Italian Renaissance · 1538
Venus of Urbino
Venus of Urbino (1538) by Titian. Its palette is led by soot (#171713, 34%) and light gold (#a89967, 13%), with accents of taupe, dark brown, dark rich sienna and slate. Overall the canvas is mid-toned, moderately saturated and warm.
Color note
Titian built his colors in many layers of glaze over a colored ground, the Venetian way of putting color before drawing. The copper-red hair of his sitters gave English the color name “Titian”.
Palette
- #171713 MG 223 soot 33.8% of canvas
- #5e522c MG 176 taupe 13.9% of canvas
- #a89967 MG 038 light gold 12.6% of canvas
- #dcd09f MG 203 pale muted golden cream 12.2% of canvas
- #c3b17f MG 037 light amber gold 12.1% of canvas
- #432e19 MG 169 dark brown 9.4% of canvas
- #6c1017 MG 148 dark rich sienna 4.5% of canvas
- #3f585a MG 210 slate 1.5% of canvas
Color families
Brown 47%, Black 29%, Yellow 14%, White 6%, Green 3%
Measurements
Composition
52% of the visual weight is in the right half, 77% in the lower half. Symmetry 0.00 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 24% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 28% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.
Details
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More by Titian
- Sacred and Profane Love, c. 1514
- Assumption of the Virgin, c. 1517
- Equestrian Portrait of Charles V, 1548
- Sleeping Venus, 16th century