Tag: venus of urbino

OMG! Another Titian Dog Art Masterpiece!

Venus with Cupid, Dog and Partridge by Titian, 1550

Right now, Athenians have a rare opportunity to see Titian’s Venus with Cupid, Dog and Partridge on loan from the Uffizi at the Museum of Cycladic Art’s current exhibition From Titian to Pietro de Cortona: Myth, Poetry and the Sacred

The show, mounted with Italian Embassy in Greece, is being held honor of official visit to Greece of the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano. It features 24 Italian 16th and 17th century paintings, including 7 by Titian.

I am in awe of this “new” dog art masterpiece. I must have seen it when I lived in Florence 20 years ago and visited the Uffizi often. But that was before I was a dog person, and before I knew a little dog named Minnie (my parents’ dog) who looks very much like the precocious pup starring this remarkable Venus.

Titian’s dog

My parents’ dog, Minnie

Speaking of Titian’s Venus paintings, did you know about the controversy regarding the *other* Venus at the Uffizi.

The Venus of Urbino by Titian, 1538

Mark Twain, writing in A Tramp Abroad in 1880, was completely horrified by this painting (he thought she was masturbating). But he was even more angry about the double standard he saw in what was permissible in art versus what was permissible in writing:

“You enter, and proceed to that most-visited little gallery that exists in the world–the Tribune–and there, against the wall, without obstructing rag or leaf, you may look your fill upon the foulest, the vilest, the obscenest picture the world possesses–Titian’s Venus. It isn’t that she is naked and stretched out on a bed–no, it is the attitude of one of her arms and hand. If I ventured to describe that attitude, there would be a fine howl–but there the Venus lies, for anybody to gloat over that wants to–and there she has a right to lie, for she is a work of art, and Art has its privileges.

I saw young girls stealing furtive glances at her; I saw young men gaze long and absorbedly at her; I saw aged, infirm men hang upon her charms with a pathetic interest. How I should like to describe her–just to see what a holy indignation I could stir up in the world–just to hear the unreflecting average man deliver himself about my grossness and coarseness, and all that. The world says that no worded description of a moving spectacle is a hundredth part as moving as the same spectacle seen with one’s own eyes–yet the world is willing to let its son and its daughter and itself look at Titian’s beast, but won’t stand a description of it in words. Which shows that the world is not as consistent as it might be.”

But, you’ll note, that Mark Twain writes rather salaciously about what he is not allowed to right about. Clever, as always.

18th century dignitaries and art connoisseurs didn’t seem particularly offended by the other Venus, as evidenced by Johann Zoffany’s La Tribuna degli Uffizi (1772).

La Tibuna delgli Uffizi by Johann Zoffany, 1772

See, there’s nothing to get all riled up about. Just ask Picasso…

The Dream by Pablo Picasso, 1932

Related links:

Titian the Dog Artist
Titian’s Dog Art Returns to the Joslyn Art Museum

October 2, 2008
Brava Firenze! Dogs Allowed (almost) Everywhere Now!

Two Dogs by Jacopo Bassano, 1517-1592, Uffizi Gallery

Pack your bags, Darby. We’re going to Florence. Well, actually, we’ll wait until June when a new law goes into effect that allows owners to take their dogs with them into art galleries, theaters, restaurants, cinemas, post offices, museums and beaches. In fact, the only place, dogs (and all pets) will be banned from is The Teatro del Maggio Musicale, the Florence opera house.

The law, passed in order to "break down barriers that separate Man from his best friends," accomplishes what to me seemed impossible; it makes Florence, one of the most magical cities in the world, that much more spectacular!

Here are a few dog art works that I thought Darby might enjoy on his Grand Tour. I also know where to get the best four-cheese pizza and pistachio gelato he will go nuts for.

Bull Mastiff, 1st century A.D., Uffizi Gallery

Adoration of the Magi by Gentile da Fabriano, 1423, Uffizi Gallery

Venus of Urbino by Titian, 1538, Uffizi Gallery

Dogs, art, food, and beauty, Florence better be prepared for another Renaissance, the re-birth of dog lovers falling in love with their city again alongside their beloved pets.

Read more about this brilliant legislation in Richard Owen’s TimesOnline.com article.

March 20, 2008
Titian The Dog Artist

I swear, when I first saw this Titian “Danae” on Tyler Green’s endlessly engaging Modern Art Notes blog, I thought is was an “old master” with a Photoshopped dog plastered onto it.

I have seen numerous Titians in art history class and in Italy, and I have no recollection of his dogs. Perhaps I was simply not perceptually ready, since I didn’t own a dog yet. Perhaps I just wasn’t paying attention, since some further research shows Titian included them often (possibly to symbolize fidelity or lust.)

Here is a lovely tribute to Lila, a dog whose owners believe was a descendant of Titian’s Venus of Urbino’s pup. (pictured below)

I concur…

To read more about Titian, his dogs, and his Spanish “Danae” (pictured below) read Yogchick’s excellent post on the subject at orange5000.

May 9, 2007