Beginning of the post: King of painters Titian Vecellio (1477-1576)
THE LAST YEARS OF THE MASTER'S LIFE.
In recent years, the artist often wrote for the soul. Titian's house was constantly full - many students, artists, collectors and eminent guests from all over Italy and from other countries came to him. Nevertheless, prone to melancholy and reflection, Titian, in fact, remained alone. He often recalled his youth and beloved Cecilia, indulged in thoughts about the frailty of life and yearned for everyone who was taken away from him by time. The result of these sad reasoning and spiritual loneliness was the painting “Allegory of Time and Reason”, written around 1565 (National Gallery, London), which is considered a kind of testament of the master to his descendants.
Allegory of Prudence c. 1565–1570 76.2 × 68.6 cm London National Gallery
According to tradition, the picture should be read from left to right, that is, counterclockwise, and from top to bottom. The starey in the red cap symbolizes the past, the black-bearded man symbolizes the present, and the young man symbolizes the future. The animals depicted at the bottom of the picture are also symbolic: the wolf is the human force that takes away the past, the lion personifies the present, and the dog awakens the future with its barking.
In 1570, Titian creates the painting "The Shepherd and the Nymph" (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna). This light, freely painted canvas was not commissioned by anyone, the artist created it for himself.
Shepherd and Nymph, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
A naked nymph lies on the skin of a slain animal, with her back to the viewer and her head slightly turned. The young maiden is not at all embarrassed by her nakedness. Next to her is a shepherd who is about to start playing a musical instrument, although he may have just interrupted, carried away by the beauty or the words of the heroine. The overall color of the picture is deliberately thickened by the author, this creates a certain mystery and understatement in the relationship of the main characters, enhanced by the inclusion of brown and ashy dark tones. The background landscape is blurred, only a piece of a broken tree is visible there, as if left after a storm. It does not affect lovers who live in their own world of beauty and bliss and do not notice anything around. Despite the romantic composition of the picture, the chaos reigning in the landscape surrounding the heroes and the choice of colors still tell us that there was no joy in harmony in the artist’s soul. In the bewildered look of the nymph, his own question seems to be visible - what will happen to them next, how to find joy again in the destroyed Universe.
Soon another misfortune happened, Titian's father died. But the artist could not give up, he continued to create. Thanks to his regular customer, Philip II, Titian was always provided with work. So, around 1570, the master began to create the work “Carrying the Cross” (Prado Museum, Madrid), which took him five years to complete.
Carrying the Cross around 1565 89 5 × 77 cm
State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
The picture is based on a classic gospel story. According to Scripture, Simon of Cyrene was sent to Christ to help him carry the heavy cross to Golgotha. The face of Jesus is filled with anguish and pain, his right shoulder seems almost transparent. The image of Simon, as it were, is opposed to the image of Christ. On his finger is an expensive ring, emphasizing his difficult origin. Simon's clean face with a neat, well-groomed beard contrasts sharply with the face of Jesus, covered with drops of blood. The whole picture is divided by the lower part of the cross diagonally, which further enhances the overall dissonance.
Religious themes run through all of Titian's work, but according to the plots of the paintings themselves and the manner in which they were executed, one can trace how the artist's worldview changed, his attitude to virtue, vices and the theme of martyrdom. This is beautifully reflected in the canvases dedicated to the Great Martyr Sebastian.
In the first works, Saint Sebastian appears before us humble and submissive, but in the last work of the artist, he is determined and ready to fight to the end. This canvas, called "Saint Sebastian" (State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg), was painted around 1570.
The background in the picture is blurred, it is impossible to make out anything on it, and only the figure of the hero himself, nailed to a tree, stands out for its purity. His body is pierced by arrows, but his face is not contorted with pain. In his gaze, pride and calmness, his face is slightly raised up, and his eyebrows are furrowed. It is believed that Titian here depicted himself in the picture, not in the literal sense, but allegorically. Thus, he expressed his attitude to his own fate, to all the betrayals and losses, which he, by the end of his life, had learned to endure steadfastly and with dignity. This work contains the artist's belief that an individual hero is able to endure any blows of fate, he will survive, even if the whole world around him turns upside down, he will be able to withstand and not break. The coloring of the picture seems blurry and monochrome, but hundreds of colors and nuances burn in every centimeter of it. The fate of the painting was such that in 1853, by decree of Emperor Nicholas I, it was placed in the storerooms of the Hermitage, where it lay until 1892. Only many years later this work took its rightful place in the hall of the museum.
In the same year, Titian writes another work, with a similar idea. The painting "The Punishment of Marsyas" (Picture Gallery, Kroměříž) is based on the myth of the satire Marsyas, who dared to challenge Apollo to a musical competition.
Marcia's Punishment" c. 1570-1576 212 × 207 cm National Museum, Kroměříž, Czech Republic
Marsyas played the double flute and Apollo played the lyre. When the Muses could not choose a winner, Apollo offered to compete in vocal skills. Here Marsyas lost. As punishment for the defeat, Apollo decides to skin him, this moment is depicted in the picture.
In the center of the canvas is the figure of Marsyas, suspended by the legs from a tree. Around him are heroes, carried away by the process of the monstrous torture of the satyr. The picture is divided into two parts: to the left of the body of Marsyas are people who are carried away by his murder, they tear off his skin, not hiding their pleasure. On the right side of the canvas are those who are saddened by this cruel murder. These include the elder, who, presumably, depicts Titian himself. He sadly observes the death of Marsyas and the cruelty of his executioners. The face of the satyr himself retains dignity in the face of imminent death. Art critics believe that the plots of Titian's last paintings characterize his farewell to the ideas of humanism, in which he became disillusioned. The world is cruel and nothing in it can save a person, not even art.
LONELINESS AND DESPAIR.
The painting “Lamentation of Christ” (Gallery del Accademia, Venice), written around 1576, was the last creation of the master.
Pieta c. 1570–1576 351 × 389 cm Accademia Gallery, Venice
In it, Titian reflected the question that tormented him: what is there, beyond life? Two huge sculptures are depicted on both edges of the canvas: the prophet Moses and the soothsayer Sibyl, they personify the prophecy of the crucifixion itself and the subsequent Resurrection of Christ. At the top of the arch on the left side are the branches and leaves of the plant, at the top on the right are small vessels with blazing fire. In the center of the composition, the Mother of God supports the lifeless body of her murdered Son. To the left of Christ stands Mary Magdalene, her posture is militant, she seems to be asking: “What is this for?!”. To the right of the Virgin Mary, an old man is kneeling, supporting the lifeless hand of Jesus. Some believe that the figure of the old man also depicts Titian himself. The general color of the canvas is designed in silvery tones with separate patches of red, brown gold. The colors and arrangement of the figures perfectly convey the hopelessness and drama of the plot. There is also a mystery here. In the lower left corner of the work, a small man is depicted with a vase in his hands; art historians are still wondering where he came from and what he was supposed to symbolize.
Meanwhile, a plague was raging in Venice, infecting Titian's youngest son Orazio. The artist himself looked after him, not fearing the contagiousness of the disease. But one day, in the last days of August, the painter, being in his bedroom, located on the second floor, heard a noise in the house. Titian went downstairs and found that the orderlies, who went around the houses in the district in search of the sick or the dead, sailed on gondolas, taking away the last hope of the artist - his Orazio. The artist realized that this was the end and he failed to fulfill his sacred parental duty - to save his own son.
In a moment of despair, Titian depicted at the bottom of his latest masterpiece, on the hem of the Sibyl's dress, an almost imperceptible hand, directed upwards, as if calling for help. This was the end, the long life of the artist, filled with tireless work, many joys and sorrows, came to an end. The worst thing for the painter was that he had to spend the last days of his life all alone. Only his works, completed and just begun, looked at him from the walls of the studio. On August 27, 1576, Titian was found dead on the floor of his workshop. There was a brush in his hand. The artist did not contract the plague from his son, he died a natural death. Being almost a century old, Titian did not stop creating until his last breath, completely devoting himself to the most important work of his life.
The funeral of Titian was very magnificent, despite the plague. By decision of the government, the artist was buried in the Cathedral of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, although this was contrary to the will of the deceased. Even during his lifetime, Titian often said that he would like to be buried in his homeland in the Vecellio family tomb. But the most tragic thing was not this, but the fact that on the day of the funeral, not a single relative was near the body of the painter. The eldest son of the artist, Pomponio, came to his father's house only for an inheritance. But disappointment awaited him - the house was completely looted. A long and bitter struggle for the inheritance began between him, a careless idler, who was the biggest disappointment of his father, and the husband of the late Lavinia, the father of her six children - the grandchildren of Titian.
The painting "Lamentation of Christ" was the last creation of Titian, which he wrote, already feeling the approach of death. This was his appeal to the Lord. In the lower corner of the picture, the artist wrote: "Titian did." According to some sources, the painting was completed after Titian's death by his student, Palma the Younger. Presumably, he painted a flying angel with a lit candle and a part of the masonry at the top of the canvas. It was allegedly difficult for Titian to reach the top of the canvas at his very advanced age. The main proof of this version is the inscription added by Palma. It reads: "What Titian did not finish, Palma completed with reverence, dedicating his work to the Lord God." By this alone, the characters of the two painters can be compared. After all, Titian himself, having redrawn with great skill the burnt painting of the late Giorgione “Sleeping Venus”, never mentioned his authorship, and Palma, adding minor touches to the masterpiece, did not fail to write his name on it. This was a distinctive feature of Titian - the artist's greatest talent did not overshadow a modest and noble person in him. The name of Titian entered the history of world art forever, and his legacy served as an inspiration for young artists and poets for centuries.
Text by Tatiana Zhuravleva.
Pictures not included in the text part of the post:
Christ Carrying the Cross circa 1508–1509 71 × 91 cm Scuola San Rocco, Venice (also attributed to Giorgione)
Woman in front of a mirror circa 1511–1515 96 × 76 cm Louvre (Paris)
Madonna and Child ("Gypsy Madonna") circa 1512 65.8 × 83.8 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna)
Madonna and Child with St. Catharina, St. Dominic and St. Donor circa 1512-1514 130 × 185 cm Magnani Rocca Foundation, Traversetolo
Vanity circa 1515 97 × 81 cm Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Adoration of Venus 1518-1520 172 × 175 cm Prado, Madrid
Altarpiece by Gozzi 1520 312 × 215 cm City Pinacoteca Francesco Podesti, Ancona
Polyptych Averoldi around 1520-1522 278 × 292 cm Church of Santi Nazaro e Celso, Brescia
Venus Anadyomene circa 1520 73.6 × 58.4 cm National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Portrait of Paul III 1543 108 × 80 cm National Museum and Gallery of Capodimonte, Naples
Se Man 1543 242 × 361 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Cain and Abel 1543-1544 292.1 × 280.0 cm Santa Maria della Salute, Venice
David and Goliath 1543-1544 292.1 × 281.9 cm Santa Maria della Salute, Venice
Sisyphus 1549 237 × 216 cm Prado, Madrid
Grieving mother 1550 68 × 61 cm Prado, Madri
Holy Trinity (La Gloria) 1551-1554 346 × 240 cm Prado, Madrid
Virgin Mary of Sorrows 1554 68 × 53 cm Prado, Madrid
Danae 1554 128 × 178 cm Prado, Madrid
Crucifixion of Christ 1558 371 × 197 cm Church of San Domenico, Ancona
The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence 1559 500 × 280 cm Church of the Gesuits, Venice
Entombment 1559 137 × 175 cm Prado, Madrid
Tarquinius and Lucretia c. 1570 193 × 143 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Bordeaux
The Hermitage has a number of works depicting Titian (14777 - 1576) in all his grandiose size. This is partly due to the fact that, in general, the paintings of the Venetians, who painted almost exclusively individual, so-called easel paintings, are easier to have outside of Italy than the great masters of Rome and Florence, who spent their best forces on “immovable” creations - on frescoes. Hermitage paintings confirm our characterization of Titian. All of them belong to the most mature period of his work, and three works tell us about the solemn "decline" of genius.
It is impossible to attribute to such “sunset”, senile works of Titian and the most precious pearl of the Hermitage - “Venus in front of a mirror”(we consider it to belong to the end of the 1550s) - there is still too much strength and brightness in its colors, which is no longer in the later works of Titian.
Titian.Venus in front of a mirror. Around 1555. Oil on canvas. 124.5x105.5. (Sold from the Hermitage to Andrew W. Mellon. National Gallery, Washington)
This Venus can be called the apotheosis of the Venetian woman. The ideal of the Greek goddess is nothing to look for here, but Titian did not set himself such a goal. It was important for him to express his personal worship before the luxury of the body, before its whiteness, warmth, tenderness, before all this blooming charm, promising the joy of love and endless generations of human existences, the infinity of earthly life.
"Penitent Magdalene"(written about 1561) the same Titian Venus, but depicted in a fit of heart torment. The deprivations of the desert had not yet had time to dry up its full forms, and Venus Magdalene took a bottle of cosmetics with her into solitude.
Titian. Penitent Mary Magdalene. 1560s. Canvas, oil. 118x97. Inv. 117. From the collection. Barbarigo, Venice, 1850
Characteristic of Titian is his simple truthfulness, his complete sincerity. He does not break down when he creates his own interpretation of the gospel heroine. He doesn't treat her lightly. He really understood Christianity in this way - without a shadow of asceticism, as a great life-absorbing passion. The sins of his Magdalene are not carnal sins, for which Titian's heroines are not accustomed to blush at all. Magdalene Tiziana cries only that she did not love enough, did not care enough for her beloved, did not sacrifice herself to him. You believe, with all your heart you believe this grief - but grief is not the spiritual self-flagellation of asceticism, but the pain of an irretrievable loss.
After all, the ascending Virgin of Titian in the Venetian Academy is a woman hurrying to hug her son, and not the Queen of Heaven, about to sit on the throne.
Pictures of recent years
Titian is sometimes called a precursor of Rembrandt and equally a forerunner of 19th-century Impressionism. To understand this seeming paradox, it is enough to study three paintings by the master in the Hermitage, relating to the last years of his life. Indeed, here painting in the sense that it was understood in the rest of the history of art (with the exception of Rembrandt, and to some extent Goya and the French of the 1860s and 1870s) disappeared and was replaced by something else. Or rather, here painting only became painting, something self-sufficient. The facets of the drawing disappeared, the despotism of the composition disappeared, even the colors, their play and play disappeared. One color - black - creates the whole colorful effect on “St. Sebastian", not many colors also in the pictures "Behold the man" And "Carrying the Cross".
