Girl with a Platter of Fruit

The young woman lifting a shallow dish of fruit above her head is almost certainly Lavinia, Titian's daughter, painted around 1555 when the artist was already in his sixties and the most sought-after painter in Europe. She turns to look back over her shoulder in a coppery gold dress, pearls at her throat and a jewelled crescent set in her hair. On her finger, tucked below the knuckle, is a wedding ring, which is why some scholars read the picture as marking her marriage. Titian gave her the pose and attributes of an old goddess of fruit and harvest, so she stands somewhere between a real Venetian daughter and Pomona out of the myths. He painted Lavinia more than once over the years, watching her grow from a girl into a married woman.