Tiziano Escena Pastoral

Titian's Pastoral Scene: A Unique Rendition of Lot and His Daughters
Author(s): Ruth Mellinkoff

Source: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 51, No. 3 (Autumn, 1998), pp. 828-863
Published by: University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Renaissance Society of America
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TitiansPastoral
Scene:
A Un ueRendition and.HisDaughters
o.,,fLot
by RUTH MELLINKOFF
TitiansdrawingcalledPastoralSceneorLandscapewitha SleepingNude andAnimals is no

ordinarylandscape,itsunordinariness underscored byan unusualcombinationofelements,
whichI maintainrevealsa newand unique versionofLotand His Daughters.I contendthat
thelarge,nakedwomanin therightforeground is one ofLors'daughters;
thetwosmallfigures
orsleepingbeneaththetreesare Lot and hisotherdaughter;thethatchedhousesin the
resting
middleleftrepresentthelittletownofSegorwhereLotfirstfled;thesheeprepresent livestock
thatLot broughtoutofSodom,as do theboarandgoat; theboarandgoat,however, alsoserve
as symbolsoflustand lechery; and thedistantcitywithburningbuildigs in thecity'sright
quarteris Sodom. Titians inventiveness createdan iconographicvariationofan ancient
theme.
ITIAN'S DRAWING CALLED Pastoral Scene or Landscape with a

Sleeping Nude and Animals (fig. 1; see appendix, p. 845 for subse-
quent figures)' is no ordinary landscape, its unordinariness underscored
by an unusual combination of elements: a huge, partly naked woman in
the right foreground - her stomach, genitalia, and legs turned toward
us, but her head, face, and upper body covered with her clothing or a
draped cloth (fig. la); a boar and goat, each remarkably large and prom-
inently placed in the foreground center; a herd of sheep behind the boar
and goat; beyond them two figures resting or sleeping beneath a clump
of trees (fig. lb); some thatched houses at the middle left; and in the dis-
tant background (fig. 1c), a domed and spired city on fire, its secret
drama accentuated by the portrayal of burning buildings in the city's
right quarter (fig. Id).
The peculiarities of this landscape and its elements have frequently
been remarked upon. For example, the half-naked woman was described
by Konrad Oberhuber as an "odd figure";' David Rosand described her
CC
as an enigmatic sleeping nude'Y Harold Wethey thought her presence
CC 4
a bit eccentric," and stated that she "puzzled copyists". The uncom-
monness of the drawing as a whole elicited comments too: M.A. Chiari
5
Moretto Wiel wrote of the "difficulty of interpreting the work"; John
'Now in the GettyMuseum, acquired in 1985. For provenanceand bibliography,

see "Acquisitions1985," 234; Goldner,1988, 124; and Goldner,1992, 353.
2Oberhuber, 104, cat. no. 46.
3
Rosand, 1988, 77.
'Wethey,53.
Renaissance Quarterly51 (1998): 829-63 [ 829 1
Ak"
S4,
16.
rn Jt
in
life
I 10
IL
file',
ks
830 RENAISSANCE QUARTERLY
Walshthe directorof the Getty Museum, saw it "full of enigmatic

poetry";'Michael Kimmelmanin his New YorkTimesreviewof Getty
7
drawingswrotethatit was "compellinglystrange"; and the late James
ByamShaw describedthelandscapeas "imaginary, thesettingfora mys-
terioussubject."8
Few writers,however,have riskedsuggestingwhat its mysterious
subjectmightbe. Most scholarshavedealtwiththedrawing'sattribution
and date. Assignedto Domenico Campagnola by S.A. Strongin 1902,9
JamesByam Shaw later attributedthe drawingto Titian,10and most
scholarsacceptthatattributionas well as a date of around 1565 forthe
drawing.Konrad Oberhuber,in 1976, may have been the firstto have
proposeda themeforTitian'slandscape,whenhe suggestedthatit might
be an allegoryof Sloth leadingto Lust." Clark Hulse venturedfurther
and arguedthatthe subject is Venus mourningthe death of Adonis.12
Both Oberhuber'sand Hulse'ssuggestionshold clues to Titian'ssubject,
which I propose is a unique renditionof Lot and His Daughters-a
themewhose pictorialmetamorphoseshave touched on Lust and have
alludedto aspectsofVenus.
Beforeproceedingwith support formy identificationof Titian's
drawingas a renditionof Lot and His Daughters, it is importantto
reviewthe biblical account of Lot in Genesis 19.13 The storybegins
when Lot welcomestwo men-angelsand offersthemhospitality.Sod-
ornitessurroundLot's house and presshim to hand over the visitors
whom theywantto violate.Lot triesto stop them,and evenoffers them
his virgindaughters,but the Sodomitescontinueto pressforthe male
visitorsuntilGod intervenes and strikesthe Sodomitesblind. Then the
angels warn Lot that God will destroySodom and the otherwickedcit-
ies, thatLot must leave Sodom withhis family, and theymustnot look
back. Lot agrees,but he tellsGod thathe is afraidto live on themoun-
tain,and he begs God to save the littletownof Segorand let themlive
there.Lot stressesitssmallsize: "Thereis thiscityhereat hand,to which
6Walsh, 177.
7Kirnmelman, B 12.
'Shaw,1984,456.
9Strong,14, no. 59.
"Shaw, 1969-70, no. 68.
"
Oberhuber,104, no. 46.
12
Hulse, 29-38.
13
Biblical citationsand quotationsthroughoutthisessayare fromthe Douay trans-
lation.
TITIAN IS PASTORAL SCENE 831
I mayflee,it is a littleone, and I shallbe savedin it: is it not a littleone,

