Portrait of Tiziano Vecellio 'Titian'

Joseph Arnold Freeman 1729-1799, was an English painter and draftsman. Freeman's middle name has been acquired through knowledge from an elderly now deceased art scholar, this is unrecorded. However, Freeman was an accomplished copyist and this drawing which dates around the third quarter of the 18th Century was commonly used as an introduction to those potential clients that were to engage Freeman for a commission but not knowing of his talents. This drawing was probably produced within the hour and expresses his ability as a draftsman. Freeman has painted a large number of portraits in oil around the various collages of Cambridge, the dining room at Emanuel College contains no less than 11 of his portrait paintings all copies of earlier works from the King's collections, such as Windsor and Hampton Court. University Colleges displayed portraits of the wealthy patrons of their individual Colleges, however these rare and antique pictures were already within various collections and consequently the copyist Freeman was engaged to carry out the task of reproducing the originals. This would have entailed travelling great distances at the time when travel was fraught with danger. Freeman's work is exemplary as a copyist and Titian's portrait here holding a rectangular pallet is typical of a calling card, the portrait being well known of among scholars in the 18th Century, another of these drawings is sitting in a National Gallery collection a photo of which is enclosed along with the photo of the original self portrait painting, which is holding an oval pallet, and one other drawing of an Infrared image which was sent to the Chairman of the Historical Paper Society who confirmed the date by way of the lines in the paper and the chains. The conclusion is that Freeman displayed his talent to the proposed patron and deliberately changed the shape of the pallet so as noy to be accused of using a prepared drawing, and if drawn in the presence of the patron there is no better way to display his ability. This work is unsigned but is known to be by Freeman through scholarly study and a lifetime of experience in art.