Europeana Collections

The underlying theme of this picture has not been satisfactorily explained to this day, yet Titian has raised it to the mythical by the psychological depth of its conception. Awkwardly sprawling on an animal's fur, naked except for a veil, the woman with her all-knowing, almost cold look seems to represent universal natural power at the centre of the cosmic landscape. In contrast, the youth with the flute who has been pushed to the picture's edge, dressed and crowned with leaves, is an expression of temporal movement, perhaps transience, too. Stability and instability also characterise the dramatically lit landscape, implying eternal change, with which the figures are merged into a visionary alliance. Particular features of late Titian painting are not only the open painting technique and visible brushwork, but also the nuanced, even opposing way in which the artistic conception of the various parts of the picture turn out. Thus Titian's pictures attain a special expressiveness.