A guide to the picture gallery of the Imperial Hermitage. Carrying the Cross Titian Carrying the Cross

Titian's painting "Carrying the Cross" entered the Hermitage from the Barbarigo collection in 1850. It is known that in the Prado Museum in Madrid there is 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 he 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 finds confirmation in the well-known inoperability and incompleteness of the 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 it is given in the catalog of paintings by the Barbarigo gallery in 1845.

M. V. Alpatov in "Studies on the History of Western European Art" asserts the absolute authorship of Titian and, based on the analysis of painting and composition of the picture, comes to many ideological and formal conclusions that define Titian's work and characterize his time. 2

The Hermitage painting Carrying the Cross was painted on canvas and duplicated (that is, 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 cursory glance at the picture, it is clear that it was not painted 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 top and bottom, 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 attachment, unlike the others and from the central part, has a strongly pronounced diagonal structure of the canvas. On closer examination, there is a noticeable sharp difference in the nature of the painting on attachments 2-5 and on the main part of the canvas. The light stripe at the bottom of the composition is not defined in space and stretches monotonously in the plane of the picture. The smears of paint are losing 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, it seems incomprehensible blue spot to the right of Simon's head. 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 severely distorted, unjustifiably expanding at the top and especially at the left ends. The right border of Christ's hand, despite the large free space to the edge, is clearly constrained and forms a straight vertical line along the entire length from the elbow to the fifth finger.

15. Titian. Carrying the cross. hermitage Museum

16. The original format of the painting

17. Titian. Carrying the cross (UV shot)

18. Scheme of radiographs

19. X-ray

20. X-ray II

21. Radiograph III

22. Radiograph IV

23. Radiograph V

24. Radiograph VI

25. Radiograph VII

26. Titian. Carrying the cross. Madrid

27. Titian. Christ the Almighty. hermitage Museum

28. Drawing of the initial image in the painting "Carrying the Cross" according to radiographs

29. Titian. Christ the Almighty. Vein

Scheme of attachments

All attachments are covered with a large number of altered restoration entries; the rest of the picture is also heavily spelled out. These records were made at different times, and the earlier ones lie deep under a thick layer of the later varnish. When the picture is illuminated with ultraviolet rays, the upper layers of the records stand out sharply as dark spots 4 (ill. 17). Along with the recordings, the painting on attachments 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 records are also hidden. This difference in luminescence makes it possible to establish that this varnish is of an older origin than attachments 2-5, on which it is absent.

X-rays taken of the painting reveal its internal structure 5 (Fig. 18-24). At the same time, an image of a completely different figure (a face above the head of Christ), painted earlier on the same canvas (ill. 24), comes to light. It is quite obvious that the original format of the picture stands out without any prefixes. Its left border has been completely preserved. Even the edge of the old edge (10-11 mm wide), previously bent onto a stretcher, is unrolled; it lacks the original ground and painting, and the holes from the nails holding the canvas are clearly visible, located 5-8 mm from the border of the format. The bends of the threads, formed when the canvas is pulled onto the stretcher, are pronounced. The other three edges of the painting are cut off along the old fold of the canvas or very close to it (no further than 1-2 mm), as indicated by the character of the stretching of the threads, similar to the bends on the preserved left edge. The proximity of the location of the nails is clearly felt.

The bending of the canvas threads is formed only when it is first pulled onto the stretcher to the primer. The ends of the bows correspond to the position of the nails on the stretcher. Typically, nails are hammered into approximately the middle of the thickness of the bar and, thus, are no closer than 5-15 mm from the edge of the picture (depending on the size of the canvas). The curvature and severity of the bends of the threads, the width of their propagation from the edge depends on the density of the canvas and the force of pulling it onto the stretcher. When pulled evenly, the curvature of the threads on all edges is approximately the same, especially when the format is close to square. If there is a significant difference in the size of the painting 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 the other that has been preserved, it is possible to quite accurately establish the position of the nails, that is, the lost original border of the picture.

After applying the primer and especially the paint layer of the painting, the threads of the canvas are firmly bound to each other. Only with a very great effort can the pulling of the threads occur, but weaker; it will necessarily be accompanied by tears of the paint layer and the primer of the same shape. This is not at all observed in Carrying the Cross. Thus, it is completely impossible to assume that the original format of the canvas was later cropped by someone. All attachments are abruptly detached. Obviously, they are attached after the initial canvas blank. The only question is, were they made by the author in the process of changing the composition, or were they added later?

Attachments 2-5 are made of one canvas, which is similar in structure to the main one. Along 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 the threads that do not coincide with the outer ones. Attachments of attachments 2-5 with the central part of the picture and with attachment 1 are made end-to-end, 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 attachments and the center, cut in a straight line, are 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 attachment 1 (upper corner) had time to decay before attachments 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 attachments 2-5 and on the main part, one can clearly see their sharp difference, especially noticeable on the right attachment 3 - X-ray images IV-VI (Fig. 22-24).

Examining the painting on attachment 2 under a microscope, you can see a lot of glue grains protruding from under the ground, which is completely absent in the main part. Instead of a number of layers of painting on the main canvas, on the attachment - wiping with a turbid mixture of paints, the structure of pigment grains similar to the paints of many upper restoration records and typical of late painting. Only in some places on the cross do some remnants of an old gray-pink painting appear from the depths. Similar phenomena are observed on prefixes 3-5.

From all that has been said, we can confidently establish:

2. The material for attachments 2-5 was a canvas from some old painting (probably an edge). Their wear and tear was deliberately used to make them more similar to the original.

