Amazing allegories of Titian's painting: Who served as prototypes for the "strange picture" of the brilliant Italian

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

During his lifetime Titian Vecellio da Cadore was awarded the title of "King of Painters and Painter of Kings" by his contemporaries. He was considered the best portrait painter of his time, and being captured on his canvas meant gaining eternal immortality. Whom the great Titian immortalized on the allegorical canvas of the late period - further in the review.

Titian lived a long and fruitful creative life that spanned almost three quarters of the turbulent 16th century. It fell to him to survive both the years of the highest flowering, and the years of the deepest crisis of the entire culture of the Renaissance of Italy. Being widely demanded, he fulfilled orders of kings and popes, cardinals, dukes, princes and was recognized as the best painter of Venice when he was not even 30 years old. The artistic legacy of this genius master of the great era surpassed in scope the work of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo put together.

In extreme old age, living out his days alone and rethinking what he had experienced, Titian, apparently, recalled his old allegory painting "Three Ages" (1512), and in response to his reflections, the artist wrote an unusual canvas "Allegory of Time ruled by Prudence", at the top of which he inscribed in Latin:, which in translation reads:. This message, which is the key to deciphering the allegory of this canvas, and the picture itself should be interpreted as the will of Titian, addressed to descendants.

In contrast to The Three Ages, the new allegory of Prudence is read counterclockwise: on the left - an old man in a red cap, in the center - a black-bearded mature man, on the right - a young man in profile. Under this triad of faces is depicted.

Until some time, it was believed that the canvas was depicted: on the left - Pope Julius II or Paul III, in the center - Duke Alfonso d'Este, on the right - Charles V. But the researchers of the artist's work proved that working on this allegory, Titian thought least of all about the rulers who once died. And that he was not thinking about death, but about life, portraying himself and two people so dear to him - his beloved son Orazio and young nephew Marco Vecellio.

Titian found an extraordinary way to express the Trinity of Prudence on his canvas. The master rightly juxtaposed the image of a man of mature years to the image of a powerful lion - the ruler of this world; a gullible youth - to the image of a young dog carrying out his service; a wise old man who knows life well, while weak and lonely - in the image of a wolf.

As you can see, Titian's hawk profile, personifying the past, is the same face as in the famous Prado self-portrait, dating from the same period as the "Allegory". Titian at that time was already under 80. Realizing that the past, like the future, is less “real” than the present, the artist nevertheless depicted him shining from an excess of light.

In the center of the canvas is the devoted son of Orazio Vecellio, who, being the direct opposite of his vicious brother Pomponio, was his father's faithful assistant throughout his life. Then he turned 45 years old.

The third young face in profile, personifying the future, belongs to the artist's nephew - Marco Vecellio, whom he took into the house and surrounded with care. By the time Titian wrote Allegory, he was just over 20 years old. And, therefore, he seems to be the concluding link of three generations of the Vecellio family.

In Christian iconography, the three-headed wolf-lion-dog serves as a symbol of Prudence and its three components: memoria ("memory"), intelligentia ("knowledge"), prudentia ("experience"). The language of symbols was used in their work by many artists in order to define certain concepts as accurately as possible, to enhance the expressiveness of the image. This technique was used by Titian not only in this picture.

Allegory painting of the early Titian period "Three Ages"

The above-mentioned canvas "Three Ages", written by the master almost half a century before "Allegory", contains pastoral elements in its content, revealing the idea of three ages in human life - infancy, youth and old age. Based on this, we see that all the images taken together contain an allegorical meaning and they should be "read" from right to left. And also "Three Ages" is a story of a relationship between two people: a man and a woman. And it's no coincidence here: two babies, two adults, two skulls.

The artist conveyed different stages of his life in the form of carefree sleeping children and a little angel guarding their sweet sleep. They symbolize the beginning of life, when a person does not yet know what joys and sorrows await him in his future life. But while babies hug each other, there is an idyll between them and there is still no gender difference.

The left side of the canvas is balanced by a young couple in love in their prime of life, filled with sensual pleasure, sitting under a dense crown of trees. They personify the middle of life, when a person is young and full of strength, desires, health and energy. The girl seems to take the man's flute, his music, and together with the flute, symbolically takes his soul and life.

In the Titian era, in art, the depicted skulls acted as an unambiguous symbolic reminder of the sinfulness of man, inevitably punishable by death. In the third plane, a seated hermit-aged man with two skulls in his hands symbolizes that nothing lasts forever, that the life of a young couple is not long and that everyone's life inevitably comes to an end.

Titian, by combining three independent compositional centers into a single semantic center, managed to embody a complex philosophy of being in the picture. And at the same time, the meaning of this allegory is simple - we are all born to die later. And as you can see, this topic worried Titian throughout his entire career.

The last creation of a brilliant master

Titian did not let go of his hand until his death. Even on the last day, completing his earthly journey, he was finishing his last creation - "Pieta. Lamentation of Christ". He even managed to sign it: "Titian did it." He immediately bequeathed to install this painting in the chapel over his tombstone and gave the order to set a large table for many people in order to pay tribute to his friends who had passed away earlier. But for the memorial dinner, which the artist planned to spend alone, Titian Vecellio did not have time to go out.

The theme of the pieta was touched upon by many painters and sculptors during the Renaissance. The crown of the creation of Michelangelo Buonarotti - a genius master of the great era was a sculpture of pink marble Rieta. Lamentation of Christ (1499), stunning in its composition and artistic performance.