Titian's painting of Isabella often brought the illusion of "returning home at night" to Charles V, who had nowhere to say anything to say
As mentioned last time, Titian was granted aristocratic status by Charles V, the most powerful Holy Roman Emperor in Europe at that time, and has since become a well-known portrait painter in Europe.
Charles V's first meeting with Titian began when Charles V first crossed the Alps south to Italy to receive the coronation of the Pope.
Titian's Portrait of Charles V in a Retriever, 1533, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 192 x 111 cm
The 730-year-old tradition of coronation of emperors by the Pope was crowned by Charlemagne on Christmas Day 800 AD, when Charlemagne was crowned "Emperor of the Romans" in the Vatican's Old St. Peter's Basilica. (See the sixty-eighth article "Divine Manipulation on the Wall", "Crossing Drama" and "Penetrating Gang Shot": A Detailed Explanation of the Frescoes of the Raphael Room in the Vatican)"
The coronation in 1530 was painstaking, and according to tradition Charles V was supposed to go to Rome to receive the honor, but just two years earlier his own troops had sacked the city and relations with the Pope had just been repaired.
When he arrived in Genoa, the mouth of the Apennines, in August 1529, he learned that his brother in northern Vienna was under threat from the Ottoman Turks, so he gave up going to Rome and negotiated with Pope Clement VII to hold the ceremony in Bologna.
On 5 November 1529, Charles V and Clement VII met in Bologna, and the two sides agreed to set the coronation date on 24 February 1530, which coincided with Charles V's 30th birthday.
If the death of Raphael in 1520 pressed a heavy rest for the Italian Renaissance, then the "Roman Robbery" and the coronation of Charles V in 1527 can be said to mark the gradual end of the Renaissance movement in Italy as a whole.
The Holy Roman Empire and Spain, represented by Charles V, gradually replaced French control of Italy, and as the political map changed, the already burning fire of the Reformation was sweeping across Western Europe.
Three years later, Henry VIII of England separated the Church of England from the Holy See; at the same time, under the arrangement of Clement VII, Catherine, the only orthodox heir of the Medici family, at the age of 14, also married France, who would be married to François I's second son.
Portrait of Titian François I 1539
In this period of intense turmoil and collision, the renaissance spirit that began in Italy also began to spread around Europe. After that, our artistic journey will no longer be limited to the land of Italy.
After introducing Titian to you, I will start from the "Roman Raid" and sort out the relationship between several major European powers at this time and the background of all the major political, economic, cultural and artistic activities of this period - the Reformation.
One obsessed with Charlie's long-cherished wish
During his invitation to Bologna for his coronation, Titian completed a portrait of Charles V in a Suit of Armor and another portrait in 1530, but today only one of them, Charles V the Spaniel, remains, in the collection of the Prado Museum in Madrid.
This painting of Charles V the Hound was painted by another painter named Jacob Seisenegger (1505-1567), an Austrian painter trusted by Charles V.
There was really no comparison, no harm, and after seeing Titian's paintings, Charles V immediately decided to make him his own royal painter.
The same subject, by Jacob Szneiger in 1532, is now in the collection of the Vienna Fine Arts Museum
In 1534, he urged Titian to travel to Spain to paint a portrait of his empress, Princess Isabella of Portugal, but Titian pushed him off.
Charles married Isabella (Portuguese: Isabel; German: Isabella; 1503–1539) of Portugal on 10 March 1526. Isabella's name comes from her maternal grandmother, the queen of the Spanish kingdom of Castile who financed Columbus's voyages, Isabella I.
Charles V's mother, Juana, was the second daughter of Isabella I (1451-1504), while Isabella's mother, Maria of Aragon, of Portugal, was the sister of Juliana, Charles V's mother, and they were cousins.
This was obviously a political marriage that ensured that Portugal and Spain were in their own hands, but the little couple surprised everyone, not only did not take their feelings as a child's play, but also appeared to be very loving. When Charles went out to fight, the Portuguese princess also served as the regent queen of Spain, and she was deeply loved by the people, but unfortunately died of fever and prenatal complications in May 1539.
The Isabella Queen of Portugal, 117x93cm, 1548, Prado Museum, Madrid
The infatuated Charlie has been grief-stricken by the death of his deceased wife and aunt and cousin, and his inner pain has been difficult to heal for a long time. He has since maintained the habit of always dressing in black, expressing his condolences to Isabella, and has never remarried since.
Ten years of life and death are uncertain.
It was not until 1548 that Charles V made this long-cherished wish. In that year, at the age of 60, Titian crossed the Alps north to Augsburg in south-central Germany, where he served as a court painter for the Empire of Charles V until 1551.
In addition to his return to Venice for a brief stay, during which time he painted official portraits of various members of the Habsburg family, in addition to the above-mentioned Equestrian Portrait of Charles V, the Portrait of Queen Isabella of Portugal, and the two portraits of Philip II, the only male heirs left by Charles V and Isabella.
Portrait of Philip II (Prince) 1551
Portrait of Philip II in 1553
Titian's painting of Isabella often brought the illusion of "returning home at night" to Charles V, who had nowhere to say anything to say. He carried the painting with him until he announced his illness and sent it to his hermitage, St. Eust's Monastery.
He died on September 21, 1558, also holding the cross he had held when his wife, Isabella, died.