Titian. Saint Sebastian. OK. 1570. Oil on canvas. 210x115.5. Inv. 191. From the collection. Barbarigo, Venice, 1850
Titian.Carrying the cross. 1560s. Canvas, oil. 89x77. Inv. 115. From the collection. Barbarigo, Venice, 1850
But this does not at all indicate the decline in the strength of the elder Titian, but rather the highest point of his development as a painter, as a master of the brush. The images in these paintings are less thoughtful than in earlier works, and in general the “content” of these paintings touches us less than the “content” of Titian’s paintings of the period when he was still interested in the drama of life. Here you can feel “senile wisdom”, some kind of indifference to the vanity of things. But instead of this, an absorbing pleasure in creativity is revealed, an unbridled ardor in the plastic manifestation of forms. The black paint in "Titian the Elder" is not the dull lifeless darkness of the "Bolognese", but some kind of primary element, some kind of magical creative means. If Leonardo could see such results, he would understand that he was looking for his sfumato, his haze, on the wrong path. Magical darkness does not fall here, as in Leonardo, in methodical shadows, does not outline, does not define, does not border, but leaves to the visions all their quivering, their vital vibration. These are “only impressions”, but the impressions of one of the most illumined human minds, appearing before us in all their immediacy, without a trace of petty pedantry, without a shadow of theoretical rationality. Perhaps it is dangerous to look at such paintings for young artists. It is too easy to adopt their external features and, on the contrary, it is difficult to guess their inexpressible secret, if you yourself do not experience everything that Titian experienced by his eighth decade, this “king of Venice”, a friend of the brightest minds of his time, a favorite artist of the founder of modern politics, Karl V, the favorite artist who dared to go against the history of Philip II, and finally, the artist who posed for the last “great pope”, the greedy and smart Paul III. Titian, who had once seen the best days of Venice and sensed her slow, unavoidable death...
Giving Two paintings by Titian left by us so far without attention: "Danae" And "Savior of the World".
Titian. Danae. OK. 1554. Canvas. Oil. 120x187. Inv. 121. From the collection. Crozat, Paris, 1772
You don’t think about them while you are busy with more spiritual works of the master, but in themselves they are worthy of the greatest attention. "Danae", which some researchers consider to be a copy, others to be an ordinary repetition made by students from the original by Titian, written by him in 1545 for Ottone Farnese, the nephew of Pope Paul III, is not very popular due to such attestations. However, this is a misunderstanding. By the magic of painting, so light, simple and confident, the Hermitage “Danae” is perhaps one of the best paintings in all his creation, but if the type of woman leaves us cold, then this is probably because Titian himself was in this case more interested in the overall colorful effect, rather than the transfer of sensual charm. There is neither the seduction of his Florentine "Venus", nor the intimacy of the Madrid "Venuses" (obviously, portraits of courtesans), nor the "apotheosis of a woman", as in our “ toilet ” . In general, there are fewer “women” here. But what a luxury in the opal, mother-of-pearl overflows of the body, in the thick purple of the drapery, in the juxtaposition of colors on the figure of the maid and in the ingeniously sketched landscape. And how brilliant, “fun”, simply and quickly everything was done. The picture was accurately painted in one go without corrections and retouching.
“Savior of the World” is a very damaged picture. It was listed in the master's inventory, compiled after his death, and was probably corrected and finished by those who inherited it. However, the general grandiose design of Titian has been preserved, as if inspired by Byzantine mosaics, as well as the beauty of the sparkling crystal orb that the Lord holds in his hand. A symbolic motif of deep antiquity, probably loved by the elder Titian for his expression of the fragility of all earthly existence.
The pinnacle of Venetian Renaissance art is the painting of the great Titian (1485/90-1576).
The artist was born in the late 1480s (the exact date is not known) in the town of Piave di Cadore, located on the border of the Venetian Republic. But his real home was Venice, where he lived a long, happy life, very rarely leaving the city; Here he died at the age of about 90 years. In order to slightly introduce the reader into the atmosphere of life in Venice at that time, I would like to give a description of the holiday that took place in Titian's house, made by one of his friends:
“On the first of August I was invited to a feast in a lovely garden belonging to Messer Titian, a well-known, excellent painter ... Most of the most famous people of the city were there ... The sun warmed very strongly, although the place itself was shady, so we spent the time, while the tables were carried outside, looking at the pictures that amazed us with their vitality, which filled the whole house, and enjoyed the beauty and charm of the garden, located at the opposite end of Venice, by the bay. The sun had hardly set when innumerable gondolas filled with beautiful women glided across the water Music and singing resounded around us and accompanied our merry supper until almost midnight ... The supper was very good, rich in the most excellent wines and all the pleasures that could create for us the season, the guests and the holiday itself.
Titian was famous, rich, surrounded by the most educated people of his time. His painting already evoked rave reviews from his contemporaries. They said about him: "He shines like the sun between the stars."
But this artist, who embodied the ideals of the Renaissance with all the power of his mighty talent, then tragically and passionately felt the collapse of the ideas of the Renaissance.
He was about twenty years old when (in 1508) he began to work together with Giorgione, painting the German courtyard in Venice with frescoes (the murals have not survived to our time; frescoes do not tolerate the damp and humid climate of the city, and the artists of this school rarely worked in technology frescoes).
Titian's large Hermitage painting The Flight into Egypt dates back to approximately the same time, and in many respects is still close in spirit to Giorgione.
The collection of Titian's paintings in the Hermitage is large: the museum has eight paintings by the artist dating from different periods of his work, but the works of the mature master, created in the 50s - 70s of the 16th century, are especially well represented. There are not many works of the young Titian known, and some of them researchers still cannot "divide" between Giorgione and Titian, attributing them to one or another artist.
"Flight into Egypt" is described in detail by the largest biographers of Titian: in the 16th century - by Giorgio Vasari, in the 17th century - by Carlo Ridolfi. Ridolfi wrote that Titian "made an oil painting depicting Our Lady with her son, who flees to Egypt, accompanied by St. Joseph, an angel leads a donkey, and numerous animals walk along the grass ... and here is a group of trees, very natural, and in the distance - soldier and shepherd.
"Flight into Egypt" is of great interest, as it shows how Titian began his career. The artist chose a large, elongated canvas (206 X 336 cm), which allowed him to include a wide panorama of the area along which the holy family is heading to Egypt. And although the main characters are traditionally shown in the foreground, they are given less attention than the landscape, characterized with great care and poetry. Against its background, slightly awkward figures seem ordinary and everyday. A wingless angel with a small bale of things, stepping heavily, leads the donkey on which Mary and Christ are sitting. She tied the child to her chest in a peasant manner and wearily bowed her head to him; St. Joseph keeps up with them, holding a twig on his shoulder. The compositional arrangement of the figures - the group shifted to the left edge of the picture, the rhythmic placement of the characters one after the other - creates the impression of a long and tedious journey. The splendid clothes of Joseph and Mary do not suit these people: an old man and a tired woman.
Undoubtedly, the most successful part of the picture is the landscape. Venice is a city almost devoid of trees and grass, its appearance is defined by numerous canals and the sea. The more the imagination of the Venetian artist should have been excited by lush meadows flooded with the sun, sprawling dense trees, in the shade of which the surface of the waters is so calm, the blue ridge of mountains that closes the horizon. The world depicted by the artist is serene and beautiful. In the choice of motifs included in the landscape, the lessons of Giorgione are felt. It was he who loved to convey such lush crowns of trees, herds grazing in the fields, bright distances in the depths. Secondary figures - a soldier and shepherds talking with him - almost repeat the types of Giorgione. The influence of this master also affects the choice and comparison of colors: the fabric, changing from pale pink in the light to dark cherry in the shade, the silvery sheen of the soldier’s metal armor, the dark green of the foliage. The red-pink stain of the clothes echoes the red flowers and the shepherd's clothes. But at this stage, Titian, more than Giorgione, comes from a decorative perception of color.
