The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence
Titian
TITIAN, c.1567. OIL ON CANVAS.
Under the cover of darkness, Saint Lawrence dies for his faith. Titian depicts the seen in frenetic chaos, illuminated only by the coals that heat the gridiron he is killed on, and the light that breaks through the clouds, as Lawrence reaches up for salvation. From above and below, we can see the scene due to violence, and due to hope. Titian was working off an painting of the same subject he made some nine years earlier, but this piece is more expressive, more tortured as he loosened his style as he aged. It was in this later period that Titain became pre-occupied with those who rebelled against authority, and the prices they paid for their rebellion. His work lost some of the vividness and luminosity of colour, but in their place came subtlety, this revolutionary painter painting revolutionaries with the freedom that comes with affinity. The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence is hopeful and violent, torturous and divine and an allegory for the world Titian saw.