3. As a result of these prefixes, the painting contains: a part of the background and the entire lower light strip, the border of which coincides with the lower edge of the original (except for the right edge, where the late registration at a width of up to 5 mm clearly lies on top of the old painting); the cross and the 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 in 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 close to the paints on the main canvas.

However, X-ray diffraction patterns I, II, III (ill. 19-21) show that attachment 1 was also attached to the main part without a seam, and traces of stretching were not noticeable on it, when its left edge served as the edge of the whole picture. Consequently, it was also glued to the 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 unfolded. In the upper part and in the places of the nails, it is already significantly torn. Naturally, the bent part did not have the original ground; it is also absent on the right side of the attachment (dark stripe on the X-ray diffraction patterns). 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 unbent edge, so the edge of the attachment had to be made thinner so that the joint became even, and then covered with a general layer of chalk soil. At the same time, on the bent edge of the main canvas, the diagonal texture of the attachment is imitated by soil.

On the X-ray images of the attachment, there are light spots - bleaching 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 canvas for prefix 1 was also used old, which is already quite incredible for the author, who, in order to attach this prefix, would have to duplicate, perhaps, the whole picture.

Examining the structure of the paint layer on attachment 1 in a microscope and comparing it with the main picture, it can be seen that the paint materials themselves are in most cases very similar. However, the choice, order and technique of their imposition differ significantly.

Basically, the structure of painting in the central part of the picture is as follows: dense white soil, through which the canvas does not see through anywhere, is covered with a general thin layer of dark brown (almost black) paint, without individual grains. Obviously, this is either ground toning, or, more likely, a dark underpainting of the original image. The light and dark shaping of the head, visible on the X-ray image VI (Fig. 24), is also visible in the tears of the upper paint layers. This first image, apparently, remained in monochrome underpainting, since no other colors, except black, dark brown to white, were seen in this layer.

Further, the lower layer is either overlapped (mainly in the central part of the composition, where the first image was) also with a brown, but lighter, opaque thick mixed layer, or used as a dark underpainting and the first preparatory paints of the upper image are directly applied to it. Then there are the main halftones of the local colors and finally the final highlights and glazes. In any case, the dark, warm preparation typical of Titian's late painting was created for the final image.

In all dark liquid-painted 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 tears of all paint layers to the ground, a characteristic and repeating shape, clearly visible in the picture and on radiographs. The tears were apparently caused by the layer of the original painting and were the cause of numerous restoration recordings.

All light tones are laid with a dense layer of thick opaque paint that is increasing towards the light. The dark underpainting is almost nowhere to be seen. When modeling the body, the colors softly, barely noticeably pass from tone to tone, softening even more with upper glazes. Pastose painting has a highly developed craquelure network.

On attachment 1, the ground is also white, but thin, uneven and torn, often broken on the protruding grain of the canvas; filaments of threads and glue particles are visible (these violations are clearly visible on radiographs and resemble the condition 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 (with the exception of highlights), randomly torn. The lower layers, soil and canvas are visible. Craquelures are less pronounced. Halftones are sharply separated from each other in terms of aperture ratio and color tone. Some excessively intense coloration is felt. There are fewer glazes and they are not strictly systematic.

Thus, both the primer and the paint application system, and their current state on the main part of the picture and on the attachment 1, differ significantly. Unfortunately, the junction of the attachment with the main canvas is badly damaged and recorded and nowhere makes it possible to trace the direct transition of the painting layer through it.

The tree of the cross over the second and third fingers of Simon (on the main part of the picture) is painted over the first dark layer with a lighter opaque brown paint (a mixture - a type of dark ocher, cinnabar, whitewash and black); the top is glazed with transparent orange-brown. On the attachment - on a white ground, a layer of cinnabar 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 paints is different, and the order of overlaying the colors is exactly the opposite. On the console, they are probably dictated by the desire to repeat the already existing color effect, and in the main part they follow the general writing system of the picture.

Painting scheme to the right of Simon's head<

To understand the meaning of blue flowers on clothes near Simon's forehead, it is especially important to decide the question of their nature and structure. To do this, you need 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 of the cross, - section 1 (see diagram), there is a thick mixed layer of a lighter brown color, which warms up as we move to the left and reaches red in section 2 (like red ocher) and in section 3 - to cinnabar. Section 4 is again colder, dark brown, bordering on section 3 along an obscure but strictly horizontal line. Section 5 - black registration on brown underpainting, on the right it is also clearly delimited; there are absolutely no red paints in it. Sections 1-5 are painted on top with a transparent, almost black-brown glaze (similar to the layer of the first image), from under which the lower paints softly show through.

Blue tones - area 6 - also lie on the deep brown layer. First, a thick, pasty mixture of ultramarine and whitewash, in the highlights reaching pure whitewash. The ultramarine is quite fine in the mixture. Above - intensive glaze with pure ultramarine, and here its grains are much larger. Ultramarine abundantly settles in the depths of the relief of the canvas and brushstroke, its individual grains sparkle with a rich blue color, light tops gently protrude. Ultramarine glaze descends below section b, passes to a brown layer and for some time emphasizes the right border of section 5. Here it is perceived as a dark green hue. The overall top brown glaze of the background extends to the blue tones. It almost completely covers area 6 on the right, filling in the deepest cavities of paint.

Thus, these blue tones, intertwined with layers of paint from neighboring areas, are enclosed between the first dark brown layer (perhaps the original image) and the top general brown glaze. This clearly establishes their authenticity in the area to the right of Simon's head.

