page_title: Pope Paul III and His Grandsons
section_title: Commission
hierarchical_section_title: Pope Paul III and His Grandsons / Commission
context_page_description: Pope Paul III and His Grandsons is a painting in oil on canvas by Titian, housed in the Museo di Capodimonte, Naples. It was commissioned by the Farnese family and painted during Titian's visit to Rome between autumn 1545 and June 1546. It depicts the scabrous relationship between Pope Paul III and his grandsons, Ottavio and Alessandro Farnese. Ottavio is shown in the act of kneeling, to his left; Alessandro, wearing a cardinal's dress, stands behind him to his right. The painting explores the effects of ageing and the manoeuvring behind succession; Paul was at the time in his late seventies and ruling in an uncertain political climate as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor came into ascendancy.
  Paul was not a religious man; he viewed the papacy as a means to consolidate his family's position. He appointed Alessandro as cardinal against accusations of nepotism, fathered a number of illegitimate children, and spent large sums of church money collecting art and antiquities. Around 1545 Charles took the political and military advantage, weakening Paul's hold on the papacy.
context_section_description: The painting was commissioned in 1546 after Titian had made a number of portraits of Paul. He had already depicted Pier Luigi and three of his children – Vittoria, Alessandro and Ranuccio. Ottavio was perhaps again portrayed by him in 1552, and most likely commissioned the original Naples panel in Titian's Danaë series, although Lodovico Dolce believed it was Alessandro who had approached Titian.
  The artist's reputation was such that he had already been called to Rome a number of times in the early 1540s; first by Cardinal Pietro Bembo and then by the Farnese family. By the mid-1540s Titian was the preferred portraitist for the Farnese. Following a number of earlier portraits of Pier Luigi and Paul, they commissioned a set to mark their ascendancy after Paul's papacy, all of which were – given their political awareness and ambition – clearly intended as public statements on their social elevation. Paul was aware of Titian's influence in Venice, and after 1538 allowed only Titian to portray him.
  Titian disliked travelling and refused the offers. When Paul travelled to northern Italy for negotiations with Charles in 1543 he met Titian for the first time and sat for Portrait of Paul III without a Cap. Around this time, Titian's son Pomponio decided to enter the clergy, and the painter sought to use his contacts with the papacy to gain a church and lands for him. Working through his contacts with Cardinal Alessandro, he asked that in return for the Farnese portraits Pomponio be granted the abbey of San Pietro in Colle Umberto, in grounds bordering Titian's own in Ceneda. Charles respected Titian and so the painter had influence in negotiating with the Farnese. When he received their offers of a commission and invitation to Rome, he made it clear he would only undertake the patronage in return for the grant of the benefice. This was at first rejected, but on 20 September 1544 Titian seemed assured enough to send a message to Cardinal Alessandro that he would visit to "paint Your Honor's illustrious household down to the last cat". Even so, Titian made no move until October of the following year. When he did finally arrive in Rome, he was treated as the most important guest to the city and given an apartment at the Belvedere. In the end the portrait was not completed. Probably once the benefice was granted, he no longer felt there was any reason to remain in Rome and abandoned the composition.
caption: Danaë with Eros, 1544, National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples. The first of Titian's series, the work was commissioned by either Ottavio or Alessandro Farnese.[12]
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