Danaë

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Danaë: Titian

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Art Type: Oil Painting
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Work Overview: Danaë
1544-46
The original version in Naples, 120 cm × 172 cm
National Museum of Capodimonte

The Venetian painter Titian and his workshop made at least six versions of the same composition showing Danaë (or Danaë and the Shower of Gold) between about 1544 and the 1560s. The scene is based on the mythological princess Danaë, as -very briefly- recounted by the Roman poet Ovid, and at greater length by Boccaccio. She was isolated in a bronze tower following a prophecy that her firstborn would eventually kill her father.[3] Although aware of the consequences, Danaë was seduced and became pregnant by Zeus (in Roman mythology Jupiter), who, inflamed by lust, descended from Mount Olympus to seduce her in the form of a shower of gold.

Titian and his workshop produced at least six versions of the painting, which vary to degrees. The major surviving versions are in Naples, London, Madrid, Vienna, Chicago, and St. Petersburg. The voluptuous figure of Danaë, with legs half spread, hardly changes, and was probably traced from a studio drawing or version.[4] Her bed and its hangings are another constant. Other elements vary considerably; the first version, now in Naples, was painted between 1544-46, and is the only one with a figure of Cupid at the right, rather than an old woman catching the shower of gold. She is a different figure at each appearance, though the pose in the Hermitage follows the Prado version. The small dog resting at Danaë's side in the Prado and Chicago versions is generally absent.

The works influenced the compositions of many artists including Rembrandt,[5] Anthony van Dyck and Gustav Klimt, who all painted versions of the scene. Giorgio Vasari recounts a visit with Michelangelo to Titian's studio, where they saw the original in progress. Michelangelo praised Titian's use of colour in the Madrid painting, though later, in private, he was critical of Titian's draftsmanship.

The first version was painted in both Rome and Venice for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, whose grandfather then reigned as Pope Paul III. The papal nuncio in Venice saw it in progress, and in September 1544 wrote cheerfully to the cardinal comparing it to Titian's earlier nude, the Venus of Urbino. It is described as looking like "a Theatine nun", that would arouse even Cardinal Tommaso Badia. At least "Theatrine" is usually assumed to mean a nun, although it has been suggested that the term was also a "term of abuse to refer to any "ultra-conservative Catholic" killjoy".[19]

The features of Danaë, broadly retained in the later versions, are based on the cardinal's courtesan mistress Angela; Giulio Clovio had sent Titian a likeness from Rome for him to use.[20] It seems likely that it was intended originally simply as a portrait of Farnese's mistress, possibly loosely identified as Venus by the presence of the Cupid. The Council of Trent began in December 1545 as it was being finished, and the cardinal became worried about an overt display of his affair; even though few would see the paintings in his private apartments, word would no doubt get around. The face was slightly de-individualised, and either artist or patron had the idea of turning the painting into one of Danaë.[21]

It is the only major version where a Cupid stands at Danaë's feet, the other versions have an aged servant. Presumably once Titian introduced this in Philip II's version, he preferred it and used it thereafter. Danaë's bed seems to lie in an open loggia, or beside a large window. The base of a large classical column occupies the background of the centre of the painting, and to the right of that there is an elevated view of trees and distant hills, not very clearly defined. The settings of Titian's several versions of the Venus and Musician series, also centred on a reclining nude, are comparable. The other major Danaë versions all replace the large column with more red drapery, and (except for Chicago and St Petersburg) have an even less clearly depicted outside background, mainly of sky. The cloth over Danaë's thigh is also not seen again. The burst of light that showers coins and on which Danaë's heavy gaze falls is flanked by dark clouds that appear to be moving towards the centre of the canvas. They spill heavy rain, which falls parallel to Zeus's coins.[22]

This version passed by descent through the Farnese family to the royal collection in Naples, and is now in the National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples.

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Titian

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