Titian and Tragic Painting: Aristotle's "Poetics" and the Rise of the Modern Artist

About this book

Late in his life Titian created a series of paintingsthe Four Sinners the poesie for his patron Philip II of Spain and the Final Tragediesthat were dark in tone and content full of pathos and physical suffering.In this major reinterpretation of Titians art Thomas Puttfarken shows that the often dramatic and violent subject matter of these works was not as is often argued the consequence of the artists increasing age and sense of isolation and tragedy. Rather these paintings were influenced by discussions of Aristotles Poetics that permeated learned discourse in Italy in the mid-sixteenth century. The Poetics led directly to a rich theory of the visual arts and painting in particular that enabled artists like Titian to consider themselves on equal footing with poets. Puttfarken investigates Titians late works in this context and analyzes his relations with his patrons his intellectual and humanistic contacts and his choices of subject matter style and technique.