Titian sacred and profane love analysis

MASTERPIECES OF WESTERN PAINTING

This series serves as a forum for the reassessment of several important

paintings in the Western tradition that span a period from the Renais-

sance to the twentieth century. Each volume focuses on a single work

and includes an introduction outlining its general history, as well as a selection of essays that examine the work :fron1 a variety of method-

ological perspectives. Demonstrating how and why these paintings have

such enduring value, the volu1nes also offer ne\.v insights into their

meaning for contemporaries and their subsequent reception.

VOLUMES IN THE SERIES

Masaccio's ((Trinity, !J edited by Rona Goffen, Rutgers University Raphael's "School of Athens," edited by Marcia Hall, Temple

University Titian's ((Venus of Urbino," edited by Rona Goffen, Rutgers

Univ~~sity Caravaggio's a Saint Paul,'! edited by Gail Feigenbaun1, National

Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Rembrandt's ((Bathsheba with David's Letter," edited by Ann Jensen

Adams, University of California, Santa Barbara

David's "Death of Marat," edited by Will Vaughn and Helen Wes-

ton, University College, University of London

1\1.anet's aLe Dt.jeuner sur l'Herbe," edited by Paul Tucker, Univer-

sity of Massachusetts, Boston Picasso's ((Les Demoiselles d!Avignon!" edited by Christopher Green,

Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London

TITIAN'S "VENUS OF URBINO"

Edited by

Rona Goffen Rutgers University

UCAMBRIDGE V UNIVERSITY PRESS

PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYND!CA TE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge Cil2 IRY, United Kingdom

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

The Edinburgh Building, Can1bridge, cn2 2RU, United Kingdom 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY roo11-4211, USA 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia

© Cambridge University Press 1997

This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and so the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written pennission of Can1bridge University Press.

Introduction and Chapter 3 © Rona Goffen

First published 1997

Printed in the United States of America

Typeset in Ben1bo

Library of Congress Catalogin,g~in-Publication Data

Titian's Venus of Urbino I edited by Rona Goffen.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-521-44448-9 (hardback). - ISBN 0-521-44900-6 (paperback) l. Titian, ca. 1488-1576. Venus of Urbino. 2. Titian, ca.

1488-1576- Criticism and interpretation. 3. Nude in art.

I. Coffen, Rona.

ND623.T7A7885 1997

759.5 - dc20 96-22314

A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library,

ISBN 0-521-44448-9 hardback ISBN 0-521-44900-6 paperback

CIP

CONTENTS

List of fllustrations

List of Contributors

Preface

Introduction, RONA GOFFEN

1. Titian, Ovid, and Sixteenth-Century Codes for Erotic Illustration CARLO GINZBURG

2. So-And-So Reclining on Her Couch DAVID ROSAND

3. Sex, Space, and Social History in Titian's Venus of Urbino RONA GOFFEN

4. The Venus of Urbino, or the Archetype of a Glance DANIEL ARASSE

5. Veiling the Venus of Urbino MARY PARDO

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