Research Paper on the Titian’s Mythological Paintings for Philip II

The famous Venetian artist, Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) born ca. 1488 and died 1576, was the first artist to painted in oils and fully exploited the medium’s potential for richness in color through his expressive thick paint application with raised brushstrokes known as impasti. This new technique freed the brush from the task of accurately rendering surfaces, volumes, and details and as a result Titian was able to convey light through color and breath life, movement and strong emotion into his characters portrayed on the canvas. With Titian’s most important and influential friends, Aretino and Lodovico Dolce, whose letters and writings praised the extraordinary work of Titian and addressed the powerful throughout Europe, Titian rapidly became the principal painter to the Imperial Court, (independent from the controls and conditioning of the Church), which gave him immense privileges, honors, and even titles such as principal painter to Charles V and Philip II, who were the two greatest collectors and admirers of Titian.

The art of Titian became a fundamental inspiration for three of the famous painters of the 17^th century, Rubens, Van Dyck and Velazquez as all three painters developed a fluency of brushwork and a richness of color in their palette.  Furthermore, Titian provide powerful compositional models (over six hundred) for almost every type of commission from portraits to altarpieces from ceiling painting to erotic mythological narratives placed in landscapes, most notably, the six enigmatic canvases, the Poesie, painted between 1551 to 1562 for Philip II.

Renaissance Man by Adam Gopnik

Without a doubt, Leonardo had the inability to finish a piece of work; however, has anyone considered that because of his compulsive obsession with the universal system of proportion and seeing abstract form in everything that Leonardo could have had an attention deficit disorder.

Most importantly, it was through his keen observation that Leonardo was known as a genius well before his time and legendary through his remaining perceptive notebooks and the famous half-smile known all over the world.  One wonders, what other kinds of information that Leonardo had written in his misplaced notebooks.   In addition, Leonardo knew how to handle the most intolerable people in power and with wealth through his use of riddles, fables and theatre productions, therefore, helping him to utilize his time in further observation and study.

As for his preference for women or men, who cares, as it is hard to believe that he had the time to invest in relationships considering his upbringing with two mothers and a father that sent off to a studio to learn more about art?  What is noteworthy is the work that Leonardo accomplished in his lifetime in so many different fields, such as, the military, engineering, art, architecture and a romanticized side to historical Leonardo.

Art Theories of Leonardo and Michelangelo

Although, Leonardo was known for his engineering inventions and Michelangelo for sculpture, it is with certainty, that Leonardo and Michelangelo were the famous painters of the Italian Renaissance.  It is interesting to discover that both artists, Leonardo and Michelangelo, wrote down their art theories, their views and beliefs about nature and their methods in how they created their paintings.

 

Leonardo had a profound belief in the value of experiment and of direct observation that he saw in the human body, in plants and in the formation of rocks.  Furthermore, Leonard understood painting as a science because of its foundation on mathematical perspectives and the study of nature. While on the other hand, Michelangelo believed that profound beauty was found in the human body, the visible universe present in nature and in spiritual and the divine.  According to Michelangelo, the eye was the most important vehicle to motivate the artist to create and for the viewer to contemplate the divine beauty that was inspired from God.  In contrast, Leonardo was deeply opposed to speculation not based on experiment and believed that painting depended on th

e eye, which could be easily deceived, and through actual measurements and principles of geometry ensured the eye’s judgments.

As for their painting methods, Michelangelo relied on his imagination and individual inspiration rather than on obedience to any fixed standards of beauty.  Oppositely, Leonardo believe that what he created must always have the exact foundation and justification in nature, and therefore fill his mind with images based on the exact knowledge of nature so that the imagination would have a solid foundation for its inventions.

As time progressed, the artists painting methods changed as well.  Michelangelo interest became more focused on the inward mental image that transcends everything which can be found in the visible world.  Too, Michelangelo believed that love of physical beauty lost its strength and true love that of spiritual beauty gave perfect satisfaction as it does not fade with time and elevates the mind to the contemplation of the divine.  Whereas, Leonardo was always interested in the contrast of the beautiful and ugly found the in the characteristics of the individual, a fixed rule of proportion that should be applied to all limbs of the body, and the language of gestures and facial expressions to convey the emotions and ideas in a person’s mind.

In conclusion, both, Leonardo and Michelangelo, offered valuable instruction to artists that followed in the master’s footsteps by combining the inspiration from nature and the divine with the exactness of proportions, gestures and expressions that is found in all life forms.

Cultural Introduction to Renaissance Rome/Patronage and Popes: Saints or Sinners?

Rome became known as the eternal city; the New Jerusalem of the Promised Land with St. Peter’s Basicala as the new temple; and Rome the head of the world, Roma caput mudi.  From reading the above articles, at one time the Roman Empire was in shambles with a small population living amongst the ruins and for seventy years; the papacy lived in Avignon, France, which they called “Babylonian Captivity”.

