Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria

By about 1560 Titian was in his seventies and the most sought-after painter in Europe, sending mythological canvases off to Philip II of Spain. This is a quieter kind of commission, a private devotional picture traditionally said to have been made for the Dondi dell'Orologio, a family he knew in Padua. The Christ child is caught mid-motion, tipping forward slightly off balance with his arms out toward Catherine of Alexandria, who leans in to meet him. Luke stands behind with his book. By this point Titian ran a busy workshop, and scholars think assistants painted the heavy curtain and parts of Luke, while the master kept the tender exchange at the centre for himself.