and mysoul shall live?"God agreesto save Segor,but he urgesLot and
his familyto quicklyfleethere. Then God sends brimstoneand fireto
destroythewickedcitiesand theirinhabitants.Lot's wifedisobeys,she
looks back, and is turned into a statue (pillar) of salt. The biblical
account reportsthatLot suddenlybecomes afraidto stayin Segor,but
no reason is given. Lot, the biblical storycontinues, thus takes his
daughtersto liveon themountainin a cave. Believingthatno maleshad
survivedto perpetuatethehumanrace,theelderdaughterconvincesher
youngersisterthattheyshould make theirfatherdrunkwithwine,then
withouthis knowledgeeach shouldhaveincestuoussexwithhim to pre-
servehis seed. On two successivenightseach daughterlayswith Lot,
and each becomes pregnant.The older daughterbears a son called
Moab, the youngera son called Ammon, and the two sons fatherthe
Moabite and Ammonitetribes.
The biblical storyitselfand its inconsistencies,mixturesof pagan
myths,and varyingbiblicalstrandsofdifferent authorsneed not concern
us. Once fixed in text, the story remained virtuallyas we know it now,
although its Christian, Jewish,and Muslim exegetes and artistsviewed
the storyin varied ways. Lot was most oftenseen as virtuous, a victim of
fate, or a victim of women's wiles. The daughters were frequently
excused for their acts, seen rather as a team that functioned like other
paired matriarchssuch as Sarah and Hagar, Leah and Rachel, Ruth and
Naomi. They cooperated to exploit a male target,sometimes with drink,
but always with their sexuality,and ostensibly to promote a patriarchal
line. Notably Lot's daughters have sons, although their descendants, the
Moabites and Ammonites, became persistentenemies of Israel.
Titian undoubtedly knew the biblical storyas we know it today, and
so our primaryquestion is, how does the Titian drawing reflectthis bib-
lical story? FirstI will offera verybriefoutline of the drawing's elements
that suggest a version of Lot and His Daughters; later I will present argu-
ment and documentation to support these suggestions.
The large, half naked woman in the rightforeground is one of Lot's
daughters; the two small figuresrestingor sleeping beneath the trees are
Lot and his other daughter; the thatched houses in the middle leftrepre-
sent the littletown of Segor where Lot firstfled; the sheep representlive-
stock that Lot brought out of Sodom, as do the boar and goat; the boar
and goat, however,also serve as symbols of lust and lechery; and the dis-
tant citywith burning buildings in the citys rightquarter is Sodom.
To grasp the significance of Titian's choices and to understand his
innovative iconography, an abbreviated overview of how the theme of
Lot and His Daughtersevolvedin thevisualartsis essential.Lot'sseduc-

