Produced by Tom Cosmas (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) Transcriber's note: Whole and fractional parts of numbers displayed as: 7-3/4 Emphasis notation: =Bold= and _Italic_ text * * * * * [Illustration: Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clément & Co. John Andrew & Son. Sc. Titian _Prado Gallery, Madrid_] Masterpieces of Art TITIAN A COLLECTION OF FIFTEEN PICTURES AND A PORTRAIT OF THE PAINTER WITH INTRODUCTION AND INTERPRETATION BY ESTELLE M. HURLL BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PREFACE To give proper variety to this little collection, the selections are equally divided between portraits and "subject" pictures of religious or legendary character. The Flora, the Bella and the Philip II. show the painter's most characteristic work in portraiture, while the Pesaro Madonna, the Assumption, and the Christ of the Tribute Money stand for his highest achievement in sacred art. ESTELLE M. HURLL. New Bedford, Mass. March, 1901. CONTENTS AND LIST OF PICTURES PAGE Portrait of Titian. Painted by himself. _Frontispiece._ Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clément & Co. Introduction I. On Titian's Character as an Artist vii II. On Books of Reference xi III. Historical Directory of the Pictures of this Collection xii IV. Outline Table of the Principal Events in Titian's Life xiv V. Some of Titian's Contemporaries xvii I. The Physician Parma 1 Picture from Photograph by Franz Hanfstaengl II. The Presentation of the Virgin (Detail) 7 Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clément & Co. III. The Empress Isabella 13 Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clément & Co. IV. Madonna and Child with Saints 19 Picture from Photograph by Franz Hanfstaengl V. Philip II 25 Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clément & Co. VI. St. Christopher 31 Picture from Photograph by D. Anderson VII. Lavinia 37 Picture from Photograph by Franz Hanfstaengl VIII. Christ of the Tribute Money 43 Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clément & Co. IX. The Bella 49 Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clément & Co. X. Medea and Venus 55 Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clément & Co. XI. The Man with the Glove 61 Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clément & Co. XII. The Assumption of the Virgin 67 Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clément & Co. XIII. Flora 73 Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clément & Co. XIV. The Pesaro Madonna 79 Picture from Photograph by D. Anderson XV. St. John the Baptist 85 Picture from Photograph by D. Anderson XVI. The Portrait of Titian 91 Pronouncing Vocabulary of Proper Names and Foreign Words 95 INTRODUCTION I. ON TITIAN'S CHARACTER AS AN ARTIST. "There is no greater name in Italian art--therefore no greater in art--than that of Titian." These words of the distinguished art critic, Claude Phillips, express the verdict of more than three centuries. It is agreed that no other painter ever united in himself so many qualities of artistic merit. Other painters may have equalled him in particular respects, but "rounded completeness," quoting another critic's phrase, is "what stamps Titian as a master."[1] To begin with the qualities which are apparent even in black and white reproduction, we are impressed at once with the vitality which informs all his figures. They are breathing human beings, of real flesh and blood, pulsing with life. They represent all classes and conditions, from such royal sitters as Charles V. and Philip II. to the peasants and boatmen who served as models for St. Christopher, St. John, and the Pharisee of the Tribute Money. They portray, too, every age: the tender infancy of the Christ child, the girlhood of the Virgin, the dawning manhood of the Man with the Glove, the maidenhood of Medea, the young motherhood of Mary, the virile middle life of Venetian Senators, the noble old age of St. Jerome and St. Peter, each is set vividly before us. The list contains no mystics and ascetics: life, and life abundant, is the keynote of Titian's art. The abnormal finds no place in it. Health and happiness are to him interchangeable terms. Yet it must not be supposed that Titian's delineation of life stopped short with the physical: he was besides a remarkable interpreter of the inner life. Though not as profound a psychologist as Leonardo or Lotto, he had at all times a just appreciation of character, and, on occasion, rose to a supreme touch in its interpretation. In such studies as the Flora, where he is interested chiefly in working out certain technical problems, he takes small pains to make anything more of his subject than a beautiful animal. The Man with the Glove stands at the other end of the scale. Here we have a personality so individual, and so possessing, as it were, that the portrait takes rank among the world's masterpieces of psychic interpretation. In his best works Titian's sense of the dramatic holds the golden mean between conventionality and sensationalism. In the group of sacred personages surrounding the Madonna and Child there is sufficient action to constitute a reason for their presence,--to relieve the figures of that artificial and purely spectacular character which they have in the earlier art,--yet the action is restrained and dignified as befits the occasion. The pose of both figures in the Christ of the Tribute Money is in the highest degree dramatic without being in any way theatrical. The tempered dignity of Titian's dramatic power is also admirably seen in the Assumption of the Virgin. The apostles' action is full of passion, yet without violence; the buoyant motion of the Virgin is unmarred by any exaggeration. The same painting illustrates Titian's magnificent mastery of composition. Perhaps the Pesaro Madonna alone of all his other works is worthy to be classed with it in this respect. It is impossible to conceive of anything better in composition than these two works. Not a line in either could be altered without detriment to the organic unity of the plan. The crowning excellence of Titian is his color. The chief of the school in which color was the characteristic quality, he represents all the best elements in its color work. If others excelled him in single efforts or in some one respect, none equalled him for sustained grandeur. A recent criticism sums up his color qualities succinctly in these words: "He had at once enough of golden strength, enough of depth, enough of éclat; his color, profound and powerful _per se_, impresses us more than that of the others, because he brought more of other qualities to enforce it."