How are you?
On every Thursday, I am
introducing the stories about various artists and their paintings with the
title “Interesting Art Stories”.
The 26th story for this week is “Pope
Paul III and His Grandsons” by the Italian Renaissance painter
Titian.
Titian
“Pope Paul
III and His Grandsons” is an oil painting on canvas by Titian, commissioned by
the Farnese family and painted when Titian visited Rome between the fall of
1545 and June 1546.
It depicts the complex psychological relationship between
Pope Paul III and his grandsons, Ottavio Farnese and Alessandro Farnese.
Ottavio, shown to the left of Paul, is kneeling, and Alessandro, wearing a
cardinal’s dress, stands behind him to his right.
Portrait of Pope Paul III, Titian
Paul, who was in his late
seventies at the time, was ruling as the pope in uncertain political situations
as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor took the power. Paul was not a religious
person and used his position as a means of consolidating his family's position.
Against accusations of nepotism, he appointed his grandson Alessandro as
cardinal and spent a lot of money of the church collecting art and antiques.
Portrait of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, Titian
Around 1545, Charles took the political and military superiority, weakening the
influence of Pope Paul's papacy. Recognizing the changing flow of political
influence, Titian gave up his commission before completing the painting, and
for the next 100 years the painting was left with unframed in a Farnese cellar.
Alessandro Farnese, Pope
Paul III, was the last pope appointed by the Medici family of Florence. He was
socially ambitious, a careerist, and not religious. He kept a concubine, gave
birth to several illegitimate children, and used the throne as an opportunity
to fill his vault while he placed his relatives in high positions. Paul, a
talented and cunning politician, was essential for the Florentines to defend
themselves against French and Spanish threats.
He began to appoint his
family members to key positions shortly after he became Pope in 1534 at the age
of 66.
He appointed Alessandro, the
eldest son of Pier Luigi who was the eldest child of his illegitimate children,
cardinal when he was 14 years old. In addition, he appointed Luigi's second
son, Ottavio, as Duke of Camerino in 1538, and in the same year married him to
Margaret, who was the daughter of Charles V and became later Margaret of Parma.
Paul's actions about his two grandchildren have been widely criticized by
people as clear evidence of nepotism.
Pier Luigi Farnese, Titian
Portrait of Ottavio Farnese, Titian
Titian was personally a
friend of Charles V, and the commissioning of this portrait was most likely
intended by Paul as a sign of loyalty to the emperor. However, the Farnese
family's seizure of papacy came to an end soon after the death of Paul. At the time
of this portrait, Paul convinced Alessandro to retain the cardinal’s post,
hinting that he would later succeed him to his pope position, but it ended with
frustrated aspirations.
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
This painting was
commissioned after Titian had painted a number of portraits of Paul. He had
already painted portraits of Pier Luigi and his children, Vittoria, Alessandro
and Ranuccio.
Portrait of Ranuccio Farnese, Titian
In addition, Ottavio was most likely commissioned the original
Naples panel in Titian's Danaë series.
Danaë, Original Naples version
Danaë, London version
Danaë, Madrid version
Danaë, Vienna version
Danaë, Chicago version
Danaë, Saint Petersburg version
This painting is considered
one of Titian's finest and most penetrating works. Although unfinished and less
technically accomplished than his "Portrait of Pope Paul III" he
painted several years before this painting, it is famous for its rich colors.
Currently, this painting is
housed in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples.
National Museum of Capodimonte
Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment