Crucifixion (Titian)
Encyclopedia
The Crucifixion is a life sized painting by the Venetian artist Titian
, completed in 1558 and presently hanging in the sanctuary of the church of San Domenico, Ancona
. Jesus Christ
is shown crucified, with Saint Mary and Saint John
standing either side of the cross in the Stabat Mater
tradition. The kneeling figure is of Saint Dominic
. The canvas was completed during Titian’s fifth decade of painting, and is one of the works marking a shift toward his extensive exploration of tragedy and human suffering.
conception of painting in which the picture’s predominant dark blue, brown and red hues are pierced through with near-white flashes of light. The cloying regions of dark hues, such as the area of browns and near-black comprising the Golgothan
terrain from which the saints emerge, intensify the sadness and horror of the crucifixion. Against this, the moonlit highlights draw attention to significant dramatic and emotional elements of the spectacle. In the late years of his life, in such works as the Ecce Homo (National Gallery of Ireland
, Dublin), and the Saint Margaret
and the Dragon (Museo del Prado
, Madrid), Titian used this method of contrasting of light and colour as a key—or even pivotal—tool for rousing in the viewer a dominant emotion of one kind or another. With the Crucifixion, this method of generating a tragic sensibility is used almost to the exclusion of any other method. It is one of the earlier—possibly the earliest—and most direct uses of the technique in all of Titian’s paintings.
But this was not a practice the artist used in all his paintings from this period, and it is indeed in sharp contrast with The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, another depiction of human suffering Titian was completing at the same time he was working on the Crucifixion. Whereas the Crucifixion has an simple layout, The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence is a complex—almost baroque—composition. Although the use of colour, light and contrast in the Martyrdom has some obvious similarities with the Crucifixion, it makes no use of any plan of monolithically coloured forms to convey any of its message or gravity.
Another notable aspect of Crucifixion as well as other late works from Titian, is the presence of flecks of colour applied across the painting. When the canvas is viewed from a distance, these spots of bold colours have the effect of bringing animation to the surface of the picture.
, c.1555). The bronze and yellow tones of Christ’s skin were used often in paintings of the Venetian Renaissance, but with the Crucifixion the application of this sickly hue is unusually bold, and with a high degree of contrast across the modeling. The use of these tones reinforces the inhumanity of the crucifixion. The bronzed skin and the striking near-whites of Christ’s garment have a foil with the lugubrious intrusion of the cloud from the right. Splashing blood and folds in the white garment are rendered relatively clearly—again, in contrast with the darker areas. On the right hand of Jesus, Titian uses his sfregazzi method of applying colour with his finger.
, and others).
St Dominic seizes and clings to the cross in a gesture wrought almost entirely out of sweeps of flashing light. The upward reaching curves of this figure—culminating in the manneristically
long fingers—contrast with its crestfallen gaze, comprising an image of appalling sadness and pain. The hand on the foreshortened left arm of the figure of Saint John is once again the object of an exercise in contrast, the dark fingers being delineated by traces of white light. Saint John’s revelationary stance is one of the motors of the painting, he being the only figure looking up in the direction of the broken Christ, and his awed gesture enjoining the viewer to contemplate the same.
, and yet a fire appears in Titian’s portrait of him. The presence of fire in the Saint Margaret and the Dragon is also difficult to justify based on the legend of Saint Margaret. Both of these paintings are roughly contemporaneous with Crucifixion.
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
, completed in 1558 and presently hanging in the sanctuary of the church of San Domenico, Ancona
Ancona
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 101,909 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region....
. Jesus Christ
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
is shown crucified, with Saint Mary and Saint John
John the Evangelist
Saint John the Evangelist is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John...
standing either side of the cross in the Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater (art)
Stabat Mater is a topic in Christian Marian art in which the Virgin Mary is depicted under the cross during the Crucifixion of Christ...
tradition. The kneeling figure is of Saint Dominic
Saint Dominic
Saint Dominic , also known as Dominic of Osma, often called Dominic de Guzmán and Domingo Félix de Guzmán was the founder of the Friars Preachers, popularly called the Dominicans or Order of Preachers , a Catholic religious order...
. The canvas was completed during Titian’s fifth decade of painting, and is one of the works marking a shift toward his extensive exploration of tragedy and human suffering.
Composition
The heads of the standing figures are presented in an upturned triangle arrangement near the base of the cross. All the figures appear in the foreground, which is on a single plane, lending a sense of immediacy to the picture. The composition is dominated by a colouristicColourist painting
Colourist painting is characterised by the use of intense colour, which becomes the dominant feature of the resultant work of art, more important than its other qualities. This tendency in painting was foreshadowed by French Impressionism in the late 19th century, and came to prominence in the work...
conception of painting in which the picture’s predominant dark blue, brown and red hues are pierced through with near-white flashes of light. The cloying regions of dark hues, such as the area of browns and near-black comprising the Golgothan
Calvary
Calvary or Golgotha was the site, outside of ancient Jerusalem’s early first century walls, at which the crucifixion of Jesus is said to have occurred. Calvary and Golgotha are the English names for the site used in Western Christianity...
terrain from which the saints emerge, intensify the sadness and horror of the crucifixion. Against this, the moonlit highlights draw attention to significant dramatic and emotional elements of the spectacle. In the late years of his life, in such works as the Ecce Homo (National Gallery of Ireland
National Gallery of Ireland
The National Gallery of Ireland houses the Irish national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on Clare Street. It was founded in 1854 and opened its doors ten years later...