[2] Titian's works easily fall into a few groups, according to the subject treated. In mythological themes he was in his natural element. Here he could express the sheer joy of living which was common to the Venetian and the Greek. Here physical beauty was its own excuse for being, without recourse to any ulterior significance. Here he could exercise unhindered his marvellous skill in modelling the human form along those perfect lines of grace which give Greek sculpture its distinctive character. It is in his earlier period that his affinity with the Greek spirit is closest, and we see it in perfect fruition in the Medea and Venus. Titian's treatment of sacred subjects is in the diverse moods of his many-sided artistic nature. The great ceremonial altar pieces, such as the Assumption of the Virgin, and the Pesaro Madonna, are a perfect reflection of the religious spirit of his environment. Religion was with the Venetians a delightful pastime, an occasion for festivals and pageants, a means of increasing the civic glory. These great decorative pictures are full of the pomp and magnificence dear to Venice, full of the joy and pride of life. Yet in another mood Titian paints the life of the Holy Family as a pastoral idyl. A sunny landscape, a happy young mother, a laughing baby boy, bring the sacred subject very near to common human sympathies. Some of Titian's professedly sacred pictures are in the vein of pure _genre_, painted in a period when this department of art had not yet attained independent existence. We see such works in the St. Christopher and the St. John. These direct studies of the people throw an interesting light upon the painter of ideal beauty: they show an otherwise unsuspected vigor. The Christ of the Tribute Money stands alone in Titian's sacred art. The technical qualities are thoroughly characteristic of his hand, but a new note is struck in spiritual feeling. Virile, without coarseness; gentle, without weakness, the chief figure is perhaps the most intellectual ideal of Christ which has been conceived in art. Titian's landscapes, though holding an accessory place only in his art, are counted by the critical art historian with those of Giorgione, as the practical beginning of this branch of art. He knew how to express "the quintessence of nature's most significant beauties without a too slavish adherence to any special set of natural facts."[3] His imagination interpreted many of nature's moods, from the pastoral calm environing Medea and Venus to the stormy grandeur of the forest in which St. Peter Martyr met his fate. It is undoubtedly as a portrait-painter that Titian's many great qualities meet in their utmost perfection. His feeling for textures, the delicacy with which he painted the hair and the hands; his skill in modelling; his instinct for pose; the infinite variety of his resources, made an incomparable equipment in the secondary matters of portrait painting. To these he added, as we have seen, the two highest essentials of the art, the power of giving life to his sitter, and the gift of insight into character. Nature made him a court painter; he loved to impart to his sitter that air of noble distinction whose secret he so well understood. Yet he was too large a man to let this or any other natural preference hamper him. Something of himself, it is true, he frequently put into his figures, yet he was at times capable of thoroughly objective work. He stands perhaps somewhere between the extreme subjectivity of Van Dyck and the splendid realism of Velasquez. The noble company of his sitters, emperors, kings, doges, popes, cardinals and bishops, noblemen, poets and beautiful women, still make their presence felt in the world. Theirs was a deathless fame on whom the painter conferred the gift of his art. Titian's temperament was keenly sensitive to the influences of his environment, and in his extraordinary length of days, Venice passed through various changes, political, social, artistic and religious, which left their mark upon his work. One cannot make a random selection from his pictures and pronounce upon the qualities of his art. The work of his youth, his maturity, his old age, has each a character of its own. It is this rounding out of his art life through successive stages of growth and even of decay that gives the entire body of his works the character of a living organism. II. ON BOOKS OF REFERENCE. The original source of biographical material relating to Titian is in Vasari's "Lives of the Painters," the best edition of which is the Foster translation, annotated with critical and explanatory comments by E. H. and E. W. Blashfield and A. A. Hopkins. The most complete modern biography is that by Crowe and Cavalcaselle, in two large volumes (published in 1877), but as this is now out of print, it can be consulted only in the large libraries. Some of the conclusions of these writers have been challenged by later critics, Morelli and others, and should not be accepted without weighing the new arguments. The volume on "Titian: A Study of his Life and Work," by Claude Phillips, Keeper of the Wallace Collection, London, is in line with the modern methods of criticism, and is written in a delightful vein of appreciation. The two parts of the book, The Earlier Work and The Later Work, correspond to