The Titian exhibition opening at the National Gallery, London (19
February through 18 May 2003) promises to be a unique experience
unlikely to be repeated in decades. Tiziano Vecellio was born before
the end of the 15th century, grew up in a hill town of Northern
Italy, and died in splendour as a victim of the plague in Venice
in his late eighties. Titian portrayed his subjects with great insight,
revealing in the flat surfaces inner depths and meaning where the
sitters were concerned. Great Titians are, of course, already in
the National Gallery, such as ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’ and ‘Man with
Blue Sleeve’. His ‘Flora’ is loaned from Florence, and ‘Diana and
Actaeon’, ‘Tarquin and Lucretia’ and ‘The Entombment’ have all come
from the Prado. The age of loans and swaps was predicted to end
by curators in the late 1990s. Long may it last into the new century.
If only Titian could be around today to capture Nigella Lawson and
reveal all.
