This painting is Woman with a Mirror. A woman in her undergarments and loosened over-dress is the central figure. Her hand lifts up her hair to reveal her bare neckline while she gazes at the man behind her who holds a mirror and stares at her décolletage. Art historian Rona Goffen noted that the viewer intrudes on the scene watching this scenario unfold, obtaining pleasure and excitement from observing the woman undress – a voyeuristic relationship.1
Even though this painting has a generic title today, we can still call it a portrait because Titian gave the woman her own personality. Her individuality is evident in her power as a sexual being. The man in the background and every viewer is mesmerized by her delicate features and soft touch as she undresses herself. The man acts as a prop because he is hidden in the dark and holds a mirror that the woman does not use let alone acknowledge.
While this woman could be a prostitute because she appears erotic, she also conforms to 16th-century female gender roles of a respectable woman. She is a desirable woman who is healthy and young and thus able to bear children and be a typical wife as described by Alberti. Her attire puts emphasis on her abdomen where she would carry a child. The clothes are loose-fitting, but voluminous and draw the viewer’s eye to her stomach.
The typical wife was also supposed to be lovely and beautiful. Correlating with Cropper’s article, the woman has long blonde hair. Her eyebrows are darker in color, arc shaped, and tapered; while the eyes are dark and oval shaped. The woman’s skin overall is milky in color with hints of blush at the cheek bones and chin. Her cheeks and chin are also rounded but transition smoothly to other facial features. The mouth is small but noticeable because the red hue of the lips contrasts with her white skin. After examining all these elements of the painting, one can conclude that it is a portrait of an ideal beauty that also conforms to contemporary gender roles.
