At an interval of about eight years we come to the _St. Jerome_
(No. 1585), a religious scene set, curiously enough, in a moonlight
landscape, which has darkened. The exact interpretation to be placed
upon the _Allegory in honour of Alfonso d’Avalos_ (No. 1589), of
about 1533, has been much discussed; it is supposed to represent
Alfonso bidding farewell to his wife on his departure for the wars,
and entrusting her to the safe keeping of Chastity, Cupid, who bears
a sheaf of arrows, and a third figure. The _Portrait of Francis I._
(No. 1588), whom Titian never saw, appears to have been painted about
1536 from a medal, and represents the King in profile. François I. died
in 1547. It belongs to the same period as the _Portrait of a Man in
Damascened Armour with a Page holding his Helmet_ in the collection of
Count Potocki. Another portrait, painted about 1543, represents a _Man
with a Black Beard resting his Hand on the Ledge of a Pilaster_ (No.
1593). By this time Titian’s art was rapidly maturing, as we see from
his magnificent and imposing _Supper at Emmaus_ (No. 1581) of the same
year. It had passed from Mantua to England before being acquired by
that excellent connoisseur, Jabach. It is said to be signed _Ticianus
F._, while the _Christ Crowned with Thorns_ (No. 1583), which was
painted for a church in Milan about 1550, is inscribed TITIANVS _F._
When Charles I., as Prince of Wales, visited Madrid in 1623, he was
presented with the _Jupiter and Antiope_ (No. 1587), which has the
alternative title of the _Venus del Pardo_. It had been painted for
Philip II., and had already escaped the fire which broke out in the
Prado. Jabach acquired it for 600 guineas, and passed it on to Cardinal
Mazarin, from whom it was acquired for 10,000 _livres tournois_ by
Louis XIV. It escaped destruction by fire in the Old Louvre in 1661. It
has been very much repainted from time to time.