Titian’s portrait of Eleonora Gonzaga (c. 1536-37) presents a sober matron who had capably managed state affairs while her husband,
Francesco Maria della Rovere,
Duke of Urbino, was away on military campaigns. The portrait received immediate praise from Titian’s friend, influential poet and author
who wrote a sonnet praising the skill of the painter’s brush in capturing Eleonora’s impeccable character. Present-day art historians consider Eleonora’s luxurious trappings as symbols of her status and virtue. The sumptuous costume of heavy black brocade with golden bows reflects the colors of the crest of her husband’s ruling family. The jewel-clasped muff of sable or marten fur was a fashion accessory among the very elite. The little chestnut-and-white spaniel connotes Eleonora’s loyalty or fidelity. Behind the spaniel sits a “newfangled table clock” that art historian
claimed, in a 1969 book, was “extremely rare in other portraits of the Renaissance.” For Panofsky, the clock held “the double connotation of temperance and transience.” It reflected Eleonora’s steady and moderate nature much as a clock measures time in modest increments, and, as a memento mori, it cautioned that time is unstoppable and death is certain.
But the innovative portable spring-driven table clock, which became more widely available in the 16th century, had greater significance than that. It conveyed a sense of value associated with possessing the latest technology, something easy for us to relate to today. For those who possessed such a device, timekeeping—previously accessible through a sundial, public clock tower or church bell—became personal and portable.
It is no coincidence that Eleonora’s is the first of seven known Titian portraits to feature a clock of similar design. Titian hobnobbed with a social circle fascinated by advances in mechanics and timekeeping. His patrons commissioned spring-driven clocks from leading clockmakers whom they recommended to others in their network. For example, Eleonora’s brother introduced a clockmaker to Titian’s most important patron, Emperor Charles V, who had amassed the era’s greatest collection of clocks and who assembled and synchronized clocks himself.
well-known to Titian, also enjoyed the patronage of Charles V and published works on efficient shapes for gear teeth, essential to clock production. There is even correspondence suggesting that Titian procured a clock for Eleonora’s husband.
These clock-loving patrons would have recognized the table clock in Eleonora’s portrait as evidence of a new devotion to technology that arose from a changing notion of the virtue of temperance. Thanks to the rediscovery of Aristotelian ethics and their emphasis on moderation, temperance, which had long been considered the lowliest of the seven virtues, gained in stature. In medieval and early Renaissance illuminated manuscripts, temperance and the other virtues were portrayed as women, each accompanied by accessories that symbolized her particular virtue. Temperance was increasingly associated with measure and moderation and was depicted with the most advanced technologies of the day, including rotating windmills, eyeglasses, and water-driven and weight-driven clocks—symbols of steadiness and industriousness. By the mid-15th century, temperance personified was featured in devotional documents surrounded by timekeeping devices including a small spring-driven mechanical clock with a fusee (a metal cone with a spiral groove to stabilize the spring as it unwound), the breakthrough innovation that enabled small clock production. Titian extends that imagery in his portrait of Eleonora, with the presence of the table clock indicating not just his sitter’s terrestrial wealth but her cosmic virtue.
Eleonora almost certainly owned more elaborate spring-driven clocks than the one in this portrait. The painting’s more pedestrian timepiece, like many produced in Augsburg at the time, contained fewer gears than higher-end clocks and was more easily manufactured for a growing market of wealthy merchants. It is emblematic of a nascent tech industry and increased international trade. Despite Italy’s early lead in clock production, a technological enterprise based on new manufacturing techniques including some design standardization, more flexible division of labor, and parts assembly was increasingly centered in what is now Germany. That such clocks were “foreign” may have enhanced their prestige among Italian elites.
Interestingly, compared with weight-driven public clocktowers, early spring-driven clocks were not accurate timekeepers. They lost on average five minutes over a 12-hour period. Worse, the speed of the clocks varied over a 12-hour spring wind-down period—running up to 45 minutes ahead during the first three hours and then up to 45 minutes behind during the last three hours. The clocks were temperature sensitive; if the temperatures spiked—say, up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit on a summer day—the clock could lose as much as 30 minutes. Personal, portable timekeeping devices remained inaccurate until the arrival of the chronometer two centuries later.
