Venus of Urbino
7:00 AM |
| Titian, Venus of Urbino, 1538 |
For a quick moment, try not to look at the evident sexuality here. Titian clearly created this as a tribute to his friend/master Giorgione, who created a strikingly similar Sleeping Venus in 1510. The piece was commissioned by the Duke of Urbino Guidobaldo II Della Rovere to serve as a teaching model for his young wife. The Duke, concerned that his new wife would be unaware of her "marital obligations," wanted Titian to create a woman exemplary of what he was looking for from his bride.
The piece itself has become rather infamous, probably because of how... out there Venus is. Her gaze aims directly at the viewer, her entire demeanor upsetting the almost voyeuristic feel of the scene portrayed, with the curtain behind the model, possibly a posing courtesan, on a bed. Simply studying her posture is even implicating, with her unabashed swagger and immodest pose. If you've got it...
Titian also sneaks in quite a few symbols of wifely duties other than the whole naked thing. The dog on the bed with her is a symbol of marital loyalty and companionship, while the maidservant rifling through the dresser in the background is somehow a symbol of motherhood. Makes you think twice about looking through your drawers too hastily, doesn't it?
Mark Twain did not enjoy this piece at all. He actually ranted about it, saying,
"without obstructing rag or leaf, you may look your fill upon the foulest, the vilest, the obscenest picture the world possesses - Titian's Venus. It isn't that she is naked and stretched out on a bed - no, it is the attitude of one of her arms and hand... but there the Venus lies, for anybody to gloat over that wants to... I saw young men gaze long and absorbedly at her; I saw aged, infirm men hang upon her charms with a pathetic interest. How I should like to describe her - just to see what a holy indignation I could stir up in the world - just to hear the unreflecting average man deliver himself about my grossness and coarseness, and all that. The world says that no worded description of a moving spectacle is a hundredth part as moving as the same spectacle seen with one's own eyes--yet the world is willing to let its son and its daughter and itself look at Titian's beast..."Though possibly overreacting, Twain brings up some brilliant parts of the piece, which were purposefully put there. It is obscene, she definitely has attitude, and it isn't obstructed by anything...but all of that was Titian's goal. It was meant for a private setting, to be displayed in the Duke and Duchess' bedroom, and it serves that purpose well. It's not like it was going to be over the dinner table.
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