Pastoral Concert

The Pastoral Concert or Le Concert Champêtre is an oil painting of c. 1509 attributed to the Italian Renaissance master Titian.[1] It was previously attributed to his fellow and contemporary Giorgione. It is in the Musée du Louvre in Paris.

The Pastoral Concert
Le Concert Champêtre
ArtistUnknown (Suspected to be Titian)
Year1509–1510
MediumOil on Canvas
MovementVenetian Renaissance
Dimensions105 x 136.5 cm.
LocationMusée de Louvre, Paris, France
Websitehttps://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/pastoral-concert

This painting was created between approximately 1509 and 1510. However, the exact date of creation is unknown [2].This period also represents a turbulent period of history in Venice, specifically the League of Cambrai's War in 1509.[3] Art historian Jonathan Unglaub suggests that this painting was painted in response to the war, providing an "idyllic refuge from the ravages of history."[3]

Shortly after its creation, the artist's identity was forgotten. The painting itself was not famous until the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood chose the painting as an inspiration in the 19th century. There are no pictures, sketches, pre-paintings, or drawings that are known to be associated with this painting. These were most likely not kept because the painter was unknown at the time, and it was not common practice to keep collections of sketches for artists who were not famous.[4]

The term "Pastoral" was first used by Nicolas Bernard Lépicié to describe this particular painting in 1754. The Pastoral genre was created based on this painting, which is believed to visually show the Renaissance admiration of classical poetry, an essential value of humanism.[5] This painting is also considered the origin of the Pastoral genre of art because of its connection to pastoral poetry, as seen by the young men gathering in the Italian countryside's lush, picturesque greenery.[5] The pastoral concert or Fête Champêtre genre is described as a gathering in a picturesque landscape. Usually, young men are gathered together in a creative pursuit, seated on the landscape's grass. The paintings themselves are almost always allegories or depictions of mythological characters.[4]

This painting is also an example of Venetian painting, a sub-genre of Italian Renaissance painting unique to Venice. Venetian paintings are characterized as having rich color schemes that create a "warm glow" and emphasize naturalism above all else. Venetian paintings also have a specialty in mythological and allegorical themes.[6] The unique use of color is known as colorito, and it was most often found in Venetian painting.[7]

The patronage of this painting remains unknown today. Isabella d'Este is a possible candidate for patron due to a so-called bagno she commissioned for her brother Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara. Still, the word bagno is now considered to describe a painting by Palma Vecchio, another prominent Venetian painter famous during that time.[8]

Description

Meaning

The painting portrays three young people on a lawn, playing music together. Next to them, a standing woman is pouring water from a marble basin. The women are naked apart from their drapery, fallen to their legs; the two men are dressed in contemporary 16th century Venetian costume. In a vast, pastoral background, there is a shepherd and a landscape.

The true meaning behind this painting is unknown. It has been heavily theorized and discussed by art historians for decades. Recent theories suggest that this painting may be a commentary on the paragone, the scholarly debate during the Renaissance that tried to determine either painting or sculpture as the superior art form.[9][10] Venice was one of the artistic epicenters of the paragone between the concepts disegno and colorito, with the latter being a hallmark of Venetian Art.[10] It is proposed that this painting could be an artistic argument, showing how painting and the techniques of colorito are superior to disegno, which was common to Florentine art. Some of the most well known colorito artists from the Venetian Renaissance include Giorgione, Titian, Giovanni Bellini, and Jacopo Bellini.[10]

Location
Shepard (Detail), Pastoral Concert, 1509, Musée de Louvre

The painting is understood to be a pastoral landscape in the Italian countryside. It is not explicitly stated or described by historical documents exactly where this painting is set. Still, as it comes from Venice, there is a high possibility in the Venetian countryside.[3] Venetian painting's major specialty is landscape paintings, specifically idyllic landscapes such as Locus amoenus that posit subjects into the Venetian Countryside. This painting shows a meadow with a landscape that has broad slopes down to a water source. Intermixed with this idyllic landscape with buildings that match the typical town/villa style of the 16th century Venice city-state.[11]

