Caramel

Dated 1876 and executed on panel, this early work by Ettore Tito — painted when he was approximately fifteen years old — shares a date with his other juvenile self-portrait from the same year, suggesting a period of intense early production at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice. The title "Caramel" is unusual and evocative for a student work: it may refer to a color study, a still-life involving caramelized sugar, or a figure study titled after a warm, amber tonality. Whatever its specific subject, the work demonstrates Tito's precocious engagement with painting at an age when most students are still in foundational drawing exercises. The Venetian academic tradition emphasized early immersion in both drawing and oil painting technique, and the young Tito clearly absorbed this demanding curriculum with exceptional speed. Panel supports in student work of this era were common for small-format exercises — they offered a stable, smooth surface that permitted close observation and precise, controlled paint application without the complexities of canvas preparation.

A panel of 1876, produced by a fifteen-year-old student, would demonstrate the academic foundation of tonal modeling and ground preparation learned in the Accademia's ateliers. The warm tonality implied by the title suggests a palette oriented toward amber, gold, and burnt sienna, colors central to the Venetian tradition Tito was absorbing at this formative moment.