Titian, Venus of Urbino, 1538, for the Duke of Urbino (now in Uffizi)

• painted for Duke of urbinostyle changes Gonzaga to serve different functions
• engages with viewer with open eyes
  
• symbolic/iconographic meanings
  
• dog: fidelity/lust
• flowers: material senses, gifts for women
• marriage chest
  
• references wealth - maid
• setting makes it a social space
• more characters - ideas of privacy are different
• body adorned - social signifier
• Dark background shows off body better
  
• contemporary documents call this "a nude woman"
• modelling on classical motifs
  
• but the woman is real
• servant holds dress
• didactic function: aided husband in arousal, woman instructed in masturbation
• beauty of women = beauty of painting
• tactility of painting - better than sculpture (paragone)
• can you feel love by looking at a painting?
  
• can you evoke the ideal emotions you feel?
• Just an exotic painting