Arguably the quintessential work of the High Renaissance in Venice, Titian's Venus of Urbino also represents one of the major themes of western art: the female nude. But how did Titian intend this work to be received? Is she Venus, as the popular title - a modern invention - implies; or is she merely a courtesan? This book tackles this and other questions in six essays by European and American art historians. Examining the work within the context of Renaissance art theory, as well as the psychology and society of sixteenth-century Italy, and even in relation to Manet's nineteenth-century 'translation' of the work, their observations begin and end with the painting itself, and with appreciation of Titian's great achievement in creating this archetypal image of feminine beauty.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Both these books are the latest offerings in series that focus on individual masterpieces. Titian's "Venus of Urbino," thought by many to be the apotheosis of High Renaissance painting, is also a founding landmark of one of Western art's major topics: the female nude. Goffen (art history, Rutgers) has collected six scholarly essays by accomplished art historians that consider the Uffizi Gallery's famous work from numerous methodological points of view. Each writer addresses the painting's principal mystery: Does this eroticized, self-caressing nude actually represent Venus or is she just a 16th-century Venetian courtesan? The resulting package is a mixed bag that will no doubt at times strike many readers as pedantic and unnecessarily recondite. Written by theorists and intended for other cognoscenti and the inhabitants of their classrooms, this title should by virtue of its subject alone be purchased by larger academic libraries. Johnson (art, Univ. of Iowa) has written a far more complete, cohesive study of a single work, albeit one of much less consequence and appeal than Titian's masterpiece. In a direct and unpretentious style refreshingly free of academic cant, Johnson thoroughly delineates the literary and aesthetic antecedents of David's neoclassic depiction of two adolescent lovers' final parting?an image derived from latter-day refigurings of Homer's Odyssey. Her analysis of the painting's imagery will be accessible to a broad spectrum of readers, and her lucid explanation of its political and biographical contexts makes what at first glance seems a pale allegorical potboiler become instead a sensitive and meaningful work of art. For academic libraries.?Douglas F. Smith, Oakland P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
."..this is a useful book and would be a particularly helpful supplement for art history students." J.I. Miller, Choice
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Titian's greatest work?,
By chris (Notre Dame, IN) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Titian's 'Venus of Urbino' (Masterpieces of Western Painting) (Hardcover)
Editor Rona Goffen has done a superb job anthologizing some of the most insightful scholarship surrounding one of the most impressive works of the Western cannon. Goffen (Rutgers), an expert on Titian's Venetian milieu, has carefully selected excerpts from some of the finest contemporary scholarship including such prominent names as T.J. Clark (Berkley), Carlo Ginzburg (UCLA) and David Rosand (Columbia). This collection of essays seeks to place the Venus in its social context by focusing on gender roles of sixteenth-century Venice. This discourse includes a broad discussion of the role of women in both marriage and as courtesan. Ginzburg offers an insightful study of Titian's relationship to sixteenth-century sexual codes, focusing on his relationship to Ovid. Rosand deals with the question of genre with regard to the reclining Venus which becomes so important in Titian's art after the Urbino painting. Arasse focuses on a semiotic reading of the painting, while Pardo and Goffen both try to contextualize Venus's sexuality. T.J. Clark's chapter, which is taken from his book The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and his Followers (Princeton, 1984), offers a reflection on Manet's Olympia and its significant references toward the Venus of Urbino. This book is absolutely wonderful! It is rare to find such an insightful anthology of critical that is also such an easy read. This book is a must read for anyone interested in Titian and the Venetian school. Its only draw back is that the essays are not reprinted in their entirety.
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