The Colours of Titian - Forests, Lakes and Alpine Flowers

Lake Auronzo, Cadore area of Veneto, Italy

Titian was possibly the most productive and successful of the group of Venetian painters that includes Giorgione, the Bellinis and Canaletto. Unlike them, however, Titian was not born in Venice but in the very northern part of the region of Veneto, an area of the Dolomites which is called Cadore.

The town where he was born and lived until the age of nine was Pieve di Cadore, and such was the artist's subsequent success that his family house has been preserved and today can be visited. You can even sit on one of the kitchen benches that circle the fireplace and look out of the windows and see what Titian would have seen.

In Titian's house you will find panels that detail the history of the Vecellio family (Vecellio was their surname) and also the reproduction of thirty of Titian's pigments with the names they were given by Titian in his documents.

The landscape of the Cadore area is beautiful, all towering pale rocky mountains, green and blue lakes, emerald forests and a fabulous range of wild flowers. Here as well as in the rest of the Dolomites you can admire the breath-taking show of 'enrosadira', the phenomenon by which at sunrise and at sunset the pale Dolomites take on a rosy glow, that turns to fiery pink and then violet. It is worth getting up at 4am and go on a walk to see it for ourselves - although at the time your alarm goes off, you may wonder whether it is really worth it ... But yes, believe me, it is!

In Titian's time painters were commissioned by rich patrons to paint their family members, not landscapes - those came later. Yet, behind the figures in Titian's portraits you see the blue lakes and creamy peaks of Cadore, alpine style houses and mountain steeples.

Reproduction of some of the pigments used by Titian, Titian’s house, Pieve di Cadore, Italy

Amor Sacro e Amor Profano

I cannot help telling you a little about the above painting. The Galleria Borghese is a treasure chest of art, however Amor Sacro e Amor Profano by Titian is probably the most famous piece of art there. If you google it you will see that it shows two ladies, one in the nude and one fully dressed. Scholars have always debated the meaning of the painting - the title, Sacred Love and Profane Love was given by people many years after the death of Titian. In fact nobody knew until recently who had commissioned it. The two ladies have identical faces and hair, the one who is dressed seems to wear a wedding dress whilst the naked one is holding a light. Often portraits were commissioned on the occasion of a wedding and if there was a lady in the nude she represented the goddess Venus, certainly not the real bride!

Recent studies have finally identified the coat of arms which is visible on the vase which is held by the 'bride' as that belonging to the Aurelio family of Venice. Niccolò Aurelio was a member of that family and indeed he got married at the time the painting was executed, which was 1514. Who he married was a lady called Laura Bagarotto, whose father, a few years earlier, had been found guilty of treason by a court and executed. Well, the magistrate who was in charge of that trial had been .... Niccoló Aurelio himself! After Signor Bagarotto's death, and alas too late, his innocence was proven.

Titian in 1514 was already very famous and commissioning a painting from him would have been extremely expensive. Did Niccoló Aurelio try and get his bride to forgive him? Is this painting one of the most expensive 'sorry' in the history of art? It is a fascinating theory.

One last curiosity. A member of the Rothschild family loved this painting so much that he offered to buy it from the Borghese family in 1898 and offered 4 million lira. Well, the family refused and sold instead the whole villa and its content to the Italian state for 3.6 million just a couple of years later.

Amor Sacro e Amor Profano, Titian, Galleria Borghese, Roma

Sappada, Cadore, Veneto

The most famous resort of Cadore is Cortina d'Ampezzo but the area is full of picturesque towns and villages. Sappada is a very good example. There is a whole street here which is famous for the way home owners have maintained their 'baite' (typical alpine houses), in their original style i.e. dry stone walls and lots of wood.

The meadows and woods of Cadore are also stunning. Here you can find wild orchids, nigritelle, martagon lilies, gentians, alpine stars and many others. Last July we ventured up a very steep road to visit a farm in a hamlet called Damos (not far from Pieve di Cadore) where they utilize flowers to make cosmetics. As well as stunning flowers in Damos we admired a fabulous view of the valley below and one of the prettiest alpine churches I have ever seen. I would love you all to see it too.

Have a good Autumn, everyone and continue keeping safe and well.