the two monographs for "The Portfolio," in which the work was first published. In the general histories of Italian art, valuable chapters on Titian are contained in Kugler's "Handbook of the Italian Schools" (to be read in the latest edition by A. H. Layard) and Mrs. Jameson's "Early Italian Painters" (to be read in the latest revision by Estelle M. Hurll). A monograph on Titian is issued in the German Series of Art Monographs, edited by H. Knackfuss. Interesting suggestions upon the study of Titian's art will be found in the following references: In Mrs. Oliphant's "Makers of Venice;" in Berenson's "Venetian Painters of the Renaissance;" in Symonds's volume on Fine Arts in the series "Renaissance in Italy." Burckhardt's "Cicerone" has some valuable pages on Titian, but the book is out of print. A List of Titian's work is given in Berenson's "Venetian Painters." III. HISTORICAL DIRECTORY OF THE PICTURES OF THIS COLLECTION. _Portrait frontispiece._ Probably the portrait mentioned by Vasari as painted in 1502. In the Prado Gallery, Madrid. Size: 2 ft. 10 in. by 2 ft. 1-1/2 in. 1. _The Physician Parma._ It appears that there is no direct testimony to prove the authorship of this picture, the attribution to Titian having been made by an early director of the gallery, following certain evidence from Rudolfi. Herr Wickhoff claims the picture for Domenico Campagnola, and the recent biographer of Giorgione (Herbert Cook) includes it among the works of that painter. The attribution to Titian is, however, not disputed by the two severest of modern critics, Morelli and Berenson. In the Vienna Gallery. Size: 3 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft. 7 in. 2. _The Presentation of the Virgin (Detail)._ Painted for the brotherhood of S. Maria della Carità, and now in the Venice Academy. Date assigned by Berenson 1540. Size of entire picture: 11 ft. 5 in. by 25 ft. 6-1/2 in. 3. _The Empress Isabella._ Probably one of the two pictures referred to in a letter of 1544 from Titian to Charles V. In the Prado Gallery, Madrid. Size: 3 ft. 10 in. by 3 ft. 2-1/2 in. 4. _Madonna and Child with Saints._ An early work in the Vienna Gallery, similar to a picture in the Louvre, to which it is considered superior by Crowe and Cavalcaselle. Called an "atelier repetition" by Claude Phillips. Size: 3 ft. 5 in. by 4 ft. 3 in. 5. _Philip II._ Painted 1550, and now in the Prado Gallery, Madrid. Size: 6 ft. 4 in. by 3 ft. 7-3/4 in. 6. _St. Christopher._ Painted in fresco on the wall of the Doge's Palace, Venice, in honor of the arrival of the French army at San Cristoforo (near Milan), 1523. Ordered by the doge Andrea Gritti, who was a partisan of the French. 7. _Lavinia._ Painted about 1550, and now in the Berlin Gallery. Size: 3 ft. 3-1/2 in. by 2 ft. 7-1/2 in. 8. _Christ of the Tribute Money._ According to Vasari, painted for Duke Alfonso of Ferrara in 1514 for door of a press. Assigned by Crowe and Cavalcaselle to the year 1518, the date accepted by Morelli. In the Dresden Gallery. Size: 2 ft. 5-1/2 in. by 1 ft. 10 in. 9. _The Bella._ Painted about 1535. In the Pitti Gallery, Florence. Size: 3 ft. 3-1/2 in. by 2 ft. 6 in. 10. _Medea and Venus._ Date unknown, but fixed approximately by Morelli between 1510 and 1512. In the Borghese Gallery, Rome. Size: 3 ft. 5 in. by 8 ft. 8 in. 11. _The Man with the Glove._ Assigned to Titian's middle period. In the Louvre, Paris. Size: 3 ft. 3-1/3 in. by 2 ft. 11 in. 12. _The Assumption of the Virgin (Detail)._ Ordered 1516 for high altar of S. Maria Gloriosa de' Frari, Venice. Shown to public, March 20, 1518. Now in the Venice Academy. Size: 22 ft. 9 in. by 11 ft. 10-1/2 in. 13. _Flora._ Painted after 1523. In the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Size: 3 ft. 8-1/2 in. by 3 ft. 1-1/2 in. 14. _The Pesaro Madonna._ Finished in 1526 after being seven years in process. Still in original place in the Church of the Frari, Venice. 15. _St. John the Baptist._ Painted in 1556. In the Venice Academy. Size: 6 ft. 5 in. by 4 ft. 5 in. IV. OUTLINE TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS IN TITIAN'S LIFE.[4] 1477. Titian born at Cadore in the Friuli, north of Venice. Circa 1488. Removal to Venice. Bet. 1507-1508. Work on frescoes of Fondaca de' Tedeschi with Giorgione. 1511. In Padua and Vicenza. Frescoes in the Scuola del Santo, Padua. Circa 1512. Marriage. 1516. Assumption of the Virgin begun for the Church of the Frari, Venice. Titian's first connection with Alfonso I. and the Court of Ferrara. 1518. Assumption finished. 1519. Visit in Ferrara, and the Bacchanal, now in the Madrid Gallery. 1522. Altarpiece for Brescia, and short visit there. 1523. Visits at Mantua and Ferrara. 1524. Visit in Ferrara. Circa 1525. Birth of Titian's son Pomponio. 1526. Pesaro Madonna. 1528. Visit in Ferrara. 1530. Visit in Bologna. St. Peter Martyr delivered April 27, for Church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Venice. Death of Titian's wife. 1531. Visit in Ferrara. Removal from town to suburban residence in Biri. 1532. Summons to court of Charles V. at Bologna. Portraits of the Emperor. 1536. With the Emperor at Astic. 1537. Portraits of Duke and Duchess of Urbino and the Battle of Cadore. Paintings in Hall of Council of Venice (destroyed by fire 1577). 1540. Visit to Mantua to attend the funeral of patron Duke Federico Gonzaga. 1541. Appointment with Emperor at Milan. 1543. Guest of Cardinal Farnese at Ferrara and Brussels. Portraits of Cardinal Farnese and Pope Paul III. 1544. Two portraits of the dead Empress Isabella sent to Charles V. 1545. Visit to Rome, and portraits of Paul III. and his grandsons. 1546. Departure from Rome, visit to Florence and return to Venice. 1547. Completion of altarpiece of Serravalle. 1548. Journey to Augsburg to meet Charles V., and equestrian portrait of the Emperor. To Milan to meet Prince Philip and Duke of Alva. Portrait of Alva. 1549. Purchase of the house at Biri, formerly rented. 