Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-08-26
ans Touch May Be Reflected in Painting Owned in District

she were In slight but conscious and
charming dishabille This is particu-
larly apparent in the Flora" and
equally noticeable in the Minerva
Triumphant"
nictures seems also to have been par
tial to turning her head slightly to one
side. and this little mannerism Is seen
I'm the Flora" and the "Vanitas," and
is apparent as we'll in the rather doc1le
expression of the head of the MI
nerva."
Therefore, the models Of the early
pictures and Of the Minerva Triumph
ant are very much alike, with the
same characteristics-the drapery, the
hand, the position OF the head' tne col
oring and the hair--so as TO make IL
seem that they are only one person,
used constantly by Titan, the master,
in this his first period. .
This woman who posed for TitianS
early paintings Is the Madarae 4 Oh
the renaissance, Could she have been
Iucrezia Borgia, for whose favor men
are supposed to have sqrardered cities
and to have been poisoned by a tainted
! fruit or a diabolical ring?
The model was not Titians sweet
heart The artist may have wished to
| paint for love, but love alone would
| not have bought the expensive hand
woven canvas, the costly resin, amber
and gums from the East. He was too
| poor a man at this time to indulge so
| extravagantly.
It has been suggested that she was
| the daughter of Palma Vecchio, but
accounts have proved that Palma Vec-
chic had no daughter.
THREE markets existed for the sale
of pictures during that period
the church, the state ard the mobiles.
| The church would naturally purchase
only religious subjects, and Titians
early works are all secular. The state
was interested only in historical pic
lures and these which We have been
discussing had no obvious civic meaning.
1t seems that they must have been
painted by special order for some noble
to whom the pictures would have Spe-
cial meaning in themselves. AT TINS
time Titian's only great patron was the
Duke of Ferrara. whose wife was the
famous Llcretia Borg1a.
A cotemporary description Of Lucre-
zia Borgia as given by Ferdinand Gre
gorovius is as follows:
"She Is of medium height and slen-
der figure Her face is long, the nose
well defined and beautiful; her hair q
bright geld and her eyes blue. Her
mouth Is somewhat large, the teeth
dazzling white; her neck white and
slender, but at the same time well
rounded. She is always cheerful and
good hurnored."
Upon her death, because Of an unfor-
tunate divorce and subsequent remar-
rage she and all things connected with
her fell under the disapproval OF the
church. It Is possible that, in the coll
lection OF Don Alphonso Lopez. the
Spanish grandee at Amsterdam. friend
of the Borgias, many Of the banned"
portraits of LucreZia--for portraits OF
LucreZia must have existed, since the
Duke of Ferrara was devoted to his
wife and would have wished Titan to
paint her-found a haven. It Is cer-
tainly true that the Lopez collection
was sold and scattered in London dur
ing the reign of Charles I Of England.
and these paintings are in the main
those which have been later identified
as belonging to the early period OF
Titian's work.
Whether Lucrezia was the model of
the paintings of the first period is to-
day a controversial subject. although,
as has been seen, it is possible that this
Is so.
[ The Minerva Triumphant" how
| ever, mute and enigmatic as it is, with
the canvas pierced above the heart
= where dagger has been thrust through
: 1t by some unknown vandal, has GER
tainly all of the qualities of those pic
E lures which, after hundred years OF
e more. we're finally and unquestionably
e identified as Titian's work-the Flora,
e the "Vanitas," the Daughter of Hero
t dias." the 'Magdalene," and the Others
+ Of the Venetian masters first period.