Titian's Venus and Adonis - Erick Ashvil

The Venus and Adonis is one of two mythological fables of clearly erotic intent that Titian painted- the other being the Danae.

The Venus and Adonis that hangs in the MET in actuality is just ONE replica of ONE of the compositions of this work. Titian painted two versions of the composition—one in 1554 for Philip II of Spain (now in the Prado, Madrid), and the other shortly before 1570 for the Farnese family (lost). Research shows that there are at least SIX copies of the two versions of Venus and Adonis.

Now that we know the back story of the works called Venus and Adonis, it is interesting and curiosity provoking to look at some alterations Titian made to Ovid's original account of the myth of Venus and Adonis. Basic research unveils a crucial difference between the story told by Ovid, and the story portrayed by Titian. In Ovid’s Metamorphases series Venus abandons her mortal lover Adonis and cautions him to heed her warning and not go out to hunt wild game. By abandoning Adonis she is depicted as the stronger and more dominant of the two as is expected from her Godly status. Adonis is left vulnerable without her guidance and presence. But in Titian’s interpretation of the episode Venus is shown to be holding on to Adonis desperately and is made to be the vulnerable one entangled in an emotional trap by her mortal male love. This twist of the story changes a great deal of the psychological make up of the relationship between the female God and mortal man. The reasoning behind his choices lie within the context of his work. Titan is painting for a patron and he has the freedom to paint with personal choices. Titians patron, Phillip II, is a powerful man in Italy during the fifteenth century, a time within which women were never portrayed as dominant or sexual beings. Women were considered to be vulnerable and emotional and dependant on the men they “loved”. Taking this into account, had Titian painted the original story he would be working against the expectations held for women during the fifteenth century in Italy not to mention that Phillip II was a man of power and was expected to uphold those ideals. Titian was satisfying a man who believed women were lesser in nature and a man who enjoyed being in a position of power and enjoyed the freedom of his sexuality. If the painter will take liberties that will satisfy his patron he is sure to be compensated well for his choices.  Also being that it is something he is well known for, it is very apropo of Titian to be enhancing his paintings with a psychological atmosphere.

It looks like Titian set the feminist movement back a good couple of hundred years to satisfy yet another upper class heterosexual white man. Hmmmm. Shame shame Titian.