In the 16th century, Venetian painting was known for its gorgeous colors − and for the »Belle Veneziane«, who took portraiture to a new level. Regardless of actual age, women were stylized into the young, blonde ideal. Titian and Palma Vecchio are considered the inventors of this type of painting. After the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Palazzo Reale in Milan is now showing the exhibition, which provides new background to Titian's famous portraits: Titian e l'immagine della donna nel Cinquecento Veneziano (Titian and the Image of Women in 16th-Century Venice) will be on view from February 23 to June 5, 2022.
The social position of women in Venice at the time of Titian is examined here. In the city-state of the time, women enjoyed comparatively many rights and were the main subject in painting and poetry. The exhibition reveals new knowledge about what ideal image of women was drawn , but also how the everyday life of wealthy ladies in Venice differed from that in other Italian cities.