In the abundance of details, the Quattrocento traditions continue to be felt. Deer, foxes, cows, birds, various flowers and ladders inhabit and enliven the meadows and forests.
The young artist is still closely associated with Giorgione, but at the same time he is already a great master himself; to be convinced of this, it is enough to look at any detail of the picture.
In 1516, Titian became the official painter of the Republic of Venice. His fame is growing, and gradually the most prominent figures of both Italy and Europe become the master's customers. He writes canvases for them, creates portraits.
Emperors, kings, popes, generals, humanists, the most beautiful women in Italy posed for Titian.
The name of the lady depicted by Titian in the portrait kept in the Hermitage is unknown. However, this model has repeatedly attracted the attention of the artist. She wrote "Venus of Urbino" (Florence, Uffizi), "La bella" [Beauty] (Florence, Pitti). In the same position and almost in the same outfit, the lady is shown in a portrait from the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Depending on who Titian wrote, he changed the composition, color, and degree of detail. In female images, the master does not seek psychological depth. His beauties are thoughtless, sensual, full of consciousness of their youthful beauty. Therefore, the artist pays such attention to details that help create the image of a beauty. The soft iridescence of velvet, the splendor of ostrich feathers, the dullness of pearls, the dull shimmer of gold - all this is written with a keen sense of the picturesque features of each subject and beautifully sets off full flexible hands and a delicate face.
A study of the painting in X-rays showed that initially the same pearls were crowned on the head of the lady, as in the Viennese portrait, and only then a high hat trimmed with pearls and feathers appeared instead of them.
All the paintings in which the image of this woman is repeated, including the Hermitage portrait, date back to the 1530s.
Vasari reports that in 1533 Titian wrote Danae (Madrid, Prado) for the heir to the Spanish throne. Titian addressed the ancient legend several times, starting from the 30s. One of the options is in the Hermitage.
Greek myth tells of King Acrisius, who was predicted by an oracle to die at the hands of his future grandson. In an effort to deceive fate, the king ordered his only daughter Danae to be imprisoned in a tower, but Zeus, enchanted by the beauty, entered her in the form of golden rain and became her lover.
The fascination with ancient mythology is characteristic of all of Titian's work, the images of ancient legends gave him the opportunity to embody the almost pagan joy of the fullness of being.
Even in his youth, after the death of Giorgione, Titian completed his famous "Sleeping Venus" (Dresden, Art Gallery). "Sleeping Venus" is the first easel work of Venetian painting, in which the ancient subject is chosen for the sublime display of female nudity. This picture left a deep mark on the work of Titian. Under her impression, he creates a number of canvases on the same theme, and also varies the myth of Danae.
In "Danae" the artist solves the theme of love, happiness and, above all, human beauty. The naked female body is shown in the painting without the medieval disregard for the flesh and without the hint of frivolity that would appear later, for example, in French art of the 18th century. In Titian, nakedness is sublime and noble. Danae is "so ceremonially naked" that the whole environment is only intended to emphasize her charm more strongly. At the feet of Danae sits a maid trying to catch gold coins falling from the sky in her apron. Her figure is in contrast to Danae; a wrinkled old woman with rough brown skin sets off the youth of the heroine.
Titian cares little about the logic of the narrative: Danae's bed is not in the tower, but in the open air, against the backdrop of the landscape. Holding the canopy, Danae looks up, where among the clouds there are the outlines of a god in love, who descends to her in a stream of gold. Love is interpreted as a spontaneous feeling, as a principle inherent in nature, and therefore a person is so closely and harmoniously connected with the whole world.
During previous restorations, the colorful surface of the painting was somewhat washed away, and it looks more faded than is usually the case with Titian; nevertheless, we can judge how subtly the artist thought out the color ratios so that they correspond to the embodiment of the theme of love and beauty. The golden-pink tones of the first plan are intensified in combination with the cold grayish-blue tones of the second.
"Danae" dates from the mid-50s of the 16th century. At the same time, a turning point is also planned in the work of Titian, associated with the general crisis that has engulfed Italy. True, Venice was less affected by it than other regions of the country, and this process proceeded more slowly here, but in the 50s it became noticeable, since a new offensive of reaction coincided with the defeat of Venice in the struggle against the Turks.
Every great artist consciously or unconsciously reflects in art the time in which he lives. Titian's paintings are gradually losing their former harmony, a bright attitude is replaced by a tragic one. A person finds himself in the face of dark forces, a struggle is inevitable, and sometimes death. Painting techniques are also becoming different. Even contemporaries drew attention to the changes that marked a new stage in European painting. In particular, Giorgio Vasari wrote: “The technique that he adheres to in these last things differs significantly from his youthful technique, for his early works are executed with particular delicacy and incredible diligence and can be viewed close up, as well as from afar, while the latter are written strokes, sketched in a wide manner and spots, so that you can’t look at them close up, and only from a distance they seem to be finished ... This method is reasonable, beautiful and amazing.
Among the indisputable masterpieces of Titian is the Penitent Mary Magdalene. On the left side of the picture, on a rock, above the vessel is the signature of the artist.
The sinner Mary Magdalene, who, according to legend, repented after meeting Christ, spent many years in the wilderness, where she mourned her past sins. She became the heroine of a number of works by Titian, of which the Hermitage copy is rightfully
The Hermitage canvas depicts the Magdalene in a moment of passionate and stormy repentance. In the artist's art, one can rarely find a female image of such emotional power; more often, beauty replaces feelings for his heroines. Having retained his favorite type of blossoming lush Venetian, Titian endows her, instead of the usual thoughtlessness, with a strong and vibrant character. Inflamed, reddened eyelids, a face swollen from tears that still continue to roll down her cheeks, a look repentantly and passionately directed to the sky - all this expresses her endless and deeply sincere grief, conveyed, however, without exaggerated pathos. Instead of the desert, where, according to legend, the Magdalene retired, the artist depicts green valleys and trees, but everything is full of anxiety - evening lighting, the wind bending the trees, sorting through the pages of the book, clouds floating across the sky. Nature absorbs human anxiety and merges with it in a stormy, dramatic outburst.
Conveying the state of the heroine, Titian remains majestic and restrained in a Renaissance way. The picture is alien to mysticism, religious ecstasy, severe asceticism, it is imbued with the affirmation of the beauty and significance of the earthly world.
Color is one of the main means of expression. The dark gamma, saturated with various shades, either gently shimmering or flashing sharply, seems to convey the heroine's spiritual awe. The brush moves widely and freely across the canvas: light strokes, almost transparent, merge with each other into a single surface, creating the illusion of volume of the body, elastic chest, half-covered by a thin light cloth... then a crystal vessel shone, torn out of the darkness by a beam of light. An almost sensual thrill of the brush is felt when transferring a mass of long soft hair, golden hues subtly turn into brownish, and a fluffy veil appears, carefully covering the shoulders and chest.
Two more Hermitage paintings by Titian date back to the 60s of the 16th century - "Christ the Almighty" and "Carrying the Cross". The tradition in the painting "Christ the Almighty" is reflected in the fact that Titian uses a type often found in medieval mosaics: in his left hand Christ holds a sphere - a symbol of unlimited power, raises his right for blessing. The innovation of the work is in its pictorial structure. The crystal sphere lying on the palm of Christ is beautifully written. From the features of this object - its volume, transparency, ability to reflect and absorb light - all possible pictorial effects are extracted. A bold stripe of white at the lapel of the Almighty's red robe creates an unexpected impression of dynamics, enlivens the generally calm figure.
