Publications and Research
Document Type
Book Chapter or Section
Publication Date
2011
Abstract
The identity, activities, and attributes of Venus and her devotees in Titian's Worship of Venus have long been misunderstood. Although based on Philostratus' Erotes, Titian's actual textual source was Demetrios Moschos' Italian translation of the Erotes. Previous analyses of Titian's painting have relied either on faulty transcriptions and translations of Moschos' Amori, or on the original Greek or Loeb edition of Philostratus, which differ from Moschos' work. A careful translation of Moschos' text, closely compared to Titian's painting, yields a new interpretation of its theme, riddles, and humorous double entendres pointing toward a decidedly unchaste Venus worshipped not by pure young girls and matrons, but by courtesans.
Included in
Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture Commons, Renaissance Studies Commons
Comments
This chapter was originally published in New Studies on Old Masters: Essays in Renaissance Art in Honor of Colin Eisler, edited by John Garton and Diane Wolfthal, Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2011. Essays and Studies 26.