News & Stories

The conservation treatment of Titian’s Annunciation in the Duomo di Treviso has led to exciting new discoveries. Scientific analysis using Infrared technology revealed the inscription that acknowledged the commissioner of the painting Broccardo Malchiostro and the artist’s signature and date “Titianus pinxit MDXX” in the bottom of the painting beneath an area that had been repainted. Equipped with the promising results of the non-invasive scientific analysis and after consultation with officials from the Ministry of Culture, conservator Francesca Faleschini removed the non-original overpainting to recover the inscription that had been masked for centuries.

The discovery of the inscription provides invaluable new insight that allows scholars to better understand Titian’s working methods from 1517 when the work was commissioned to 1520 when it was installed on the altar in the Malchiostro Chapel. Further investigations also continue regarding the inclusion of a peculiar portrait of Broccardo Malchiostro in the painting. It remains a mystery whether this figure was added by Titian before the work was completed or if it was added at a later date and potentially by a different painter. Don Paolo Barbisan, Art Historian and Director of the office of sacred art for the Diocese of Treviso, presented these new findings at the Centro Studi Tiziano e Cadore on Saturday, July 31 in collaboration with Save Venice.

You can read more about this exciting discovery in recent press (in Italian):
Il Gazzettino
La Tribuna di Treviso