A figure similar to "Christ the Almighty" was discovered with the help of X-rays in another Hermitage painting - "Carrying the Cross". Having abandoned the composition he had originally conceived, Titian painted the current one on the same canvas. Here Christ is no longer the calm and gracious ruler of the world, but a tormented, tormented, but mentally stable person, courageously enduring physical suffering.
Two faces - Christ carrying the cross, and Joseph of Arimathea trying to help him - are very close to the viewer. In such deliberate fragmentation sprouts of the future lurk. Such compositional techniques will be willingly used by artists at the next stage in the development of art.
Color here is the main means helping Titian to highlight the hero. The pale face of Christ and his thin hand stand out distinctly against the background of the cross framed by olive-smoky clothes. The shadow lying on the face of Joseph, and the soft strands of gray hair and beard seem to deprive the figure of materiality, and it blurs in the dusk, merging with the cross.
In the 70s of the XVI century, in the ninth decade of his life, Titian creates one of the best works - "Saint Sebastian". If the legend of Mary Magdalene was interpreted as a dramatic event, then the story of Sebastian turns into a tragedy. Sebastian was one of the most revered saints in Italy, because they believed that he helps people get rid of the plague. His image was often found in altar paintings, he also appeared in the early works of Titian in the form of a handsome half-naked young man. But in the entire history of Renaissance painting, an image so tragic in its loneliness was not created as "Saint Sebastian".
The hero is depicted at the moment of death, deadly arrows pierce his beautiful body of an athlete, still full of living awe; pained gaze fixed on the sky. At the very last moment of life, a person remains beautiful and unbroken. No wonder Titian gave the figure of Sebastian a special significance and monumentality. The impeccable build of the hero resembles ancient statues. Titian, until the end of his journey, preserved in art the belief in the high destiny and dignity of man. He seems to be saying: a person can be physically destroyed, but the indomitability of his spirit and mind will live forever. The dying Sebastian stands like an indestructible column, and it seems that the whole world is engulfed in the tragedy of his untimely death: the dark, disturbing sky merges with the earth, in the distance - flickering red reflections Separate forms are indistinguishable, everything has merged into a magnificent stream of strokes; fire smoke streams at his feet, and its reflections, like the glow of a fire, play on the body of a young man in a thousand elusive shades. In the picture there is no division into the background and the figure of the foreground in the traditional sense of the art of the previous time, but there is a single light and air environment, everything is interconnected and inseparable in it.
The picturesque structure of "Saint Sebastian" evokes Vasari's words about the peculiarities of Titian's late manner. Indeed, if the picture is viewed closely, it will seem that its entire surface is covered with a mass of chaotic strokes, and only at a distance does the pattern in apparent chaos become clear. The composition of the work was carried out without any preparatory sketches. The canvas consists of several pieces; one was added by the artist when, having changed the original idea, he decided to depict the figure not to the waist, but to its full height, and, having stretched the canvas, added the legs.
Not all contemporaries understood the pictorial innovation of Titian's later works, as Vasari understood it. It seemed to many that the artist's talent had weakened over the years, and they attributed the freedom of brush control to the incompleteness of the picture. Even in the 19th century, "Saint Sebastian" continued to be considered an unfinished work and was kept in the museum's reserves. And only in the 90s of the last century, the master's masterpiece was included in the permanent exhibition of the Hermitage.
"Saint Sebastian" - the great achievement of Titian. The work is written with complete creative freedom, it opens up new paths to the future and the courage of painting, and the unity achieved in the image of man and the environment. The world appears before the old artist in a picturesque rather than in a plastic guise.
Titian died of the plague in 1576. He always remained true to the ideals of the Renaissance, but the creation of many of his works coincided with the collapse of these ideals.
Titian's painting "Carrying the Cross" came to the Hermitage from the Barbarigo collection in 1850. It is known that the Prado Museum in Madrid has another version of this painting, which is considered an undoubted work of Titian. In Carrying the Cross by the Hermitage, the artist very closely repeats the characters and the main composition of the Madrid painting, but reworks the details and significantly increases the height of the format.
This, apparently, laid the foundation for the opinion of some Western European researchers that the Hermitage copy is a copy or imitation of the Madrid one. 1 Such an opinion is confirmed by the well-known lack of integrity and unassembled composition of the Hermitage painting. This, probably, partly explains the generally rare mention of this version of "Carrying the Cross" in Western literature and catalogs of Titian's works. A very modest description of him is also given in the catalog of paintings of the Barbarigo Gallery in 1845.
M. V. Alpatov in his “Etudes on the History of Western European Art” asserts the unconditional authorship of Titian and, based on the analysis of painting and composition of the picture, comes to many ideological and formal conclusions that determine Titian’s work and characterize his time. 2
The Hermitage painting Carrying the Cross was painted on canvas and duplicated (i.e. pasted onto a second canvas to reinforce the original). 3 The size of the painting is 89.1 X 76.5 cm (ill. 15). However, even with a superficial glance at the picture, it is clear that it was not written on a solid canvas, but has attachments: on the left edge of the picture there are two attachments (1 and 2), on the right one (3) and double above and below, with longitudinal seams in the middle ( 4 and 5). Horizontal attachments run across the entire width of the picture, overlapping the vertical ones. The first prefix, unlike the others and the central part, has a strongly pronounced diagonal structure of the canvas. Upon closer examination, there is a noticeable sharp difference in the nature of the painting on prefixes 2-5 and on the main part of the canvas. The light strip at the bottom of the composition is not defined in space and stretches uniformly in the plane of the picture. Strokes of paint lose their typical 16th-century concreteness and vaguely obscure the form. On prefix 1, the shapeless structure of the left side of Simon's hand and sleeves, as well as the sharp inharmonious blue, red and white colors on the collar of his clothes, are striking. Further, the blue spot to the right of Simon's head seems incomprehensible. If it refers to the left shoulder, then the position of the latter clearly does not correspond to the right. The shape of the cross is strongly distorted, expanding unnecessarily at the top and especially at the left ends. The right border of the hand of Christ, despite the large free space to the edge, is clearly cramped and forms a straight vertical line for the entire length from the elbow to the fifth finger.
15. Titian. Carrying the cross. Hermitage 
16. The original format of the picture
17. Titian. Carrying the Cross (UV)
18. Scheme of radiographs
19. X-ray
20. Radiograph II
21. Radiograph III
22. Radiograph IV
23. X-ray V
24. X-ray VI
25. X-ray VII
26. Titian. Carrying the cross. Madrid
27. Titian. Christ the Almighty. Hermitage
28. Drawing the original image in the painting "Carrying the Cross" according to radiographs
29. Titian. Christ the Almighty. Vein
Attachment scheme
All prefixes are covered with a large number of altered restoration records; the rest of the picture is also strongly spelled out. These entries were made at different times, and the early ones lie deep under a thick layer of later varnish. When the picture is illuminated with ultraviolet rays, the upper layers of the records sharply appear as dark spots 4 (ill. 17). Along with the recordings, the painting on prefixes 2-5 also darkens. The main part and prefix 1 are much lighter, since they are covered with a common highly luminous varnish, under which the lower, earliest entries are also hidden. Such a difference in luminosity makes it possible to establish that this lacquer is of an older origin than prefixes 2-5, on which it is absent.
