Venus of Urbino

Titian's Venus of Urbino was the inspiration for yesterday's Olympia by Manet, but while Olympia was deliberately scandalous, Venus of Urbino is far less so. While Olympia depicts a courtesan, Titian's work celebrates a less transactional aspect of the Roman goddess of love, which makes it not at all shocking to depict her as a naked, reclining woman. That said, this Venus, with her gently curved neck and languid gaze at the viewer, is still very provocative — and unapologetically erotic. It is thought to have been first purchased by Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, possibly to celebrate his marriage. The dog at Venus' feet is a traditional symbol of fidelity (and appears again in Titian's portrait of Eleonora Gonzaga, the duke's mother), while the women in the background sift through a chest of clothes, very possibly a cassone — a chest traditionally given in Italy as a wedding present.