Pope Paul III and His Grandsons

Pope Paul III and His Grandsons

Pope Paul III and His Grandsons is a painting painted by Titian, who was commissioned by the Farnese family. This was one of Titians' finest works Initially looking at this painting you see the three men of different ages. Pope III is sitting in his chair wearing a red suit while his two grandsons are on each side of him. The Pope appears to be very old and ill and positioned very low in this scene. Despite his positioning, the body language from the grandsons shows the great respect they have for him. The Pope also appears to be wearing a cap to most likely cover up any balding or receding hairline. Overall the Pope is visually aging and knows his time is almost up. He is looking at his grandson grinning at him foreshadowing that this grandson will be the successor of the Pope. The brushstrokes of this painting appear to be done very heavily making the atmosphere very tense. The color red is used generously throughout the whole scene. First off, the Pope has red on the upper half of his body and his shoes. One of his grandsons is wearing a full red suit including a red cap. The table next to these two is red too. On the red table, there is a candle illuminating this darkroom making the colors pop. The overall use of the color red adds to this tension Titian intended to illustrate in this painting.

Titian

Pope Paul III and His Grandsons, by Titian, www.titian.org/pope-paul-iii-with-his-grandsons-alessandro-and-ottavio-farnese.jsp.

1545-1546

Ryan Smith

Pope Paul III and His Grandsons, by Titian, www.titian.org/pope-paul-iii-with-his-grandsons-alessandro-and-ottavio-farnese.jsp.

210cm × 176cm

oil on canvas painting

Capodimonte Museum, Naples