Titian allegory of prudence description of the painting. Amazing allegories of Titian painting: Who served as the prototype for the “strange painting” of the brilliant Italian

I have long been attracted to this philosophical painting by Titian, painted in my adult years. I invite you to get acquainted with it and discuss it.

ALLEGORY OF TIME WHICH IS GOVERNED BY PRUDENCE.1565-1570

The key to deciphering the allegory of the painting lies in the inscription at the top of it: “Ex praeterito praesens predenter agit, ni futurum actione deturpet” -

“BASED ON THE PAST, THE PRESENT ACTS WISELY SO AS NOT TO HARM THE FUTURE.”

Here, portraits of Titian himself, his son Orazio and nephew Marco are combined with the heads of a wolf, lion and dog, which represents the past, present and future. In Christian symbolism, the three-headed wolf-lion-dog serves as a symbol of Prudence and its three parts: memoria (“memory”), intelligentia (“knowledge”), prudentia (“experience”).

In ancient mythology, the language of symbols was used to more accurately designate certain concepts and enhance the expressiveness of the image.

Titian compares the age of a mature man to a lion - everything is in his power, he rules the world,

and the age of a young man with the trusting readiness of a young dog to serve,

old age brings wisdom, deep knowledge of life, loneliness and physical weakness.”

Titian.Self-portrait

The hawkish profile of the old man, representing the past, is the profile of Titian himself. (Left) This is the same face we see in the unforgettable self-portrait in the Prado, which dates from the same period as the Allegory, when Titian was already over 90.

At the center is the devoted son Orazio, who, being the direct opposite of his vicious brother Pomponio, was his father's faithful assistant throughout his life.

Thus Orazio Vecelli, who was then about forty-five, was officially proclaimed “successor” in 1569: in his person the “present” inherited Titian’s “past.”

This, in turn, leads us to the assumption that it is his face that appears in the center of the picture - it is "the embodiment of strength and fervor", as in comparing the present with the past and future.

If the face of Titian himself denotes the past, and the face of Orazio the present, then it is quite likely that the third, young, denoting the future, belongs to the artist’s nephew.

Be that as it may, the appearance of the young man, like the face of the old man, is less carnal than the face of the mature man in the center. The future, like the past, is less “real” than the present. But unlike the shadow-immersed past, it shines with an abundance of light.

These are the official assumptions and reflections of art critics.

Taking into account Titian’s mood at that time, let’s try to express the main idea contained in this amazing allegory, resorting to the most common poetic form in Titian’s times.

Three ages, and each has delight.
In spring, excess strength and feelings ferment,
And closer to autumn there is calm,
And even old age has its own joy.

Youth has courage and bravado -
She often lacks patience.
Over the years, insight dawns on us,
And the old man gains wisdom in his gaze.

Without the past there would be no today,
And with it, the future is not far off.
Temporary laws are immutable -
The will of the Lord is manifested in them,
And only all living things are subject to Him.
Our attempts to prolong our lives are insignificant.

Sofonisba Agnisola. Portrait of Titian with his wife Cecilia.

How do you feel about Titian’s phrase:

“From the past, the present is guided by Prudence, so as not to harm the actions of the future.”?

What can you say about the picture itself and its content?

Did you like the poem? Do you agree with its author?

“Allegory of Time, governed by Prudence.” Approx. 1565, Titian (1490 - 1576)
I have long been attracted to this philosophical painting by Titian, written in my mature years. Three ages of a person (Youth, Maturity, Old Age).
The key to deciphering the allegory of the painting lies in the inscription at the top of it: “Ex praeterito praesens predenter agit, ni futurum actione deturpet” -
“BASED ON THE PAST, THE PRESENT ACTS WISELY SO AS NOT TO HARM THE FUTURE.”

In ancient mythology, the language of symbols was used to more accurately designate certain concepts and enhance the expressiveness of the image.
Titian compares the age of a mature man to a lion - everything is in his power, he rules the world,
and the age of a young man with the trusting readiness of a young dog to serve,
old age brings wisdom, deep knowledge of life, loneliness and physical weakness.”

