Portrait of Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino (1514–1574), and his son, Francesco Maria II (1549–1631)

Titian's double portrait of Guidobaldo II della Rovere and his young son Francesco Maria II, from around 1555 and now in the Klesch Collection, documents the continuation of his relationship with the Urbino dynasty that had begun with the Venus of Urbino commission of 1538. Guidobaldo II was the son of Francesco Maria della Rovere, whose companion portrait with Eleonora Gonzaga Titian had painted in 1537; the inclusion of the infant heir Francesco Maria II in this double portrait transforms it from a state portrait into a dynastic statement about succession and continuity. The Urbino ducal line would end with Francesco Maria II's death in 1631 without legitimate heirs, and the duchy would pass to the Papal States; this portrait therefore captures one of the last moments of Della Rovere dynastic confidence before the line's eventual extinction. The double portrait format places this work within the tradition Titian had developed for family groups and dynastic statements across his long career.

This work demonstrates Titian's command of Renaissance-period painting techniques.