_Titian_ (Venetian: 1477-1576). _See 4._
The subject of this radiantly beautiful picture is the familiar
"Repose" of the Holy Family during their flight into Egypt;
"perfect serenity and repose" are the keynote of the composition.
The introduction of St. John the Baptist, and St. Catherine[157]
embracing the Holy Child, and in the distance the angel appearing to
the shepherds, serve as the sign-manuals to mark the sacred subject.
For the rest it is a simple domestic scene, laid amongst the hills of
Titian's country, near Ceneda, on the way to Cadore:--
To this Ceneda scenery I would assign those charming mixtures
of woodland and plain,--those sweeping intermingling lines of
hill, here broken by a jutting rock, sinking there into the
sudden depth of bosky shades,--which are another characteristic
of Titian's landscape. The play of light and shade over such
a country, throwing out now this, now that, of the billowy
ranges as they alternately smiled in sunshine, or frowned in
shadow; now printing off a tower or a crag, dark against a
far-off flitting gleam, now touching into brightness a cottage
or a castle; he specially delighted to record.... It must
have been from the village of Caverzano, and within an easy
walk from Belluno, that he took the mountain forms, and noted
the sublime effect upon them of evening light, introduced
in the "Madonna and St. Catherine." The lines of hill and
mountain are identical with a record in my sketch-book, and the
sharp-pointed hill, almost lost in the rays, is one of the most
familiar features in the neighbourhood of Belluno (Gilbert:
_Cadore_, pp. 36, 59).
Mr. Gilbert makes another interesting remark, which may be verified in
this picture with its flocks of sheep, as well as in 270, with its farm
buildings:
Another characteristic of Titian's landscape, and new in his
time, is his perception of its domestic charm--the sweetness
of a home landscape. A cottage, a farm, a mill, take the
place with him of the temples, towers, and lordly palaces of
town-bred painters.... Honest travellers on a country track,
or sleeping in the shade; the peasant going forth to labour,
or returning with his tools; the high-roofed, quaintly gabled
farm, with its nondescript surroundings, and all set snugly on
the bosky knoll ... these are his favourite subjects. But they
never would have been so to a thorough Venetian. They show us
the man of the hills--the breezy, happy hills: the man of many
pleasant memories, upon the sward, beside the brook, under the
bending boughs: the man who carried no city apprehensions, or
city squeamishness to country places, but was at home anywhere
under the broad heaven (_ibid._ p. 60).
The colour-scheme of this masterpiece is worth noting. It is in keeping
with the effect of coolness and repose aimed at in the composition.
"The dominant chord is composed by the cerulean blues of the heaven and
of the Virgin's dress, the deep luscious greens of the landscape and
the peculiar pale citron hue, relieved with a crimson girdle, of the
robe worn by St. Catherine. With this exception there is not a trace
of red in the picture. Contrary to almost universal usage, it might
almost be said to orthodoxy, the entire draperies of the Virgin are of
one intense blue. Her veil-like headgear is of a brownish-gray, while
the St. Catherine wears a golden-brown scarf, continuing the glories of
her elaborately dressed hair. The audacity of the colour-scheme is only
equalled by its success; no calculated effort at anything unusual being
apparent" (Claude Phillips: _The Later Work of Titian_, p. 10).
This picture, which is signed TICIAN, was formerly in the Sacristy of
the Escurial; it has the Escurial mark on the back. A "Madonna with
St. Catherine" by Titian is mentioned in a letter of 1530 written by
Giacomo Malatesta to Federigo Gonzaga at Mantua. The reference is
supposed by Crowe and Cavalcaselle to be to the "Vierge au Lupin" of
the Louvre; but it may be to our picture (see Phillips: _The Earlier
Work of Titian_, p. 82 _n._).