The hawkish profile of the old man, representing the past, is the profile of Titian himself. (Left) This is the same face we see in the unforgettable self-portrait in the Prado, which dates from the same period as the Allegory, when Titian was already over 90.
At the center is the devoted son Orazio, who, being the direct opposite of his vicious brother Pomponio, was his father's faithful assistant throughout his life.

Thus Orazio Vecelli, who was then about forty-five, was officially proclaimed “successor” in 1569: in his person the “present” inherited Titian’s “past.”
This, in turn, leads us to the assumption that it is his face that appears in the center of the picture - it is "the embodiment of strength and fervor", as in comparing the present with the past and future.
If the face of Titian himself denotes the past, and the face of Orazio the present, then it is quite likely that the third, young, denoting the future, belongs to the artist’s nephew.

Titian took into his house and carefully mentored in his art a distant relative whom he “especially loved”: Marco Vecelli. born in 1545, who, therefore, by the time the Allegory of Prudence was created, was in his early twenties. He seems to complete three generations of the Vecelli family.
Be that as it may, the appearance of the young man, like the face of the old man, is less carnal than the face of the mature man in the center. The future, like the past, is less “real” than the present. But unlike the shadow-immersed past, it shines with an abundance of light.

These are the official assumptions and reflections of art critics.
Taking into account Titian’s mood at that time, let’s try to express the main idea contained in this amazing allegory, resorting to the most common poetic form in Titian’s times.

Three ages, and each has delight.
In spring, excess strength and feelings ferment,
And closer to autumn there is calm,
And even old age has its own joy.

Youth has courage and bravado -
She often lacks patience.
Over the years, insight dawns on us,
And the old man gains wisdom in his gaze.

How do you feel about Titian’s phrase:

“From the past, the present is guided by Prudence, so as not to harm the actions of the future.”?

Http://maxpark.com/community/5917/content/2259301

Year: 1565–1570.
Type: Oil on canvas.
Dimensions: 76.2*68.6 cm.

Allegory of Prudence

"Allegory of Prudence" was painted in oils in 1565–1570. Authorship is attributed to the Italian painter Titian(perhaps he was helped).

The work depicts three animal heads looking in different directions (from left to right: wolf, lion, dog), under three human heads. During analysis, the picture is interpreted at several “levels”.

Allegory of Prudence

Three ages of man

This level represents human youth, maturity and old age. Perhaps the heads symbolize a broader concept of time itself, depicting the past, present and future. This theme is repeated in the heads of animals, which, according to some traditions, are associated with the corresponding time periods.

Saint Sebastian. Titian.

Experience of the past

Another level that gives the painting its current title is based on the barely visible signature (at the top of the painting) that reads: “EX PRAETERITO | PRAESENS PRUDENTER AGIT | NE FUTURA ACTIONE DETURPET" (“From the experience of the past, present actions are prudent so as not to spoil the future”). It suggests that the painting is in some way connected with the adventures of Titian’s youth, and the moment when the artist began to think about the price to pay for his rash actions.

Thus, the painting acts as a visual advisor from three generations, urging people to act prudently and carefully, passing on this experience to their descendants.

About sin and repentance

However, more recently, the picture was explained in a completely different way. Instead of an “allegory of prudence,” the theme of the work was defined as “sin and repentance.” From this point of view, Titian shows the inability to act prudently and prudently in youth and adulthood, which leads to regret and sadness in old age.

In this plane, the picture was interpreted as a statement about prudence, which comes in old age, with experience. This interpretation refutes the idea that older people pose a danger to the visual arts.

There is a version that the painting depicts Titian and his two assistants (Orazio and Marco). It does not contradict the above interpretations.

Painting "Allegory of Prudence" updated: October 25, 2017 by: Gleb

Duality-8. Allegory of prudence.

