Titian - The Marchese del Vasto Addressing his Troops 1540-1541
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The Marchese del Vasto Addressing his Troops 1540-1541
223x165cm oil on canvas
Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain
The image is only being used for informational and educational purposes
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From Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid:
In representing D´Avalos´s intentions, Titian successfully united contemporary history and the classical world. The theme of the adlocutio was a classical one, commonly found in Roman art and history and Titian represented it in a classical manner, with D´Avalos exhorting the troops from a platform or suggestus, capturing their attention with his raised right arm, as recommended in manuals on oratory. The context in which the work was produced also emphasises the importance of classical references. D´Avalos heard about the painting´s progress through Aretino, who did not hesitate to compare him with Julius Caesar and whose role as intermediary is recorded in the painting as Titian depicts him as the soldier in the cuirass immediately behind the pike-bearer in the foreground.