Such a system of modeling blue colors, the choice of the best coarse-grained dark ultramarine for glazing and a finer one for light mixtures are typical for Titian, and in general for Italian painting of the late 15th-16th centuries. and are based on accurate knowledge and ability to make the most efficient use of the ink material.

The same large ultramarine is observed in the thin glaze on the clothes of Christ (along with a large amount of a lighter, greenish shade, of a worse quality, used for gray clothes), as well as in other works of Titian in the Hermitage (the sky in the painting "The Penitent Magdalene"; especially clearly you can see a similar blue construction on the clothes of "Christ the Almighty"). The blue on the console is of a different nature. The mixture lies directly on white ground (in highlights). There are very few glazes. Ultramarine grains are equally small everywhere and do not give a deep sparkle of their crystals at all. Brown in the shadows is not glazed on top, but only placed underneath along the ground. There is no craquelure in the paint layer. The system, obviously, is alien to this picture, and in general to Titian's painting.

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 into one whole system of the painting. It is quite clear that the main part was absolutely finished, and then the prefix 1 was added to it, without any constructive alterations of the whole, 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 device from the author. 7

Thus, summing up all the data of the material analysis of the painting and the basis on the attachment 1 and comparing them with the main canvas of "Carrying the Cross", it can be established that the attachment 1 was not made by the author.

As stated above, the original size of the canvas used by Titian is precisely set. At the same time, there is no reason to assume the possibility of additions to this format made by Titian himself, later for some reason lost and replaced with restoration attachments.

On the other hand, the study of the paint layer and the manner of painting of the main part of the picture gives the results that are constantly found in other works of Titian (composition of paints, the regular alternation of pasty and glaze layers, a typical underpainting that is not knocked out even by the lower image, prescribing intensified lights in a dark underpainting and then glaze them, etc.)

If you close all the attachments in the picture and look at it only in its original format, the composition gets a completely different character, really inherent in the works of Titian, and all the bewilderments that arose earlier disappear (ill. 16). The cross takes on its normal shape, the straightness of Christ's hand on the right is justified, there is no formless part of Simon's hand, there are no discordant 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 attachments, incorrectly drawn, but subduing the viewer's perception with its original size and brightness of colors. And this undoubtedly Titian's blue color on Simon's left shoulder, deep, juicy, slightly purple, fits perfectly with the entire golden gamut of the picture, despite the top foreign notes and soiled varnish.

The whole composition regains the lost integrity. The figure of Christ is made central. His back is distinguished by the main plastic mass. The light on the head and 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 curves of the body. They are not hindered by the repetition of the flat shapes of the light stripe on the lower attachment. Deep space develops behind the cross and head of Simon. And, perhaps, the horizontal border (section 4 in the diagram) is the line of the distant horizon, above which in the depths a dark sunset sky blazed. Perhaps this was Titian's plan earlier, and then it was altered 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 also on the Madrid copy.

Instead of flat, frontally located figures, identical in their plastic significance, there is a clear-spatial, tonal centralized solution, typical of Titian's later painting.

The tight framework 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. This may have prompted 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 in Titian. In most of his compositions, both portrait and multi-figure, parts of figures and objects are cut off. There are significantly fewer paintings with a completely closed composition. And this position completely fits with the essence of the painting method of Titian, who builds the last balancing of all the elements of the picture in color and tone, subordinating them to linear composition and through them achieving the final expressiveness of the image.

Comparing the Hermitage painting with the Madrid copy (ill. 26), it seems that one can unmistakably say that the extension of Simon's arm and right shoulder on the attachments are written according to the scheme of the Madrid version, without taking into account the other position of the head there, and behind it and Simon's shoulders - the more frontal and uplifted. Hence the discrepancy between both shoulders in the Hermitage painting. " It is interesting that the dimensions of the Hermitage Carrying the Cross without two horizontal attachments (65.9 X 76.5 cm) almost exactly coincide with the Madrid one (67 X 77 cm). Meanwhile, it is obvious that all prefixes 2-5 were made simultaneously and later than the first one.

The original image on canvas, visible on radiographs, clearly depicts a man's head and indistinct bleaching spots extending from Christ's nose to the right downward, 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 radiograph 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 spots on the back and near the face of Christ from "Carrying the Cross", wide folds of clothing are guessed.

Cutting through the original image, made on the basis of radiographs (ill. 28), gives the composition "Christ the Almighty", for the main motive resembles the painting by Titian in the Vienna Museum (ill. 29). However, on the roentgenogram, Christ's face 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 glaze 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 a part of the underpainting of the latter. Both images are very close in time - their colors have absolutely all common cracks and changes. And multiple paint tears could have been caused by insufficient drying of the lower oil-rich layer.

Now the history of the creation of the Hermitage painting is as follows. Initially, Titian began to write a version of Christ the Almighty, coming from the earlier Viennese. But here he already in a new, "older" way interprets the image of Christ, developed and then 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, painted originally according to the Madrid version, as well as the general nature of the painting of the latter (as far as can be judged 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 positioning of Simon's head and shoulders, a turn of the head of Christ and alteration 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 attachments and are found again if they are abandoned.

The first attachment, judging by the texture, the similarity of colors and the general old varnish, was probably made in the 17th century, and the rest much later, not earlier than the end of the 18th century. The sample for them, undoubtedly, was the Madrid copy.