Guided by logic and using common sense to help, punctually selecting pebbles in a certain order in order to assemble a mosaic that can be recognized by the mind and moving a little further to take in its entirety with our gaze, we see that the picture turns out to be different from what was imagined earlier when we her eyes were brought closer. Moreover, it changes depending on the angle from which we look at it. Unless she winks, like a girl from a Japanese vario postcard from the end of the last century. Or maybe he really is winking, but we don’t notice it? There are different types of pebbles in a mosaic, some are multi-layered with an optical effect. They look like an onion, where under one layer lie dozens of others.

The dot at the end of the papyrus.

Everything was collected: all types of European, Asia Minor and Egyptian stones, including diamonds, sapphires, hematites, emeralds and topazes, gold, silver, lead, copper and tin; - and all this was mixed with the substance left over from the funeral of Osiris and Apis.

If you thought that I composed this flowery phrase because there was not enough water in the narrative, that life-giving poetic moisture that nourishes art critics, you were mistaken: there is no poetry in it. All of the above components were included in the composition from which the statue of the Supreme God of the Initiates was sculpted, whose name was not yet mentioned in WW. And even this flesh-embalming substance was actually taken from the sarcophagus of Apis.

The statue, according to the descriptions of Clement of Alexandria, one of the earliest Christian authorities, was of a rare blue color and very strong and solid. In any case, when Christian soldiers, on the orders of Theodosius, tried to destroy it with axes, they did not succeed for a long time - they only struck sparks. But, breaking does not build...

Perhaps no such statues were erected to any god. The materials from which they were made were rare and expensive: there is a description of a statue made from one piece of emerald. Its height was about 4 meters and it was located in a labyrinth dedicated to God. Even in those ancient times this raised doubts, but, according to the Egyptians, the fact that it was a solid mineral was repeatedly verified in antiquity. They also mention a giant sculpture that caused general amazement, which was made of metal plates carefully fitted to each other, like the Mukhina monument you know: a worker with a collective farmer. All this was done with a margin of safety and reliability designed to last for millennia.

The name of this god was Serapis.

Where it came from in the late antique world, where the minds of people after the death of Pan were dominated by Isis, Janus, Anubis, Hermes and Mithras, is unknown. Serapis was considered the lord of the elements and natural phenomena; he was given the functions of a water deity, lord of floods and sun god. Serapis was also identified with Zeus. Serapis was revered as a savior from misfortunes, a predictor of the future, and a healer. The iconography of Serapis resembles the images of Pluto and Zeus.

There are many versions, according to one of which Pharaoh Ptolemy I planned to completely unite Egypt and Greece with monotheism, crossing religions, and invented a syncretic deity. This version is the most common among historians, since there is no need to strain your brains for a long time with investigations, comparing texts and extracting facts from them - something remains on the surface: there are statues, there are documents of that time and the scene is Egypt. The Ptolemies actually made Serapis the supreme deity of Egypt and the patron saint of the pharaohs. A huge temple was built in Alexandria, and it was worshiped in Memphis. The cult of Serapis also spread throughout the Roman Empire under the Flavians, after this god predicted Vespasian's future imperial greatness. Caracalla himself served Serapis as a priest. The Greeks also had sanctuaries of Serapis - in Delphi and Athens.

The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus mentioned the Temple of Serapis in Alexandria: “Its magnificence is such that to describe it in simple words would do you injustice - its huge halls with columns, a wealth of realistic statues and other works of art place it next to the Capitol, which is a symbol of eternity with from time immemorial in Rome, make it the most magnificent building in the world. It contains two invaluable libraries."

This is Africa. Where is this majestic building now that has stood for six centuries? What do we know about the books in those libraries? Does the name Serapis mean anything to you at all? Oh yes, the Orthodox name Serapion remains, which our ancestors sometimes called their children. But now this name is very rare. Unfashionable.

Everything was destroyed, literally wiped off the face of the earth, books were burned, and statues were broken, with the exception of a few samples that went into the storerooms of the museums of the Church, with the edifying purpose of showing who the pagans worshiped.

