Table of contents:
- Women posing for a painting
- Borrowed plot?
- Venus Urbinskaya as inspiration for Edouard Manet and Francisco Goya
- Titian beauty
Video: Venus of Urbinskaya: curious and controversial facts about Titian's impressive masterpiece
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The Italian Renaissance painter Titian began painting at the age of 10 and did so until his death at the age of 99. All this time, the main idea of most of his works was the glorification of female beauty. One of the artist's masterpieces is the painting "Venus of Urbinskaya". This canvas caused a lot of controversy about who posed for the master, and whether he stole the plot from his friend.
Women posing for a painting
Titian painted this painting by order of Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino. The canvas was supposed to be a gift to his young wife. Beautiful Venus lies in rich chambers, waiting for the maids to choose a dress for her.
Art critics argue who posed for Titian. Some see in the appearance of Venus the facial features of Titian's daughter Lavinia. However, it is doubtful that the artist invited his daughter to pose nude, he was too protective of her honor. For six years, the father chose a spouse for Lavinia.
Others find similarities to the mother of the Duke of Urbino, Eleanor Gonzaga. In the portrait with her image and the painting with Venus, you can see the same dog. But this version is also very doubtful, since the aristocrat would not agree to be naked in front of the artist.
Another contender for the role of Venus is called a person who often visited Titian during the period when he was painting the picture. Moreover, its appearance can be seen on several more canvases of the painter. The master wanted to portray the ideal divine beauty, therefore, most likely, Venus of Urbinskaya is a collective image.
Borrowed plot?
28 years before the painting of "Venus of Urbino" by the artist Giorgione, a similar painting "Sleeping Venus" was created. But the painter did not have time to complete it because he died of the plague. Titian completed the painting, and after a while he painted his own.
Some accuse the artist of stealing the plot from his friend, but depicting women in this position during Titian's time was a common practice. Both Venus are similar only in poses and no more. Soviet art critic Mikhail Alpatov assessed these two paintings as follows: "Titian's splendid nudity just as naturally replaces the virgin-chaste nakedness of Giorgione, just as a blooming summer replaces a timid spring."
Venus Urbinskaya as inspiration for Edouard Manet and Francisco Goya
The image of a naked body in the Renaissance was allowed only if there was a goddess in the picture. After Titian, this unspoken rule was observed by artists for many decades. The tradition was broken by Francisco Goya. He painted a nude Spanish city woman. The painting was created secretly, by order of a high-ranking minister, since the depiction of nudity was prohibited by the church.
Edouard Manet was also inspired by Titian's masterpiece and wrote his Olympia. But the public did not accept her. After all, the picture depicted not a goddess at all, but a girl of easy virtue. Moreover, it also shows a dark-skinned maid with flowers from a client.
Titian beauty
If you pay attention to the Italian masterpieces of the Renaissance, then the beauties on them are completely blondes, although the inhabitants of the Apennine Peninsula are naturally dark-haired. To acquire a light shade, women of fashion went for a trick: they rubbed a special ointment with lemon into their hair and went under the scorching rays of the sun. The dark mop burned out and became much lighter. In Titian's paintings, women are depicted with blond hair. Even today there is a shade that is called "Titian".
Another magnificent masterpiece by Titian - the painting "Heavenly Love and Earthly Love", filled with many hidden symbols.
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