tion by his daughterswas not a particularly popular themein medieval
art. Artistssometimesavoided the indelicatestoryof Lot's seduction
and concentratedon Lot's flight,the destructionof Sodom, and the
transformation of Lot'swifeinto a pillarof salt. For example,on a folio.
froman Englishmanuscriptof about 1250 (fig.2), we see the destruc-
tion of Sodom, itsdyinginhabitants, Lot'swifeas a statue(indicatedby
ellipticaldesignson herbody), and in the upperrightthe hand of God
pushing Lot forward,a sign of divine liberation. A slightlydifferent
approachto the themeis portrayedon a folioin the Psalterof St. Louis
of about the same date, but again with no allusion to the daughters'
seductionof Lot." On thatfoliotwo angelsare helpingto destroythe
wickedcitiesby miraculouslytumblingbuildings,and the transforma-
tion of Lot'swifeis indicatedbyherimageportrayed all in gray.
Emphasis on the same eventsappear frequentlyas a themein the
Speculum humanae where
salvationis, Lot'sliberationfromSodom is cou-
pled withAbraham'sliberationfromUr, the latteran eventrelatedby
PeterComestor in his Historiascholastics.Althoughthe images vary,
theyemphasizeLot's flight,the destructionof Sodom, and the transfor-
mation of Lot's wifeinto a statue,as exemplifiedin the Kremsmiinster
15
manuscriptof about 1330 (fig.3).
Similarchoices appear on a folioin a GermanUniversalChronicle
of about 1375-1380 (fig.4)," which displaysthe noveltyof an empty
outline to representLot's wifeas a statue. Some artistsavoided Lot's
seductionby eliminatingportrayalof any partof thebiblicalaccountof
Lot; a notableexampleis itstotalabsencein the Queen Mary'sPsalter.17
.
Althoughinfrequently portrayedin medieval art,Lot's seduction
does indeed tur'n up. In theVienna Biblemoralisde, c. 1250, thebiblical
accountof Lot appearsin two roundersat thetop of folio5 recto.In the
top leftroundel(fig.5)" are the destructionof the city,Lot's flight,and
the wife'stransformation, her change representedas a nude. The dis-
tinctdrawingof the,-wife's breastsand thegraphicdepictionof hergeni-
taliaaccentuatethatnudity.Lot'sseductionappearsin therightroundel
"
Thomas, folio 9 versoon pl. 9.
15See the
facsimile,Speculumhumanae salvationis,Codex Cremifanensis 243; for
additionalexamples,see Wilson and Wilson, 33 and 195.
16
For a briefnoticeabout thismanuscript,see PierpontMorganLibrary.
" British
LibraryRoyal MS. 2 B.vii. The absence of any such imageryis readily
observedin the facsimile;see Warner.
"Bible moralisie,plate IO.
TITIAN'S PASTORAL SCENE 833
(fig. 6), representedby his two daughtersembracinghim and by Lot

responding,his armsaroundeach girl.
A different approach to Lot's seduction occurs in the fourteenth-
century French Bible ofjean de Sy." ContemporizedimagerytellsLot's
story, which begins folio 27 versowhereLot leavesSodom withhis
on
wifeand daughters.Next,on folio29 verso,at the leftside of the pic-
ture,Lot'swifeis turningback,whileat the rightside one of the daugh-
tersis depictedoffering.drink to Lot. The seductionitselfappears on
folio30 recto(fig.7). Againone daughterservesdrinkto Lot, hereat the
picture'scenter,while the two nightsof incestuoussex are portrayedas
thoughtheyoccurredsimultaneously:Lot is in bed withone daughter
at theleft,and withtheotherdaughterin anotherbed at the right.
A Bavarianversionof Lot's seduction occurs in a WeItchronikof
about 1405-1410.2' Lot's flightwithhis daughtersand his wifetrans-
formedinto a pillarof salt are portrayedon folio 31 verso;then on 32
recto(fig.8), two sequentialscenesreportLot'sseduction. One daugh-
teroffersdrinkto Lot in theleftscene,whileat the right,Lot is in bed
withone daughteras theotherdaughterholdshersister'shand,a gesture
meantto show how one daughter- perhapsthe elder- encouraged
theother.
A fullportrayalof the storyof Lot, includinghis seduction, also
21
occursin the fourteenth-century EnglishEgertonGenesis. Yet even in
thelate fifteenthcenturythethemedid not haveuniversalappeal. Albre-
cht DUrer,forexample,seems not to have had a tasteforthe scabrous
subject. His portrayalof Lot and His DaughtersFleeingfiomSodomand
Gomorrahof about 1498 (fig. 9)22 revealstraditionalelementsof Lot's
withsmallfig-
storyin a realisticmode. The flightappearsas a narrative
uresin a spaciouslandscape. The cityis burstingintobrightflameswith
smoketallerthanthebuildings;Lot and the two daughtersare carrying
bundles,distaff,and a coffer;but thereis no seductionscene. Ddrer's
naturalisticrealism enhances the biblical story,but something has
changed. Lot'swifeis no longerof centralimportance.Ddrer has rele-
gatedherto thedistantbackgroundas a tinydarkfigureon a mountain
"
Bibliothe'queNationale MS. fr.15397. For commentsabout thismanuscript,see
Meiss, pages listedin vol. 2 index;and Les Fastesdu Gothique,325-26.
2'
For a descriptionof the manuscript,its provenance,and some bibliography,see
"Acquisitions1988," 116-19.
2'British LibraryMS. Egerton 1894. To reviewthe imagery,see the facsimileby
James;and see Sandler,2:143.
22
For a color reproduction,commentsabout the painting,and bibliography,see
Gothicand Renaissance Artin Nuremberg, 276 and 278.
path, a shiftof emphasisthatis reflectedin laterexamples,forhence-