Thus, doubts about the author of the painting Carrying the Cross in the Hermitage can be finally cast aside. It was definitely written by Titian. The painting is now displayed 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 MV Alpatov, built on the previous form of the picture, distorted by prefixes and recordings, these conclusions turn into unfounded conjectures, some - into statements that are incorrect to the opposite. eight

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 at all mention the Hermitage painting Carrying the Cross. It also does not appear in Klassiker der Kunst, 1904 (when listing all the other Hermitage paintings by Titian, see Vol. III, Tizian), and later authors: W. Suida, Tizian, Zurich-Leipzig , 1933; H. Tietze, "Tizian", Wienna, 1936, and others.

2 M. Alpatov, Studies on the History of Western European Art. Carrying the Cross by Titian, Art, 1939.

3 The last duplication was made already with 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, it can be of the same color, but of different chemical and physical composition or superimposed at different times, luminescence in a completely different way in invisible ultraviolet rays. In Carrying the Cross, later restoration recordings appear against the background of light old varnish in three layers: 1 - the darkest, rare, almost exclusively at the joints of attachments 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 the prefixes 2-5 (the same tone with them).

5 The use of fluoroscopy is based on the greater or lesser permeability of X-rays through various painting materials. Lead whitewash, which is transmitted on the X-ray film by white spots, is most strongly delayed. All X-ray photographs were taken by the radiologist of the Hermitage T. N. Silchenko.

6 A number of paintings that are in the Hermitage are painted on a diagonal canvas, for example: Titian "Danae", P. Veronese "Conversion of Saul", Garofalo "The Marriage at Cana of Galilee", as well as many of Titian's paintings that are in other collections: "John the Baptist" - Venice, Academy, "Madonna and Child with St. Catherine - Florence, Uffizzi Gallery," Self-portrait "and" Venus "- in the same place, to others.

7 The top part of the Hermitage painting Saint Sebastian by Titian, painted on plain canvas, also has a similar attachment made of diagonal fabric. A study of the attachment made by the Hermitage restorer VG Rakitin in 1951-1952 showed that it was added after the initial stretching and priming of the main canvas. However, here the attachment was sewn on and all the painting in both areas is absolutely common both in the composition of the paints, and in the manner of their application, and in the texture of the strokes, inextricably passing from one part to another. There is no doubt that in this case the enlargement of the canvas was done by the author himself. The bulk of Saint Sebastian's canvas was also originally used by Titian for another unfinished painting.

8 MV Alpatov sets up the painting "balustrade", which introduces the compositional space - a light stripe on the lower attachment; emphasizes the planar construction of the picture and the 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 appreciated when the discordant color of Simon's collar is included on the left attachment; the golden ratio is artificially attracted, which has absolutely no place here, and so on.

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 homeland 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 Venice life at that time, I would like to give a description of the holiday that took place in the house of Titian, 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 was very warm, although the place itself was shady, so that we passed the time while the tables were taken out, contemplating the pictures that amazed us with their vitality, which filled the whole house, and we enjoyed the beauty and charm of the garden located on the opposite end of Venice by the bay of the sea, where you can see the beautiful island of Murano and others As soon as the sun went down, countless gondolas filled with beautiful women glided across the water. Music and singing sounded around us and accompanied almost until midnight to our merry supper ... Dinner was very good, rich in the finest wines and all the pleasures that could to create for us the time of the year, guests and the very holiday ".

Titian was famous, rich, surrounded by the most educated people of his time. His painting has already caused 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 strength 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 with Giorgione, painting the German courtyard in Venice with frescoes (the murals have not survived to this day; the frescoes do not tolerate the damp and humid climate of the city, and the artists of this school rarely worked in technology frescoes).

Around the same time, the large Hermitage painting by Titian "The Flight into Egypt", in many respects still close in spirit to Giorgione, belongs.

The collection of Titian's paintings in the Hermitage is large: the museum contains eight paintings by the artist belonging to different periods of his work, but the works of the mature master, created in the 50s - 70s of the 16th century, are especially fully represented. Not many works of the young Titian are known, and some of them researchers still cannot "divide" between Giorgione and Titian, attributing them to one or another artist.

"Flight to Egypt" is described in detail by the largest biographers of Titian: in the 16th century - Giorgio Vasari, in the 17th century - Carlo Ridolfi. Ridolfi wrote that Titian "painted an oil painting depicting the Mother of God with her son, who flees to Egypt, accompanied by St. Joseph, an angel leads a donkey, and numerous animals walk on the grass ... and here is a group of trees, very natural, and in the distance - soldier and shepherd. "

"The Flight into Egypt" is of great interest, as it shows where 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, which is characterized with great care and poetry. Against its background, slightly awkward figures seem ordinary and everyday. A wingless angel with a small bundle of things, stepping heavily, leads the donkey by the rein, on which Mary and Christ are sitting. She tied the child to her breast in a peasant fashion and wearily bowed her head to him; Saint Joseph keeps pace 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 arrangement of the characters one after another - creates the impression of a long and tedious journey. The magnificent 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. All the more, the imagination of the Venetian artist should have been agitated by lush meadows drenched in the sun, spreading dense trees, in the shade of which the smooth surface of the waters is so calm, the blue ridge of mountains closing the horizon. The world depicted by the artist is serene and beautiful. Giorgione's lessons are felt in the choice of motives included in the landscape. It was he who loved to convey such lush crowns of trees, herds grazing in the fields, bright distances in the depths. The minor figures - the soldier and the shepherds talking to him - almost repeat the types of Giorgione. In the choice and juxtaposition of colors, the influence of this master also affects: 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 foliage. The red-pink stain of clothing echoes the red flowers and clothing of the shepherd. But at this stage, Titian, more than Giorgione, proceeds from a decorative perception of color.