X-rays taken from the painting reveal its internal structure 5 (ill. 18-24). At the same time, an image of a completely different figure is revealed (a face above the head of Christ), painted earlier on the same canvas (ill. 24). It is quite obvious that the original format of the picture without any prefixes stands out. Its left border was completely preserved. Even the edge of the old edge (10-11 mm wide), previously bent onto a stretcher, is unfolded; it lacks the original primer and painting, and the holes from the nails that held the canvas are clearly visible, located 5–8 mm from the border of the format. The bends of the threads, formed when the canvas was stretched on a stretcher, are pronounced. The remaining three edges of the painting are cut along the old fold of the canvas or very close to it (no further than 1–2 mm), which is indicated by the nature of the stretching of the threads, similar to the bends on the preserved left edge. The proximity of the nails is clearly felt.
The bending of the threads of the canvas is formed only when it is initially stretched on a stretcher before being primed. The ends of the arcs correspond to the location of the nails on the stretcher. Usually nails are hammered approximately in the middle of the thickness of the bar and, thus, are separated from the edge of the picture no closer than 5-15 mm (depending on the size of the canvas). The curvature and severity of the bends of the threads, the width of their distribution from the edge depends on the density of the canvas and the force of pulling it on the stretcher. With uniform tension, the nature of the curvature of the threads on all edges is approximately the same, especially with a format close to a square. If there is a significant difference in the size of the picture, or if the canvas is stretched more strongly in one direction, the bends of the threads will coincide on opposite edges. Thus, by comparing the nature of the stretching of the threads on the cut edge with another, preserved, one can fairly accurately establish the position of the nails, i.e., the lost original border of the picture.
After applying the primer and especially the paint layer of painting, the threads of the canvas are firmly connected to each other. Only with a very large effort can the threads be pulled, but weaker; it will necessarily be accompanied by breaks of the paint layer and primer of the same shape. This is not observed at all in the Carrying the Cross. Thus, it is completely impossible to assume that the original canvas format was later cut by someone. All prefixes are sharply separated. It is obvious that they are attached after the initial preparation of the canvas. The only question is, were they made by the author in the process of changing the composition or added later?
Prefixes 2-5 are made from one canvas, similar in structure to the main one. On the inner edges of them there are remnants of some old painting. Longitudinal seams on horizontal attachments connect strips that previously had an independent tension, since on the inner parts of the seam there are bends of threads that do not coincide with the outer ones. Attachments 2-5 are connected with the central part of the picture and with attachment 1 butt-joint, without a seam. This is possible only if they are simultaneously pasted onto a duplicating canvas, which is unlikely for the author. The edges of both the prefixes and the center, cut in a straight line, were dilapidated and torn off in many places. In this case, the damage on the edges of the central part does not coincide with the damage on the attachments.
Thus, it can be established that the edges of the central part of the picture and prefix 1 (upper corner) had time to decay before prefixes 2-5 were attached to them. On the other hand, the material of the latter was also already significantly worn out, even when they were part of some completely different picture.
When comparing the texture of the painting and the ground on prefixes 2-5 and on the main part, their sharp difference is clearly revealed, which is especially noticeable on the right prefix 3 - X-rays IV-VI (ill. 22-24).
Looking at the painting on attachment 2 through a microscope, you can see many grains of glue protruding from under the ground, which is not at all observed in the main part. Instead of a series of layers of painting on the main canvas, on the prefix there is rubbing with a muddy mixture of paints, the structure of the pigment grains being the same as the paints of many upper restoration records and typical of late painting. Only in some places on the cross some remnants of the old gray-pink painting show through from the depths. Similar phenomena are also observed on prefixes 3-5.
From all that has been said, it can be established with confidence:
2. The material for prefixes 2-5 was a canvas from some old painting (probably an edge). Their wear and tear is deliberately used for greater resemblance to the original.
3. As a result of these prefixes, the following was added to the painting: part of the background and the entire lower light strip, the border of which coincides with the lower edge of the original (with the exception of the right edge, where a late registration up to 5 mm wide clearly lies on top of the old painting); the cross and hand of Simon are enlarged, the borders of his head and the hand of Christ are added.
Prefix 1, as already mentioned, is written on a completely different canvas, with a diagonal thread. A similar special picture canvas was used by many Italian artists of the 16th century, including Titian. 6 It is covered with a thick layer of lacquer common with the main part of the painting, on top of which are restoration records of the time of prefixes 2-5. The painting on prefix 1 is badly damaged. Better preserved on the collar and on Simon's ear, in some places on the cross. The texture and composition of the paints are older and approach the paints on the main canvas.
However, X-rays I, II, III (ills. 19-21) show that prefix 1 was also attached to the main part without a seam; there are no traces of stretching on it, when its left edge served as the edge of the whole picture. Consequently, it was also pasted on a duplicating canvas, which was already attached to the stretcher. And this is again unlikely for the author.
The left edge of the main canvas, first folded onto a stretcher, was unbent. In the upper part and at the places of the nails, it is already significantly torn. The bent part, of course, did not have the original ground; it is also absent on the right side of the attachment (dark stripe on X-rays). After all, the canvas on the attachment (thanks to the diagonal fabric) was much thicker than the main one, and not yet primed on the straightened edge, so the edge of the attachment had to be made thinner so that the joint became even, and then covered with a common layer of chalk soil. At the same time, on the bent edge of the main canvas, the diagonal texture of the attachment is imitated with soil.
On the radiographs of the attachment, there are light spots - white layers of various thicknesses, some of which (in the middle) are completely unjustified by the composition of the picture, and for some reason they completely disappear below. This suggests that the old canvas for prefix 1 was also used, which is already quite unbelievable for the author, who, in order to attach this prefix, would have to duplicate, perhaps, the whole picture.
Looking at the structure of the paint layer on attachment 1 through a microscope and comparing it with the main picture, it is clear that the paint materials themselves are in most cases very similar. However, the choice, order and technique of applying them differ significantly.
Basically, the structure of the painting of the central part of the picture is as follows: a dense white ground, through which the canvas does not show anywhere, is covered with a common thin layer of dark brown (almost black) paint, without individual grains. Obviously, this is either a toning of the ground, or, more likely, a dark underpainting of the original image. The light and dark modeling of the head, visible in X-ray VI (ill. 24), is also visible in the breaks in the upper layers of paint. This first image, apparently, remained in a monochrome underpainting, since no other colors, except for black, dark brown to white, were noticed in this layer.
Further, the bottom layer is either covered (mainly in the central part of the composition, where the first image was) with also a brown, but lighter, opaque thick mixed layer, or used as a dark underpainting and the first preparatory colors of the upper image are directly applied to it. Then come the main semitones of local colors and finally the final lights and glazes. In any case, for the final image, a dark, warm preparation, typical of late Titian painting, was created.
In all dark, liquidly written places (especially around the head of Christ, on his neck and hair, and to the right of Simon's head), there are wide and deep gaps in all paint layers to the ground, a characteristic and repeating shape, clearly visible in the picture and on radiographs. The ruptures are apparently caused by a layer of original painting and have been the cause of numerous restoration recordings.
All light tones are laid down in a dense, ever-increasing layer of thick opaque paint. The dark underpainting almost never shows through. When modeling the body, the paints gently, barely noticeably change from tone to tone, softened even more by the upper glazes. Pastose painting has a highly developed network of craquelure.
