Pope Paul III and His Grandsons: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox artwork

| title = Pope Paul III and His Grandsons

| artist = [[Titian]]

| year = 1545 – 46

[[File:Portrait of Pope Paul III Farnese (by Titian) - National Museum of Capodimonte.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Portrait of Pope Paul III (Titian)|Portrait of Pope Paul III]]'', c.1543. [[Museo di Capodimonte]], Naples. After his appointment as pope, Paul sought out Titian to be his sole portraitist.]]

 

 

The canvas is dramatically divided in two by a diagonal line separated by colour and tone. The lower two-thirds are dominated by heavy red and white pigments; browns and whites are prominent in the upper right-hand section. This division is delineated by a diagonal reaching from the upper edge of the curtain down to Ottavio's leggings in the right mid-ground. Other echoes of the colours and patterns include the red of Paul's robes against the velvet of his chair and the overhanging curtain.<ref name="k86" /> This dramatic colour and luminosity can be in part attributed to this design, and to the manner in which Titian reverses the usual painterly technique in building tone: he began with a dark background, then layered the lighter hues before the darker passages. The effect has been described as a "''tour de force'' of symphonic colourism", and a high point of his blending of red and ochre pigments. Titian uses a variety of brushstrokes. While the pope's robes are painted with very broad strokes, his cape (''[[mozzetta]]''), ageing face and visible hand were captured in minute detail with thin brushes, with his hairs rendered at the level of individual strands.<ref name="k86" />

 

Ottavio, shown as tall and muscular,<ref name="gp234" /> is about to kneel to kiss the Pope's feet, a contemporary manner of greeting a pope: a guest would make three short bows followed by the kissing of the papal feet. Titian indicates this step in the ceremony by showing Paul's shoe decorated with a cross, poking from underneath his gown.<ref name="k86">Kaminski (2007), 86</ref> Ottavio's head is bowed, but his stern facial expression conveys that he is acting as protocol dictates, rather than with genuine diffidence.<ref name="k67" /> [[Nicholas Penny]] notes that "... at a Renaissance court bowing and scraping were usual. This affects modern attitudes to [the portrait], making the cordial respect of youth seem like the obsequiousness of a crafty courtier."<ref>[[Nicholas Penny|Penny, Nicholas]], 1991. "Measuring up", Review of ''Renaissance Portraits: European Portrait Painting in the 14th, 15th and 16th Centuries'' by [[Lorne Campbell (art historian)|Lorne Campbell]], ''[[London Review of Books]]'' [Online] vol. 13 no. 7 pp. 11-12. [https://www.lrb.co.uk/v13/n07/nicholas-penny/measuring-up subscription required], Accessed 21 August 2017</ref>