In the abundance of details, the traditions of the Quattrocento continue to be felt. Deer, foxes, cows, birds, a variety of flowers and ladders inhabit and enliven 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 Venetian Republic. His fame is growing, and gradually the most prominent figures of both Italy and Europe become the customers of the master. 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 captured by Titian in the portrait kept in the Hermitage is unknown. However, this model has repeatedly attracted the artist's attention. From it was written "Venus of Urbino" (Florence, Uffizi), "La bella" [Beauty] (Florence, Pitti). In the same pose and in almost 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, degree of detail. The master does not look for psychological depth in female images. His beauties are thoughtless, sensual, full of consciousness of their youthful charm. Therefore, the artist pays such attention to details that help to 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 object and perfectly sets off the full flexible arms and delicate face.

The study of the painting in X-rays showed that initially the lady's head was crowned with the same pearls as in the Vienna portrait, and only then a tall hat trimmed with pearls and feathers appeared in their place.

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 turned to the ancient legend several times, starting in the 30s. One of the options is in the Hermitage.

The Greek myth tells of the king Akrisia, to whom the oracle predicted death by the hand of his future grandson. In an effort to deceive fate, the king ordered the only daughter Danae to be imprisoned in the tower, but Zeus, fascinated by the beauty, entered her in the form of a golden rain and became her lover.

Passion for 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 life.

Even in his youth, after the death of Giorgione, Titian was finishing his famous "Sleeping Venus" (Dresden, Picture Gallery). "Sleeping Venus" is the first easel work of Venetian painting in which an antique plot is chosen for the sake of a sublime display of female nudity. This painting left a deep mark in 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 decides on the theme of love, happiness and, first of all, the beauty of man. The naked female body is shown in the painting without the medieval disregard for the flesh and without the tinge of frivolity that would appear later, for example, in French art of the 18th century. Titian's nakedness is sublime and noble. Danae is "so ceremoniously naked" that the entire environment is designed to only emphasize her charm. 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 heroine's youth.

Titian cares little about the logic of the narrative: Danae's bed is not in the tower, but in the open air, against the background of the landscape. Holding the canopy, Danae looks up, where, among the clouds, the outlines of a god in love appear, which descends to her like a stream of gold. Love is interpreted as a spontaneous feeling, as a beginning inherent in nature, and therefore a person is so closely and harmoniously connected with the whole world.

During previous restorations, the painted surface of the painting was somewhat washed away, and it looks more faded than Titian usually does; 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 enhanced in combination with the cold grayish-blue tones of the second.

"Danae" dates back to the mid-50s of the 16th century. At the same time, a turning point in the work of Titian was also outlined, associated with the general crisis that gripped 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 noticeably noticeable, since the new offensive of the 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 outlook is replaced by a tragic one. A person finds himself in the face of dark forces, struggle is inevitable, and sometimes death. Painting techniques are also becoming different. Even contemporaries drew attention to the changes that had taken place, marking a new stage in European painting. In particular, Giorgio Vasari wrote: “The technique that he adheres to in these last things is significantly different from his youthful technique, for his early works are performed with special subtlety and incredible diligence and can be viewed from close as well as from afar, the latter are written strokes, sketched in a broad manner and spots, so that you can't look at them close up, and only from a distance they seem complete ... This method is reasonable, beautiful and striking. "

Among the undisputed masterpieces of Titian is "The Penitent Mary Magdalene". On the left side of the picture, on a rock, above the vessel is the artist's signature.

The sinner Mary Magdalene, according to legend, repented after meeting with Christ, spent many years in the wilderness, where she mourned her past sins. She became the heroine of a number of Titian's works, of which the Hermitage copy is rightfully

The Hermitage painting 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 strength; more often, beauty replaces feelings for his heroines. Having retained his favorite type of flowering, fluffy Venetian, Titian endows her, instead of the usual thoughtlessness, with a strong and bright character. Inflamed, reddened eyelids, a face swollen from tears still rolling 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 a 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 trees, sorting through the sheets of a book, clouds floating in the sky. Nature absorbs the anxiety of man and merges with him in a stormy, dramatic impulse.

Transferring the state of the heroine, Titian remains dignified and restrained in a Renaissance manner. The picture is alien to mysticism, religious ecstasy, severe asceticism, it is imbued with the assertion of the beauty and significance of the earthly world.

Color is one of the main means of expression. A dark range, saturated with various shades, now gently shimmering, now sharply flashing, as if conveying the spiritual awe of the heroine. The brush moves along the canvas widely and freely: light strokes, almost transparent, merge with each other into a single surface, creating the illusion of body volume, elastic chest, half-covered with a thin light cloth ... a crystal vessel, torn out of the darkness by a ray of light, began to shine. An almost sensual flutter of the hand is felt when transferring a mass of long soft hair, golden shades subtly turn into brownish ones, and a fluffy veil appears, carefully covering the shoulders and chest.

Two more paintings by Titian in the Hermitage - Christ the Almighty and Carrying the Cross - date back to the 60s of the 16th century. The tradition in the painting "Christ the Almighty" is reflected in the fact that Titian uses a type that is often found in medieval mosaics: in his left hand Christ holds a sphere - a symbol of unlimited power, he raises his right for blessing. The innovation of the work lies in its picturesque structure. The crystal sphere, which lies in the palm of Christ, is beautifully painted. All possible pictorial effects have been extracted from the features of this object - its volume, transparency, ability to reflect and absorb light. A bold stripe of white at the lapel of the Almighty's red robe creates an unexpected impression of dynamics, enlivens a generally calm figure.

