Titian. Leave the old way and... live.
The writer Alessandro D'Avenia dedicated an article, published in the Corriere della Sera, to the recent Nobel Prize winner Svante Pääbo, who studies the DNA of prehistoric men.
D'Avenia tells us that the reason why Neanderthal man, despite being more skilled, organized and stronger than Homo Sapiens, became extinct: because Neanderthal was sedentary and fearful, while Sapiens took risks, migrated and left their area safe.
In short, Homo Sapiens also risked going against common sense, but apparently taking the new path allows them not to become extinct.
What does this have to do with Titian?
A few days ago Titian's famous altarpiece "The Assumption" returned to the Frari basilica, after a restoration that lasted 4 years.
The picture was painted in oil on a huge panel measuring 6.90 by 3.60 m and Titian was just over 20 years old.
Considering his young age and tradition, Titian could have easily won by sticking to the consolidated iconography and the dozens of examples that reached as far as Giovanni Bellini, official painter of the Serenissima.
And instead… he created an epochal masterpiece.
Working on three compositional levels he brought the figures to life in a composite cross-reference of gestures, glances and positions that are linked throughout the painting.
The Madonna, far from embalmed in the traditional position, stands out and holds up the entire composition with her red dress. The analysis of the work is a rich reference of meanings and new functions of the characters.
The color manages to give an extraordinary unity to the entire composition.
The Franciscan friars were almost on the verge of rejecting the altarpiece, if it had not been for the intervention of the Austrian ambassador of King Charles V, who offered to purchase it, thus indirectly revealing its great value.
Laguna was scandalized by this leap forward compared to tradition, so calm, cold and completely at ease. Once the first sensation had passed, however, the great value of this composition began to be recognized, which cited and made the best use of the teachings of Michelangelo and Raphael.
Titian had taken a new path, finding a lively and wonderful innovative path for art.
Andrea Giuseppe Fadini