Despite these drawbacks, the spring-driven clock was the newest and most fascinating gadget of its era. Possessing such a clock increased one’s status far beyond the immediate utility of the device. In his portrait, Titian gracefully captures the simultaneously secular and sacred cachet of that special object.
—Ms. Sauer, a 2022 senior fellow in the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative, was the co-founder of a publicly traded software company.
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Picha ya Titian ya Eleonora Gonzaga (karibu 1536-1837) inaonyesha mwanamke mwenye akili timamu ambaye alikuwa amesimamia mambo ya serikali kwa ustadi wakati mume wake, Francesco Maria della Rovere, Duke wa Urbino, alikuwa mbali kwenye kampeni za kijeshi. Picha hiyo ilipokea sifa mara moja kutoka kwa rafiki wa Titian, mshairi na mwandishi mwenye ushawishi ambaye aliandika soneti akisifu ustadi wa brashi la mchoraji katika kukamata tabia isiyo na kasoro ya Eleonora. Wanahistoria wa kisasa wa sanaa huona mavazi ya kifahari ya Eleonora kuwa ishara ya cheo chake na wema wake. Mavazi yake ya kifahari ya brocade nyeusi nzito yenye upinde wa dhahabu huonyesha rangi za nembo ya familia ya mume wake inayotawala. Vazi la manyoya ya sable au marten lililokuwa limefunikwa kwa vito vya thamani lilikuwa kifurushi cha mtindo miongoni mwa watu mashuhuri sana. Mbwa huyo mdogo wa rangi ya kahawia na nyeupe huonyesha uaminifu-mshikamanifu wa Eleonora. "Kwenye spaniel hiyo kuna saa ya meza iliyobuniwa kwa njia mpya ambayo mwanahistoria wa sanaa alisema katika kitabu chake cha mwaka 1969 ilikuwa ""kizuri sana katika picha nyingine za Renaissance.""Kwa Panofsky, saa hiyo ilikuwa na maana mbili za ""kujipunguza kiasi na kupita kiasi.""Ilionyesha tabia ya Eleonora ya kuwa thabiti na ya kiasi kama vile saa inavyopima wakati kwa hatua ndogo, na kama ""memento mori"" ilionya kwamba wakati hauwezi kukoma na kifo ni hakika." Lakini saa ya meza iliyobebwa kwa spring, ambayo ilikuja kuwa inapatikana kwa wingi katika karne ya 16, ilikuwa na maana kubwa zaidi. Ilieleza umuhimu wa kuwa na teknolojia ya kisasa, jambo ambalo ni rahisi kwetu kuelewa leo. Kwa wale waliokuwa na kifaa kama hicho, kuweka wakati - ambayo hapo awali iliweza kupatikana kupitia saa ya jua, mnara wa saa ya umma au kengele ya kanisa - ikawa ya kibinafsi na inayoweza kubebwa. Si jambo la kushangaza kwamba Eleonora ni wa kwanza kati ya picha saba zinazojulikana za Titian kuwa na saa yenye muundo kama huo. Titian alishirikiana na watu waliopendezwa na maendeleo ya mitambo na ufuatiliaji wa wakati. Wadhamini wake waliagiza saa zenye mhimili kutoka kwa watengenezaji mashuhuri wa saa ambao waliwashauri wengine katika mtandao wao. Kwa mfano, ndugu ya Eleonora alimjulisha mtengenezaji wa saa kwa mlinzi mkuu wa Titian, Maliki Charles wa Tano, ambaye alikuwa amekusanya mkusanyiko mkubwa zaidi wa saa za wakati huo na ambaye mwenyewe alikusanya na kusawazisha saa. Pia, Titian alishirikiana na Charles V na kuchapisha kazi juu ya maumbo ya meno ya gear, muhimu kwa uzalishaji wa saa. Hata kuna barua zinazodokeza kwamba Titian alimnunulia mume wa Eleonora saa. Watumiaji hawa wa saa wangetambua saa ya meza katika picha ya Eleonora kama ushahidi wa kujitolea mpya kwa teknolojia ambayo ilitokana na wazo linalobadilika la wema wa kiasi. Kwa sababu