How the culture of Renaissance Venice shaped Titian's timeless paintings of women

A new ideal of feminine beauty arose in 16th-century

Venice, as women acquired new rights of inheritance and more social power. As a result, through the writings of poets and humanists, the construction of the desired, beloved woman began to acquire civic significance. The crucial impetus for the visual realization of this ideal came from Venice's greatest artist: Titian. For him, artistic beauty was identical with female beauty. He was less interested in the canon of exterior beauty than in a woman's character, in femininity as such. Titian elevates every depiction of a woman into a celebration of womanhood.

This book illustrates the Venetian representation of women in the 16th century, using comparisons between Titian and other painters of his time, such as Sebastiano del Piombo, Lotto, Palma il Vecchio, Paris Bordone, Veronese and Tintoretto. It surveys the various aspects of Late Renaissance female idealization: from realistic portraits to increasingly poetic variations, where female representation reaches its zenith as history, myth and allegory.

This richly illustrated volume also looks at the clothes and coiffures sported by sitters in both real and ideal portraits, and discusses contemporary fashion with its predilection for sumptuous fabrics and costly jewels and pearls.

Titian (1488/90–1576), born Tiziano Vecellio, is considered one of the greatest

painters of the Italian Renaissance in Venice, alongside Tintoretto and Veronese. He was born in the Republic of Venice, where he apprenticed for Giovani Bellini, and where he lived until his death.

看文艺复兴时期威尼斯的文化如何塑造了提香（Titian）永恒的女性画作

在16世纪的威尼斯，随着妇女获得新的继承权和更多的社会权力，出现了一种新的女性美的理想。因此，通过诗人和人文主义者的著作，构建理想的、受人爱戴的女性开始获得公民意义。这一理想的视觉实现的关键动力来自于威尼斯的伟大艺术家：提香。对他来说，艺术美与女性美是一致的。他对外在美的典范不感兴趣，而对女人的性格，对女性气质本身感兴趣。提香将每一个对女性的描绘都提升为对女性的赞美。

本书通过提香和他那个时代的其他画家之间的比较，如塞巴斯蒂安诺·德尔·皮翁博（Sebastiano del Piombo）、洛托（Lotto）、帕尔玛·伊尔维（Palma il Vecchio）、巴丽斯·博尔多内（Paris Bordone）、韦罗内塞（Veronese）和丁托列托（Tintoretto），说明了16世纪威尼斯对女性的表达。它调查了文艺复兴晚期女性理想化的各个方面：从现实肖像到越来越多的诗意变化，其中女性代表达到了历史、神话和寓言的顶峰。

这本图文并茂的书还探讨了真实和理想肖像中拍摄者的服装和发型，并讨论了当代时尚对奢华面料、昂贵珠宝和珍珠的偏爱。

提香（1488/90-1576），又名蒂齐亚诺·韦切利奥（Tiziano Vecellio），被认为是意大利文艺复兴时期威尼斯最伟大的画家之一，与丁托列托和韦罗内塞齐名。他出生在威尼斯共和国，曾是乔瓦尼·贝利尼（Giovani Bellini）的学徒，在威尼斯生活直至去世。