Tiziano (c.1488-1576)
Amor sacro e amor profano (Sacred and Profane Love)
1515–1516
Oil on canvas, 118 x 278 cm
Galleria Borghese, Roma
This work was probably sold to Scipione Borghese in 1608 by Cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfondrati. A veritable interpretative enigma, critics believe it was painted by Titian Vecellio around the middle of the second decade of the 16th century for the Venetian Niccolò Aurelio, whose coat-of-arms appears on the fountain with that of his wife Laura Bagarotto.
The canvas depicts two women, one on each side of an ancient historiated sarcophagus. Resting on this is a winged putto with his hand in the water inside. This figure, as well as the subject of the painting, is strongly connected to the theme of love – expressed here in its dual nature, sacred and passionate – allegorically represented by the two female figures who symbolise sacred Love and profane Love. This landscape also has this duality, expressed in the background on the left with a mountain view, and on the right with a lake village.
The wealth of symbols and iconographic elements has always inspired scholars to seek multiple interpretative keys, providing various interpretations over the centuries. We currently favour the painting’s matrimonial meaning, in other word, the exaltation of the qualities of the perfect bride. Here they are beautifully depicted, showing her public dignity and the many nuptial attributes befitting her social status, and at the same time, naked and ardent with the true love that her husband must see in their private life. (GB)