Professor Paul Hills

 

course description

 

Titian was one of the first international artists.  His paintings were commissioned by Hapsburg emperors, popes and the princes of Italy.  Yet Titian never took up permanent residence in a court.  What issues arise when the sites of production and consumption of a painter’s work are far apart?

The course starts by examining Titian’s formation in the society of the mercantile Republic and in the physical context of the lagoon city. We study Titian’s adaptation of a classical style and how this became an international language, scrutinize the technique of his paintings in the National Gallery, analyze critical reactions to Venetian colour, address debates about the female nude, and evaluate the shift towards social history in recent studies.

Venice was the capital of European printing.  We consider the dissemination of Ovid’s Metamorphoses and the rise of the concept of poesie.  Another focus is Titian’s success as a portrait painter and his legacy to the European tradition of portraiture.

Titian’s career coincided with the division of Europe between Protestants and Catholics.  The course traces the trajectory of his religious art, and gauges the impact of the Council of Trent.  It ends by reflecting upon the self-presentation in Titian’s last paintings and considers how recent writers have treated their materiality as embodying meaning.

 

language and other requirements

 

Standard entry requirements.  A reading knowledge of Italian is recommended.