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ATTRIBUTED TO TITIAN (C.1488–1576)
An ostrich
Charcoal with a little white chalk heightening, on blue paper, squared in charcoal | RCIN 906675
The convincing proportions and stance of the bird indicate that the artist had seen a live ostrich. The technique suggests an artist from Venice, Italy’s main port for trade with the eastern and southern Mediterranean (from where an ostrich could have been imported as an exotic curiosity), and the expansive chalk style and slightly skewed perspective support an attribution to Titian. The sheet is squared for transfer, presumably to a now-lost painting.
