Sacred and Profane Love
Titian
Which is Sacred and which is Profane?
Give Up?
This is a master work which embodies Neo-Platonic ideas about the greatest of emotions - Love. Awhile back I heard on average a person will "love" seven times...is it the same strength of love as what Titian is trying show? Our English language has but one word for love that has been diluted and used to describe love towards another or love for chocolate.
C.S. Lewis wrote a book about the Four Loves: those loves are Eros (the act of being in love), Storge (affection), Philia (friendship), and Agape (unconditional).
A person can stare at this painting and just the surface meaning is simple beauty, the glowing colors coupled with the movement in the drapery and the calm of the distant landscape...how the painting calls to all begging to be unwrapped and understood. This painting was meant for a sophisticated audience - this is a challenging painting and my small understanding but scrapes the surface.
Just take what one sees, the figures of the two women, the audience has stumbled in on a conversation taking place. Scholars have suggested these two women appear to be sisters. Behind the women there is a child or a cupid stirring the water with his arm in a well shaped like a sarcophagus. Water represents a baptism a rebirth and the Sarcophagus is how humans lay the dead to rest. By placing the two together, out of death comes new life.
Sound familiar?
Titian used very thin oil glazes to capture the light and this painting glows. The time of day appears to be a late afternoon or early evening (a golden hour). The glowing light illuminates all areas in the painting. Moving down to the bottom of the sarcophagus is a traditional looking relief sculpture...but I'll get to the in a minute.
So made up your mind? Think you know who is who?
The Profane Love is the woman on the left in the gown. Looking at the background is the first clue, she is in a cluttered moody dark background, there is a fortress in the upper left corner. Closed off and fortified, nothing can get in and set her soul free. There is a hunter also in the background, he has gone hunting and has not been successful, there are two rabbits sitting staring at the audience. She is clothed in layers, a belt, gloves, heavy layered dress, long sleeves (one red and one white), she isn't open and sure of herself. Her expression appears to be mulling something over, perhaps something her sister has said while figuring a jar that is closed and covered. In her other hand is a rose, something so beautiful has thorns, it must protect itself.
Back to the relief sculpture between them, at first it doesn't look like anything special but upon further examination it reveals devastating realization. The sculpture moves towards Sacred, a man is leading a horse by the mane, another man is holding a man by the hair, there is a screaming woman. Not pleasant depictions. Also the rose bush is between Profane and Sacred - going from focusing on the thorns to the petals.
The Relief Sculpture provides dynamic symbolism, Profane must go through something like a rite of passage or a hardship in order to reach what Sacred is possessing. Profane must die to her old ways to reach a life of new, some rites of passages include; baptism, puberty, conformation, Marriage
Be baptized in the mystery of love
Sacred is the nude holding an oil lamp - purity doesn't need anything to hide behind. The clouds frame the lamp with a lit flame pointing towards heaven, the background is clean and open. She is the dominant figure, when one first looks at the painting the eye goes to her, that was no mistake. The white around her lower abdomen and red drapes have life and are reflected in Profane's sleeves. There is a flock of sheep with a shepherd (the Good Shepherd) and there is also a huntsman who has been successful and returns with a kill. The church steeple points upward.
Sacred is asking Profane to let go and be venerable to love - to put something on the line for love - open herself up - take a leap - Trust
Can you rise to the plea? Can you love like this?
