Heilige Familie mit der heiligen Katharina von Alexandrien und Johannes dem Täufer

When Palma Vecchio died in 1528, this picture was still standing unfinished in his Venice studio, listed in the inventory of his estate under the title Flight into Egypt. The man who completed it was no ordinary assistant. Titian, already the most sought-after painter in the city, stepped in and finished the whole figure of Saint Catherine on the right, together with the face of the young Baptist, the tall column and the landscape beyond. So two hands share the canvas, the softer, rounded manner of Palma and the surer touch of the man who would go on to dominate Venetian painting for another 40 years. It passed through private collections until the Accademia bought it in 1900.