Spring Break
Venetian rivalries arrive at MFA
by Samantha Reid
Arts | 3/17/09
Posted online at 11:56 PM EST on 3/16/09
/ Last updated at 2:55 AM EST on 3/16/09
Beneath the filtered light of a room whose layout subtly echoes that of an Italian cathedral-long and rectangular, with window-shaped ceiling tiles diffusing fluorescent lights-one experiences momentary escape and is transported back to an age when artists were just beginning to explore the breathtaking potentials of canvas as a medium for large-scale, permanent oil paintings. To see the intricate diamond weave in the deliberately creased and starched linen tablecloth in Titian's "Supper at Emmaus," a detail only achievable with canvas, one must lean close enough to the painting to make the museum guards nervous.
Hidden treasures such as this abound in "Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice,"a collection of works from three master Venetian painters during the Italian Renaissance. This is a unique exhibit in which the paintings were grouped to showcase three artists' mutual influence and interaction. Here, Frederick Ilchman, assistant curator of paintings at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, explores nearly three decades of artistic rivalry.
Titian (né Tiziano Vecellio), the oldest of the three and born just north of Venice, arrived in the "City of Water" at the start of the 16th century. After studying under influential Italian Renaissance painter Giovanni Bellini, Titian established himself as a frontrunner in the Venetian school by his early 20s, receiving a salary from the city's senate. Although well-known for his landscapes and portraits, Titian's paintings in this exhibit focus on a variety of themes he shares with Tintoretto and Veronese.
Jacopo Robusti was nearly 30 years younger than Titian. The son of a cloth dyer, Robusti became known as "little dyer," or "Tintoretto." Tintoretto, the sole native Venetian of the exhibit, inextricably linked his career to his rivalry with Titian.
Paolo Caliari, widely known as Veronese (a native son of the city of Verona), did not arrive in Venice until Titian was more than 60 years old and Tintoretto had garnered fame and commissions to rival the older master. The young Veronese surpassed his teachers in Parma and brought with him considerable talent and training.
Hidden treasures such as this abound in "Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice,"a collection of works from three master Venetian painters during the Italian Renaissance. This is a unique exhibit in which the paintings were grouped to showcase three artists' mutual influence and interaction. Here, Frederick Ilchman, assistant curator of paintings at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, explores nearly three decades of artistic rivalry.
Titian (né Tiziano Vecellio), the oldest of the three and born just north of Venice, arrived in the "City of Water" at the start of the 16th century. After studying under influential Italian Renaissance painter Giovanni Bellini, Titian established himself as a frontrunner in the Venetian school by his early 20s, receiving a salary from the city's senate. Although well-known for his landscapes and portraits, Titian's paintings in this exhibit focus on a variety of themes he shares with Tintoretto and Veronese.
Jacopo Robusti was nearly 30 years younger than Titian. The son of a cloth dyer, Robusti became known as "little dyer," or "Tintoretto." Tintoretto, the sole native Venetian of the exhibit, inextricably linked his career to his rivalry with Titian.
Paolo Caliari, widely known as Veronese (a native son of the city of Verona), did not arrive in Venice until Titian was more than 60 years old and Tintoretto had garnered fame and commissions to rival the older master. The young Veronese surpassed his teachers in Parma and brought with him considerable talent and training.
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