forthLot's wiferarelydisplaysher earlierprominence,and sometimes
she is simplynot represented.
With or withoutthe seductionscene, the Lot storybecame one of
the Old Testamentsubjectsportrayedwithincreasingfrequencyin the
sixteenthcentury.JoachimPatinir,forexample,thoughnot interested
in Lot's seduction,createdseveralversionsof the biblical storyin dra-
maticlandscapesettings.' The themeof Lot's seduction,however,did
achievegreatsuccessin thesixteenthcenturywhen decoroustreatment
of the biblicalstorymoved rapidlytowardthe sensuousaspectsof Lot's
seduction.Eroticappeal took priority,thoughtheindividualartistdeter-
mined the degreeof eroticism.Moreover,the biblicalconceptof Lot as
an innocentvictimchanged,forhe was showneithera happilycompli-
ant figureor an aggressiveseducer.For example,Jande Cock, another
Flemish artistinterestedin settingthe storyin a spacious landscape,
includedtheseduction,and he highlighted it withthe themesof drink-
ingand physicalcontact(fig.10)." One daughterpoursdrinkat theleft;
the jug and pitcher in the foregroundcenter suggest a connection
betweendrinkand lechery;and the otherdaughter,seductivelydressed
in a deep decollate',embracesLot, who respondswithlude caresses,his
excitementrevealedby the swellingcod piece visibleunderhis opened
coat.
Lucas Cranach, who repeatedlyportrayedbiblical women such as
Salome and Judith,also producedmultipleversionsof Lot's seduction,
similarto theone reproducedhere(fig.11)." Cranachrelegatedmostof
thebiblicalstoryto thedistantbackground- theburningcity,tinyfig-
uresin flight,and Lot'swifeas a statue- and he emphasizedtheseduc-
tion,placingthethreemaincharacters in theforeground.One daughter
plies Lot with drink,the otherembraceshis head, and Lot enjoys the
drinkand thesexualadvances.
Lucas van Leydenexecutedseveralpaintingsand at leasttwo prints
of Lot and His Daughters- striking evidenceofthetheme'spopularity.
Althoughhe depictedthe entirebiblicalstoryin the paintings,exempli-
fiedbytheone reproducedhere(fig.12),2' he featuredtheseduction. In
" For vol. 9, pt. 2, plate 21 1.

example,see Friedhinder,
24
Ca. 1520-30. The artistis identifiedas CornelisCorneliszin Von der Osten and
Vey,179-80.
25
Dated 1529. Photo courtesyof the museurn.
26
vol. 10, plate
Photo courtesyof R.M.N. For additionalexamples,see Friedhinder,
93.
thispaintingthe seductionappearsin the foreground in frontof a tent.

One daughterpourswine whileLot sitsnextto his otherdaughter,and
herehe is theseducer. He aggressively
reachesabout theneckand shoul-
dersof his daughterwithone armand holdsherlefthand withhis other
arm,and - significantly - hereit is Lot who offersdrink.
Lucas's engraving of Lot and His Daughters, 1530 (fig. 13)27 goes
much further. Voluptuous nudity and flamboyant, seductive gestures
dominate the scene, overpowering the tiny background allusions to the
rest of the biblical account. Not even Jan Massys in his sensuous, bac-
chanalian versions of the theme went as far as Lucas. Lucas's engraving
anticipates the salacious portrayalsof a later date, such as those by Golt-
zius, Spranger, and Carraci as represented, for example, by Agostino
Carraci's engraving (fig. 14). 21
Frans Floris's treatmentsof Lot and His Daughters sizzle with unin-
hibited sexuality. In the Dresden painting (fig. 15)21 one of Lot's daugh-
ters, seductively naked except for a draped cloth that covers the lower
part of her body, extends her arms around her father,who, seated close
to her, appears submissive. The other daughter, placed furtherback, is
asleep.
The Hermitage painting3l suggests that any moral significance that
Floris intended must have been lost on the painting'sviewers. Floris bra-
zenly portrayedLot as a libidinous old lecher seducing one of his daugh-
ters. The artist seems to have been unconcerned about the painting's
shameless sexuality,for the imagery provokes viewers to concentrate on
Lot's lascivious appetite, an appetite accentuated by the portrayalof Lot
liftinghis daughter'sblouse with one arm to expose her breast and reach-
ing with his other arm to caress it. The other daughter has also been
brought into the foreground,shown asleep on a bed just to the rightand
behind Lot.
Albrecht Altdorferunhesitatinglyportrayed the seduction as a racy
scene of incestuous sex (fig. 16). 31 It is difficultto know who is seducing
whom. In the foreground, Lot and one daughter are both nude, the
daughter shown on top of Lot and between his legs. The other daughter
17
Photo courtesyof the museum. For comments,see jacobowitz and Stepanek,
238, no. 98.
21
Photo courtesyof the museum.
29
31St. The HermitageMuseum. For a finecolor reproduction,see Niku-
Petersburg,
lin, plate 196.
3
1537. Photo courtesyof the museum. For a color reproduction of an
1Dated
enlargeddetail of the otherdaughter,see Winzinger,plate 55a.
in the middlebackgroundis nude too. Exceptforthefirein thedistant