A figure similar to "Christ the Almighty" was discovered using X-rays in another painting in the Hermitage - "Carrying the Cross". Rejecting the composition originally conceived by him, Titian painted the existing one on the same canvas. Here Christ is no longer a calm and benevolent ruler of the world, but an exhausted, tortured, but spiritually 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 a deliberate fragmentariness the sprouts of the future are hidden. Such compositional techniques will be willingly used by artists at the next stage in the development of art.

Here, too, color is the main tool that helps Titian to distinguish the hero. The pale face of Christ and his thin hand clearly stand out against the background of the cross, framed by olive-smoky clothing. The shadow lying on Joseph's face and the soft strands of gray hair and beard seem to deprive the figure of materiality, and it spreads out in the gloom, 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 he was believed to help people get rid of the plague. His image was often found in altar paintings; he also appeared in Titian's early works as a handsome, half-naked youth. But in the entire history of Renaissance painting, no image so tragic in its loneliness as "Saint Sebastian" was created.

The hero is depicted at the moment of death, deadly arrows pierce his beautiful, still full of living trembling body of an athlete; a suffering gaze is directed to the sky. At the very last moment of life, a person remains beautiful and unbroken. No wonder Titian gave the figure of Sebastian special significance and monumentality. The hero resembles antique statues with impeccable build. Until the end of his journey, Titian preserved in art the belief in the high destiny and dignity of man. He seems to say: a person can be physically destroyed, but the inviolability 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 alarming sky merges with the earth, in the distance - flickering red reflections. Separate forms are indistinguishable, everything merged into a magnificent stream of strokes; the smoke of a fire is streaming at his feet, and its reflections, like the glow of a fire, play on the youth's body in a thousand subtle shades. In the picture there is no division into the background and the foreground figure in the traditional sense of the art of the previous period, but there is a single light-air environment, everything in it is interconnected and inseparable.

The picturesque structure of "Saint Sebastian" recalls Vasari's words about the peculiarities of Titian's late style. Indeed, if the picture is examined closely, it will seem that its entire surface is covered with a mass of disordered strokes, and only at a distance the regularity in the apparent chaos becomes 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, changing the original concept, he decided to depict the figure not to the waist but to its full height and, extending the canvas, finished painting 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 was weakening over the years, and they attributed the freedom of ownership of the brush to the incompleteness of the picture. Even in the 19th century, "Saint Sebastian" was still considered an unfinished work and was kept in the museum's reserves. It was only in the 90s of the last century that the master's masterpiece was included in the permanent exhibition of the Hermitage.

"Saint Sebastian" is Titian's great achievement. The work was written with complete creative freedom, it opens up new paths to the future and the boldness of painting, and the unity achieved in the depiction of man and the environment. The world appears before the old artist in pictorial rather than plastic guises.

Titian died of plague in 1576. He always remained faithful to the ideals of the Renaissance, but the creation of many of his works coincided with the collapse of these ideals.

1500-1535.
Ghent, Belgium.
Board size: 83.5 * 76.7cm.

Authorship "Carrying the Cross" usually credited 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

History

The work was bought by the Museum of Fine Arts, in Ghent, in 1902. As for all works associated with Bosch, the dating is inaccurate, although most art historians believe that this painting refers to the later 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 a copycat. 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 at Princeton. They were painted after the death of the artist.

Description

In the lower left corner of the house, Veronica with the Shroud, her eyes are half-open, and she looks back from the catfish. And, finally, in the upper left corner is Simon of Cyrene, helping, according to the command of the Romans, Jesus with his burden.

Rogue Gestas

Related work

For the authorship of Bosch, there are two more paintings with a similar plot. The date of writing the first painting is considered to be 1498. She is currently at the Royal Palace in Madrid. Another work (circa 1500) can be found at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

Start of Lent: King of Painters Titian Vecellio (1477-1576)

THE LAST YEAR OF THE MASTER'S LIFE.

In recent years, the artist has often written for the soul. Titian's house was constantly full - many students, artists, collectors and distinguished guests came to him throughout Italy and from other countries. Nevertheless, inclined to melancholy and contemplation, Titian, in fact, remained alone. He often recalled his youth and beloved Chechilia, indulged in thoughts about the frailty of life and yearned for everyone who had taken his time. The result of these sad reflections and mental 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 National Gallery of London

According to tradition, the painting should be read from left to right, that is, counterclockwise, and from top to bottom. The old man in the red cap symbolizes the past, the black-bearded man - the present, and the young man - the future. The animals drawn in the lower part of the picture are also symbolic: the wolf is the human strength that the past takes away, 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 anyone's order, the artist created it for himself.

Shepherd and Nymph, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

A naked nymph lies on the skin of a killed animal, her back turned to the viewer and her head slightly turned. The young maiden is not at all embarrassed by her nudity. 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 general coloring of the picture is deliberately condensed by the author, this creates a kind of mystery and understatement in the relations of the main characters, reinforced by the inclusion of brown and ashy dark tones. The background landscape is blurred, only a piece of broken wood 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 painting, the chaos that reigns in the landscape surrounding the characters and the choice of colors, they still tell us that in the artist's soul there was no joy in harmony. In the confused gaze of the nymph, it is as if his own question is visible - what will happen to them next, how to find joy in the destroyed Universe again.

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 a job. So, around 1570, the master began to create the work "Carrying the Cross" (Prado Museum, Madrid), the completion of which took him five years.

Carrying of the cross approx.1565 89 5 × 77 cm
State Hermitage, 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 Calvary. Jesus' face is full of anguish and pain, and his right shoulder appears almost transparent. The image of Simon is, as it were, contrasted with the image of Christ. There is an expensive ring on his finger, emphasizing his uneasy origins. 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 diagonally by the lower part of the cross, which further enhances the overall dissonance.

