Nymph and Faun

This painting is very damaged and so a secure attribution to Titian is difficult to establish. It is unlikely that this represents a specific god, goddess, or episode. The characters are non-specific, and the picture is intended to evoke of the mood of a classical, pastoral idyll. This sort of scene was inspired by Ancient poets, such as Theocritus, but also contemporary writers who sought to emulate the Classics, such as Bembo. Scenes of this type became popular in 16th-century Venice, and were initially found in manuscript illustrations and painted furniture decoration. They would have been displayed in the private cabinets of wealthy collectors, the nudity only excused by the pseudo-Classical subject-matter. The landscape in the background is certainly similar to those painted by Titian, notably the blue peaks of the mountains beyond, which evoke the landscape of his native town, Pieve di Cadore. Called Mars and Venus in the 1652 inventory of the 10th Earl of Northumberland, it has been suggested that this painting was free study of the version held at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. It was given its present title by 1671.