background,Altdorfer did not depictanyotherpartofthebiblicalstory;
he even excluded Lot's wife. Italian art revealsa similarinterestin the
eroticaspectsoftheseductionofLot, exemplified byBonifaziode'Pitati's
Lot and His Daughtersof c. 1545 (fig. 17),3' about which I will have
moreto saylater.
In sum, by the middleof thesixteenthcenturythe biblicaleventof
Lot seducedbyhis daughtershad becomea sensuousthemewhichartists
allegedlyused to warn viewersthatlust and venerywere the cause of
mankind'sills,butwhichtheyalso used as an excuseforuninhibitedpor-
trayalsof eroticsexuality.
33
But how then does Titian's drawing(fig. 1) fitinto the pictorial

developmentof thethemeof Lot and His Daughters?No paralleltreat-
mentof the themematchesTitian'sversion.Titian did not use thecom-
mon topoi of drinkingand embracing,and he did not portraythetheme
withovertlyeroticor scabrouselements.Yeta close look at theelements
in Titian'sdrawingwillconfirmthatTitiandid portraythebiblicalstory,
includingLot and His Daughters,but in a novelway. To validatethis
identification of Titian'ssubjectI would now like to returnto the brief
outlineI presentedearlier.
Thelarge,ha'naked woman.She is, I suggested,one of Lot'sdaugh-
ters.She is undressing,preparingto have incestuoussex withLot. I am
not thefirstto suggestthatshe is undressing.The lateJamesByamShaw,
one of the foremostTitian drawingsexperts,describedheras "a woman
disrobing(?).1134 Most importantand significant,however,is that the
woman)s coveredhead and especiallyher coveredface,servesa double
purpose:it showsherdisrobingbeforehavingsex,and at the same time
it functionsas a sign of shame,because coveringthe facehas servedas a
ubiquitoussignof shame. She is seatedon, and leaning
31
time-honored,
against, the rocky side of a small hill, which, I suggest, is meant to repre-
sent the place where Lot and his daughters finally found refuge after
leaving the little town of Segor.
The twofigures beneath the trees. I identified these figures as Lot and
his other daughter resting or sleeping under the trees. Commentators
32
Photo courtesyof the museum.For commentson thispainting,see Harrison,12.
33
In connectionwiththe popularityof Lot and His Daughtersin the sixteenthcen-
tury,see Smith.I am indebtedto KeithMoxey forthisreference.
34
Shaw,1984,456.
3'
During a conversationwith me about the Titian drawing,SalvatoreSettissug-
gestedthe same double significanceforthewoman'scoveredface.
havevariedin theiridentification ofthesex ofthesetwo figures, because,

as Clark Hulse pointedout, theyare "so sketchilydrawnthatit is diffi-
cult to tell who theyare and what theyare doing."36 Hulse was con-
vinced that the one with his back against the treewas male, but he
thought that the otherfiguremightbe male or femalebecause it was
CC 1131
morefullycoiffed. I agreethatthefigureagainstthetreeis male,and
I would add that the sketchinessof the man makes it impossible to
determinehis age, whetherhe is young,middle-aged,or old. Further-
more,I would arguethatthe otherfigureis female,not onlybecause of
the figure's coiffure, but also because of the heavythighsand tuckedup
knees thatmirror,in reverse,the thighsand positionof the largehalf-
nakedwoman in the foreground.Hulse also suggestedthatifthesetwo
are male and female,theymay be none otherthan Venus and Adonis
CC
takingtheirease afterlovemaking."38 Yes indeed,"takingtheirease after
lovemaking" - but substitute Lot and a daughterforAdonisand Venus.
Recall the sleepingdaughterrepresentedin FransFloris'spaintings,as
herein fig.15.
Why,however,would Titian choose to use such tinyfiguresin the
backgroundto portraya centraleventsuch as Lot and his daughtertak-
ing theirease afterlovemaking?Titian was not the only artistof his
period to use tinyfiguresin a spacious landscape to portrayimportant
religiousevents.Giorgione,a pioneeroflandscapepaintingin Italy,sub-
ordinatedthe figuresof saintsin his SunsetLandscapewithSt. Roch,St.
George,and St. Anthony, of ca. 1504 (fig. 18).3' The landscape reveals
episodes from the saints' lives,but theyare not easyto distinguish:Saint
Roch is in theforeground, wherehis companionis treatinghis legendary
plague-diseasedleg; Saint George and his dragonappear in the middle
rightin frontofa rockyhill;SaintAnthonyis almosthiddenin therocks
at the farright,withhis famousattribute, a pig,showncomingout of a
hole in the rocks below; and one of the monstrous creatureswho
temptedAnthonyappearsin themiddleforeground.
Titian'sown workdemonstrates thathe did not hesitateto place sig-
nificanteventshidden in a deep background. Boldrini'swoodcut of
Titian'slost drawingof St.Jeromeand TwoLions in theWilderness (fig.
16
Hulse, 35.
37
Ibid.
31
Ibid.
39
19) is exemplary.41Its major theme- Saint Jeromepraying- is so

