Thursday, November 19, 2015

Venice in Madrid

Titian
Spain Succoring Religion at the Battle of Lepanto
1572-75
Prado

Titian
King Philip II and the Infante Don Fernando after the Battle of Lepanto
1573-75
Prado

Titian (ca. 1485-1576) was the first Venetian artist with a following of international patrons willing and able to pay super-premium prices for access to autograph work with the master's unique compositions executed to specification. (What was later said of Luca Giordano could equally well have been said of Titian  "He used three brushes  one of gold to satisfy the nobility, one of silver for private citizens, and one of copper for the populace.")  Both the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his son Philip II, King of Spain, eagerly belonged to the special category of highest-paying and most demanding patron. Their passion for majestic presentations of themselves ended by securing more of these premium Titians for Madrid than for anywhere else in the world except Venice itself.

Titian
Emperor Charles V at the Battle of Mühlberg
1548
Prado

The Spanish Tintorettos also seen here were not, by contrast, painted for international patrons  Jacopo Tintoretto (1518-1594) and his son Domenico (1560-1635) belonged to succeeding generations of Venetian painters who followed Titian, imitating his manner but largely limited for clients to local aristocrats. The Tintoretto canvases now in Madrid were typically purchased in Italy  after passing through the hands of Italian owners  by agents who shipped batches of such pictures to Spain.

Jacopo Tintoretto
Portrait of a Venetian Admiral
c. 1570-75
Prado

Jacopo Tintoretto
Portrait of a man
16th century
Prado

Titian
Knight of Malta
c. 1550
Prado

Jacopo Tintoretto
Draped figure
late 16th century
drawing
Prado

Jacopo Tintoretto
Portrait of Marco Grimani
c. 1576-83
Prado

Titian
Sisyphus
1548-49
Prado

Titian
Self-portrait
c. 1562
Prado

Titian
Christ & Simon the Cyrenian
c. 1560
Prado

Titian
Christ & Simon the Cyrenian
c. 1565
Prado

Domenico Tintoretto
Mythological Figure 
late 16th century
Prado

Domenico Tintoretto
Allegory of Virtue
late 16th century
Prado

I am grateful for the beautiful reproductions made available by Museo del Prado.