Christiane Joost-Gaugiere suggests that the painting's landscape was a fictional setting inspired by Virgil's Eclogues, specifically numbers three and eight.[11] The painting's landscape details suggest this particular epilogue because the Shepard's appearance with bagpipes alludes to a possible scene depicting a singing contest of Theocritus from Horace's Ode or Vergil from Virgil's Eclogues (3,7).[11]

Classical references

The subject was perhaps an allegory of poetry and music; the two women could be an imaginary apparition representing ideal beauty, stemming from the two men's fantasy and inspiration. The woman with the glass vase would be the muse of tragic poetry, while the other would be pastoral poetry. Of the two playing men, the one with the lute would represent the exalted lyric poetry, the other being an ordinary lyricist, according to Aristotle's distinction in his Poetics. Another interpretation suggests that the painting evokes the natural world's four elements (water, fire, earth, and air) and their harmonic relationship.[12]

Seated Figures (Detail), Pastoral Concert, 1509, Musée de Louvre

Another theory is that this painting's subject is an allegorical interpretation of Theocritus's poem about Daphnis, a shepherd thought to be the pastoral poetry founder.[8] Philipp Fehl references this poem in his theory on the identity of the women in the paintings.[13] Theocritus describes Arcadia as the land that the Greek god Pan originates. Arcadia was imagined as a "paradise" by Jacopo Sannazaro in his 15th-century pastoral poem Arcadia, popular around Venice and the surrounding city-states. It is suggested that the nymphs create Arcadia around them, making Arcadia a spiritual state of existence that one establishes.[4] Philipp Fehl also proposes that this painting symbolizes Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, an extremely popular epic poem in the early 16th century. One of Ariosto's most famous patrons was Ippolito d'Este and his older sister, Isabella d'Este, the possible patron of this painting.[13]

Julia Marianne Koos's theory suggests that the painting is an allegory for the discourse of love. In the Italian Renaissance, it was believed that nature was a "mirror of the lover's soul and an idyllic place of refuge".[9] This specific painting's allegory on love's discourse was believed to be originating from Pietro Bembo's poetic musing on desire, such as his poem The Asolani. The concept of "desire" depicted in art was a heated debate in the 16th century, as seen in writings such as Leonardo da Vinci's Trattato della pittura.[9]

Art Historian Ross Kilpatrick suggests that two ancient literature texts, Horace's Epistles and Propertius's Elegy, were the significant pieces of inspiration behind this painting.[11]

Identity of figures
Unidentified woman (left) in Pastoral Concert, 1509, Musée de Louvre

A leading theory on the women's identities in the painting was put forth by Phillipp Fehl in 1957, postulating that the women are Nymphs, minor ancient Greek goddesses, and not human. He stipulates that the nymphs have been lured out of the woods toward the music being created by the men in the pastoral. Fehl also maintains that these nymph women are invisible to the men in the painting but are visible to us, the viewer.[13] Also according to Fehl, the closest poetic work that matches this painting is William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He uses this passage from A Midsummer Night's Dream to support his theory of the nymphs being invisible to human eyes:

"But who comes here? I am invisible, And I will overhear their conference."

The use of nymphs from Ancient Greek mythology is common for Italian Renaissance paintings due to the deep appreciation for the antiquity of Greek and Rome, a common aspect of Humanism popular during the Renaissance.[13]

Elhanian Motzkin identifies the nude female figure on the left as iInspiration and the right to be Euterpe, the Greek muse of music. In addition to identifying the female figures, Motzkin also put forth the identity of the men. Building off of the original theories of Phillipp Fehl, Motzkin identifies the men as Apollo and Paris, with Apollo teaching Paris how to play the lute.[11] He also posits that the formerly unidentified herdsman in the far right background is Paris' adoptive father. The latter raised him after being abandoned by his parents Priam and Hecuba.[3]

There are multiple unexplainable issues in this painting, the most prominent being the female figure's inclusion on the left pouring water out of a clear jug into a well. The women's identity remains a mystery.

