Larry Keith

This book recounts the fascinating history of Titian's unfinished portrait, A Lady and her Daughter (possibly his mistress Milia and their daughter), which dates from the early 1550s. After Titian's death in 1576, it was repainted in his studio with a more saleable image of Tobias and the Angel. Often presented as Titian's work but in a style which made the attribution suspect, the painting has had a succession of owners. It belonged to Tsar Nicholas I for a short time, and ultimately to the art dealer René Gimpel, who hid it with other artwork in a warehouse in London during World War II, where it miraculously survived the Blitz. It was not until the mid-20th century that an x-ray examination uncovered the beautiful painting underneath, an undisputed work by the great master himself. The painstaking restoration process, begun in 1983, took 20 years. Notable art historians and conservators have contributed essays that offer an in-depth examination of this exceptional and mysterious painting.