smalland placed so farback thatit is barelynoticeable,whereasin con-
trastthelions in theforeground arehuge.
Thethatched houses.Netherlandish artistsfrequentlyplaced thestory
of Lot in a spaciouslandscapesetting,as did AlbrechtDdrer. Titian also
chose a landscape settingforthe biblicalstory,but he may be the only
artistto have portrayedthe biblicalSegor- the small place whereLot
and his daughtersfirstfled- as a groupof thatchedhouses. Although
the biblicalaccountdoes not specifya villagewiththatchedhouses,and
althoughit suggestsa townratherthana village,recallthe emphasison
the smallnessof the littletownwhen Lot beggedGod to save it so that
he could live therebecause he was afraidto live on the mountain. To
repeatLot's description:"it is a littleone, and I shallbe saved in it: is it
not a littleone?" Titian maytherefore havechosenthatchedhousesas a
simple visual of
way distinguishing the small townofSegorfromthecity
of Sodom.
Theanimals. The sheepas well as theboar and goat,I've suggested,
represent livestockthatLot broughtout of Sodom. Althoughthesheep,
boar,and goat are not preciselythesame animalsthatartistssuch as Jan
de Cock portrayed in showingLot leavingSodom withhislivestock(fig.
10), Titian'sanimalsservedthesame purpose. The boar and thegoat in
Titian'sdrawing,however,are not merelypartof the narrative;theyalso
have a significantsymbolicfunction,and theirprominentplace at the
center foregroundhas not escaped the attention of commentators.
David Rosand wrote,"Like the satyr,the goat could add a contrasting
note to the placid flock:along witha menacingboar and an enigmatic
sleepingnude, it underminesthe shaded reposeof noontime."41Clark
Hulse suggestedthatthe goat "represents desire,"thatthe animals "do
not serveany narrativefunction,"and thattheseanimals embodied a
double significanceforVenus.4' And perhaps Konrad Oberhuber's
observationof the animals is what led him to suggestthatthe strange
sleepingwoman "watchedoverby a greatboar" may be an "allegoryof
thesloththatleads to lechery."43
I agree 'Withboth Hulse and Oberhuber thatVenus and Lust are
involved,but in the contextof Lot and His Daughters. The goat and
40
Photo courtesyof the museum. For commentsabout thiswoodcut, see Rosand
and Muraro, 146 and 148; see also Wethey,49 and 237, no. X-33.
41 Rosand, 1988, 77.
42
Hulse, 33.
43
Oberhuber,104, cat. no. 46.
theboar,ancientand commonplacesymbolsof Lust,wereknownto all.

Titian, undoubtedlyfamiliarwiththatsymbolismand acquaintedwith
thestoryof Lot and His Daughtersas a themeof Lust and Venery,gave
thegoat and theboar a majorplace in his drawing.
The distantcity. The domed and spired buildings in the back-
ground,markedbyburningbuildingsin therightquarter,as I suggested,
representthe cityof Sodom. That it is indeed a cityon fireis corrobo-
ratedby othercommentators who also remarkedthatthe distantcityin
Titian's drawingis a cityon fire.Clark Hulse wrote,"Over the right
44
quarterofthecityrisethickcolumnsofsmokefroma mysterious fire";
Michael Kimmelmancommentedthat"thewholesceneis setagainstthe
backdrop of a burningcity";45 and ByamShaw prophetically statedthat
CC
the greatcityin the distanceseemsto be on fire(can it be Sodom?). ,41
No otherbiblical or historicalcityon firehas been suggested,and my
searchforsome othersignificant cityon firehas provedfruitless.Shaw
was rightto suggestit is indeedSodom.
If Titian'sdrawingrepresents Lot and His Daughters,whydid later
copyists make unusualchangesand additions?An engravingdated after
1565, completedsoon afterTitian'sdrawing(fig.20) and attributedto
BattistaAngolo del Moro,47 showsalmostthe same landscape,animals,
and backgroundsceneas Titian'sdrawing.Yetit cannotbe a directcopy
made fromTitian'sdrawingbecauseit does not have thereversecompo-
sition that a printwould normallyhave. Some other artist- still
unknown- devisedcuriouschangesthatthiscopyistmusthave used.
The half-nakedwoman in the foregroundof the Titian drawinghas
been replacedby a fully-clothed male,but theartisthas represented him
in the same positionas thewoman in Titian'sdrawing.The man'shead
and face are covered too, again paralleling Titian's covering of the
woman'shead and face,but his faceand head are coveredby his raised
armand his hat,not byshowinghimdisrobing;and theartisthas unam-
biguously depicted both figuresunder the trees as men. But most
remarkableand significant are the two rabbitsthe artisthas added in a
prominentplace in the foreground just to therightof thepig.
just as peculiar is the pen and brown ink drawingin the Rennes
"
Hulse, 36.
45
Kimmelman,B 12.
46
Shaw,1984,456.
47
Photo courtesyof themuseum.See Hulse, 36, n. 21, who statesthatthisattribu-
tion is by Konrad Oberhuber.
museum (fig. 21), also allegedly a copy of the Titian drawing-48