On prefix 1, the primer is also white, but thin, uneven and torn, often disturbed on the protruding grain of the canvas; thread fibers and glue particles are visible (these violations are also clearly visible on x-rays and resemble the state of a scraped or sanded old canvas). In most cases (except for shadows), local halftones or color preparations lie directly on the white ground. The layers are equally thin everywhere (except for highlights), randomly torn. The lower layers, soil and canvas are visible. The craquelure is less pronounced. Halftones are sharply separated from each other both in aperture ratio and in color shade. There is some excessively intense coloration of them. There are fewer glazes and they are not strictly systematic.
Thus, both the ground, and the system of applying paints, and their current state on the main part of the picture and on prefix 1 differ significantly. Unfortunately, the junction of the attachment with the main canvas is severely damaged and recorded, and nowhere makes it possible to trace the direct transition of the painting layer through it.
The tree of the cross above the second and third fingers of Simon (on the main part of the picture) is written on the first dark layer with a lighter opaque brown paint (a mixture of a type of dark ocher, cinnabar, white and black); glazed over translucent orange-brown. On a prefix, a layer of cinnabar over white ground is covered with a translucent mixture of light ocher with black and red-brown paints. The final color turned out to be quite close, the composition of the colors is different, and the order of applying colors is just the opposite. On the prefix, they are probably dictated by the desire to repeat the already existing color effect, and in the main part they follow the general system of painting the picture.
Scheme of painting to the right of Simon's head<
To understand the meaning of the blue colors on the clothes near Simon's forehead, it is especially important to resolve the issue of their character and structure. To do this, it is necessary to consider the entire area of the background between Simon's face and the cross. On top of the lower dark brown layer, in the right corner near the cross, area 1 (see diagram), there is a thick mixed layer of a lighter brown color, which warms up as you move to the left and reaches red (like red ocher) in area 2 and in area 3 - to cinnabar. Area 4 is again a colder dark brown bordering area 3 along an indistinct but strictly horizontal line. Plot 5 — black registration on brown underpainting, also clearly demarcated on the right; it has no red colors at all. Sections 1-5 are painted on top with a transparent, almost black-brown glazing (similar to the layer of the first image), from under which the lower colors gently show through.
Blue tones - area 6 - also lie on a deep brown layer. At first, a thick, pasty superimposed mixture of ultramarine with white, in the highlights reaching pure white. Ultramarine in the mixture is quite fine. Above - intense glazing with pure ultramarine, and here its grains are much larger. Ultramarine abundantly settles in the depths of the relief of the canvas and stroke, its individual grains sparkle with a rich blue color, light peaks gently protrude. Ultramarine glazing descends below area b, passes to a brown layer and for some time emphasizes the right border of area 5. Here it is already perceived as a dark greenish tint. The general upper brown glazing of the background extends to the blue tones. It almost completely covers area 6 on the right, filling in the deepest paint depressions.
Thus, these blue tones, intertwined with the layers of colors of neighboring areas, are enclosed between the first dark brown layer (perhaps the original image) and the upper general brown glaze. This absolutely establishes their authenticity in the area to the right of Simon's head.
A similar system of modeling blue colors, the choice of the best coarse-grained dark ultramarine for glazes and finer for light mixtures are typical of Titian, and in general for Italian painting of the late 15th-16th centuries. and are based on precise knowledge and ability to most effectively use the colorful material.
The same large ultramarine is observed in fine glazing on the clothes of Christ (along with a large amount of a lighter, greenish tint, of the worst quality, used for gray clothes), as well as on other works by Titian in the Hermitage (the sky in the painting "The Penitent Magdalene"; especially clearly one can see a similar construction of blue color on the clothes of “Christ the Almighty”). The blue on the console is of a different nature. The mixture lies directly on the white ground (in the highlights). There are very few glazings. Ultramarine grains are equally small everywhere and do not give a deep sparkle of their crystals at all. Brown in the shadows is not glazing on top, but only placed underneath on the ground. There is no craquelure in the ink layer. The system, obviously, is alien to this picture, and to the painting of Titian in general.
When examining the painting, nowhere was it possible to find the presence of layers common on the main canvas and on the attachments (except for later restoration records), indicating some kind of organic connection between them in one whole system of the picture. It is quite clear that the main part was absolutely finished, and then, without any constructive alterations of the whole, prefix 1 was added to it, and later the rest. At the same time, the painting on them was clearly adjusted to the pre-existing one. It is difficult to imagine such a mechanistic technique for the author. 7
Thus, summing up all the data of the material analysis of painting and the base on prefix 1 and comparing them with the main canvas of “Carrying the Cross”, it can be established that prefix 1 was not made by the author.
As mentioned above, the original size of the canvas used by Titian is set quite precisely. At the same time, there is no reason to assume the possibility of additions to this format made by Titian himself, later lost for some reason and replaced by restoration prefixes.
On the other hand, the study of the paint layer and the manner of painting the main part of the picture gives results that are constantly found on other works by Titian (the composition of paints, the regular alternation of impasto and glazing layers, a typical underpainting that is not knocked down even by the lower image, prescribing intensified lights over a dark underpainting and then glazing them, etc.)
If you close all the prefixes in the picture and look at it only in its original format, the composition acquires a completely different character, really inherent in the works of Titian, and all the confusion that arose earlier disappears (ill. 16). The cross acquires its normal form, the straightness of Christ's hand on the right is justified, there is no formless part of Simon's hand, there are no dissonant colors on his collar. And the blue area on the right is really Simon's shoulder. Its entire dark silhouette is visible in good light (see area 5 in the diagram). The shoulder turns out to be in place with a strongly tilted head and, most importantly, in the absence of another shoulder on the consoles, incorrectly drawn, but with its foreground size and brightness of colors subjugating the viewer's perception. And this blue color, undoubtedly belonging to Titian, on Simon's left shoulder, deep, juicy, slightly purple, fits perfectly with the whole golden range of the picture, despite the top foreign notes and dirty varnish.
The whole composition regains its lost integrity. The figure of Christ is made central. Its back is distinguished by the main plastic mass. The light on the head and on the back of Christ dominates the whole picture, pushing both the hand and the figure of Simon into a light semitone. The sharp, straight edges of the cross contrast with the soft forms of the body. They are not hindered by the repetition of the flat shapes of the light stripe on the bottom console. A deep space develops behind the cross and Simon's head. And, perhaps, the horizontal border (section 4 on the diagram) is the line of the distant horizon, above which the dark sunset sky blazed in the depths. Perhaps this was planned by Titian earlier, and then it was redone or there were strong changes in colors; but even now, in bright light, these deep hot-red tones are faintly visible. Something similar (judging by the reproduction) is probably on the Madrid copy.
Instead of flat, frontally located figures, identical in their plastic significance, there is a clearly-spatial, tonally centralized solution, typical of Titian's late painting.
The tight frame of the format, which does not contain both the hand of Christ and the head of Simon, can be partly explained by some randomness in the size of the old used canvas. Perhaps this is what caused the writing of a more extended Madrid version. But even there the image of Simon's head remains cut off from above. This compositional technique is common with Titian. In most of his compositions, both portrait and multi-figured, parts of figures and objects are cut off. There are significantly fewer paintings that have a completely closed composition. And this position is entirely consistent with the essence of Titian's pictorial method, which builds the last balancing of all elements of the picture in color and tone, subordinating a linear composition to them and through them reaching the final expressiveness of the image.
