Titian (1538). Venus of Urbino [oil on canvas]. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

Realism applies, but when compared to van Eyck's Double Portrait texture splits the difference between these two works. Formal choices support and do not distract from the calm, sensual tone. Design principles are clearly present in the perpendicular treatment of edges with the exception of the model (who is still horizontally oriented). The directness of the young woman’s gaze and the bare presentation of her form are a clear attempt on Titian’s part to inspire lust.

Strong changes in value divide and organize the canvas. While subject edges are well-defined, Titian uses more subtle graduations of shading to flesh out the foreground subject. In some respects, this is counter to the primary value-establishing interest strategy, which is quite ingenious on his part. A beautiful floral motif winds it’s way through the canvas, from the cluster of flowers the model holds, through her hair and into the adornment of the background architectural elements and tapestries.

Depth in the foreground is based on modelling, the warm tones of the woman’s skin, and appropriate pictorial compression. In the background, spatial order is applied by a series of recessed rectilinear shapes that ground and define figurative shapes. Titian has pictorially blended organic, intuitive and more clinical, gestalt techniques to masterfully build the illusion of space sinking into the picture plane.

Pictorially, a roughly balanced and full value range is ingeniously applied. Polarized values (black over white) provide a kind of reverse highlighting, if you will, of the primary subject. More than any other measure, Titian has used this to cause the young woman’s hair and skin to glow with warmth. Furthermore, her form dominates the scene not only for this reason and her nudity (which are obvious), but because of her off-scale size and the recognizability of her details (more subtle). This last point is especially true of her face, the clear expression of which does as much work to set the scene’s tone as the paintinging’s use of value. The viewer is placed near to the subject, slightly elevated with the canvas reinforcing the tunneling effect of the rectilinear figures in the background.

I would not consider this a work that objectifies the female form and presents the woman as something less than human, or an object to be consumed. I would characterize this as a work that references sexual pleasure experienced by both participants. Venus of Urbino does not seem to be a prostitute, for example.

Organic unity applies to this work. Titian has masterfully blended interest and stability through both equivalency and disproportionality. For example, while both figurative and geometric shapes are relatively even, this combination is part of the reason why the subject nearly invades the observer’s personal space. On the other hand, the canvas is bound together in part by muddied, impure colors, yet the placement of contrasting reds and even the diluted background blues in greens create a more dynamic scene.