Strangelyit does displaya reversecomposition- a bizarrereverse, since
in thiscase it is a drawingand not a print. If based on Titian'soriginal,
sincethisis a drawingand not a print,it shouldhavethesame composi-
tion as Titian's. Nonetheless,the change of the women into men and
theconspicuousadditionof thetwo rabbitsappearheretoo.
The late engravingby Lefebreof 1682 (fig. 22)4'also lacks the
reversecomposition that a printwould have displayed if based on
Titian's original. Yet it too revealsthe same changes and the curious
additionofthetworabbits.The compositionalcomplicationsassociated
withthecopies- theprintsand thedrawing- are not of greatimpor-
tance.What is essentialto keep in mind is thatno matterhow or when
the changesand additionsweremade, theyare significant. and interest-
ing becausetheyare thesame in all thecopies ofTitian'sdrawingexcept
foran incompletedrawingin theUffZi.50
Why thesechangesand the additionof the rabbits? Did thatfirst
copyisthave difficulty interpretingTitian'sdrawing? Or did he know
perfectly wellthatthesubjectofTitian'sdrawingwas thebiblicalstoryof
Lot yetchose to changethewomen into men and to add the rabbitsto
theforeground?
All of the changes,but especiallythe conspicuous addition of the
rabbits,suggestshumorousgamesmanship.The rabbit(or hare), like
thegoat and boar,was an old symbolof fecundity and lust.51 In ancient
times the hare was worshipedalmost universallyforits fertility, and
throughthemiddleagesand eventoday,haresand rabbitsareconsidered
libidinous.
The artistwho introducedthe rabbitsand placed themin the fore-
groundamplifiedthe meaningof thegoat and boar as signsof lust and
venery.He surelyknewthe associationof rabbitswithlust,as it was so
common in Italianworksof art.Pisanello'sdrawing,"Allegoryof Lust"
52
(fig.23), forexample,revealsa nude woman withwild hair,a savage
femalewho personifies Lust. The rabbitat herfeetis an accompanying
sign that her
emphasizes lasciviousnature.
"
Photographcourtesyof themuseum.See Wethey'scomments,163.
"
Photograph courtesy of the Fondation Custodia Institut Ne'erlandais. See
Wethey,idem.
" See
Wethey,idem.
" For brief
descriptionsof the symbolicmeaningsof the hare and rabbit,see Row-
land, 88-93 and 133-35; and Friedmann,286-88.
12
Photographcourtesyof the museum.
The relationshipof rabbitswith libidinoussex and fecundityalso

appears in Piero di Cosimo's Mars and Venus."A sleepingMars and a
dazed Venus suggest moments followinglovemaking,while Cupid
(under the leftarm of Venus) and the rabbit,which looks overVenus's
hip and nuzzles Cupid's hand, emphasize the sexual characterof the
scene.Paul Barolskypointedout thattheLatinforrabbit,cuniculus, was
oftenused in the Renaissanceto pun on the femalepudenda, cunnus,
and he suggestedthat the proximityof the rabbitto the pudenda of
54
Venusin Piero'spaintingis a similarreference.
Titian himselfused rabbitsin a sexualcontextin his Sacredand Pro-
fane Love. He portrayedtwo rabbitsin theleftbackground,and in the
55
backgroundlandscape on the righthe representeda rabbithunt. The