Ross Kilpatrick's theory states that the woman on the left's identity in unknown, but possibly takes inspiration from Horace's epic Epistles, which places Horace in the Bandusian Spring's basin, a mystical body of water that also shows up in Propertius's work. The concept of a "mystical spring" presents itself in Epistles, referencing the Greek Muse Calliope. The town of the Sabine Villa included in Horace's Epistles 2.2 has a freshwater spring from which Calliope gathers water. In Horace's tale, the town itself has a fountain with the inscription: " Bandusian Spring, more gleaming than glass." Kirkpatrick suggests that this could be the inspiration for the inclusion of the figure pouring water.[11]

Attribution

The attribution of this painting has been a debate for hundreds of years. The painting was believed to have been painted by Giorgione. Still, recent painting analysis shows that Titian, a follower of Giorgione, was the creator. There are many theories as to who created the painting, but there is no documentation that proves attribution. Christiane Joost Gaugier suggests that Giorgione started the painting, but he died in 1511 before finishing the painting. He believes that Titian, Giorgione's protégé, completed the painting in honor of his departed mentor. Gaugier states that the lutenist in red on the left symbolizes a youthful Giorgione who is in the midst of teaching the rustic man the lute, a man understood to be a young Titian. Gaugier understands this painting as an allegory for the mentor – protégé relationship the two artists shared.[11]

The painting has also been attributed to Palma the Elder, Sebastiano del Piombo, Domenico Mancini, and Giovanni Bellini.[14][4] These theories, however, are not as prominent as the theories that attribute the painting to Titian or Giorgione due to a lack of historical evidence and restoration efforts. The theory of attribution to Domenico Mancini is gaining some ground in recent years as contextual evidence and historical documents have been analyzed.[4]

Giorgione

The painting was attributed to Giorgione until the 20th century, mostly because the Giorgione himself was included in Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. While not explicitly named in the book, this passage is inferred: "a musician who played the lute for musicians and continually enjoyed the pleasures of love." This passage refers to the artist because the description matched so closely to the subject of this painting. Giorgione's painting The Tempest (Giorgione) is referenced in this painting through the use of colored hosiery worn by the male subjects, a symbol of Compagnie della Calza, an elite patrician order of young men.[8]

Titian

The painting was initially attributed to Giorgione, but modern critics assign it more likely to the slightly younger Titian. The figures' robustness is thought more typical of his style.[15] Titian's painting The Adrians is used by Phillip Fehl to show the use of symbolic detail by Titian to credit this painting to Titian. Alfonso, I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, commissioned The Andrians, Isabella d'Este brother. Titian's connection to the House of Este family's patronage is used as evidence to ascertain that Titian was the real creator of this painting.[13]

The painting itself fits closer to Titian's artistic style because of the artist's use of symbolic minute detail and Rubenesque bodies in the genre of Venetian painting.[4]

Domenico Mancini

A theory postulated by Charles Hope suggests that the author of the painting is Domenico Mancini, a contemporaneous painter and follower of Giorgione and Titian. Mancini's Lendinara Cathedral altarpiece is stylistically similar to The Concert, as well as his Madonna with Saints Francis and Roch. The latter painting is dated 1511, very close to the timeline of completion for this painting. As Hope points out, The Concert itself has not been cleaned. It is impossible to tell if the painting could be Mancini's without proper restoration.[4]As an artist, Mancini was known to borrow elements and mimic the style of certain Italian Masters. His painting Madonna with Saints Francis and Roch takes significant cues from Giovanni Bellini's San Zaccaria Altarpiece.[4]

Provenance

The Gonzaga family, the lords of Mantua, a noble Italian city-state, owned the work. The painting was later sold to Charles I of England in about 1627, possibly acquired through Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel, a close friend and courtier in Charles I's court.[16][2] When the English royal collections were dispersed following the revolution of 1649, the painting was sold at auction by the Commonwealth of England to the German banker and art collector, Eberhard Jabach. He, in turn, sold it to Jean-Baptiste Colbert on behalf of Louis XIV in 1671.[17][8] The painting was later traced in 1736 to Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise de Montespan's son, Duc d' Antin and his collection at the Palace of Versailles. After 1792, the painting was transferred from the French royal art collection to the Louvre Museum during the French Revolution. It remains in their collection to this day.[8][2]

Copies of this painting were widely available, mostly in Holland, and reproductions frequently were found in the Dutch Art Market in Amsterdam.[2]

Cultural influence
Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, Édouard Manet, 1862–1863