1550. Visit to court at Augsburg, and portraits of Philip II. 1554. Pictures completed and sent to Charles V. and Philip II. in Spain: The Virgin Lamenting, the Trinity, the Danaë. Venus and Adonis sent to London to Philip upon marriage with Mary Tudor. 1555. Marriage of Titian's daughter Lavinia. Perseus and Andromeda sent to King Philip. 1556. St. John the Baptist, painted for S. Maria Maggiore. 1559. Entombment sent to Philip. 1562. Christ in the Garden, and the Europa. Last Supper begun. 1563. Visit to Brescia. 1565. Visit to Cadore, and plans for frescoes in the Pieve church. 1567. Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, and a Venus sent to Madrid. 1572. Visit from Cardinals Granvelle and Pacheco. 1574. Visit from Henry III. of France. Allegory of Lepanto finished for Philip II. 1575. Pieta begun. 1576. Death of Titian from plague at Venice. V. SOME OF TITIAN'S CONTEMPORARIES. RULERS. _Emperors_:-- Maximilian I. of Germany, 1493-1519. Charles V. of Germany (I. of Spain) crowned Holy Roman Emperor, 1520. Died 1558. _Kings_:-- Philip II. son and successor of Charles V., accession, 1556; death, 1598. Henry VIII. of England, reigned 1509-1547. Edward VI. " " 1547-1553. Mary Tudor " " 1553-1558. Elizabeth " " 1558-1603. Francis I. of France, " 1515-1547. Henry II. " " 1547-1559. Catherine de' Medici real ruler of France in reigns of Francis II. and Charles IX., 1559-1574. _Popes_:-- Sixtus IV., 1471. Paul III., 1534. Innocent VIII., 1485. Julius III., 1550. Alexander VI., 1492. Marcellus II., 1555. Pius III., 1503. Paul IV., 1555. Julius II., 1503. Pius IV., 1559. Leo N., 1513. Pius V., 1566. Adrian VI., 1522. Gregory XIII., 1572. Clement VII., 1523. _Doges of Venice_:-- Giov. Mocenigo, 1478. Francesco Donato, 1545. Marco Barbarigo, 1485. Marco Trevisan, 1553. Agostino Barbarigo, 1486. Francesco Venier, 1554. Leonardo Loredan, 1501. Lorenzo Priuli, 1556. Antonio Grimani, 1521. Girolamo Priuli, 1559. Andrea Gritti, 1523. Pietro Loredan, 1567. Pietro Lando, 1528. Alvise Mocenigo I., 1570. _Painters_:-- Giovanni Bellini, 1428-1516. Perugino, 1446-1523. Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519. Michelangelo, 1475-1564. Bazzi (II Sodoma), 1477-1549. Giorgione, 1477-1510. Palma Vecchio, 1480-1528. Raphael, 1483-1520. Sebastian del Piombo, 1485-1547. Andrea del Sarto, 1486-1531. Correggio, 1494-1534. Giorgio Vasari, 1512-1574. Tintoretto, 1518-1594. Paolo Veronese, 1528-1588. _Men of Letters_:-- Ariosto, 1474-1533, poet. Aretino, 1492-1557, poet. Tasso, 1544-1595, poet. Pietro Bembo, 1470-1547, cardinal and master of Latin style. Jacopo Sadoleto, 1477-1547, cardinal and writer of Latin verses. Baldassare Castiglione, 1478-1529, diplomatist and scholar. Aldo Manuzio, 1450-1515, printer; established press at Venice, 1490. Guicciardini, 1483-1540, historian. I THE PHYSICIAN PARMA We are about to study a few pictures reproduced from the works of a great Venetian painter of the sixteenth century,--Titian. The span of this man's life covered nearly a hundred years, from 1477 to 1576, a period when Venice was a rich and powerful city. The Venetians were a pleasure-loving people, fond of pomp and display. They delighted in sumptuous entertainments, and were particularly given to pageants. We read of the picturesque processions that paraded the square of St. Mark's, or floated in gondolas along the grand canal. The city was full of fine buildings, palaces, churches, and public halls. Their richly ornamented fronts of colored marbles, bordering the blue water of the canals, made a brilliant panorama of color. The buildings were no less beautiful within than without, being filled with the splendid paintings of the Venetian masters. The pictures in the churches and monasteries illustrated sacred story and the fives of the saints; those in the public halls depicted historical and allegorical themes, while the private palaces were adorned with mythological scenes and portraits. Titian engaged in works of all these kinds, and seemed equally skilful in each. The great number and variety of his pictures bring vividly before us the manners and customs of his times. His art is like a great mirror in which Venice of the sixteenth century is clearly reflected in all her magnificence. As we study our little prints, we must bear in mind that the original paintings glow with rich and harmonious color. As far as possible let us try to supply this lost color from our imagination. Nearly all the notable personages of the time sat to Titian for their portraits,--emperors, queens, and princes, popes, and cardinals, the doges, or dukes, of Venice, noblemen, poets, and fair women. Wearing the costumes of a bygone age, these men and women look out of their canvases as if they were still living, breathing human beings. The painter endowed them with the magic gift of immortality. Though the names of many of the sitters are now forgotten, and we know little or nothing of their lives, they are still real persons to us, with their life history written on their faces. Such is the man called Parma, who is believed to have been a physician of Titian's time, but whose only biography is this portrait. If we were told that it was the portrait of some eminent physician now practising in New York or London, we should perhaps be equally ready to believe it. We might meet such a figure in our streets to-morrow. There is nothing in the costume to mark it as peculiar to any century or country. The black gown is such as is still worn by clergymen and university men. The man would not have to be pointed out to us as a celebrity; we should know him at once as a person of distinction. [Illustration: Fr. Hanfstaengl, photo. John Andrew & Son. Sc. THE PHYSICIAN PARMA Vienna Gallery] The science of medicine was making great progress during the sixteenth century. It was then that the subject of anatomy was first developed by the celebrated Fleming, Vesalius, court physician to Charles V.