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The Three Ages of Man is a painting by Venetian Renaissance artist Titian that is dated between 1513 and 1515 and is now displayed at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh. The 90 cm high by 151 cm wide pastoral scene was most likely influenced by Giorgione’s paintings with themes and motifs of landscapes and nude figures. The painting depicts Titian's conception of the human life cycle, with figures of sleeping infants, young lovers, and an old man holding skulls. This oil on canvas painting is one of Titian's most famous early artworks, and its bright colors set it apart from some of his later work.

Subject Matter and Visual Analysis
The Scottish National Gallery describes The Three Ages of Man as a meditation on the transience of human life and love set in a poetic landscape. On the right, Cupid playfully clambers over two sleeping infants (perhaps future lovers). In the left foreground, young lovers gaze at each other. In the middle distance, an old man contemplates a pair of skulls - the fate that the young lovers will one day meet.

Titian's figures appear in a pastoral setting, with a church in the background that may serve to remind viewers of the Christian promise of salvation and eternal life. This pastoral setting was likely influenced by Giorgione's landscapes - Titian was known to have completed some of Giorgione’s unfinished works after Giorgione died of the plague in 1510 at age 33.

While generally accepted as an allegory of the stages of life, a 1991 article by art historian Paul Joannides made the case that the figures could instead portray the mythological characters Daphnis and Chloe. Joannides notes that the infants could represent the mythological pair's childhood abandonment, while the elderly man in the background could be their father, lamenting the loss of his children.

Composition, Style, and Material
The Three Ages of Man is an oil on canvas painting that measures 90.0 cm x 150.7 cm.

The figures in Titian's The Three Ages of Man are featured in silhouette against a back-drop of dark foliage and are enlarged compared to the landscape behind them. This style of composition, which calls to mind a relief, was typical of Titian.

Titian's work is lively in its color and brushwork, especially with regards to the female figure, who wears bright colors and whose clothing features visible brush strokes. The vitality of this figure is further emphasized in her positioning, as she makes both physical and direct eye contact with her lover. Art historian Peter Humfrey describes the figures as "robust," noting that their heartiness sets them apart from Giorgione's more relaxed style of painting figures.

Historical Background
In his 1550 work The Lives of the Artists, Italian historian Giorgio Vasari describes an oil painting by Titian housed in the Faenza house of Giovanni dal Castel Bolognese which portrays a naked shepherd to whom a country girl is offering a pipe. This work has long been assumed to be Titian's Three Ages of Man, although some art historians leave open the possibility of the vague description referencing a different version of a similar composition.

According to art historian Joachim von Sandrart, Titian's Three Ages of Man was owned by Otto Truchess von Waldburg, the Cardinal of Augsburg in 1550. Also according to Sandrart, the painting was later owned by Augsburg art collector Matthäus Hopfer. Following Hopfer's death in 1623, the painting most likely passed first into the possession of the Ebert family and then into the Augsburg art market.

A 1662 inventory from the Palazzo Riario shows that the painting was purchased by Queen Christina of Sweden for 1,000 Reichsthaler. Following the death of Queen Christina, the painting was given to Cardinal Decio Azzolino. Subsequent owners include Marchese Pompeo Azzolino (who owned it from 1689-1692), the Oldescalchi Collection (who had it from 1692-1721), and the Orleans Collection (where it stayed from 1721-1792). In 1798, the Duke of Bridgewater purchased the painting, titled in the inventory of the purchase as The Allegory of Human Life, and it has remained in the possession of his descendants, including the Marquess of Stafford, Lord Ellesmere, and the Dukes of Sutherland. In 1946, the Duke of Sutherland lent the painting to the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, where it is displayed to this day.

In 1967 and 1970, a series of x-rays of the painting were taken by scholars from the Courtauld Institute of Art. These x-rays reveal several changes that Titian made to the work as he painted it. For instance, the x-rays show more skulls painted around the elderly man, as well as a quiver stuck into a tree, which did not make the final painting. The x-rays also demonstrate a number of adjustments to the figures, showing that Titian had not entirely determined the painting's composition before he began to work on it. For example, the female figure's face was originally slightly facing the viewer, rather than in complete profile. Additionally, the ridges of the background landscape can be seen through the skirt of the female figure, suggesting that her dress was painted over an already drawn landscape, and her hand occupied several different positions before Titian settled on its final placement.