The Dutch artist Jan de Bisschop copied this painting into a famous engraving as part of his traditional practice copying the Italian Renaissance masters' art.[2] Eugène Delacroix was also said to have made a copy of this painting after witnessing it in the Louvre museum in 1824. His copy is now lost to the art world, but still it is rumored to possibly be one of the inspirations for his famous painting Women of Algiers.[2] Some other artists' rumored to have copied this painting are Edgar Degas and Henri Fantin-Latour.[2]

Édouard Manet conceived his Le déjeuner sur l'herbe after viewing the painting in the Louvre museum.[12]

Dante Gabriel Rossetti wrote a poem titled A Venetian Pastoral, by Giorgione, in the Louvre, which was explicitly written about this painting. His poetry was created to move the reader triangularly through the canvas, hopping from subject to subject. This specific sonnet was included in his Poems in 1870.[18]

References

Citations
  1. https://www.louvre.fr/oeuvre-notices/le-concert-champetre Musée du Louvre
  2. Klein, Robert (1967). "Die Bibliothek von Mirandola und das Giorgione zugeschriebene "Concert champetre"". Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte. 30 (2/3): 199. doi:10.2307/1481707. ISSN 0044-2992. JSTOR 1481707.
  3. Unglaub, Jonathan (1997). "The "Concert Champêtre": The Crises of History and the Limits of Pastoral". Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics. 5 (1): 46–96. ISSN 0095-5809. JSTOR 20163656.
  4. Holberton, Paul (1993). "The Pastorale or Fête champêtre in the Early Sixteenth Century". National Gallery of Art: 244–262 – via JSTOR.
  5. Marlow, Kirk (2003), "Fête champêtre", Oxford Art Online, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t028098, ISBN 978-1-884446-05-4, retrieved 2020-10-11
  6. "Venetian painting", Wikipedia, 2020-09-02, retrieved 2020-10-29
  7. Sorabella, Jean (October 2002). "Venetian Color and Florentine Design". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  8. "Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, and the renaissance of Venetian painting". Choice Reviews Online. 44 (5): 44–2509-44-2509. 2007-01-01. doi:10.5860/choice.44-2509. ISSN 0009-4978.
  9. Koos, Marianne (2000). "Imagination, Identity, and the Poetics of Desire in Giorgione's Painting". American Imago. 57 (4): 369–385. doi:10.1353/aim.2000.0021. ISSN 1085-7931. S2CID 144187159.
  10. "Renaissance Paragone: Disegno and Colore". Oxford Art Online. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  11. Kilpatrick, Ross S. (2000). "Horatian Landscape in the Louvre's "Concert Champetre"". Artibus et Historiae. 21 (41): 123. doi:10.2307/1483638. JSTOR 1483638.
  12. Zuffi, Stefano (2008). Tiziano. Milan: Mondadori Arte. p. 32. ISBN 978-88-370-6436-5.
  13. Fehl, Philipp (1957). "The Hidden Genre: A Study of the Concert Champetre in the Louvre". The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. 16 (2): 153. doi:10.2307/427596. ISSN 0021-8529. JSTOR 427596.
  14. Valcanover, Francesco (1969). L'opera completa di Tiziano. Milan: Rizzoli. p. 93.
  15. Fregolent, Alessandra (2001). Giorgione. Milan: Electa. p. 111. ISBN 88-8310-184-7.
  16. Klein, Robert (1967). "Die Bibliothek von Mirandola und das Giorgione zugeschriebene "Concert champetre"". Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte. 30 (2/3): 199. doi:10.2307/1481707. ISSN 0044-2992. JSTOR 1481707.
  17. "Le concert champêtre". Louvre Museum website. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  18. Rossetti, Dante Gabriel (2013), "For a Venetian Pastoral, by Giorgione", Poems, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 260, doi:10.1017/cbo9781139583282.082, ISBN 978-1-139-58328-2, retrieved 2020-10-11

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  • Kessel, Elsje van (2017). The Lives of Paintings: Presence, Agency, and Likeness in Venetian Art of the Sixteenth Century. De Gruyter, Inc. pp.75–76 ISBN 9783110485899.
  • Nichols, Tom (2013). Titian: And the End of the Venetian Renaissance. Reaktion Books, Limited. pp.30–31. ISBN 9781780231860.
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