Bacchus and Ariadne
Dublin Core
Title
Description
In this painting, we see Bacchus, the god of wine, leaping from his chariot towards Ariadne, who has been abandoned by her lover, to protect her from his revelers close behind. Titian highlights the central tension between Bacchus and Ariadne in multiple ways. First, he places Bacchus in the center of the image, so the viewer feels compelled to follow his gaze and stance to Ariadne on the left. Second, the two are the only figures on the left side of the painting as compared to the right, which is packed with his followers, making it easier for the audience to focus on the left side. Also, the pair’s light skin tones contrast with the heavily pigmented blue sky, which really makes the pair pop in the painting, rather than on the right where the many figures are darker toned and placed against a brown and green nature background. In addition, the sky behind them is much less textured than the two’s extremely lifelike garments, which creates yet another contrast that places the viewer’s eye on them. Finally, the shading on the left side of the painting is much lighter than on the right, giving the beholder the idea that the sun is shining on them and casting the revelers in the shadows. The sun’s focus on the couple makes the viewer want to focus on them as well.
Now, the question becomes why would Titian want to focus on the couple? This work was completed for Alfonso D’Este, Duke of Ferrera, so Titian created many aspects of the painting with him in mind. D’Este was famed for his fine wines, so he would have seen himself in the god of wine, Bacchus. In addition, the Duke of Ferrera was a renowned collector of exotic animals, so Tom Nichols believes that the inclusion of the leopards dragging Bacchus’s carriage is a reference to D’Este’s menagerie, making him further identify with Bacchus [1]. Therefore, the painting needs to portray Bacchus, and by association D’Este, in a good light as a protector of women, which necessitates the focus being on the two central figures and their actions.
Titian also attempts to please D’Este in his painting style as well. The duke originally commissioned Raphael to paint a narrative painting of Bacchus; however, Raphael passed away before having completed it. Therefore, Titian uses many Raphaelesque elements, such as the contrapposto stance of Ariadne and the packed composition of Bacchus’s entourage, to make them seem more numerous than they are [2]. In addition, Paul Holberton believes that the work reproduced Battista Guarino’s Cattalus. This work was dedicated to Alfonso D’Este, Battista’s former pupil, and the cum priviligeo, and therefore the dedication, was dated to around the time that Titian started the painting. This evidence makes it seem likely that Titian used this source in order to further appeal to D’Este as it had significance to him [3].
[1] Tom Nichols, Titian: And the End of the Venetian Renaissance (United Kingdom: Reaktion Books, 2013), 54.
[2]Daniel Marx and Emil Kren, "Bacchus And Ariadne By Tiziano Vecellio,” in Web Gallery of Art (2020), https://www.wga.hu/html_m/t/tiziano/08a/1ferra2.html.
[3] Paul Holberton. "Battista Guarino's Catullus and Titian's 'Bacchus and Ariadne'" in The Burlington Magazine 128, no. 998 (United Kingdom: The Burlington Magazine Publications 1986), 347-44.
Creator
Source
Nichols, Tom. Titian: And the End of the Venetian Renaissance. United Kingdom: Reaktion Books, 2013
Marx, Daniel, and Emil Kren. 2020. "Bacchus And Ariadne By TIZIANO Vecellio". Wga.Hu. https://www.wga.hu/html_m/t/tiziano/08a/1ferra2.html.
Holberton, Paul. "Battista Guarino's Catullus and Titian's 'Bacchus and Ariadne'." The Burlington Magazine 128, no. 998 (1986): 347-44. Accessed October 6, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/882494.