The Condition of the PictureAuthor(s): Neil MacLarenReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 3, No. 1/2 (Oct., 1939 - Jan.,1940), pp. 140-141Published by: The Warburg InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/750199 .Accessed: 22/04/2012 05:28

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140 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

It is justifiable to conclude that the version painted for Philip II belongs to the religious disputes of the Counter-Reformation, and further that it is related to an act of re- conciliation between the Protestant heretics and Philip, the untiring defender of orthodox Catholicism.

The scene in the background provides a clue to the historical events which lie behind the subject matter of the foreground. In the second version the original figure of Neptune has been changed into or replaced by a Turk who is pursued by a fleet, the white sails of which appear behind him. It has long been realized that this is an allusion to Philip's decisive victory over the Unbelievers at Lepanto. Now, at about the same time a not inferior success was achieved by Philip against Protestant heresy in the North. In

i57o he brought a long struggle against Calvinism in the Low Countries to an end by a general pardon, which was supported by the absolution which Pius V granted to all those who returned to the True Faith. In Flanders many thousands accepted the amnesty and made their peace with the Church.'

In commemoration of Lepanto Titian painted for Philip the celebrated picture in which the King, surrounded by symbols of the victory, dedicates his infant son to God. The wrongly named "Religion succoured by Spain" becames almost a counterpart to this picture commemorating as it does, with a passing reference to the battle against the Turks, Philip's reconciliation with the peni- tent Protestants of the Low Countries--a

peace, however, which was not destined to be of long duration.2

By slight alterations of secondary elements alone Titian had turned a mythological subject into a religious one, and invested a courtly and humanist conception with the vigorous spirit of the Counter-Reformation, Such a procedure, peculiar though it may seem, is actually very common; for Titian adopted the principle of translating icono- graphical types which is as old as European painting itself.

R. W.

warriors, with arms and great preparations for fighting. It is as though presenting to Faith and placing at her feet multiple spoils of battles won against those who persecute her-coats of armours, bucklers, helmets and every sort of arms; and offering itself with great valour for her retinue and defense. On the sea, which is here with most appropriate significance, the Turk is revealed, in a boat drawn by two sea-horses, who in the distance comes breaking the turbulent waves; and he is followed by some sails, which appear to set their prow to encourage help to the heretics against Faith.

1 After Orange's flight before Alba in 1568 discussions about the granting of a general amnesty were started between Pius V and Philip II (cf. L. Serrano, Corr. diplomatica entre Espala y la Santa Sede, 1914, III, p. 72 ff.). The King signed the document on November 16th, 1569, but neither his decree nor the papal bull was published by Alba till July 16th, 1570. Cf. Gachard, Corr, de Philippe II, 1851, II, p. 680 ff. Pastor, The History of the Popes, XVIII, p. ioi. Cf. also J. H. Mari6jol, Master of the Armada. The Life and Reign of Philip II of Spain, 1933, P. 159 f.

2 The same parallel between the two victories over false belief, Muslim and Protestant, but in a less conciliatory form, occurs on the tomb of Pius V in the Cappella Sistina in S. Maria Maggiore. Cf. D. Fontana, Della Transportatione dell' Obelisco Vaticano, Rome 1590, p. 48 v. f.

2. THE CONDITION OF THE PICTURE

W hen considering this picture it must be borne in mind that its present state

is not good enough to make possible precise and accurate statements, in many cases, about the various changes of composition through which it has passed.

The general state of the picture is bad; the paint has been much rubbed throughout, especially in the nude figure on the right, and has suffered to some extent from flaking. There are a large number of small old repaints and it is, of course, known that Vicente Carducho had to retouch it already in 1626 (see Arch. Esp. de Arte, I933, P- I 13 if-) though it would seem from the picture that whatever he did must have been in the nature of small restorations only. The paint is further obscured by ingrained dirt and an old heavy yellow varnish.

