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| | This room became known as the Titian Cabinet because it was used to house the canvases by Titian acquired in 1850 as part of the Barbarigo collection. "Over centuries that great family collected countless treasures…," a contemporary wrote. "And among them a special place goes to the Picture Gallery of the classics of Venetian art, which in terms of the number of works by Tiziano Vecellio can be termed unique…" The patrician Barbarigo clan was linked to Titian by an enduring friendship. After the artist's death Christoph Barbarigo bought the great master's house and paintings from his son. Among the canvases that became the pride of the Hermitage collection mention is made of The Repentent Mary Magdalene. It is said that Titian held this painting in his hands at the hour of his death. For the Russian Imperial Gallery the acquisition of the Barbarigo collection was a significant and to some degree symbolic event - it was the only instance of the purchase of a whole collection after the reign of Catherine II. |
