Retrato del cardenal Filippo Archinto

In 1556 Filippo Archinto was named Archbishop of Milan, and he never got to sit in the chair. A rival backed by the Spanish authorities held the city against him, and Archinto died two years later still shut out of his own see. Titian, then at the height of his powers, painted him twice. One version is conventional. This one is not. A sheer gauzy curtain hangs across the canvas and veils half the cardinal's face and body, as if something has come between him and us. Only his hand, with the bishop's ring, stays clear of the cloth on the near side, Titian's quiet way of insisting the office was rightfully his. Archinto looks out steadily from behind the veil.