Comparing the Hermitage painting with the Madrid copy (ill. 26), it seems that one can unmistakably say that both the continuation of Simon’s arm and the right shoulder on the prefixes are painted according to the scheme of the Madrid version, without taking into account the different position of the head there, and behind it Simon’s shoulders - more frontal and uplifted. Hence the discrepancy between both shoulders in the picture of the Hermitage. Interestingly, the dimensions of the Hermitage Carrying the Cross without two horizontal attachments (65.9 X 76.5 cm) almost exactly match those in Madrid (67 X 77 cm). Meanwhile, it is obvious that all prefixes 2-5 were made simultaneously and later than the first.
The original image on the canvas, visible on x-rays, clearly depicts a male head and indistinct white spots extending from the nose of Christ to the right down, below the elbow and on the back. This head (ill. 25) almost exactly repeats the head of Christ in another painting by Titian in the Hermitage "Christ the Almighty" (ill. 27): the same shape, turn and tilt of the head, facial features, look, radiance around. And on X-ray IV (ill. 22), near the lower edge of the picture, you can see the image of a hemisphere with fingers lying on it. In the bleaching stains on the back and near the face of Christ from Carrying the Cross, wide folds of clothing are guessed.
The sketch of the original image, made from radiographs (ill. 28), gives the composition "Christ the Almighty", in its main motive reminiscent of a painting by Titian in the Vienna Museum (ill. 29). However, on the radiograph, the face of Christ is older and more courageous, much closer to the Hermitage version.
As already mentioned, the bottom image remains only in the underpainting. Its transparent brown (almost black) paint is similar to the dark glazes of the upper layers. Its tone is intertwined with the preparatory tones of "Carrying the Cross" and serves either as a dark ground, or as part of the underpainting of the latter. Both images are very close in time - their colors have absolutely all common cracks and changes. Yes, and numerous paint breaks could have occurred from insufficient drying of the lower, oil-rich layer.
Now the history of the creation of the Hermitage painting is presented as follows. Initially, Titian began to write a version of "Christ Almighty", coming from an earlier Viennese. But here he interprets the image of Christ in a new, “older” way, which was then developed and realized in the Hermitage copy. The unfinished canvas was used for Carrying the Cross. And it may be more likely that this is the first variant from which the more developed Madrid was born. Although the change in the position of Simon's index finger in the painting in the Hermitage, originally painted according to the Madrid version, as well as the general nature of the painting of the latter (as far as one can judge from the reproduction), seem to suggest the opposite.
In any case, these variations were accompanied not just by a change in format, but by an organic restructuring of the image - a change in the setting of Simon's head and shoulders, a turn of Christ's head, and a reworking of other, smaller details. However, for all that, the integrity and spatiality of Titian's compositions were preserved, which disappeared in the Hermitage painting with prefixes and are found again if they are abandoned.
The first prefix, judging by the texture, the similarity of colors and the general old varnish, was probably made as early as the 17th century, and the rest much later, not earlier than the end of the 18th century. The model for them, of course, was the Madrid copy.
Thus, doubts about the author of the Hermitage painting "Carrying the Cross" can be finally cast aside. It was certainly written by Titian. Now the picture is exhibited in its original format.
The actual size of the painting, taking into account the unfolded left edge, is 65.9 X 59.8 cm.
As for the conclusions of M. V. Alpatov, built on the previous form of the picture, distorted by prefixes and records, these conclusions turn into unfounded conjectures, some into statements that are false to the contrary. 8
1 A. Venturi, Essay on Italian Art in St. Petersburg, "Old Years", 1912, June, p. 10. Later, in Storia dell "arte Italiana", Milano, 1928. Venturi does not mention the Hermitage painting "Carrying the Cross" at all. It is also not found in Klassiker der Kunst, 1904 (when listing all the other Hermitage paintings by Titian, see vol. III, "Tizian"). Later authors also do not include it: W. Suida, "Tizian", Zurich-Leipzig , 1933; H. Tietze, "Tizian", Wienna, 1936, etc.
2 M. Alpatov, Studies in the History of Western European Art. Carrying the Cross by Titian, Art, 1939.
3 The last duplication was made in the Hermitage in 1850, immediately after the purchase of the painting.
4 The use of ultraviolet rays in the study of paintings is based on the property of paints and varnishes, maybe of the same color, but of different chemical and physical composition or superimposed at different times, to luminesce in a completely different way in invisible ultraviolet rays. In Carrying the Cross, the later restoration notes appear against the background of a light old varnish in three layers: 1 - the darkest, rarest, almost exclusively at the junctions of prefixes and on the edges, relatively recent; 2 - lighter, made probably in 1850 (with the last duplication in the Hermitage); 3 - the lightest - the same time as prefixes 2-5 (of the same tone with them).
5 The use of fluoroscopy is based on the greater or lesser permeability of x-rays through various materials of the picture. Lead white, which is transmitted on x-ray film as white spots, delays them most strongly. All radiographs were taken by the Hermitage radiologist T. N. Silchenko.
6 A number of paintings in the Hermitage were painted on a diagonal canvas, for example: Titian "Danae", P. Veronese "Conversion of Saul", Garofalo "Marriage in Cana of Galilee", as well as many paintings by Titian, which are in other collections: "John the Baptist" - Venice, Academy, "Madonna and Child with St. Catherine - Florence, Uffizi Gallery," Self-portrait "and" Venus "- ibid, to others.
7 In the Hermitage painting “Saint Sebastian” by Titian, in the upper part, painted on ordinary canvas, there is also a similar prefix made of diagonal fabric. A study of the prefix, made by the Hermitage restorer V. G. Rakitin in 1951-1952, showed that it was also added after the initial stretching and priming of the main canvas. However, here the prefix was sewn on and all the painting in both areas is absolutely common both in the composition of the colors, and in the manner of their application, and in the texture of the strokes, inseparably passing from one part to another. There is no doubt that in this case the enlargement of the canvas was made by the author himself. The bulk of the Saint Sebastian canvas was also originally used by Titian for another unfinished painting.
8 M. V. Alpatov installs a “balustrade” that introduces the compositional space of the picture - a light strip on the lower prefix; emphasizes the planar construction of the picture and a strict linear composition that fits all the figures into the format without cutting them, which is generally not characteristic of Titian's work; the color harmony of the picture is especially highly appreciated when the dissonant color of Simon's collar is included on the left prefix; the golden section is artificially attracted, which has absolutely no place here, etc.
1500–1535
Ghent, Belgium.
Board size: 83.5*76.7cm.
Authorship "Carrying the Cross" usually attributed Bosch. It was painted in the early 16th century, presumably between 1500 and 1535. The work is housed in the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, Belgium.
Carrying the Cross
Story
The work was bought by the Museum of Fine Arts, in Ghent, in 1902. As for all the works associated with Bosch, the dating is inaccurate, although most art historians believe that this painting belongs to the late work of the author. The date of creation was finally approved at the exhibition held in Rotterdam in 2001. At the same exhibition, it was suggested that the work came from the pen of an imitator. According to one of the historians, Bernard Vermet, "carrying the cross" is not so characteristic of Bosch. In addition, the colors remind him of the style of the 1530s. This painting probably refers to works like The Passion in Valencia and Christ before Pilate in Princeton. They were painted after the death of the artist.
Description
In the lower left corner of the house is Veronica with the Shroud, her eyes are half open, and she looks back at the catfish. And, finally, in the upper left corner is Simon of Cyrene, helping, by order of the Romans, Jesus with his burden.
Rogue Gestas
Related works
Behind the authorship of Bosch, there are two more paintings with a similar plot. The date of writing the first painting is 1498. She is currently at the Royal Palace in Madrid. Another work (circa 1500) can be found in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