The figures of Minerva and her companion appear to belong to the earlier period; the cuirass and greaves have been painted over the folds of the red drapery, but probably belong to the same period. The only additions to these figures in late Titian style are the pennant on the lance and the overpainting of the shield in Minerva's right hand. The man's head behind Minerva's companion is too damaged to permit any certain assertion. The trophies in the centre foreground are of the earlier period, though the helmet has perhaps been later retouched; the round shield on the right of it is in the later style.

The figure of Neptune (?), including his

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 141

turban, is all of one facture and together with the sea and ships belongs to the late period. It is not possible to see whether the cloud of smoke on the left, which is a later addition by Titian, covers anything different.

The nude woman on the right is the part of the picture which has most suffered and no sure conclusion can be drawn as to its date, but as far as it is possible to judge she had been repainted in later Titian style. Two dark vertical marks under the paint of her thigh may perhaps be pentimenti, possibly of her left arm; her right arm conceivably was originally further across her body, if a dark mark which runs from the outside of the elbow to the inside of her wrist is a pentimento. Her hair seems originally to have stretched further down her back.

The stone slab in front of this figure has at least been painted over in the late period; the stone behind with the cross and chalice are also later. There are pentimenti of branches right and left of the tree im- mediately above the head of the nude figure; the broken tree on the right perhaps originally extended beyond the break; the paint of the sky across its top is certainly of the late period. It is difficult to see at what period the snakes have been painted, but they are also probably late and are certainly all of the same facture.

NEIL MACLAREN

A SELF-PORTRAIT OF GRECO

n a recent publication on Greco,1 no less than I6 pictures are listed as

hypothetical self-portraits. Though there is no evidence whatsoever to support any of these conjectures, the majority of the portraits chosen are of a similar type, and give a fair impression of what Greco ought to have looked like, to satisfy his modern interpreters. His 'imaginary portrait' is that of an ardent mystic, an ecstatic visionary, with the noble and delicate features (though he was a Greek) of a Spanish grandee. It is not surprising, in view of this ideal, that the one portrait which I think has a claim to be regarded as a true self-portrait, has not been recognised or accepted as such by the majority of students. It shows a fat

and sluggish, almost amorphous face with a rather morose expression (P1. 25a).

It has always been known that this head represents a painter; for it concludes the portrait group in the lower right corner in one of the early versions of the "Expulsion from the Temple" where it is joined to the portraits of Titian, Michelangelo and Clovio.2 Titian's and Michelangelo's faces are easily recognised, and that of the third man is exactly the same as on Greco's separate portrait of Clovio,3 his patron and master. In company with Titian and Michelangelo, Clovio's portrait assumes a programmatic significance. To combine the colour of Titian with the design of Michelangelo was a famous Venetian precept of the period, to which Clovio, who was called a piccolo e nuovo Michelangelo, was bound to subscribe.4 Greco's discipleship of Clovio was implicitely a discipleship of Titian and Michelangelo. What then would be more natural than to assume that the man who follows Clovio in the picture is Greco himself who thus assigns to his art its legitimate place in a genealogical line of descent.

The visual evidence confirms our argu- ment. The portrait is not only placed in the right corner of the picture, like an artist's signature, but it also shows a feature characteristic of self-portraits : the artificially hidden left arm which is really the right arm engaged in painting. Moreover, the man points to himself: the typical gesture of self-portraits.

No doubt, all these features would have been noticed long ago and correctly inter- preted, had not an eighteenth century author started the tradition that this figure is meant to be Raphael.5 As a true eclectic in the academic style of his century, he probably felt that where Titian and Michel- angelo are assembled, Raphael ought not to be missing. But this hypothesis must be rejected, not only because the features of the man have no resemblance to those of Raphael, but also because, if Raphael had been represented, he would have been placed before Clovio and not behind him. Moreover, Raphael is an artist who-in contradistinction to Michelangelo, Titian and

I Phaidon Edition.

2 Formerly Yarborough Coll., now Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minn., U.S.A.

3 Naples, Museo Nazionale. * Cf. Justi, "Die Anfinge des Greco" in Zeitschrift

f. bild. Kunst, 1897. 5 Catalogue of the Buckingham Gallery, 1758 (cf. Justi,

loc. cit.).