Religious themes run through all of Titian's work, but by the plots of the paintings themselves and the manner of their execution, one can trace how the artist's worldview changed, his attitude to virtue, vices and the theme of martyrdom. This is perfectly reflected in the canvases dedicated to the great martyr Sebastian.

In the first works, Saint Sebastian appears before us as humble and submissive, but in the last work of the artist, he is full of determination and ready to fight to the end. This painting, titled "Saint Sebastian" (State Hermitage, 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 punctured by arrows, but his face is not distorted by pain. There is pride and calm in his gaze, his face is slightly raised, 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, learned to endure with courage and dignity. This work contains the artist's belief that an individual hero is able to withstand any blows of fate, he will withstand, even if the whole world around him turns upside down, he will be able to withstand and not break. The color of the picture seems to be blurry and monochrome, but hundreds of colors and nuances burn in every centimeter of it. The fate of the painting developed in such a way that in 1853, by decree of Emperor Nicholas I, it was placed in the storage rooms of the Hermitage, where it remained until 1892. Only many years later, this work took its rightful place in the museum hall.

In the same year, Titian wrote another work with a similar idea. The painting "The Punishment of Marsyas" (Picture Gallery, Kromeriz) is based on the myth of the satyr Marsyas, who dared to challenge Apollo to a musical competition.

Punishment of Marsyas "c. 1570-1576 212 × 207 cm National Museum, Kromeriz, Czech Republic

Marsyas played the double flute, and Apollo played the lyre. When the muses could not choose the winner, Apollo offered to compete in vocal skills. Here Marsyas lost. As punishment for defeat, Apollo decides to flay his skin, this moment is depicted in the picture.

In the center of the canvas is the figure of Marsyas, suspended by his 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 there are people, carried away by his murder, she rips off his skin, not hiding her pleasure. On the right side of the canvas are those who are saddened by this brutal murder. These include the elder, who, presumably, depicts Titian himself. He sadly watches the death of Marsyas and the cruelty of his executioners. The face of the satyr himself retains dignity before inevitable 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), painted 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, outside of life? On both edges of the canvas, two huge sculptures are depicted: 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 a plant, at the top on the right are small vessels with a 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 warlike, as if she asks: "What is this for ?!" To the right of the Virgin Mary, an elder is kneeling, supporting the lifeless hand of Jesus. Some believe that the figure of the elder also depicts Titian himself. The general coloring of the canvas is sustained in silvery tones with separate splashes of red, brown and gold. The colors and arrangement of the figures perfectly convey the hopelessness and drama of the plot. There is also a riddle here. In the lower left corner of the work, there is a small man with a vase in his hands; art critics are still wondering where he came from there 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 infectiousness 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 area in search of the sick or the dead, sailed on gondolas, taking away the artist's last hope - 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 in the lower part of his last masterpiece, on the hem of Sibyl's dress, an almost imperceptible hand, directed upwards, as if calling for help. It was the end, the artist's long life, filled with tireless work, with 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 in complete solitude. Only his works, completed and just begun, gazed at him from the walls of the workshop. On August 27, 1576, Titian was found dead on the floor of his workshop. In his hand was a brush. The artist did not catch the plague from his son, he died a natural death. Almost a hundred years 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 epidemic. By a government decision, the artist was buried in the Cathedral of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, although this contradicted the will of the deceased. 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, there was not a single loved one next to the body of the painter. The artist's eldest son, Pomponio came to his father's house only for an inheritance. But he was disappointed - the house was completely ransacked. A long and fierce struggle for inheritance began between him, a careless bum, who was his father's biggest disappointment, and the husband of the late Lavinia, the father of her six children - Titian's grandchildren.

The canvas "Lamentation of Christ" was the last creation of Titian, which he wrote, already feeling the approach of death. This was his address to the Lord. In the lower corner of the picture, the artist wrote: "Titian did it." According to some sources, after the death of Titian, the painting was finished by his student, Palma the Younger. Presumably, he finished painting a flying angel with a lit candle and part of the masonry at the top of the canvas. Titian allegedly found it difficult to reach the top of the canvas at his very old age. The main proof of this version is the inscription added by Palma. It reads: "What Titian did not finish, Palma finished with respect, dedicating his work to the Lord God." This alone can be used to compare the characters of the two painters. After all, Titian himself, at one time with great skill redrawing the burnt picture 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 greatest talent of the artist did not overshadow in him a modest and noble person. The name of Titian has forever entered the history of world art, and his legacy has served as an inspiration for young artists and poets for centuries.

Text by Tatiana Zhuravleva.
Pictures not included in the text of the post:

Christ Carrying the Cross circa 1508-1509 71 × 91 cm Scuola San Rocco, Venice (also referred to as Giorgione)

Woman in front of a mirror circa 1511-1515 96 × 76 cm Louvre (Paris)

Madonna and Child ("Gypsy Madonna") about 1512 65.8 × 83.8 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna)

Madonna and Child with St. Catharine, St. Dominic and St. Donor around 1512-1514 130 × 185 cm Magnani Rocca Foundation, Traversetolo

Vanity circa 1515 97 × 81 cm Alte Pinakothek, Munich

The Worship of Venus 1518-1520 172 × 175 cm Prado, Madrid

Altarpiece of Gozzi 1520 312 × 215 cm City Pinakothek Francesco Podesti, Ancona

Polyptych Averoldi circa 1520-1522 278 × 292 cm Church of Santi Nazaro e Celso, Brescia

Venus Anadiomene circa 1520 73.6 × 58.4 cm National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh

Portrait of Paul III 1543 108 × 80 cm Capodimonte National Museum and Gallery, Naples

Behold a 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

Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence 1559 500 × 280 cm Church of the Jesuiti, Venice

Entombment 1559 137 × 175 cm Prado, Madrid

Tarquinius and Lucretia c. 1570 193 × 143 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Bordeaux

The Hermitage possesses a number of works depicting Titian (14777-1576) in all his grandiose magnitude. 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 Italy than the great masters of Rome and Florence, who spent their best efforts on creating "immovable" - 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 the genius.