[5] In this period, also, the science of chemistry first came to be separated from alchemy, and progressive physicians applied the new learning to their practice. We may be sure that our Doctor Parma belonged to the most enlightened class of his profession. His strong: intellectual face shows him to be one who would have little patience with quackery or superstition. He has a high, noble forehead, keen, penetrating eyes, and a firm mouth. His beautiful white hair gives him a venerable aspect, though he is not of great age. It blows about his face as fine and light as gossamer. He is an ideal "family physician," of a generation ago. We can imagine how children would learn to look upon him with love and respect, perhaps also with a little wholesome fear. The hand which holds the folds of the long, black gown has a character of its own as definite as that of the face. It is a strong, firm hand, which looks capable of guiding skilfully a surgeon's knife. Two fine seal rings ornament it. Such rings, sometimes of curious design and workmanship, were often bestowed as gifts by wealthy noblemen upon those who had done them some service. The doctor Parma looks as good as he is wise. This benign face would grace an assembly of notable clergymen. Indeed, the picture suggests a well-known portrait of the great John Wesley, whose features were cast in the same strong mould, and who also had an abundance of bushy white hair. By another play of the fancy we could imagine this a portrait of some eminent judge. There is that in the face which indicates the calm, impartial, deliberate mind that belongs to the character. He might now be about to charge the jury, or perhaps even to pronounce sentence. Still another opinion is that here we have a Venetian senator in his official robes. The man is in any case an ideal professional man, a person of brains and character, who could fill equally well a position of responsibility in medicine, law, administrative affairs, or divinity. With a strict sense of justice, a stern contempt for anything mean and base, and a fatherly tenderness for the weak and oppressed, he is one in whom we could safely put confidence. II THE PRESENTATION OF THE VIRGIN (_Detail_) In the town of Nazareth many centuries ago lived a pious old couple, named Joachim and Anna. It is said that they "divided all their substance in three parts: " one part "for the temple," another for "the poor and pilgrims," and the third for themselves. The delight of their old age was their only child Mary, who afterwards became the mother of Jesus. She had been born, as they believed, in answer to their prayers, and they cherished her with peculiar devotion. That Mary was a good and lovable child beyond common measure we can have no doubt: she was set apart for a strange and holy service. The beautiful story of her early life is told in an old Latin book called the "Legenda Aurea," or the "Golden Legend." This was a collection of old legends written out for the first time by Jacopo de Voragine, an Italian archbishop of the thirteenth century. The early English translation by Caxton, in which we still read the book, preserves the quaint flavor of the original. There is one portion of it describing the dedication, or presentation, of the Virgin in the temple. Before Mary was born, the mother, Anna, had promised the angel of the Lord that she would present the coming child as an offering to the Lord. Long before her day, a certain Hannah had made a like vow under similar circumstances. Her son Samuel, a "child obtained by petition," was "returned," or "lent," to the Lord as long as he lived.[6] A child thus dedicated was early carried to the temple to be educated within its precincts for special service to God. The presentation of Mary was on this wise: "And then when she had accomplished the time of three years ... they brought her to the temple with offerings. And there was about the temple, after the fifteen psalms of degrees, fifteen steps or grees to ascend up to the temple, because the temple was high set. And nobody might go to the altar of sacrifices that was without, but by the degrees. And then our Lady was set on the lowest step; and mounted up without any help as she had been of perfect age, and when they had performed their offering, they left their daughter in the temple with the other virgins, and they returned into their place. And the Virgin Mary profited every day in all holiness, and was visited daily by angels, and had every day divine visions."[7] We see at once the picture there is in the story, the little girl ascending alone the long flight of steps, with the fond parents gazing after her in wonder. Many artists have put the subject on canvas, and among them our Venetian painter Titian. His is an immense picture, from which the central figure only is reproduced in our illustration. [Illustration: Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clément & Co. John Andrew & Son, Sc. THE PRESENTATION OF THE VIRGIN (DETAIL) _Venice Academy_] We must imagine ourselves standing with a great throng of people in the public square in front of the temple. Men, women and children jostle one another near the steps. The old man Joachim and his wife Anna are easily singled out among the number. The windows of the adjoining palaces are full of faces looking into the square. A group of senators stand somewhat apart, looking on. An old peasant woman with a basket of eggs sits in the shadow of the steps. All eyes are turned towards the little child who is walking alone up the great stone staircase. On the topmost step the high priest advances to meet her, resplendent in his rich priestly garments. The figure of the little Virgin is very quaint in a long gown made of some shimmering blue stuff. The golden hair is brushed back primly and woven into a heavy braid, whence it at last escapes in beautiful profusion. It would be hard to guess the child's age, for her demeanor is that of a little woman as she gathers her long skirt daintily in her right hand. She carries herself erect in the new dignity of the great