On loan from Florence, Italy's Pitti Palace, (for which the Art Institute exchanged some of its Impressionist paintings), the oil portrait of "Donna Velata" (circa 1516) by Raphael and "Portrait of a Man with Blue-Green Eyes" (1540-45) by Titian, are on display in a first-ever showing in Chicago, accompanied by seven from the Art Institute's own Renaissance collection.

This exhibit presents a rare chance for art lovers to see grand Italian artistry, as well as garnering insights into the differences in the way men and women were viewed in the 16th century, as well as getting an appreciation for the Renaissance's view of mankind.

The Titian painting is that of a young nobleman with blue-green eyes, a ruddy complexion and a confident demeanor. "The Titian makes an allusion to the world at large because he's caught this man at a moment between activities," says Larry J. Feinberg, curator of European paintings at the

Art Institute. "He's just come in from conducting important business affairs and doesn't even have time to sit down. He still has his glove in his hand, and his impatience is conveyed by his hand on his hip and his tousled hair."

The Raphael portrait is that of a veiled woman with warm, dark eyes, dressed in elaborate gold and white, recalling Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa in that she appears to be looking at the viewer. "The Raphael was probably commissioned in honor of this woman's marriage," Feinberg says.

How can you tell that the woman is married? "The veil she's wearing," Feinberg says, "is a sign of marriage. She also has her hand over her heart, which shows allegiance to her husband."

These two paintings show a contrast in the view of gender during the Renaissance. The man in Titian's painting stands like the master of his domain, confident in his power and place in the world. He wears slight sideburns, a mustache and a goatee. His could be an image of any one of today's captains of industry.

The woman by Raphael, however, is another matter. She sits demurely, withdrawn from the world, a quiet, guarded figure looking out at the viewer with a shy gaze. One can't imagine a woman of our day in a pose like that. "Yet, today, you would see a man in a pose like that of Titian's man painted today," Feinberg says.

Besides this gender gap, the oil portraits also offer a look into the Renaissance's philosophical outlook. "They had a grander sense of the individual," Feinberg says. "Today, there's more of a sense of fragmenting life, and I think there's less a sense of the value of the individual.

"Granted, of course, that there were different classes and both of these people clearly belonged to the upper class," he says. "The Renaissance concept of humanity, by and large, is that of a cosmopolitan individual who has free will and to a large extent determines his own life, and has a commanding presence in the world."

Not only do these paintings represent an exalted view of the individual, which didn't exist during Europe's dark Middle Ages and hadn't been recognized in the Western world since Greece's classical age, but the portraits also represent landmarks in the history of art.

"They were groundbreaking and innovative in that Raphael and Titian invented a new way of doing portraiture that I would call the action portrait," Feinberg says. "They weren't content just to portray the face accurately and to provide a couple of static symbols like a necklace of like something that denoted social station.

"They wanted the figures to sort of act out their roles in life. So you see the young Englishman has been caught in the moment and even though the veiled lady is rather sedate, she still makes this gesture with her hands to show you how she feels. Raphael and Titian really withstand the test of time in that they became models for painters such as Jean-Auguste-Dominque-Ingres, Anthony van Dyck, as well as many other great artists who followed."