Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
The Renaissance was more than a "re-birth," it was something new and exciting - the ideas and outlooks represented by Titian and the leading lights of his time have continued to shape Western Civilization and the world, helping to create a culture in which we are all - "open-minded and free to take up quarters in an open world."
Meyer-Abich)
It is for these reasons and others that Venus and Adonis is the subject of this paper. Titian's captivating painting style, mastery of technique, color, and movement, instantly attract the viewer to the artwork. The subject matter, too, is appealing and compelling. As it did centuries ago, it does today - it tells a story and imparts a lesson. Yet, Titian's work can be instructive eon a thousand different levels. The master's art speaks to the motions, and makes each of us think about what is happening on the canvas; what it means to each of us members of a society, and as individuals. We each react to it in a different way. The story told in Venus and Adonis is a powerful one, timeless in its message; inspiring and also terrifying. We all hope we never find ourselves in such a situation...
only differently, that we might stay in the arms of Venus and live.
Works Cited
http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=89578060
Cole, Bruce. Titian and Venetian Painting, 1450-1590. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999.
A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108564530
Elkins, James. What Painting Is: How to Think about Oil Painting, Using the Language of Alchemy. New York: Routledge, 2000.
From the Tour: Titian and the Late Renaissance in Venice." The Collection, National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 2006. URL: http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg23/gg23-1226.0.html.
A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000388432
Meyer-Abich, Klaus Michael. "Humans in Nature: Toward a Physiocentric Philosophy." Daedalus 125.3 (1996): 213+.
A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108182730
Miles, Geoffrey, ed. Classical Mythology in English Literature: A Critical Anthology. London: Routledge, 1999.
Works Cited
http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=89578060
Cole, Bruce. Titian and Venetian Painting, 1450-1590. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999.
A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108564530
Elkins, James. What Painting Is: How to Think about Oil Painting, Using the Language of Alchemy. New York: Routledge, 2000.
From the Tour: Titian and the Late Renaissance in Venice." The Collection, National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 2006. URL: http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg23/gg23-1226.0.html.
Passion: overwhelming erotic love. Passion: zeal, intense interest in a thought, ideal, belief, person, or activity. Passion: anger, rage, fury. Passion: suffering. Perhaps most commonly used in reference to romantic, erotic love in modern culture, the word passion actually evokes any strong, overpowering emotion. Mel Gibson's recent film The Passion of the Christ reminds viewers that in Christian thought, passion refers explicitly to Jesus's suffering. Christian passion is frequently depicted
That is why Venus and Adonis is chosen, as opposed to some of Titan's other creations. While the story of Venus and Adonis is tragic, and thus fitting the subject of the book, on first glance, especially for someone not very familiar with the painting or the myth, the central image on the cover is anything but tragic -- it is merely eye-catching. To find out why the painting
Interestingly, Venus is a goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, which is significant, since she was literally created from the male genitalia, and males were more strongly linked to sexuality than females, even at that point in Roman history. In the rest of Roman and Greek mythology, Venus/Aphrodite generally plays a benevolent role, though she does use influence women to use their sexuality in inappropriate ways, such as the
The compositional structure here is actually quite daring. Even though a viewer tends to "read" a painting left-to-right, as with a book, here the left side of the canvas seems to fade away into nothingness. It is not just the empty seascape on the left as compared with the dark richness of the forest on the right. The left half of the painting contains the subject of the painting after
As in the other painting, light provides the interpretation of the picture, but whereas ships or individuals may serve as subject of Cuyp's painting, here light serves as the subjects of Turner's. Light from the full moon shines on the glittering water, with silhouetted ships (as in the other picture) framing the view. The other picture draws your eye to the centerpiece; here, Turner draws your eye out to sea