Orpheus and Eurydice

Orpheus and Eurydice date back to the early years of Titian's career. It is a special painting drawn to express Titian's deep interest to depict the natural world.

The powerful painting is based on the myth showing the love between Orpheus and Eurydice which is popular among the Greek. Apart from teaching about love and passion, the Orpheus and Eurydice myth is about the weakness of the human spirit. Titian wanted to capture the moment in painting, and he named it after the myth. Many people recognise the characters in the painting due to the popularity of the myth, but studies have shown Orpheus and Eurydice by Titian is dedicated to a person who was close to the painter.

The style used in this paint is a high renaissance. It involves the production of artworks through combined influences that are based on increased awareness of the individualistic view of human beings and nature. Orpheus and Eurydice by Titian is rendered in dark tones combining sickly yellow, grey and brown colours that are utilised to convey the dark themes. Overall, the painting is remarkable because of the glowing colours and effort the artist put to depict naturalistic details. Titian managed to put all of these details using oil on canvas.

Titian portrays two scenes in the image an indication of the immense talent the artist possessed. At the foreground on the left is a picture of Eurydice being bitten by the snake that led to his death. The right side of the painting shows the fateful moment when Orpheus sent Eurydice back to the Underworld. In addition, Titian included the entrance of the Underworld in the background to put more details into the work.

Titian used oil, brush and canvas to create the painting. These materials were popular by many artists of the time. Orpheus and Eurydice by Titian was painted for Scuola Grande of Santa Maria della Carità. As a result, the painting was commissioned at Accademia Gallery of Venice. Today, the mythological painting is located at this venue which is known as Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, Italy.

As a tradition in some of his paintings, Titian was inspired to create this brilliant piece of work by somebody close to him. Titian painted this work after the death of Giorgione, his close friend. This is the reason Orpheus and Eurydice by Titian is different compared to other works in which he preferred bright colours. In this work, he utilised a myth to assert the inevitability of death to mourn his friend. Giorgione was a fellow painter with close ties to the artist and he was multi-talented. Titian wanted to remember the death of his friend so, he came up with a moving piece. This shows death can occur at any moment, but the most tragic part is the memories a person is left to handle.