Sacred and Profane Love

Titian painted this masterpiece when he was about twenty-five, most likely to celebrate the marriage of the Venetian Nicolò Aurelio and Laura Bagarotto in 1514. The painting is believed to depict the bride dressed in white, sitting beside Cupid and being assisted by Venus. The title is the result of a late 18th-century interpretation of the painting, which gives a moralistic reading of the nude figure, whereas it is likely the artist intended this to be an exaltation of both earthly and heavenly love.