The Resurrection
Titian
TITIAN, c.1544. OIL ON CANVAS.
Titian’s The Resurrection had many inspirations, ranging from ancient sculptures to religious frescoes but most direct of all was his own painting Polyptych of the Resurrection, painted some 20 years earlier. It is, however, bolder, brighter, more affecting than its inspirations, it is glorious in its depiction of Christ rising from his tomb. The power we feel looking at the work is matched by the figure's awe in the lower half. The undisputed master of the Venetian Renaissance, Titian was stylistically restless throughout his life, maturing and changing, updating and revisiting his oeuvre. The confidence of his youth gave way to a self-critical maturity — he became an obsessive perfectionist, working on single paintings for up to 10 years and re-imagining the early work which gave him his fame and fortune. The Resurrection, originally part of a diptych for a processional Banner for the Corpus Domini brotherhood in Urbino, is a shining example of this revisionism. Titian made his past the muse for his present, and achieved perfection in the process.