moment, and advances with perfect self-confidence. The face, however, is quite childlike and innocent, and is lifted to the priest's with a happy smile. The left arm is raised in a gesture of wonder and delight. The whole figure is surrounded by a halo of golden light. This is the oval-shaped glory which the Italians call the _mandorla_, from the word meaning "almond." It is of course the symbol of the virgin's peculiar sanctity. The painter has not tried to make the little girl particularly pretty, but he gives her the indescribable charm which we call winsomeness. She is perhaps one of the most lovable children art has ever produced. As we study the artist's method of work in the picture we see how very simply the figure is drawn. Titian was fond of rich and voluminous draperies, as we shall learn from several examples which are to follow. Here, however, he draws a dress with tight sleeves and scanty skirt absolutely without decoration of any sort. It is this simplicity which gives the childlike appearance to the figure. There is a pathos in the little figure which we cannot altogether appreciate in our illustration. We have to remember that the whole picture measures twenty-five feet in width by eleven in height, and then imagine how tiny the child looks ascending alone the great staircase in the centre of this vast panorama. The isolation of the figure suggests the singular destiny of Mary, set apart from others in the loneliness of a unique service. III THE EMPRESS ISABELLA The most illustrious of Titian's many patrons was the Emperor Charles V., whose wife was the Empress Isabella of our portrait. This powerful monarch had inherited from one grandfather, Ferdinand, the kingdom of Spain, and from another, Maximilian, the empire of Germany. His marriage was arranged chiefly for political reasons, but proved to be a happy one. Isabella was the daughter of Emmanuel the Great, late King of Portugal, and the sister of John III., the reigning king. She was a princess of uncommon beauty and accomplishments. The Portuguese government bestowed a superb dowry of nine hundred thousand crowns upon her, and the marriage was celebrated in Seville in 1526. The ceremony was splendid, and there were great festivities following. Soon after, the emperor travelled with his bride through Andalusia and Granada that he might see his new kingdom. Called at last to other parts of his dominion, he left Isabella as regent in Spain, and went to Italy, where in 1532 he first called Titian into service to paint his portrait. In the years that followed the painter found the emperor a constant and generous patron, and was frequently summoned to meet the court at various places. In the meantime, however, the lovely empress never had had a sitting to the first painter of the day. She stayed quietly at home and had her portrait painted by such inferior artists as were at hand. When she died in 1539 Charles was left disconsolate, without any satisfactory portrait of her beloved face. He accordingly sent to Titian a portrait of her painted at the age of twenty-four, and required him to use it as the basis of a picture. The painter obeyed, and soon sent, his royal patron two canvases, begging him to return them with criticisms if he wished any changes made. As they were never sent back we infer that Charles found them as much like the original as could have been expected. The fame of Isabella's beauty and goodness had of course come to the painter's knowledge, and this was perhaps a better inspiration than the old portrait which was his guide. Certainly the picture he produced shows a winning personality. The empress is seated near a window, holding a little book open in one hand, probably a prayer-book or Book of Hours. The lady is not reading, but gazes somewhat pensively before her, as if thinking over the familiar words. The face is gentle and refined, and has an innocent purity of expression like that of a child. [Illustration: Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clément & Co. John Andrew & Son. Sc. THE EMPRESS ISABELLA _Prado Gallery, Madrid_] The features are small, and modelled with an almost doll-like regularity. Yet the mouth is set firmly enough to indicate a strong will behind it. Isabella was indeed a woman of remarkable self-control. A story is told that once when ill and in great pain she turned her face in the shadow that none might see her suffer, and uttered no sound of complaining. Her nurses remonstrated, but she replied firmly, "Die I may, but wail I will not." The costume of a Spanish queen of the sixteenth century naturally interests us. Apparently Spanish Court etiquette of the period dictated a dress made with high neck and long sleeves. The bodice is of red velvet, the loose sleeves lined with satin. The under bodice, which we should call a _guimpe_, is of white muslin with gold fillets. A jewel adorns the red hair, and a long necklace of pearls is caught on the bosom with a pendant of rubies and emeralds. The careful dressing of the hair, the strict propriety of the gown, and the attitude of the queen herself suggest the regard of conventionality which governed the great lady. What the portrait lacks is the quality of lifelikeness which makes other pictures by Titian so wonderful.