Pope Paul III and his nephews
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| Pope Paul III and his nephews |
|---|
| Titian , around 1568 |
| oil |
| 210 × 176 cm |
| Museo di Capodimonte |
Pope Paul III and his Nepoten (Italian: Paolo III ei nipoti Alessandro e Ottavio Farnese ) is a painting by the Italian painter Titian .
description
The picture shows Pope Paul III. (actually: Alessandro Farnese, Pope from 1534 to 1549) with his grandchildren, Duke Ottavio Farnese and Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, sitting on an armchair covered with red fabric.
Ottavio, clad in a wide fur cloak, bows to the Pope. It shows the honor required by the ceremony, which begins with three bows and ends with a kiss on the feet . Cardinal Alessandro Farnese stands at the Pope's right, seemingly uninvolved.
history
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Titian had already painted Emperor Charles V when Paul III. was elected Pope. The Farnese family wanted to win over Titian. But they knew that Titian did not like to travel. On the other hand, they felt it was below their dignity to visit the painter in Venice . Therefore, in 1542, on the advice of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the twelve-year-old Pope grandson Ranuccio Farnese was sent, who was studying in Padua . He asked Titian if he would not like to serve the Pope in Rome . But Titian refused. In 1543 Titian was invited to Bologna , where the Pope met the Emperor. Here Titian portrayed the Pope for the first time and consented to the invitation to come to Rome for a few months. Two reasons moved him to:
- Titian had never seen the ancient structures, ruins, mosaics and sculptures, which was unusual for a Renaissance artist.
- Titian's son Pomponio had embarked on an ecclesiastical career and was hoping for a benefice from whose income he could live, which Cardinal Farnese had given him hope.
The painting was left unfinished because Titian allegedly revealed the characters too much. Not only is the Pope's right hand missing, other parts are simply prepared. There is nothing to indicate a falling out with the painter. In a letter to the cardinal, Titian himself rules out any open conflict, which, however, would have been understandable because the expected benefice for his son did not materialize. He also received no fee.
The Italian historian Roberto Zapperi came to the conclusion that a change in alliances would have been decisive. When the painting was started, Spain was the Pope's partner, when it was canceled it was France. Now Titian's work was no longer politically opportune. So the picture disappeared unframed in the cellars of the Farnese family. It was only hung on a wall more than 100 years later. Today it hangs in the Neapolitan Museo di Capodimonte .
comment
Titian shows the 77-year-old Pope, whom he has already portrayed several times, in the dignity of his office and at the same time in the helplessness of his age. As a cardinal he also kept a concubine and fathered four children with her. From Martin Luther , he was so insulted as "Epicurean pig".
Alessandro and Ottavio were considered "nephews", an Italian word that can mean both grandchildren and nephew and thus disguises the fact that the Pope was portrayed with his biological descendants.
Alessandro is the only one who looks in the direction of the painter. Immediately after Paul's election as Pope, he was made cardinal at the age of 14. A x-ray of the painting showed that Alessandro was originally standing further to the left and probably made sure that Titian moved him closer to the Pope himself. Reaching for the arm of the Pope's armchair is a sign that he was claiming his successor. But although he participated in seven conclaves , he was not elected.
Ottavio's nose had a bump that cannot be seen in the finished portrait. A x-ray of the picture showed that Tizian had originally planned it that way. Paul III had used Ottavio for a family alliance with Spain and married him to a daughter of Charles V at the age of 14.
The picture is admired today “as a masterpiece of portrait art that honors and at the same time questions the dignitaries”.
literature
- Rose-Marie Hagen, Rainer Hagen: Masterpieces in detail: From the Bayeux Tapestry to Diego Rivera , Volume I. Taschen Verlag, Cologne 2006. ISBN 3-8228-4787-9
- Kaminski, Marion: Tiziano Vecellio, called Tizian . Könemann Verlag, Cologne 1998. ISBN 3-8290-0699-3
- Wieland Schmied (ed.): Harenberg Museum of Painting. 525 masterpieces from seven centuries , Harenberg Lexikon Verlag, Dortmund 1999. ISBN 3-611-00814-1
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hagen: Masterpieces in Detail . Part 1.