ya kugundua upya maadili ya Aristoteli na kukazia kwao kiasi, kiasi, ambacho kwa muda mrefu kilikuwa kimeonwa kuwa cha chini zaidi kati ya sifa saba za wema, kilipata umaarufu. Katika maandishi ya enzi za kati na mapema ya Renaissance, upole na sifa nyingine za uzuri zilionyeshwa kama wanawake, kila mmoja akifuatana na vifaa ambavyo vilionyesha sifa yake maalum. Uvumilivu ulihusianishwa zaidi na kipimo na kiasi na ulionyeshwa na teknolojia za hali ya juu zaidi za siku hiyo, ikiwa ni pamoja na viwanda vya upepo vinavyozunguka, miwani, na saa zinazoendeshwa na maji na uzito - ishara za uthabiti na bidii. Kuanzia katikati ya karne ya 15, upole ulianzishwa katika hati za ibada zilizozungukwa na vifaa vya kuweka saa, ikiwa ni pamoja na saa ndogo ya mitambo inayoendeshwa na spring na fuse (koni ya chuma na groove ya spiral ili kudumisha spring wakati inapoanza), uvumbuzi wa kuvutia ambao uliruhusu uzalishaji mdogo wa saa. Titian anaongeza picha hiyo katika picha yake ya Eleonora, na uwepo wa saa ya meza inaonyesha si tu utajiri wa dunia wa sitter wake lakini wema wake wa ulimwengu. Ni hakika kwamba Eleonora alikuwa na saa zenye mhimili zenye ustadi zaidi kuliko ile iliyo katika picha hii. Saa ya mchoro zaidi ya watembea kwa miguu, kama nyingi zinazozalishwa huko Augsburg wakati huo, zilikuwa na gia chache kuliko saa za hali ya juu na zilitengenezwa kwa urahisi zaidi kwa soko linaloongezeka la wafanyabiashara matajiri. Ni ishara ya sekta ya teknolojia inayozaliwa na kuongezeka kwa biashara ya kimataifa. Licha ya uongozi wa mapema wa Italia katika uzalishaji wa saa, biashara ya kiteknolojia kulingana na mbinu mpya za utengenezaji ikiwa ni pamoja na kiwango fulani cha muundo, mgawanyiko wa kazi rahisi zaidi, na mkusanyiko wa sehemu ulizidi kukazia kile ambacho sasa ni Ujerumani. Huenda kuwa saa hizo zilikuwa za "nchi nyingine" kuliongeza umaarufu wao miongoni mwa watu mashuhuri wa Italia. Jambo la kupendeza ni kwamba, ikilinganishwa na minara ya saa ya umma iliyoendeshwa kwa uzito, saa za mapema zilizotumiwa na chemchemi hazikuwa za kudhibiti wakati kwa usahihi. Walikuwa wamepoteza wastani wa dakika tano katika kipindi cha saa 12. Kwa kuongezea, kasi ya saa ilibadilika kwa muda wa saa 12 za majira ya kuchipua, ikiendelea hadi dakika 45 mbele wakati wa saa tatu za kwanza na kisha hadi dakika 45 nyuma wakati wa saa tatu za mwisho. Saa hizo zilikuwa na uwezo wa kuathiriwa na joto; ikiwa joto lingepanda sana - kwa mfano, hadi nyuzi 90 Fahrenheit siku ya kiangazi - saa hiyo ingeweza kupoteza dakika 30 hivi. Vifaa vya kibinafsi vya kuweka wakati vilivyokuwa vimeendeshwa kwa mikono havikuwa sahihi hadi chronometer ilipotokea karne mbili baadaye. Licha ya mapungufu hayo, saa hiyo iliyotumiwa kuendesha mviringo ilikuwa kifaa kipya na chenye kuvutia zaidi katika enzi hiyo. Kuwa na saa kama hiyo kuliongeza hadhi ya mtu mbali zaidi ya manufaa ya papo hapo ya kifaa hicho. Katika picha yake, Titian anaonyesha kwa ustadi sifa ya kidunia na ya kitakatifu ya kitu hicho cha pekee. <unk>Ms. Sauer, mwanachama mwandamizi wa Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative, alikuwa mwanzilishi mwenza wa kampuni ya programu inayouzwa hadharani. Copyright © 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Haki zote zimehifadhiwa. 889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889889