Titian, Bacchus and Ariadne

we're in the National Gallery in London and we're looking at a really large really important Renaissance painting an artist who is Venetian known simply as Titian did ya know the Italians right so this is Bacchus and Ariadne and it tells the story of Ariadne who's loved Theseus had just left her on the island of Knox's Eve and in turn you can see his ship just on the horizon on the extreme left to the left of her shoulder and Bacchus who's been riding in a chariot led by two cheetahs Bacchus the god of wine and intoxication followed by his revelers kind of emerge in a diagonal coming forward into the foreground Bacchus leaps out of his chariot and apparently love at first sight he's intoxicated with Ariadne she's initially a little frightened of him but promises to turn her into a constellation which you can see above her head in the upper left of the canvas that group that almost halo of eight stars her pose is really complicated presumably she had just been mourning the loss of her lover and is turned and transfixed by his gaze and he is full of energy as he literally flies out of the shariat that drape just wild behind and his foot supported by nothing suspended in midair and feel his weight as it just flies over the edge of that chariot yeah I'm struck as I continue to look by the ways that each figure embodies two opposing actions Ariadne moves forward but also turns to the right he lurches forward toward Ariadne but also his arms moved back while his head and shoulders move forward they were both involved in doing something else and had been so drawn to each other so unexpectedly that their hands their arms are still tracing their previous act intention yeah even the figure in the foreground this Bock ik reveler that we see who's entwined with snakes rather reminiscent of Hawaii Akko on the ancient Greek sculpture even he is doing two things at one time with his body right he seems to be sort of reaching back moving forward there's all of these conflicting movements to the bodies of the figures this was a painting that was originally created for one of the members of the desti family and for our would've hung in their palace and it speaks to a man who wanted to express his knowledge of antiquity and of course to do also be a great patron of the Renaissance we see that thing that we know Venice for which is the use of color those Blues the Reds the Pink's the green brilliant colors absolutely yeah amazing with a kind of prismatic almost gem like quality a result of his glazing technique and the Browns and sort of earth tones on the right corner with the Bock ik revelers compared with the clarity of those Blues in red from the left not only the contrast of sort of actions of the figures not only in the contrast of colors as you pointed out but also in the purity of the love that's expressed between those two figures or at least baucus's love of Ariadne and then these just the partying that's going on on the right yes Jim there's an animal behavior on the right absolutely you