Saint Margaret and the Dragon
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In this painting, we see Saint Margaret, an Antioch virgin, emerging from a dragon’s severed body with a cross in hand. Titian makes Margaret the central figure in the painting in multiple ways. First, he makes her skin and clothing have much brighter colors, which contrasts heavily with the dark background. Second, he places Margaret in the center of the image, so the viewer feels compelled to look at her. In addition, Margaret’s dress and face is much more textured than her background, which creates yet another contrast that places the viewer’s eye on her. Finally, the light shines directly onto her, making the dragon and her background seem less important to the viewer.
Now, the question becomes why would Titian want to focus on Saint Margaret? This work belonged to Mary of Hungary, who was a queen consort and governor of the Netherlands; thus, she was a strong, powerful woman. Titian wanted Mary to see herself in Saint Margaret; therefore, by making her the main character and figure in the painting, he gave Margaret a sense of agency. In addition, Titian gave agency to Margaret through the version of her encounter with the dragon that she chose to depict. In the commonly accepted tale, Margaret fends off the dragon by waving the cross, making it seem as though God saved her rather than herself. However, Titian uses the more legendary version, in which Margaret was swallowed by the dragon, and when she made the sign of the cross the dragon burst [1]. In addition, Maria Loh believes that Titian’s attention to detail is also indicative of Margaret’s autonomy during this event. Rather than giving Margaret a blank expression, he gives her one that expresses her emotion, as she looks down at what she has done to this dragon. In addition, Titian does not shy away from the violence of the scene, adding the manic brushstrokes of the waves and the city in the background and the skull, tying the picture to reality and making it seem more active [2]. This more active depiction combined with the artistic focus on her made Mary of Hungary resonate with the image more, tying into the Renaissance idea of connecting with religion on an individual level.
However, Titian’s use of this less historically accurate description and his showcase of Margaret’s knee was frowned upon by the Council of Trent. Thus, Titian had to use techniques to make the painting seem more similar to those of his accepted contemporaries and predecessors. First, he drew inspiration from Raphael’s depiction of the scene, using Margaret’s contrapposto stance and the rock in the background to draw parallels between the two, making his painting seem like it had a historical basis [3]. Second, he also used the herringbone twill canvas, which was not only more complex but also more frequently used by his rivals, Tintoretto and Veronese, which also created connections between this work and the accepted work of his rivals [4].
[1] Miguel Falomir Faus, "Saint Margaret - The Collection - Museo Nacional Del Prado," in Museodelprado.Es (2003), https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/saint-margaret/d41df4be-0e10-43a1-9ed9-44d8e675a3d8.
[2] Maria H. Loh, Titian's Touch: Art, Magic and Philosophy (United Kingdom: Reaktion Books, 2019), 71.
[3] Miguel Falomir Faus, "Saint Margaret - The Collection - Museo Nacional Del Prado," in Museodelprado.Es (2003), https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/saint-margaret/d41df4be-0e10-43a1-9ed9-44d8e675a3d8.
[4] Nicholas Penny, Jill Dunkerton, Marika Spring, Rachel Billinge, Helen Howard, Gabriella Macaro, Rachel Morrison, David Peggie, Ashok Roy, Lesley Stevenson, Nelly Von Aderkas, and Jacqueline Ridge, "Titian's Painting Technique from 1540," in National Gallery Technical Bulletin 36 (United Kingdom: National Gallery London, 2015), 1-136.
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Source
Falomir Faus, Miguel. 2003. "Saint Margaret - The Collection - Museo Nacional Del Prado". Museodelprado.Es. https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/saint-margaret/d41df4be-0e10-43a1-9ed9-44d8e675a3d8.
Penny, Nicholas, Jill Dunkerton, Marika Spring, Rachel Billinge, Helen Howard, Gabriella Macaro, Rachel Morrison, David Peggie, Ashok Roy, Lesley Stevenson, Nelly Von Aderkas, and Jacqueline Ridge . "Titian's Painting Technique from 1540." National Gallery Technical Bulletin 36 (2015): 1-136. Accessed October 20, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44678399.
Loh, Maria H.. Titian's Touch: Art, Magic and Philosophy. United Kingdom: Reaktion Books, 2019.
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