When you look at the magnificent examples of Fayum painting from two thousand years ago, made in a complex encaustic technique, you must not forget that this is part of the cult of Serapis, widespread in the Fayum oasis. Art historians always forget to tell adoring spectators in museums that these naturalistic portraits were placed on the faces of mummies wrapped in shrouds. Let's look at one of these portraits:

This is an image of the priest Serapis, who can be recognized by the characteristic seven-pointed star on his diadem, as well as the three strands of hair below it. The seven-pointed star is one of the symbols of Serapis. Serapis was called Theon Heptaagrammoton- a god with a name of seven letters. This portrait now hangs on the wall of the British Museum.

So that you can better imagine that era, the time of change, the moment of rebooting the matrix, I cannot resist giving one more portrait:

Beautiful woman. And an extraordinary bright mind. The last librarian of the Serapeum Temple. Philosopher, mathematician, astronomer. Scholar of the Alexandrian school of Neoplatonism. Inventor of the astrolabe, with the help of which sailors found their way to the sea, and the planisphere, which was used more than a thousand years later by Copernicus and Tycho Brahe. Does this not fit too well with our ideas about paganism and scientists?

This is Hypatia, one of her possible images. She was brutally killed after the library was burned and the university was destroyed, leaving no stone unturned.

This happened, according to the description of the Christian historian Socrates Scholasticus, like this: “Because she very often talked with Orestes (prefect, city leader), her communication with him gave rise to slander among the church people, as if she did not allow Orestes to enter friendship with Kirill (bishop). Therefore, people with hot heads, under the command of a certain Peter, once conspired and waylaid this woman. When she was returning home from somewhere, they pulled her off the stretcher and carried her to a church called Caesarion, there, having exposed her, they killed her with shards (oyster shells), tore her into pieces, and carried pieces of her body to a place called Kinaron, and burned her there. . This caused a lot of shame both to Cyril and to the Alexandrian church, for murders, strife and all the like are completely alien to those who think in the spirit of Christ. The mentioned event occurred in the fourth year of the bishopric of Cyril, in the tenth of the consulate of Honorius and the sixth of Theodosius, in the month of March, during Lent.”

During Lent (!), in church (!), they stripped him naked (!), skinned him alive (according to other evidence), cut him into pieces and burned him. Christians? What was it? An ancient terrorist attack?

Whether anyone bore any responsibility for this - history is silent. Probably not. But Cyril was canonized by the Church as a saint. Some blame him for incitement, but the official position of the Church is that he was not guilty of Hypatia's death.

I am also inclined to this opinion. Kirill, as they write, himself enjoyed attending her lectures on philosophy and rhetoric. But the fact remains a fact.

Professor P.F. Preobrazhensky, a Russian historian and ethnographer (who was shot by “chekists” while serving his sentence in Ukhtizhemlag), wrote about this in the introduction to the book “Hypatia”: “...The Christian Church felt some embarrassment for the bloody massacre of Hypatia. It was necessary to carefully shield Cyril of Alexandria in order to remove the stigma of a pogromist from this recognized authority... By a strange irony of fate, Cyril, this zealous and tireless fighter for the dignity of the Christian Mother of God, as a virgin and the mother of not a person, but namely God, turned out to be the ideological inspirer of the vile torn apart of a girl..."

S.S. Averintsev, trying to justify the actions " superstitious contemporaries”, wrote that, supposedly, the Alexandrian scientists could not be considered such in the eyes of Christians, since with deep inner conviction they presented themselves as magicians. “What they were not were martyrs of science. At best they were martyrs of the pagan religion."

We can agree with this. On the other hand, it’s hard to invent something simple, like an astrolabe... or some kind of hydrometer. How Hypatia did it. And what will it be in the end, magic or science? Here's a flute - play something... "Any truly advanced technology or science is hardly distinguishable from magic." The phrase is attributed to A. Clark, but its author is S. Lem. In general, authorship is not that important here. It is important that this statement is true.

