
Man with a Glove
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The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
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Venus of Urbino
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The Museo del Prado opened on June 11, 2003, TIZIANO, the most extensive exhibition devoted to the artist’s work since the one held in Venice in 1935, and the first monographic exhibition devoted to his work in Spain. Featuring a total of 65 works, it includes more than 30 paintings that have never previously been seen in Spain, such as the Venus of Urbino, which will be shown outside Italy for the first time in its history.
MADRID, SPAIN.- Between 1508 and 1510, the years when he produced his first works, and his death in 1576, Titian created one of the greatest oeuvres in western art, was the most acclaimed painter of his day and the protagonist of a type of painting that emphasised colour as its main expressive value in a way that would have enormous consequences for the art of the future. The Museo del Prado has the finest collection of works by the artist as a result of his unique relationship with the Spanish monarchy. It has now organised this monographic exhibition, one of the most complete ever to be devoted to the artist, comprising 65 paintings organised into five sections. These include the Venus of Urbino (Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi), Salomé (Rome, Galleria Doria Pamphili), La Schiavona (London, The National Gallery), Man with a Glove (Paris, Musée du Louvre), Tarquin and Lucretia (Cambridge, The Fitzwilliam Museum), The Flaying of Marsyas (Kromeriz, Archbishop’s Palace), as well as the masterpieces by the artist in the Museo del Prado’s permanent collection. Giovanni Bellini’s Feast of the Gods (Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art), which formed part of the spectacular group of mythologies that Titian painted for the Camerino d’Alabastro in the Ducal palace in Ferrara, will be one of the highlights of the exhibition.
The close relationship between Titian and the paintings that make up the Museo del Prado’s collection is the direct result of his favoured status with the Spanish monarchy. This means that at the same time that the exhibition is taking place, the Museum also offers the visitor the opportunity to see works by the two greatest heirs to the tradition of the artist: Rubens and Velázquez, a privilege that no other museum can offer.
The exhibition curator, Miguel Falomir, Head of Department of Italian Renaissance Painting at the Museo del Prado, has devised an exhibition which combines a chronological arrangement (allowing for an analysis of Titian’s stylistic development and his use of innovative narrative techniques) with sections devoted to his working practices.
The arrangement of the exhibition
- Origins (up to 1516). This first section covers Titian’s earliest works and looks at his relationship with Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione and Sebastiano del Piombo, as well as the process by which he forged his own style.
- Apelles reborn (1516-1533). Giovanni Bellini died in 1516, making Titian the leading painter in Venice. He also made his first contacts with Alfonso d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, resulting in the growth of his reptutation outside Venice. This process culminated in 1533 when Titian was knighted by Charles V. This section looks in detail at the Camerino d’Alabastro, the most important mythological cycle painted in the first half of the 16th century. Giovanni Bellini’s contribution to that cycle, the Feast of the Gods (Washington, National Gallery of Art), with its landscape repainted by Titian, will be exhibited for the first time in Spain.
- From Bologna to Augsburg (1533-1551). These two decades saw Titian’s lengthiest periods outside of Venice. In 1546-47 the artist went to Rome and worked for Pope Paul III, while in 1548 and 1551 he was summoned to Augsburg by Charles V. For these patrons he produced such mayor works as The Glory (Madrid, Museo del Prado). This section will emphasise the artist’s innovations in the field of portraiture, a genre that particularly contributed to his international reputation, as well as his attitude to other great contemporaries such as Michelangelo. It also looks at Titian’s response to the arrival in Venice of Mannerists such as Salviati and Vasari in the 1540s.
- The Reclining Nude and the “poesie”. Around 1551, Titian and Philip II must have discussed the project of the “poesie” in Augsburg. These were six mythological paintings intended to delight the senses, and which Titian would deliver to the Spanish king between 1553 and 1562. In addition, these work express various key concepts in Venetian art theory, such as the primacy of colour over design. This section, the only one in the exhibition that is not organised in a strictly chronological sense, includes other works, in particular the Venus of Urbino, which illustrate Titian’s key contribution to the reclining female nude.
- Late Titian (1554-1576). One of the largest sections in the exhibition along with the third one. It looks at the profound transformation which Titian’s painting underwent from the early 1550s, evident in formal aspects of his style, such as the use of a more subdued palette and an increasingly fluid brushstroke, as well as the emotional aspect, resulting in ever more expressive and dramatically intense works.
The Catalogue
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue written by leading European and American specialists, including: Charles Hope (Director of the Warburg Institute, London); Fernando Marías (Professor of the Universidad Autónoma, Madrid), Paul Hills (Professor of the Royal College of Art, London); Jennifer Fletcher (Professor of the Courthald Institute, London); Carmen Garrido (Head of the Technical Documentation Department at the Museo del Prado); David Rosand (Professor at Columbia University, New York); and the exhibition curator, Miguel Falomir, Head of Department of Italian Renaissance Painting at the Museo del Prado. Among its aims is to make available to scholars the results of recent research and investigation carried out at the Museo del Prado, including the restoration of fourteen paintings by the artist, such as the Gloria and Charles V at Mühlberg.
EXHIBITS LIST
Arrangement of the exhibition
1. Origins (up to 1516)
The Virgen and Child (“The Gipsy Madonna”) Oil on panel, 65.8 x 83.8 cm c. 1511 Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Virgin and Child between Saints Anthony of Padua and Roch Oil on canvas, 92 x 133 cm c. 1511 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 288
The Holy Family with a Shepherd Oil on canvas, 106.4 x 143 cm c. 1510 London, The National Gallery, nº 4
Jacopo Pesaro being presented by Pope Alexander VI to Saint Peter Oil on canvas, 145.5 x 183.5 cm c. 1506-1511 Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, nº 357
Noli me tangere Oil on canvas, 110.5 x 91.9 cm c. 1514 London, The National Gallery, nº 270
“La Schiavona” Oil on canvas, 119.2 x 100.4 cm c. 1510-1512 London, The National Gallery, nº 1944
2. Apelles reborn (1516-1533)
The Virgin and Child with Saints Dorothy and George Oil on panel, 86 x 130 cm c. 1515-1520 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 434
Salome Oil on canvas, 90 x 72 cm c. 1515-1516 Rome, Galleria Doria-Pamphilj “The Bravo” Oil on canvas, 75 x 67 cm c. 1516-1517 Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum
Man with a Glove Oil on canvas, 100 x 89 cm c. 1523 Paris, Musée du Louvre The Worship of Venus Oil on canvas, 172 x 175 cm 1518-1519 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 419 The Bacchanal of the Andrians Oil on canvas, 175 x 193 cm 1523-1526 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 418
The Feast of the Gods Giovanni Bellini Oil on canvas, 170.2 x 188 cm 1514-1529 Washington D.C:, National Gallery of Art, Widener Collection 1942.9.1.
Federigo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua Oil on panel, 125 x 99 cm 1529 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 408
Madonna and Child with Saint Catherine and a Shepherd (“The Madonna of the Rabbit”) Oil on canvas, 71 x 87 cm 1530 Paris, Musée du Louvre The Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John and a Female Saint or Donor (“The Aldobrandini Madonna”) Oil on canvas, 102.4 x 143.7 cm c. 1532 London, The National Gallery, nº 1944 Saint John the Baptist Oil on canvas, 201 x 134 cm c. 1531-1532 (*) Venice, Galleria dell’Accademia di Belle Arti, nº 194
Charles V with a Hound Oil on canvas, 192 x 111 cm 1533 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 409
3. From Bologna to Augsburg (1533-1551) The Allocution of Alfonso d’Avalos, Marchese del Vasto to his Troops Oil on canvas, 223 x 165 cm 1540-1541 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 417
Portrait of Clarissa Strozzi Oil on canvas, 115 x 98 cm c. 1542 Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie Ranuccio Farnese Oil on canvas, 89.7 x 73.6 cm 1542 Washington D.C., National Gallery of Art
Paul III Oil on canvas, 113.7 x 88.8 cm 1543 Naples, Museo Nazionali di Capodimonte, inv. n. 130 The Vendramin Family venerating a Relic of the True Cross Oil on canvas, 206.1 x 288.5 cm c. 1540-1545 London, The National Gallery Daniele Barbaro Oil on canvas, 81 x 69 cm 1545 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 414
Pietro Aretino Oil on canvas, 108 x 76 cm 1545 Florence, Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti) Gentleman with a clock Oil on canvas, 122 x 101 cm c. 1550 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 412
Portrait of a Patrician Woman and her Daughter Oil on canvas, 88 x 79 cm c. 1550 Private Collection
Isabella of Portugal Oil on canvas, 117 x 98 cm 1548 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 415 Charles V at the Battle of Mühlberg Oil on canvas, 332 x 279 cm 1548 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 410
Tityus Oil on canvas, 253 x 217 cm 1548-1549 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 426 Sisyphus Oil on canvas, 237 x 216 cm 1548-1549 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 427
Philip II Oil on canvas, 193 x 111 cm 1551 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 411 The Glory Oil on canvas, 346 x 240 cm 1551-1554 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 432 Ecce-Homo Oil on slate, 69 x 56 cm 1546(*) Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 437 The Virgin Dolorosa with her Hands Apart Oil on marble, 68 x 53 cm 1555 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 444
The Virgin Dolorosa with her Hands Clasped Oil on panel, 68 x 61 cm 1554 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 443
