“Minerva and Arachne,” Tintoretto and workshop
The highly anticipated exhibition “Titian’s Flora – Venetian Paintings from Uffizi Galleries” is on display at the Bund One Art Museum until July 28.
The show is the third collaboration between the Uffizi Galleries (one of the world’s most important art collections) and the Bund One Art Museum, after “Self-Portrait Masterpieces” and “Botticelli and the Renaissance.”
“Titian’s Flora” features 49 16th-century Venice School masterpieces. The exhibition, which curator Anna Bisceglia organized into sections, features scenes of everyday life in Venice, portraits of female beauties, noblemen, and knights, showcasing the clothing trends of the time, mythological subjects, historical settings, and natural landscapes, all of which capture the magnificence of the city and its artists.
The exhibition features works by Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese, known as the “three giants” of the Venice School of the 16th century. There are additional works by Giorgione, Parma Sr, and other Venetian artists, with the vast majority of them being seen in China for the first time.
The Venice School’s artworks stand out for their brilliant, warm tones, original and inventive compositions, and emotive depictions of reality. All of these characteristics have had a significant influence on the development of art in subsequent centuries.
Titian is unquestionably the most “shining star” in this exhibition.
He was a strong portraitist, and his ability to depict both men and women set a standard for his contemporaries. Pietro Aretino, a prominent writer in Venice and a close friend of Titian, once stated that his painted figures “seem to be flesh and blood.”
Giorgione and Leonardo da Vinci had a significant influence on Titian. He learned from these two masters to study his models from life and convey emotions, employing light and shadow to immerse the figures in the surrounding atmosphere and express the passage of time, leaving behind the impression of immobility typical of 15th-century portraiture.
“Portrait of Tommaso Mosti,” Titian
The main attraction of the exhibition is his “Flora,” a masterwork that the art world cherishes. Titian’s unique rendition of the idealized figure revolutionized female portraiture in Venice and across Europe.
Against a dark background, a young woman gazes with lovely eyes to the right. Her copper-blond hair falls in waves around her face and over her shoulders, her cheeks slightly flushed. Her white gown partially slips, revealing the delicate skin of her chest and a portion of her left breast.
Despite appearing to depict a real person, we cannot classify the painting as a portrait. It depicts a “Bella Veneziana,” an idealized and unidentified woman. This motif was quite popular among Titian and his contemporaries, especially in Venice.
Exhibit info:
Date: Through July 28; 10am-6pm
Venue: Bund One Art Museum
Address: 3/F, Zhongshan Rd E1 中山东一路1号3楼
Admission: 180 yuan (US$24.88)