The most precious pearl of the Hermitage cannot be attributed to such "sunset", senile works of Titian - "Venus in front of the 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. There is nothing to seek here for the ideal of the Greek goddess, but Titian did not set himself such a goal. It was important for him to express his personal adoration before the luxury of the body, before its whiteness, warmth, tenderness, before all this blooming beauty that promises the joy of love and endless generations of human existence, the endlessness of earthly life.

"The Penitent Magdalene"(written about 1561) The same Venus of Titian, but depicted in a fit of heartache. 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 to her solitude.

Titian... Penitent Mary Magdalene. 1560th. Canvas, oil. 118x97. Inv. 117. From the collection. Barbarigo, Venice, 1850

Typical for Titian is his simple truthfulness, his complete sincerity. He does not break when he creates his own interpretation of the gospel heroine. He doesn't take her lightly either. He really understood Christianity in this way - without a shadow of asceticism, as a great passion that consumes life. The sins of his Magdalene are not carnal sins, for which Titian's heroines are not used to blushing at all. Magdalene Titiana cries only that she did not love enough, did not care enough about her beloved, did not sacrifice herself to him. Believe it, you believe this grief with all your soul - but grief is not a spiritual self-flagellation of asceticism, but pain of irrevocable loss.

After all, the ascending Mother of God Titiana in the Venetian Academy is a woman hurrying to embrace her son, and not the Queen of Heaven, about to sit on the throne.

Pictures of recent years

Titian is sometimes called the forerunner of Rembrandt and equally the forerunner of 19th century Impressionism. To understand this seeming paradox, it is enough to study three paintings of 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, partly still Goya and the French of the 1860s, 1870s), disappeared and was replaced by something else. Rather, here painting only became painting, something self-sufficient. The facets of the drawing have disappeared, the despotism of the composition has disappeared, even the colors, their play and play have disappeared. One color - black - creates all the colorful effect on “St. Sebastian ", not a lot of 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. 1560th. Canvas, oil. 89x77. Inv. 115. From the collection. Barbarigo, Venice, 1850

But this by no means testifies to the decline of the Elder Titian's strength, but rather to 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 the early 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 life's drama. Here one can feel the "senile wisdom", a kind of indifference to the vanity of things. But instead of this, there is an absorbing pleasure in creativity, an unbridled ardor in the plastic revelation of forms. The black paint in "Titian the Elder" is not the boring lifeless darkness of the "Bolognese", but some primary element, some magical creative tool. If Leonardo could see such results, he would understand that he was looking for his sfumato, his haze on the wrong path. The magical darkness does not lie here, as in Leonardo's, with methodical shadows, does not draw, does not define, does not border, but leaves to the visions all their trepidation, their vital vibration. These are “only impressions”, but the impressions of one of the most illuminated human minds that appear before us in all their immediacy, without a trace of diminishing pedantry, without a shadow of theoretical rationality. Perhaps it is dangerous to look at such pictures for young artists. It is too easy to adopt their external features and, on the contrary, it is difficult to guess their unspeakable secret, if you yourself do not experience everything that Titian, this “king of Venice”, the friend of the brightest minds of his time, the favorite artist of the founder of modern politics Karl, experienced by his eighth tenth V, the favorite artist who dared to go against the history of Philip II, finally, the artist, who posed for the last "great pope", the greedy and clever Paul III. Titian, who once saw the best days of Venice and sensed its slow, inevitable death, did not see, feel and change his mind in his entire age-old life ...

Giving Two paintings by Titian we have so far left without attention: "Danae" and "Savior of the world".

Titian... Danae. OK. 1554. Canvas. Butter. 120x187. Inv. 121. From the collection. Crozat, Paris, 1772

You don’t think about them while you are busy with the more inspired works of the master, but in themselves they are worthy of the greatest attention. Danae, which some scholars regard as a copy, others as an ordinary repetition made by students from an original by Titian, written by him in 1545 for Otto 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 almost one of the best paintings in all of 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. Here there is neither the seduction of his Florentine "Venus", nor the intimacy of the Madrid "Venus" (obviously, portraits of courtesans), nor the "apotheosis of a woman", as in our “ Toilet ” ... In general, there are the least “women” here. But what a luxury in the opal, mother-of-pearl tints of the body, in the thick purple of the drapery, in the juxtaposition of the colors on the figure of the servant and in the brilliantly sketched landscape. And how ingeniously, “fun”, simply and quickly everything was done. The picture was accurately painted at one time without corrections and retouching.

The Savior of the World is a very damaged picture. It was listed in the master's inventory, compiled after his death, and, probably, was corrected and finished by those who inherited it. Preserved, however, is the general grandiose plan of Titian, as if inspired by the Byzantine mosaics, as well as the beauty of the sparkling crystal state, which the Lord holds in his hand. A symbolic motif of deep antiquity, which was probably loved by Elder Titian for his expression of the fragility of all earthly existence.