Venus With A Mirror

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Nude women have been an extremely popular muse across the globe, this has been since the beginning of art. The fascination with anatomy and the human body was of great interest during the Italian High Renaissance. Titian was an amazing Italian Renaissance artist who has created many paintings were the main subject is a Venus, a beautiful nude woman. Titans oil painting, Venus with a Mirror (Mirror Venus) created in 1555 is housed at the National Gallery of Art, in gallery twenty-three, with the accession number 1937.1.34, Venus with a Mirror is a perfect example of nude women. In addition, Titian created another oil painting that also showcases a Venus, it is the Venus of Urbino (Urbino Venus) created in 1538. These oil painting created by …show more content…

Titan does a fantastic job is composing both Venus portraits, however, the differences in composition are subtle. Venus with a Mirror has a slightly different composition when comparing it to Venus of Urbino. The woman the center if the oil painting, looks to be either sitting up on a lounge chair, or she could possibly be standing and nude from the waist up, while the Urbino Venus is resting across the lounge chair showing off the entirety of her body. The Mirror Venus has not window or any hit that there is a window inside the room, however, Urbino Venus has a small window with a gorgeous view of the sky. The two Venus’s both have individuals on the right side of the painting, but the two individuals are completely different. Mirror Venus has two cherubs aiding her in getting ready. The division of space is extremally different between the paintings, while the mirror Venus is only divided in one spot horizontally, Urbino Venus has three different divisions. There is a curtain which divides the top half of the room in two, then the lounge chair start the division of the top from the bottom. Thus, this unique composition causes the audience to examine all three of the spaces thoroughly and carefully. If a viewer is overwelled by the work then they simply will walk away. Titian …show more content…

These distinguishing factors show a slight difference between the two women. In the 1500’s rank and class was extremely important, especially when individuals where in the high court, then statues meant everything. A woman who was well known in the high court would never have a nude painting of herself, that would reflect poorly upon her. Since the Urbino Venus is depicted fully nude this may show that she is not well known and has no problem with modesty, while the mirror Venus is half covered. This may be because she is the mist of getting ready, while the other woman is finished and is laying down ready for her portrait to be created. The mirror Venus is adorned with gold bracelets, gorgeous earrings, and a gold ring. This woman seems of higher class or importance because of the jewelry she wears. The Urbino Venus is considered a mistress to the king, this is because it does not resemble the queen, in addition the queen would never have a nude painted be created of her, it would reflect poorly upon herself and the king. She would have not been well known or regarded highly in society, there for, she most likely had no worries of being painted nude and having a multitude of men view her. The nude female body was a subject that was not typically showcased, men normally where the only people privileged enough to view these works, this would be called the

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