Besides the portraits intended as actual likenesses of the sitters,
Titian was fond of painting what may be called ideal portraits, or fancy
pictures. While real persons furnished the original models for these,
the painter let his imagination have free play in modifying and
perfecting form and feature. We have seen an illustration of this
process in the picture called the Bella, an idealized portrait of
Eleanora Gonzaga. The Flora is another example.
We do not know the name of the original, but we may be sure that it
represents an actual person. There is a tradition that she was the
daughter of one of Titian's fellow-painters, Palma, with whom he was in
love. As a matter of fact, Palma had no daughter, and the young woman
was doubtless only a favorite Venetian model whom both painters
employed. Apparently it was she who posed for both figures in the
picture of Medea and Venus which we have studied.[26]
Flora's hair is of that auburn tint which the Venetians loved, and
which, it is believed, was artificially produced. It is looped into
soft, waving puffs over the ears, and gathered back by a silken cord,
below which it falls like a delicate veil thinly spread over the
shoulders. The skin is exquisitely white and soft, and the thin garment
has been allowed to slip from one shoulder so that we may see the full,
beautiful neck.
We notice with what art the painter has arranged the draperies. From the
right shoulder the garment falls in delicate, radiating folds across the
figure. Over the garment is thrown a stiff, rose-colored brocade mantle,
contrasting pleasantly with the former both in color and texture. A
glimpse of this mantle is seen at the right side and above the left
shoulder and arm, over which the hand gathers it up to prevent it from
slipping. This action of the left hand introduces a new set of lines
into the picture, breaking the folds of the drapery into eddying circles
which offset the more sweeping lines of the composition.[27]
The drawing here is well worth studying, and we may give it more
attention since we must lose the lovely color of the painting in the
reproduction. The main lines flow in diagonals in two opposite
directions. There is the long line of the right arm and shoulder drawn
in a fine, strong curve across the canvas. Parallel with it is the edge
of the brocade mantle as it is held in the left hand. The counter lines
are the curve of the neck and left shoulder, with which the upper edge
of the undergarment runs parallel. The wide spaces between these
enclosing lines are broken by sprays of radiating lines, one formed by
the folds of the undergarment, and the other smaller one by the locks of
hair on the left shoulder.
[Illustration: Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clément & Co.
John Andrew & Son. Sc.