Masterpiece The Venus of Urbino is one of Titian’s best known paintings, commissioned by Guidobaldo della Rovere, the duke of Urbino, for his wife in 1538. It derives its inspiration from Giorgione’s Sleeping Venus, which Titian himself completed but it’s rather different. The idealized classical landscape (in Giorgione’s work) is replaced by a magnificent venetian interior and the nude female is represented reclining on a white bed sheet looking straight at the observer with calm but challenging expression, completely devoid of embarassment. It is a pagan allegory through which are underlined all the virtues that a bride would have been. The dog on the right side it’s a symbol of loyalty and fidelity and the two girls on the background represent the maternity even if they could be considered as clues to understand the richness of the setting. Anyway the most relevant aspect is the use of color directly applied on the canvas without a clear draw, in this way he(Titian) could adjust the shapes and the silhouettes day by day and obtein original results and a particular shading effect that give us the impression of softness.