Arts

23 Jun 09

The rare Titian painting, 'The Triumph of Love', will be permanently housed at the Ashmolean once it reopens

A rare painting by the great Venetian painter Titian has been given to the University’s Ashmolean Museum through the Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) scheme.

TheTriumph of Love has undergone careful conservation and cleaning at the National Gallery and will be on display as part of an exhibition from 21 July – 20 September. It will then be on permanent display in the Ashmolean Museum, which will re-open in November 2009 following a major redevelopment project.

The scheme enables items deemed to be of historical or artistic importance to be given in place of inheritance tax and is administered by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), on behalf of the government. The donation to the Ashmolean was made possible with an additional grant of £180,000 from independent charity The Art Fund.

The circular painting, The Triumph of Love (c.1485/90-1576) has not been seen since it was exhibited in 1960 at the Royal Academy. It depicts Cupid armed with bow, quiver and arrow standing on the back of a roaring lion which growls impotently as love rides triumphant. The group is given a Venetian setting, with a fantasy lagoon view and the Dolomites rising in the distance. 

Scientific examination by The National Gallery has recently confirmed the painting’s high quality. Titian’s spontaneous and creative under drawing has now been revealed beneath the paint surface. Owing to the painting’s grimy and over-painted appearance, some doubts had been raised as to its authorship. The imaginative composition, the changes of mind visible in the under drawing and brushwork, and the freshness of the modelling of the figure of Cupid all testify that this is a painting by Titian and not the work of a pupil or follower.

Director of the Ashmolean, Dr Christopher Brown, said: ‘Titian’s Triumph of Love will have huge appeal to a wide public in our Renaissance displays in the transformed Ashmolean Museum, which will re-open in early November 2009. We are delighted that our collaboration with the National Gallery has revealed so much about this fascinating and rare painting.’

The painting, which dates from the mid 1540s, was made for Titian’s friend and patron, Gabriel Vendramin (1484-1552). The Triumph of Love had a specific function as a timpano or cover, which would have been placed over another painting, for reasons of decorum. In Gabriel Vendramin’s collection, it acted as the cover for a portrait of a noblewoman dressed in black, also by Titian and as yet unidentified.

Culture Minister, Barbara Follett, said: ‘This is a fine acquisition saved for the whole nation. I am delighted that this beautiful painting will soon go on show for the first time in half a century at The National Gallery and particularly pleased that it will find a permanent home in a great museum in the English regions which has worked so hard to bring its £61m redevelopment to near completion. I look forward to seeing the painting taking its rightful place among the jewels of the new Ashmolean when it reopens later in 2009.’