[8] Naturally the painter could not so easily impart vitality to the picture when not working directly from the living model. To make up, as it were, for this defect, he painted the various textures of the dress with marvellous skill. Satin, velvet, and muslin, each is distinguished by its own peculiar lustre. The bit of landscape seen through the window is another beautiful part of the picture. The distance gives depth to the composition and avoids the crowded effect it might otherwise have. We shall see a similar setting again in the portrait of Lavinia. The Emperor had been very fond of his wife, and an old historian says that "he treated her on all occasions with much distinction and regard." If this seems nothing surprising to note, we must remember that at the same period Henry VIII. of England was treating his queens quite differently. In the last years of his life Charles V., weary of the cares of government, relinquished his kingdom to his son. He retired to the convent of Yuste to end his days, taking with him this portrait of his wife. When he lay on his death-bed he asked to see the picture, and when at last he died his body was laid to rest beside Isabella. Their son, Philip II., whose portrait we are presently to study, succeeded to a portion of his father's dominion. IV MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS There was never a child so longed for as the Child Jesus, and none whose infancy has been held in such loving remembrance. Centuries before his birth the prophets of Israel preached to the people of his coming. Year after year men waited eagerly for One who would teach them the way of righteousness. On the night when he was born the angels of heaven appeared in the sky with the glad tidings. His birthday ushered in a new era. We all know the story of his infancy in the Bethlehem manger, of his boyhood in the little town of Nazareth, of the years of his ministry throughout Judea, and of his crucifixion on Calvary. The narrative of his life was written by the four evangelists, and has been told in nearly every part of the world. Many of the great painters have drawn the subjects of their best pictures from the story in the Gospels. A favorite subject has been the mother Mary holding the Babe in her arms, as in our illustration. To understand why the other figures are included in the scene, a few words of explanation are necessary. In the early days of Christianity the followers of the new faith had to endure great persecutions, and many laid down their lives for their Master. The religious liberty we enjoy to-day is due to the courage and loyalty of these early saints and martyrs. Much, too, is due to the work of those teachers who are called the Fathers of the church. These saints and heroes of the olden time have been honored in art and song and story. It is fitting to associate their memory with that of him to whom they gave their lives. This is the reason why in pictures of the Mother and Child Jesus we often see them standing by. Such pictures do not represent any actual historical event. The various persons represented may not even be contemporaries. It is in a devotional and not a literal sense that they worship the Christ child together. In our picture the Mother tends her Babe at one side while three saints form an attendant company. The nearest is St. Stephen, the young man "full of faith and power," who did "great wonders and miracles among the people" of Jerusalem in the apostolic days. When false witnesses accused him of blasphemy his face was like "the face of an angel." Nevertheless, when his accusers heard his defence they were angry at his frank denunciations, and casting him out of the city, stoned him to death.[9] [Illustration: Fr. Hanfstaengl, photo. John Andrew & Son. Sc. MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS _Vienna Gallery_] The old man standing next is St. Jerome, one of the Latin fathers of the fourth century. He was both a preacher and a writer, and his greatest service to the world was his translation of the Bible into Latin (the Vulgate). This is the book from which he is now reading, and St. George seems to look over his shoulder. St. George is the hero saint who rescued the princess Cleodolinda from the dragon. He suffered many tortures at the orders of the Emperor Diocletian, and was finally beheaded for his faith.[10] We learn to identify these and other saints in the old pictures by certain features which the masters long ago agreed upon as appropriate to the characters. St. Stephen we recognize here because he is young, and carries a palm as the symbol of his martyrdom. St. Jerome is always an old man and is known here by his book, and St. George is distinguished by his armor. The three make an interesting group as they represent three ages of man,--youth, maturity, and old age. They stand, too, for distinctly different temperaments. St. Stephen has the ardent imaginative nature of a dreamer, St. George the active prosaic temper of the warrior, and St. Jerome the grave contemplative mind of the scholar. Each serves the Christ with his own gift. In the picture the three seem to be reading together some passage referring to the birth of Christ, perhaps that glorious verse from the prophet Isaiah, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." Coming to the words "Wonderful, Counsellor," St. Stephen lifts his face adoringly. The Child is innocently unconscious of his grave guests. He lies across his mother's lap kicking his feet gleefully and looking up to her with a playful, appealing gesture. She bends over him smiling, and the two seem to talk together in the mystic language of babyhood. The artist, we see, painted the mother as beautiful and the child as winsome as he could well imagine them. He did not try to discover how a woman of Judea was likely to have looked centuries before. He preferred to think of Mary as one of the beautiful Venetian women of his own day. He may have seen some real mother and babe who suggested the picture to him, but in that case he painted them largely according to his own fancy. The Madonna's dress is not according to any Venetian fashions, but in the simple style chosen as most appropriate by old masters. Red and blue were the colors always used in her draperies, and it was also an ancient custom to represent her as wearing a veil over her head as befitting her modesty. The mother has the fresh comely look of perfect health, yet with much delicacy and refinement in her gentle face. Both she and the babe seem to rejoice in abounding health and vitality. The picture is full of the joy of life. V PHILIP II Philip II. was the son of the Emperor Charles V. and the Empress Isabella, whose portrait