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Description: | This painting is an early copy after Titian's Madonna and Child with Saints Stephen, Jerome and Maurice known in two versions, one in the Louvre, Paris the other in the Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna, the present picture is closer to the latter. Titian was the greatest Venetian artist of the sixteenth century. The original followed in this work was probably produced around 1515-25 when the artist was still heavily influenced by the work of his master, Giovanni Bellini (d. 1516) and that of his collaborator Giorgione (d. 1510). The long narrow format of the painting shows all the figures half-length, this was a mode of presentation that particularly interested Titian at the time, as some of his best portraits of the period testify (e.g. La Schiavona or the Young Man with a Glove both National Gallery, London). Unlike these portraits, Titian's treatment of this sacred subject remains close to the dictates of convention: here he takes Bellini's established compositional format of the sacra conversazione (which placed the enthroned Madonna at the centre, with saints 'in conversation' arranged in an arc to each side) and brings the viewer closer to the heart of the scene. By engaging the viewer's attention in a position where he must stand face to face with the saints beside the Madonna, Titian implies that the viewer is no longer a passive spectator, but directly involved as a participant in the sacred event. This kind of brilliantly innovative play on conventional compositional types kept Titian at the forefront of Venetian art throughout his long career earning him commissions throughout Europe. | Subjects: | religion (Virgin and Child) | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Titian (Italian painter and draftsman, ca. 1488-1576) Æ Attributed to after | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=8726... | Go to resource |
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