Be that as it may... this martyrdom, like a red dot, marked the end of university Alexandria as a scientific center. If they write somewhere that these temples “burned down in a fire” or “destroyed by earthquakes”, they are lying. The storming of the Alexandrian Serapeum by an armed crowd was perceived as a symbol of the final victory of Christianity (and, to be consistent, taking into account Islam - the Abrahamic religions) over paganism. At one point, two projects were closed: “Egypt” and “Antiquity”. And you say that you can’t kill two birds with one stone at the same time.

Immediately after that, the time of the so-called “Dark Ages” came.

Lord of the depths.

The idea that the worship of Serapis was artificial, connected with the political ambitions of the Egyptian pharaohs, including Alexander the Great, is also quite artificial, since there is no consensus on its origin. Let's look at a few.

The Egyptian, or rather Memphis, version explains his name as a synthesis of Osiris and Apis, the sacred bull. Although the exact nature of the signs that are taken from Osiris and Apis is not clear, it is presented that Serapis is the form that Apis took after death. Apis is “Ka” both literally and figuratively.

Serapis was considered one of the hypostases of Mithras and his name was attributed to the Iranian epithet hshatrapati - “Lord of the Kingdom”. I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that Serapis and hshatrapati sound too different words. The meaning may be true.

Tacitus wrote in “History” that in the village of Rakotis, on the site of the future Alexandria, there had long been a temple of Serapis and Isis, and then it is natural to assume that the god is much more ancient than is believed. From there came interesting images of Serapis and Isis.

Yes, that’s exactly how Serapis was portrayed in some cases. In the form of a Serpent. He was called the "Dragon of Wisdom" or the "Sacred Snake". The Egyptian secret school of philosophy was divided into the Lesser and Greater Mysteries. The small ones were dedicated to Isis, the Great ones to Serapis. Only priests were allowed to participate in the Great Mysteries. As one of the first Egyptologists stated, D.G. Wilkinson in the book “Behavior and Habits of the Egyptians,” - even the heir to the throne was not made an exception; Only after he reached the position of pharaoh, when he automatically became a priest and temporary head of the state religion, was he allowed to join them. The secrets of the mysteries were strictly guarded - strangers were not present at them.

The snake is always present in his images. Sometimes Serapis holds a snake, sometimes it wraps around him completely or is present on his left leg, as in Patsutsu images. Sometimes Serapis stands on a snake, dragon or other reptile, such as a crocodile, using it as a pedestal, a base. A distinctive feature of the images of God is a crown-cylinder, similar to a monastic hood, in the form of a “modius” - a measure of grain. At least (I apologize for the tautology), this is what they think - that there is a bucket of grain on God’s head. They say it is a symbol of fertility. This is what they write in encyclopedias - Serapis is the ancient Egyptian god of fertility.

Bread may be associated with fertility, but how is the snake connected with it?

Plutarch's version as stated in "On Isis and Osiris":

“Ptolemy Soter saw in a dream a colossal statue of Pluto in Sinope, not knowing what it looked like and having never seen it in person, but in the dream the statue asked him to move it to Alexandria as soon as possible. He had neither information nor the opportunity to find out where this statue was located, but, having told his friends about his vision, he learned from Sosibius, who traveled a lot, that he had seen in Sinope exactly the same statue as the one that the king, according to in his opinion, he saw it in a dream. Therefore, Ptolemy sent Sotel and Dionysius to Sinope, who after a long time, with great difficulties and not without divine help, managed to steal the statue and take it away. When they brought it to Egypt and showed it, Timothy, the interpreter of the sacred laws, Manetho the Sibennite and their collaborators assumed that it was a statue of Pluto, basing their opinion on Cerberus and the serpent associated with it, and convinced Ptolemy that this statue was none other than one of the gods , than Serapis. He certainly did not bear this name when he arrived from Sinope, but after his appearance in Alexandria, he adopted the name that Pluto bears among the Egyptians, namely, Serapis."

Thus, according to Plutarch, Serapis is Pluto, the god of the underworld. Hades, speaking in Greek, with his dark kingdom and power over the shadows of the dead.

