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The Venus of Urbino - Titian (1538)

This work, completed in 1538 for Duke Guidobaldo II della Rovere of Urbino, is very interesting and intriguing for its hidden meanings. The painting represents an allegory of marriage and was intended to serve as a “didactic” model for Giulia Varano, the young wife of the duke: the evident eroticism of the painting was meant to remind the woman of her marital duties toward her husband. The erotic allegory is even clearer in the depiction of Venus, the goddess of love, as a terrestrial and carnal woman who alluringly gazes at the viewer, indifferent to her own beauty.
The light and warm color of Venus's body, in contrast to the background and the dark cushions, further emphasizes her eroticism. The little dog at the woman's feet is a symbol of marital fidelity, while behind her, the maid observing the child rummaging through a chest is a wish for motherhood. The strong sensual charge of the work was therefore consistent with the domestic use for which it was commissioned. The pose of the nude figure is undoubtedly a homage to the friend-master Giorgione, who in 1510 painted a very similar work, the Sleeping Venus. In this piece, Titian, through the masterful use of color and its contrasts, as well as the subtle interplay of meanings and allusions, achieves the perfect representation of the Renaissance woman who, like Venus, becomes a symbol of love, beauty, and fertility. Titian's Venus of Urbino is housed in room 83 of the Uffizi. [source visituffizi.org]