Abstract: (Identity and cultural diversity illustrated in titles containing ethnic names in Romanian painting) Identity and diversity are very complex concepts that comprise, among other aspects, ethnic and cultural differences to be found in a specific geographical area. The aim of our research is to investigate the way in which these differences are displayed in Romanian painting and hinted at by the titles bestowed upon them by the authors, by historians or art critics. Our approach focuses mainly on the specificity of the relationships of interdependency established between visual and linguistic communication. Basically the title that designates a work of art acts as a proper name because it stands for an identifying linguistic sign  which, from the point of view of the communication process, establishes a direct contact with the public: by means of the title, the audience is being informed about the existence of a certain visual text. We intend to present a typology of the titles that evoke the image of the other in painting by limiting the research to the Romanian cultural area given the fact that starting with the 19th century this issue has been appropriately illustrated. We shall point out a series of titles of paintings containing ethnonyms (Jews, Tatars, Gypsies) in order to attempt to comprehend the mechanisms that underlie the construction of group identity in a fairly multicultural environment.