Something with “fertility” doesn’t quite fit, don’t you think? Then what's on his head? This bucket or basket is a mysterious thing. Apparently, due to the number of different forms, the sculptors themselves did not always understand its utilitarian meaning. Perhaps the priests did not consider it necessary to condescend to explain to the masters, but simply said “do it this way.” In all seriousness, some researchers claim that this object covers horns. They say that the Hittites had a ritual text known as the “Chronicle of Puhanu” in which a basket was mentioned on the head of a man who turned into a huge bull and, moving a mountain, broke his horn. This injury was covered with a basket. The basket and the bull are supposed to be a clear connection with the Memphis myth of Apis. This means that Serapis is of Hittite origin.

And one more version, chronologically the earliest in the sources, and most similar to the truth. In any case, it accurately explains the origin of the name of God.

According to Arrian, when Alexander the Great was already mortally ill, his friends decided to spend the night in the temple of Serapis in order to receive an oracle's prediction in a dream about the possibility of saving the king. The action took place in Babylon, and was recorded in the Ephemerides, the official diary kept at the court of Alexander. Some researchers point out that the “temple of Serapis”, so named by Arrian, could actually be the temple of the god Ea (Enki), whose epithet was Sarapsi - “King of the Depths”. "King of the Abyss" Or “King of the Ocean”, “Lord of Fresh Waters” - it depends on how you understand the word “apsu”. We have already discussed the etymology of the words SAR-SER. And SAR here can be interpreted as “king”, “master”, and the word “Serpent” is also appropriate.

Serapis - Enki? If so, then this time he failed to win back his revenge against Enlil.

All the ends met, except for the basket on the head. We will return to it (the basket) later, because we will not move too far away from the specific topic.

Do you remember how the previous chapter ended? Look at the diagram again. The model of the world order, the synthesis of the World of Existence, presented in Arcana No. 10, is expressed by the interaction of two opposing forces: Seth-Typhon, who is presented as a reptilian creature and Hermes-Anubis, in the form of a kinocephalus. The system is kept in balance by Leo-Kerub - the Sphinx, armed with a sword. This entire unit is a mechanism that is connected (or powered?) by two intertwined snakes. Otherwise this idea is expressed by the symbol of Serapis, which is placed near his feet. And sometimes they are directly associated with him.

The wolf, lion and dog are intertwined with two snakes, like a caduceus and represent a single whole.

The symbol can be interpreted in any way, which has been done countless times, trying to solve this riddle with the help of a universal label recognition system, when the attitude towards ongoing events or the subject of study is developed by comparing them with internal beliefs based on subjective experience. This is when the word “personifies” connects several concepts like “fertility,” “wisdom,” “cardinal directions” and evokes other poetic associations, like “the wisdom of the snake.” Let's look at this using one example.

Titian, judging by this work, clearly saw a statue of Serapis somewhere in the Vatican, or visited the ruins of his temple, which, by the way, were preserved by the Italians and have survived to this day. You can watch them. But here’s what art critics write about the painting.

“The painting “Allegory of Time” has a deep philosophical meaning. In ancient mythology, the language of symbols was used to more accurately designate certain concepts and enhance the expressiveness of the image. Titian compares the age of a mature man with a lion - everything is in his power, he rules the world, and the age of a young man with the trusting readiness of a young dog to serve, old age gets wisdom, deep knowledge of life, loneliness and physical weakness.”

Well, why... - poetic. Although it is very controversial - very often it is the weak elders who rule the world. In fact, the painting is called “Allegory of Prudence” and is equipped with letters at the top, from which the words “EX PRAETERITO/PRAESENS PRUDENTER AGIT/NE FUTURA ACTIONẼ DETURPET” are formed. What does it mean interlinearly - the past/present acts carefully so as not to spoil future actions. In other words: Prudence is the memory of the past organized in the present in order to contemplate the future.

Isn't it true that it has a slightly different meaning? If we also consider that the artist’s model was the combined symbol of Osiris, Set, Anubis, Serapis, Pluto and Enki. Gods, one way or another, representing the underworld.