Eleonora Gonzaga sits turned slightly to the left, her right hand resting on a marten’s dark fur, her gaze calm and reserved. She wears a velvet dress adorned with gold bows and a headdress embroidered with gold, echoing the Northern Italian fashion popularized by Isabella d’Este. Jewelry—drop-shaped pearls at her neck, pearl earrings, and rings—signals her status and references purity.

A gold cord belt with a jeweled marten’s head hangs from her waist, while silk puffs emerge from her sleeves and a white silk collar edged in gold frames her face. Behind her, a window shows a green landscape under a blue sky, and a small table beneath it holds a sleeping spotted dog and an ornate golden clock topped with a statuette. The dog and the clock, both recurring motifs in Titian’s work, symbolize fidelity and the passage of time, and also reflect the interests of the Urbino court.

Portrait of Eleonora Gonzaga della Rovere was painted by Titian in the 1530s as a pair with the portrait of her husband, and became a model for his later portraits. This work belongs to the Venetian school and its coloring and details recall the heraldic colors of the Montefeltro family, from whom the della Rovere inherited their duchy.