The Prado Museum brings together the six mythological paintings based on classical poetry painted by Titian for King Philip II between 1551 and 1562 for the first time since the 16th century from 2 March to 4 July 2021.
Known as the “poesies”, they are the paintings: Danae, Venus and Adonis, Perseus and Andromeda, Diana and Actaeon, Diana and Callisto and Rape of Europa. All of the canvases are inspired by the amatory question and were commissioned for the King’s private quarters. To recreate them, Titian took in compositions such as Metamorphoses by Ovidio and Jupiter’s Loves by Correggio. Due to their gradual development, it took several years for them to be united and it is thought that they were hung in the Aranjuez Palace.
Born in Pieve di Cadore (Italy) in 1477, Titian was an Italian Renaissance painter who is considered to be one of the most important members of the Venetian school. His legacy is characterised by the use of vivid and luminous colours and a loose brushstroke. He handled asymmetrical compositions like nobody without any defined hierarchy and was also extremely versatile in approaching diverse styles: portraits, landscapes, altarpieces, historical paintings, biblical scenes, allegories, mythology, naturalism…
His work led him to be appointed the official painter of the Republic of Venice and later the “official painter” of the Spanish crown. The Catholic Church also commissioned him to expand its ideology through iconography, whereby he was one of the strongholds of what was known as the Counter-reform. Titian painted until the end of his life, dying as a result of the Black Plague in Venice in 1576. Some of his most important works are Carlos V on Horseback at Mühlberg, Assumption of the Virgin, Venus of Urbino or Allegory of Prudence.
This exhibition has been possible thanks to the collaboration of the National Gallery in London, the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
Image Credits:
Titian. Rape of Europa. ca. 1560-1562. © Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Boston
Titian. Titian - Diana and Actaeon. ca. 1556-1559. © The National Gallery, London
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