrait could be recovered."
X-rays showed that Titian changed the position of the dog's head many times to get it just right.
After months of painstaking work, based on x-rays, science, and gut instinct, Leonard brought the Titian back to its full glory. It was recently returned to the Joslyn where it now claims a place of honor as one to the true gems of their collection.
Read Dane Stickney's Omaha World-Herald article to learn more about the painting's long journey back to art stardom. It's a great story.
P.S. Titian is one of my all time favorite dog artists. See more of his dog art works here.