Paul of the Second Door
For the Holy See, Titian does not seem to be so attached to the Habsburgs, and a large part of the reason is probably due to the Holy See's door.
However, he still left several masterpieces for the Farnese family, who became pope after the Medici family.
The following portrait of Ranuccio Farnese, completed in 1542, is of a red-robed and black-robed boy with gloves in his right hand, with jet-black hair and grape-like eyes, exuding a noble, elegant and focused expression.
Portrait of Ranujo Farnese, 1542, 89.7x73.6
Portrait Detail 1 of Ranujo Farnese
Portrait Detail 2 of Ranuccio Farnese
Compared with the portrait of Titian in 1545 for the Doge Of Venice André Gretti and Cardinal Bembo, as described in the previous article, his brushstrokes became much warmer when he faced the teenager. The teenager's face is very delicately processed, except for a few obvious strokes in the red coat.
Titian was already familiar with such portraits of elegant, noble figures, and he had learned this poetic treatment from his master brother Giorgione 20 years ago.
For example, this most classic "Man with Gloves", in addition to the main character image, most of the space of the picture disappears in the dark tone, so that the soft outline of the character is revealed through rich light and dark layers, especially for the portrayal of hands and eyes, capturing the most evocative moments of the characters.
The Man with the Gloves, 1522, 100 X 89 cm
The boy in the painting, Ranuccio Farnese (1530-1565), was just 12 years old at this time, and three years later he would be a cardinal in the Diocese of Santa Lucia, Messina, Sicily.
As you may have guessed from his name, he came from the Farnese family of Pope Paul III (reigned 1534-1549).
Earlier, when introducing Leonardo da Vinci and Old Mi, I talked in detail about Pope Alexander VI and his Borgia family.
Alexander VI was the first pope to publicly admit to having a mistress, one of whom was the famous Giulia Farnese (1474-1524), who became famous because she took full advantage of the Borgia family's network and successfully secured the position of cardinal for her eldest brother Alessandro.
This Alessandro was the future Pope Paul III, during his tenure Michelangelo changed from millet to old rice, was appointed chief artist of the Holy See, and completed the "Last Judgment".
Ranuccio Farnese was able to rise to the rank of cardinal at the age of 15, and it is not surprising that among the family deals of these popes: Caesar, the illegitimate son of Alexander VI. Borgia, who became a cardinal of Valencia at the age of 18, and the second son of the Medici family, Giovanni de' Medici, later Leo X, broke the record at the age of 13 and became the youngest cardinal in history.
The father of Ranuccio Farnese, the illegitimate son of Paul III, was appointed Archbishop of Naples at the age of 14 and promoted to cardinal (cardinal) the following year, earning him the nickname "cardinalino". His older brother Ottavio Farnese succeeded duke of Parma.
A year after completing the painting for the "Little Cardinal", in May 1543 Titian was invited to Bologna, where he completed the famous official portrait of Paul III, The Portrait of Pope Paul III without a crown.
Portrait of Pope Paul III without a crown, 1543 Museum of Capodimonte, Naples, Italy, 106x85
Two years later, the far-sighted old man in the painting, the most prestigious figure of the Farnese family, invited Titian to Rome.
Titian's trip to Rome ended in June 1545, and the 57-year-old Titian had a close encounter with the 70-year-old Michelangelo.
Titian completed paintings such as Pope Paul III and His Nephew for the Pope, but when he left Rome without receiving any honorarium, he had planned for the Pope to seal a land for his son, which did not materialize.
Pope Paul III and His Nephews, 1546
The humble young man on the right of the painting is none other than the brother of the "little cardinal", Count Ottavio Farnese. The cardinal on the left, who is also the cousin of the "Little Cardinal", is Cardinal Alessandro, who is 10 years older than the "Little Cardinal". Farnese (1520-1589).
It is said that in 1547, after the death of Titian's old friend and brother-in-law of about three years older than him, Sebastiano de Piombo, the Pope proposed that Titian be asked to take over the position of pimbatore of the Papal Seal, but Titian did not agree. Instead, at the age of 60, he crossed the Alps and surrendered to a thicker thigh, Charles V.
Titian Portrait of Pope Paul III, 1548, Collection of the Hermitage Museum (Hermitage), St. Petersburg
In addition to serving the families of Paul III and Charles V, Titian was no longer just a royal painter of the Venetian doges from the 1920s, but his portraits of the leading figures of the Duke of Urbino (such as the previously introduced "Venus of Urbino"), Ferrara, etc., were enough to complete a gallery of portraits of Italian great figures.
I said that Titian was able to leave posterity without painting, not only in the comprehensive technique he mastered, but also in the diversity of subject matter.
In contrast to the altarpieces, which had to be made in accordance with a certain routine, and the portraits made to meet the needs of his employers, the paintings of mythological and historical themes that best reflected Titian's great artistic ambitions were those in which he was able to gallop relatively freely and conquer the eyes with bold ideas, rich colors and grandeur.
The earliest such paintings were probably the Venus of Sleep, which he co-completed after the death of his master brother, and also the Feast of the Gods, a painting completed in 1514, most widely said to have been conceived by Titian and eventually completed by his teacher Giovanni Bellini.
An introduction to Titian's paintings and their main employers, to be broken down next time.
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