4. The Reclining Nude and the “poesie”.
Venus of Urbino Oil on canvas, 119 x 165 cm 1538 Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi
Danaë Oil on canvas, 120 x 172 cm 1544-1546 Naples, Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, inv. S. 83971
Danaë Oil on canvas, 129 x 180 cm 1554 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 415
Venus and Adonis Oil on canvas, 186 x 207 cm 1554 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 422
Venus Blindfolding Cupid Oil on canvas, 118 x 185 cm c. 1560-1565 Rome, Galleria Borghese
Venus with an Organist and a Dog Oil on canvas, 136 x 220 cm c. 1550 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 420 Venus with an Organist and Cupid Oil on canvas, 148 x 217 cm c. 1555 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 421
5. Late Titian
Self-portrait Oil on canvas, 86 x 65 cm c. 1562 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 407
Salome Oil on canvas, 87 x 80 cm c. 1555 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 428
Francesco Venier Oil on canvas, 113 x 99 cm 1555 Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
Adam and Eve Oil on canvas, 240 x 186 cm c. 1550 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 429
The Entombment Oil on canvas, 137 x 175 cm 1559 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 440
The Entombment Oil on canvas, 130 x 168 cm c.1572 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 441
Christ on the Way to the Calvary Oil on canvas, 98 x 116 cm c. 1560 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 439
Christ carrying the Cross Oil on canvas, 67 x 77 cm c. 1565 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 438
The Agony in the Garden Oil on canvas, 176 x 136 cm 1558-1562 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 436 Saint Margaret Oil on canvas, 209 x 183 cm c. 1555 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 44 Saint John the Baptist Oil on canvas, 185 x 114 cm c. 1565-1570 Patrimonio Nacional, Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial
The Virgin and Child Oil on canvas, 124 x 96 cm c. 1560 Venice, Galleria dell’Accademia, cat. 1359
Saint Catherine of Alexandria Oil on canvas, 135 x 98 cm c. 1560 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 447
The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence Oil on canvas, 440 x 320 cm 1564-1567 Patrimonio Nacional, Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Iglesia Vieja Tarquin and Lucretia Oil on canvas, 188.9 x 145 cm 1571 Cambridge, The Fitzwilliam Museum
Saint Jerome Oil on canvas, 137.5 x 97 cm c. 1570-1575 Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
Saint Jerome Oil on canvas, 216 x 175 cm c. 1575 Patrimonio Nacional, Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial
Philip II offering Infante Don Ferdinand to Heaven Oil on canvas, 335 x 274 cm 1573-1575 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 431 Religion succoured by Spain Oil on canvas, 168 x 168 cm 1572-1575 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, nº 430 The Flaying of Marsyas Oil on canvas, 220 x 204 cm Kromeriz, Palace of Kromeriz, Archbishopric Olomouc
Ecce-homo Oil on canvas, 109.2 x 92.7 cm c. 1570-1576 Saint Louis (Missouri), The Saint Louis Art Museum
Ecce-homo Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm c. 1565-1570 Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado
* Special Thanks to Beatriz Cardereda |