we have seen. He had therefore, like most princes, a union of several nationalities in his lineage. Upon his birth in 1527, all Spain rejoiced that there was now an heir to the throne. Charles himself counted eagerly upon the help his son would give him in the administration of his vast dominions. From the first Philip was a grave and thoughtful child, pursuing his studies first with his mother and then with a tutor. When he was twelve years old his mother died; and two years later his father, who had scarcely seen the boy, returned to Spain, and devoted himself for a while to teaching him the principles of government. Philip was an apt pupil, and showed great fondness for statesmanship. At the age of sixteen a great responsibility fell upon the young prince. Charles was called to Germany and left Philip as regent of Spain. A marriage had already been arranged between the youth and his cousin Mary of Portugal, and this took place soon after the Emperor's departure. Philip's regency was eminently successful, and he won the lasting affection and loyalty of the Spanish people. The Emperor now planned that the prince should make a journey through the empire to become acquainted with his future subjects. The Spanish parted with him reluctantly, and he set forth accompanied by a great train of courtiers. Six months he was on his way, everywhere greeted by festivals, banquets and tourneys. Philip, being of a reticent and sombre nature, had little taste for these festivities, but having political ambition, submitted as gracefully as possible. At length he made a state entry into Brussels. This was in 1548; and in the two years that followed, the emperor and prince were together, planning their future policy of government. The lessons which Charles most deeply impressed upon Philip were those of self-repression, patience and distrust. The leading element in his policy was to be absolute ruler. It was at the close of these two years, that is, in 1550, that the emperor, attending a diet in Augsburg, summoned thither Titian to paint the portrait of Philip. The prince was now in his twenty-fourth year, and stood, as it were, on the threshold of his great career. There could scarcely be a more unattractive subject for a portrait. Philip had a poor figure, with narrow chest and large ungainly feet, and his features were exceedingly ill-formed. His eyes were large and bulging, he had a projecting jaw and full fleshy lips which his scanty beard could not conceal. Titian, however, had the great artist's gift of making the most of a subject. We forget all Philip's defects when we look at this magnificent portrait. [Illustration: Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clément & Co. John Andrew & Son, Sc. PHILIP II. _Prado Gallery, Madrid_] The skill with which the splendid costume is painted would alone make the picture a great work of art. Philip wears a breastplate and hip pieces of armor, richly inlaid with gold, slashed embroidered hose, as the short trousers are called, white silk tights and white slippers. The collar of the Golden Fleece is the crowning ornament. The attitude of the prince is full of dignity. He stands in front of a table on which his helmet and gauntlets are laid. The right hand rests on the helmet, and the left holds the hilt of the rapier which hangs at his side. The most remarkable quality in the portrait is the impression of royalty it conveys. Though Philip has little to boast of in good looks, he has inherited from generations of royal ancestors that indefinable air of distinction which belongs to his station. It is this which the painter has expressed in his attitude and bearing. Young as the face is, with little of life's experience to give it individuality, the painter makes it a revelation of the leading elements in Philip's character. The seriousness of the boy has developed into the habitual gravity of the man. Already we see how well the father's lessons have been learned, how self-contained and cautious the prince has become. The affairs of state seem to weigh heavily upon him. The proportions of the figure to the size and shape of the canvas add something to the apparent height of Philip. Titian has done everything a painter could do to give an ill-favored prince an appearance befitting his royal prestige: it is a kingly portrait. Three years after it was painted, the picture was sent to England to be shown to Queen Mary. Philip, now a widower, had become a suitor of the English queen. The report came that Mary was "greatly enamoured" of the portrait, and the marriage was soon after effected. Philip, however, did not win great favor with the English, and after Mary's death he chose a French princess for his next wife, and spent his life in Spain. Upon the abdication of his father, he became the most powerful monarch in Europe, and had the best armies of his time. He was constantly at war with other nations, usually two or more at a time, and by undertaking too many schemes often failed. It was during his reign that the Netherlands were lost to Spain, and the famous Spanish Armada was destroyed by the English. VI SAINT CHRISTOPHER There was once in the land of Canaan a giant named Offero, which means "the bearer." His colossal size and tremendous strength made him an object of terror to all beholders, and he determined to serve none but the most powerful being in the world. He accordingly joined the retinue of a great king, and for a while all went well. One day while listening to a minstrel's song, the king trembled and crossed himself every time the singer mentioned the Devil. "Then," thought Offero, "there is one more powerful than the King; and he it is whom I should serve." So he went in search of the Devil, and soon entered the ranks of his army. One day as they came to a wayside cross he noticed his master tremble and
{'title': 'Titian: a collection of fifteen pictures and a portrait of the painter by Hurll', 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}