Западноевропейское искусство от Джотто до Рембрандта - [19]

In 1546 Titian painted a full-length Portrait of Pope Paul III and his Grandsons. Undoubtedly, this painting was carried to a point that satisfied both artist and patron. The brushstrokes are free and sweeping. But the question still arises whether the picture is really finished. The sketchy technique characteristic of the backgrounds in Titian's early works was applied by the artist to the whole picture. Veils of pigment transform the entire painting into a free meditation in colour. Colour indeed, is the principle vehicle of Titian's pictorial message.

In the works of his extremely old age, form was revived and colour grew more brilliant. Titian's late paintings of pagan subjects are unrestrained in their power and beauty. The devices of rapid movement and excellent colour, ignoring details were used to increase emotional effect in the very late Crowning with Thorns, probably painted about 1570, six years before the artist's death. The hail of brushstrokes creates cloudy shapes. The agony of Christ and the fury of his tormentors are expressed in storms of colour. The last religious works of Titian reached a point beyond which only Rembrandt in the seventeenth century could proceed.

Make sure you know how to pronounce the following words:

Titian; Giorgione; Venus; Cupid; Venice; Venetian; Gothic; bacchanal; Veronese; sarcophagus; Naples; Alpine; Susannah; profane

Notes

Sacred and Profane Love – «Любовь земная и небесная»

Bacchanal of the Andrians – «Вакханалия»

Assumption of the Virgin – «Ассунта»

Madonna of the House of Pesaro – «Мадонна Пезаро»

Man with the Glove – «Юноша с перчаткой»

Venus of Urbino – «Венера»

Portrait of Pope Paul III and his Grandsons – «Портрет Папы Павла III с Алессандро и Оттавио Фарнезе»

Crowning with Thorns – «Бичевание Христа»

Tasks

I. Read the text. Make sure you understand it. Mark the following statements true or false.

1. The subject of the Sacred and Profane Love has been sufficiently determined.

2. Titian never ventured into the realm of the colossal.

3. The recumbent pose was originally devised by Leonardo.

4. The colours in the Madonna of the House of Pesaro are deep.

5. Titian's portraits sparkle with colour.

6. Titian's last religious works have never been surpassed.

II. How well have you read? Can you answer the following questions?

1. Where did Titian come from? Where was he trained?

2. How did Titian implement Leonardo's ideal of the painter's standard? Was he treated like equal by the princes of his time? Can you prove it?

3. What mythological pictures are analysed in the text?

4. What does the Sacred and Profane Love represent? What is there in the background? What does Cupid do? What does this picture glorify? What colours dominate in this painting? How is this work of art interpreted?

5. What is depicted in the Bacchanal of the Andrians?

6. What religious paintings are described in the text? What is depicted in these pictures? What differs one picture from another? How are Madonnas shown? What do these pictures symbolize?

5. What portraits are mentioned in this text? How did Titian portray the sitters? Where did Titian apply his triangular principle?

6. What did Titian's latest work depict? What devices did Titian use to express the agony of Christ and the fury of his tormentors?

III. I. Give Russian equivalents of the following phrases:

the exteriors of Venetian palaces; to foil for; brushstrokes; free meditation in colour; pagan subjects; freedom of poses; by means of engravings; sarcophagus; carefully modelled hands; mythological and religious pictures; to break up the symmetry; a radical view from one side; to mute all sharp contrasts; the rich light of the picture; the picture is interpreted as; a triangular principle; veils of pigments; a palace interior; in the mature years; to apply a sketchy technique to; movement of colour; inlaid floor, wall hangings; a recumbent pose; altarpieces; shimmering drapery.

II. Give English equivalents of the following phrases:

картины на мифологические и христианские сюжеты; звучная живописная гамма; в зрелом возрасте; тенистый пейзаж; инкрустированный пол; шпалеры; лессировка; тщательно выписанные руки; принцип треугольника; заказать картину; применить технику наброска к; алтарные образа; картина трактуется как; творческое наследие; нарушить симметрию; движение цвета; подчеркнуть путем контраста; фасады венецианских дворцов; приглушать яркие краски, грунтовка.

III. Make up sentences of your own with the given phrases.

IV. Arrange the following in the pairs of synonyms:

a) to disport; to foil for; recumbent; determinant; to glorify; allegorical; shimmering; characteristically; frescoes; to redeem;

b) to contrast with; reclining; to worship; to entertain; element; mythological; glowing; to protect; murals; predominantly.

IV. Here are descriptions of some of Titian's works of art. Match them up to the given titles.

1. The soul reunited with the body to be lifted corporally into Heaven.

2. The agony of Christ is expressed in storms of colour.

3. The figure relaxes in ease on a coach in a palace interior.