At the Borghese Villa of Rome, inside the wonderful museum hosts in the XVII century walls of this extraordinary noble residence, there are many works of art made by venetian artists. People who were very famous even in the Rome of the XVI century. One of them was Titian, a man who gave a lot to the italian art history. And among the canvases displayed inside the Borghese Gallery there is one of his masterpieces which we don't know exactly, still today, the significance.
We see two young girls lying on a roman sarcophagus with a small winged child who is playing with the water that filled the ancient artifact. What does it mean? We have mainly two options. We have to know that the sponsor who asked to Titian to create this work of art was a venetian nobleman who would like to celebrate, thanks to the painting, his wedding. If you notice better you will see how the two girls are exactly the same person, like twins. So, according to an interpretation, they represent the future bride and, in this case, the perfect woman for all the occasions of the life of a nobleman. The first one on the left, so full of jewels and dressed in a wonderful way should be the wife during the official parties and events, when she must reveal to the guests the opulence of the husband's family. But on the other side there is a naked girl who should represent the role of the woman in the private bedroom...
But there is also another interpretation that is related to the official title of the Titian's masterpiece: the "Sacred and profane Love" (a theme that was used by other artists, as you can see in the Reni's canvas, hosts at the Doria Pamphilj Gallery of Rome, reading here). What does it mean? In this case the two women should represent Venus, the Goddess of Love and Beauty, but in two different ways. The dressed Venus represents the earthly beauty, what the mankind consider as valuable according to our ideas. That's the reason why jewels, necklaces or rings: that's beautiful and remarkable for us. But the other Venus, the naked girl, represents the Beauty, the perfection of this value, something that could not be understood by the human being, something that just a goddess could bring. For this reason the second Venus is naked, exactly like the ancient greeks used to depict the goddess of Love. Moreover this interpretation could be completed following the wonderful landscape that is located behind the main figures, at the background. So you will clearly see a castle behind the earthly Venus, a building that clearly represent the human activities, while on the other side, behind the Celestial Venus, you will clearly see a church, indicating the spiritual things.
But there is also another theory regarding to this great canvas by Titian at the Borghese Gallery in Rome. If you notice better the roman sarcophagus you will see a coat of arm, that is simply the crest of the noble family of the nobleman who commissioned to the artist this masterpiece. The wedding created a great scandal at that time because the bride came from Padova, a city which tried to be indipendent from the influence of Venice. So, for political reasons, the two cities were enemies. You can understand how this wedding was important in order to try to restore a sort of peace, and how on the other side it was a scandal for several people. But maybe the main message of this canvas is just one: peace. The two girls, following this theory, should represent the Love and the Wedding, while the sarcophagus close to them, which depicts the dead things and the past, is full of water (symbol of purity and goodness). In this way we can consider the winged kid as Cupid, the Venus' son, who playing with the water is, in some degree, "blessing" the new wedding that is able to bring peace, stability and a good figure for everybody. And for you? What is your theory?
