Venus of Urbino is an ancient art of a young woman who represents Venus, the goddess of love, beauty and fertility .The woman is laying naked on white sheets a symbol of purity, holding a flower on her right hand which represents love. She is only wearing a gold bracelet, pink ring on her left and a black ornament which evident that the woman is wealthy. At the background there are two maiden who are picking clothes for her to wear to her wedding(Brown et al., 2008) This art was drawn by Titian to commemorate the marriage between Duke of Urbino, Guidobaldo II Della Rovere (1514-1574) and his wife Giulia Varano (1523-1547). The picture was to remind the woman’s responsibility in marriage which included fidelity, eroticism and motherhood. With the influence of sexuality and gender in the society, there should be understanding of the Titian woman(Hale, 2012). The interpretation may vary from one individual to the other, but there should be a comparison between the past understanding and the modern interpretation. Some modern scholars see the picture are a mere pornography and should be dismissed but others say there is more function of the picture such as a marriage influence that was rooted in sixteenth-century(Nead, 2002). Art historian Rona Goffen argues that the picture is more of a seduction than an enhancement of marriage while Renaissance medical theories says that orgasm and the right positioning of a woman improves productivity in married couples .During the sixteenth century the Venus of Urbino was considered a private matrimonial image, but in the nineteenth century the image has influenced many artist with a different view of nudity(Kren et al., 2018). The female nudity has been of great discussion throughout the century especially in the field of art and photography.
References
Brown, B. L., N.Y.), M. M. of A. (New Y., Museum, K. A., & Edwards, N. (2008). Art and Love in Renaissance Italy. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Hale, S. (2012). Titian: His Life. Harper.
Kren, T., Burke, J., & Campbell, S. J. (2018). The Renaissance Nude. Getty Publications.
Nead, L. (2002). The Female Nude: Art, Obscenity and Sexuality. Routledge.