, Dublin), and the Saint Margaret
Margaret the Virgin
Margaret the Virgin, also known as Margaret of Antioch , virgin and martyr, is celebrated as a saint by the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches on July 20; and on July 17 in the Orthodox Church. Her historical existence has been questioned; she was declared apocryphal by Pope Gelasius I in 494,...
and the Dragon (Museo del Prado
Museo del Prado
The Museo del Prado is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It features one of the world's finest collections of European art, from the 12th century to the early 19th century, based on the former Spanish Royal Collection, and unquestionably the best single collection of...
, Madrid), Titian used this method of contrasting of light and colour as a key—or even pivotal—tool for rousing in the viewer a dominant emotion of one kind or another. With the Crucifixion, this method of generating a tragic sensibility is used almost to the exclusion of any other method. It is one of the earlier—possibly the earliest—and most direct uses of the technique in all of Titian’s paintings.
But this was not a practice the artist used in all his paintings from this period, and it is indeed in sharp contrast with The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, another depiction of human suffering Titian was completing at the same time he was working on the Crucifixion. Whereas the Crucifixion has an simple layout, The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence is a complex—almost baroque—composition. Although the use of colour, light and contrast in the Martyrdom has some obvious similarities with the Crucifixion, it makes no use of any plan of monolithically coloured forms to convey any of its message or gravity.
Another notable aspect of Crucifixion as well as other late works from Titian, is the presence of flecks of colour applied across the painting. When the canvas is viewed from a distance, these spots of bold colours have the effect of bringing animation to the surface of the picture.
Jesus Christ
The figure of Jesus Christ appears on a scale slightly smaller than that of the other figures, suggesting—especially in a painting on this huge scale—movement away from the viewer. The figure is stylistically similar to the Christ in Titian’s earlier Christ on the Cross (The EscorialEl Escorial
The Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial is a historical residence of the king of Spain, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, about 45 kilometres northwest of the capital, Madrid, in Spain. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and...
, c.1555). The bronze and yellow tones of Christ’s skin were used often in paintings of the Venetian Renaissance, but with the Crucifixion the application of this sickly hue is unusually bold, and with a high degree of contrast across the modeling. The use of these tones reinforces the inhumanity of the crucifixion. The bronzed skin and the striking near-whites of Christ’s garment have a foil with the lugubrious intrusion of the cloud from the right. Splashing blood and folds in the white garment are rendered relatively clearly—again, in contrast with the darker areas. On the right hand of Jesus, Titian uses his sfregazzi method of applying colour with his finger.
The saints
The figures Saint Mary and Saint Dominic appear in mostly dark raiment, again with striking highlights. Saint Mary stands in the indistinct and nearly blacked out bottom left corner of the canvas, but as her form rises, the dark blues of her mantle are given firm outline against the eerily glowing region to the rear. Her face is sunken and her eyes are flecked with spots of red, a theme that would be revisited centuries later by painters such as Antoine-Jean Gros (in The Plague at Jaffa) and the colourist Eugène Delacroix (in The Massacre at ChiosThe Massacre at Chios
The Massacre at Chios is the second major oil painting by the French artist Eugène Delacroix. The work is more than thirteen feet high, and shows some of the horror of the wartime destruction visited on the Island of Chios...
, and others).
St Dominic seizes and clings to the cross in a gesture wrought almost entirely out of sweeps of flashing light. The upward reaching curves of this figure—culminating in the manneristically
Mannerism
Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...
long fingers—contrast with its crestfallen gaze, comprising an image of appalling sadness and pain. The hand on the foreshortened left arm of the figure of Saint John is once again the object of an exercise in contrast, the dark fingers being delineated by traces of white light. Saint John’s revelationary stance is one of the motors of the painting, he being the only figure looking up in the direction of the broken Christ, and his awed gesture enjoining the viewer to contemplate the same.
Fire
Although there is no mention of fire in the biblical account of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, there is a suggestion of fire in the background of the Crucifixion. Titian often incorporated fire into his pictures, even where historical records suggest the presence of fire is unwarranted. There is—for instance—no evidence suggesting a fire during the short reign of the Venetian Doge Francesco VenierFrancesco Venier
Francesco Venier was the Doge of Venice from 1554 to 1556.-References:...
, and yet a fire appears in Titian’s portrait of him. The presence of fire in the Saint Margaret and the Dragon is also difficult to justify based on the legend of Saint Margaret. Both of these paintings are roughly contemporaneous with Crucifixion.