During the Renaissance, the papacy returns to Rome and fosters relationships with the humanists, artists and entrepreneurs to rebuild Rome as one of the greatest cultural centers in Europe in art, architecture, oratory, music, and writing.  In addition, the papacy builds an extensive library that holds ancient and modern thought and served as the brain of Renaissance Rome in its articulate memory and its nerve center.

Even though, every fragment of Rome’s past had its story to tell and a spell to enchant through its richness in beauty, there was and still is a boundless power in religion in doing what is right and good for the benefit of all and in doing what is corrupt to gain personal power and indulgence as it was documented during the reign of various popes, especially Julius II, who considered himself to be Julius Caesar.  In addition, the humanists held power as they reemphasizing the power of the word in persuasive and eloquence speech.  Success in law and statesmanship could be measured by the extent that the speaker could convince judges, juries, senates, assemblies and crowds of his position.  Consequently, the language could be so focused with ruthless precision in presenting a believable cause that oftentimes it was not in the best interest of the people and it was for personal gain or an ulterior motive.

Nevertheless, Rome is considered the eternal city with a beautiful and rich culture in history, art and architecture as well as the Christian capital and the papacy’s divinely sanctioned home.

Humanism

It was considered by the Humanists that the traditions of Christian literature was not sufficient to shape the life of a complete man, who were destined to hold leading public and government positions. The technical foundations of humanism were in grammar; and the art of the most effective speaking and writing in eloquence and wisdom, ethics and philosophy. The Humanists sought to increase civility, to reduce attachment to profit and to move the passions through the power of language.

The Humanists looked to history for what it could tell them about their own experience; they believed that Classical Greek and Latin literature taught everything from virtue to eloquence, from wisdom to practical worldliness; and that antiquity taught them the way to improve the structures of political science. 

Today, the study of humanities in grammar, language, history, poetry and moral philosophy is taught in the classroom to continuous develop a person’s knowledge in virtue, expression, and wisdom in their relationships with community and/or public.

Leonardo Da Vinci, Flight of Mind

The Musée du Louvre, Paris's version, Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci, 1483–1490;

The National Gallery, London's version of Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks, circa 1508 (right)

Leonardo Da Vinci, pages 196-226

Virgin of the Rocks, exists in two versions, when viewed they are similar but not identical.  The one that is in the Louvre, Paris is pure Leonardo, while the version in the National Gallery at London was painted much later by Leonardo and his Milan studio assistant, Ambrogio de Predis.  Why two versions?

A theory and recorded documentation shows that in 1483, while living in Milan, Leonardo was commissioned by the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception to paint a three-panel altarpiece for the San Francesco Grande, the biggest church in Milan.  Strangely, Leonardo deviated from the church specifications in size and created a one-panel painting absent of the requested figures and symbols.  It was believed that Leonardo began painting the Virgin of the Rocks while he lived in Florence that is why it lacked the details of the contract.  When Leonardo asked for a higher payment for the painting, the Confraternity barely came close to his request.  Thus, the painting was taken back and sold to Ludovico, Duke of Milan, who sent the painting as a wedding present to the Emperor Maximillian in Germany.   Over time the painting eventually ended up in the Louvre after 1528.

This theory explains why the second, Virgin on the Rocks, the London version, was made as a substitute for the Confraternity and why the differences in between the two paintings in additional or absence of original detail and chiaroscuro effects.

Leonardo Ornithopter

While Leonardo was working on the Virgin of the Rocks (which he considered the Madonna female personification of nature, and the mistress of all masters), Milan was in the midst of the three-year epidemic bubonic plague.  As a way to escape the misfortunes and tragedy of the time, Leonardo would make sketches, drawings and notes about building proficient cities and churches; military machinery (as he secretly wanted to be a military engineer); flying machines, such as the ornithopter (helicopter) and cogs and wheels to raise water and power hydraulic machinery.  Leonardo believed that there was a harmonious balance in architecture, machinery and, especially, nature as well as in the body.   Leonardo became known for his profound observations to penetrate deeper into the nature of nature or universal law. 

Additionally, the notebooks contained puns, word-games, cryptograms, and riddling prophesies which lingered in the mind after they were explained.  Moreover, Leonardo wrote over thirty fables about his compassionate view of nature, as he believed that nature had a soul, an existence of spirit, and oftentimes, in social circles or at court, he told his fables, prophecies, and puns.

In conclusion, not only was Leonardo a painter with an exquisite style of making the religious beautiful into miraculous, he was a man ahead of his time and had an innate curiosity in how things worked in nature as well as how to improve the lifestyle and existence of man.

Research Project

Amanda Williams and I will be researching, Late Titian.

Also, I am so happy that I am finally able to blog.  Check out my responses and posts as I get better with blogging!