rabbithuntitselfhad sexualimplications.
Thus, althoughsome unknowncopyistchanged the women into
men, thatartist'saddition of the rabbitsto the foregroundprovideda
giveawayclue. Did latercopyistsunderstandthe changesand the addi-
tion of the rabbits?Or did theyslavishlyrepeatthatfirstcopy,neither
knowingTitian'sdrawingnorthenatureofTitian'ssubject?
But to returnto Titian'sdrawing(fig. 1). What was Titian'spur-
pose? Was he moralizing? Or does his drawingsuggestsubtle humor
and irony?Titian'sLaocobn caricaturethatwe know throughBoldrini's
-
co y demonstrates thatTitian himselfwas capable of sharpsatire,forhe
changed Laoco6n and his sons into apes.56 Titian was sympatheticto
colleaguesand friendswho freelyparodiedeverything.His long, unin-
terruptedfriendship withPietroAretino,a man famedforhis loose life
and indecent poetry,certainlyemphasizesthe devil-may-careside of
Titian'slifestyle.
The possibilitythatsubtlehumorcould lie behindTitian'sdrawing
is indirectlyreinforcedby Bonifaziode'Pitati'spaintingof Lot and His
Daughters(fig.17), whichshowshow humorand parodyhad creptinto
the portrayalof thatthemebyTitian'stime. I will not attemptto ana-
lyze Bonifazio'spainting,forI -onlywant to point out some novel fea-
turesthatrevealhumor. Bonifazioportrayed thetraditionalLot storyof
the departurefromSodom, the fire,and Lot'swifeturningback,but he
53
The paintingis in the GemAdegalerie,Berlin.For a reproduction,see Barolsky,
45.
5'
Barolsky,44-45.
55
The paintingis in the Galleria Borghese,Rome. See the reproductionin Panof-
sky,fig.128.
51
See Barolsky,174-75.
featuredLot's seductionin the foreground.One daughtertemptsLot

with wine and with her body,while the otherdaughtersits holding a
mirror,an attributethatcould symbolizePrudenceor could stand for
Vanityand Lust. Her dressis lowered,seductively displayinghershoul-
der,and the two puttiwho playbehindhersuggestsexuallove - espe-
ciallythe maskedputtowho maysymbolizeJocus,a typeof personified
Folly.These elementscharacterizeher as a sign of Lust, not Prudence.
What is particularlyhumorous,however,is the satirethatthe masked
putto indicates,forhe revealsBonifazioparodyingLot, poking funof
him as an old, uglylecher.
Bonifazio'spaintingdoes not,to be sure,explainTitian'sdrawing.It
does, however,suggestthe mood and ambience of its time and place.
Titian's drawingmay,therefore, have been meant as humorous,even
satiricalcomment.Yetno matterwhetherTitian'sdrawingwas meantas
subtle humor,parody,or straightforward reporting,Titian createdan
originalscheme to portraythe storyof Lot. This is not so surprising.
AnyonefamiliarwithSalvatoreSettis'sbrilliantand engrossingbook -
Giorgione'sTempest: Interpreting theHidden Subject" - will recognize
that Titian's drawingwould have appealed to the "taste for cryptic
images"of thelearnedItalianaristocrats thatSettisdescribesin fascinat-
ing detail. PerhapsTitian'sdrawingwas meantto be a typeof "hidden
subject,"devised,as Settissuggests,"toplease onlya few."58
Furthermore,as Settis emphasizes,the task of fittinga religious
theme into this kind of art use was particularlycomplex, because a
Christianthemehad such a fixediconographicorthodoxy,determined
bytheologicalconcernsand bythepublic'sChristianeducation. As Set-
tis puts it, "The codificationof iconographyforreligioussubjectsmust
havebeen that,muchmoreforceful forbeingacceptedas servingthetrue
Christian faith. Equally, it was that much more difficultto dare to
59
choose a Christianthemeas a way ofexpressing personalthoughts."
Titianwould indeednot havebeen fearful ofsuch daring. His work
is replete with iconographic inventions and novel interpretations.
Titian'sPresentation oftheVirginin theTemple,forexample,containsa
plethora of remarkableinnovations.Amongthemis theunusualold egg
woman seated in frontof the wall of the templestairs. David Rosand
wrote about her, "The working of Titian's imagination is perhaps
nowhere more clearlyin evidence than in the figureof the old egg
17
Settis.
'8
Ibid., 128.
"
Ibid., 129-30.
3360
woman. Taking a cue from PanofsWs description of her as a "symbol
of unconverted Judaism, 116' Rosand went further and demonstrated that
62
the old egg woman is in fact a personification of Synagogue.
Panofsky stressed Titian's inventiveness again and again. He pointed
out, for example, that although Titian relied heavily on Ovid, he did not
hesitate to supplement the text or change its essential meaning, and he
felt free to use all kinds of visual models, ancient or modern, yet
remained independent of the countless illustrated editions, translations,
and paraphrases of the Metamorphoses. Panofsky underscored this obser-
vation when he wrote of Titian's Diana Surprised by Actaeon: "In essence,
however, Titian's beautiful and sinister composition is not significantly
indebted to any previous illustration of the Actaeon myth, and it differs
from all of them ... But just what looks like a triumph of poetic license
is in reality the triumph of an imagination fertilized by attentive reading
and intelligent thought."63
To create his novel version of the old theme of Lot and His Daugh-
ters, Titian must have analyzed the story 3s component elements, dis-
carded a few of those elements, added some new ones, and shifted the
emphasis on others. He eliminated Lot's wife, who had been increas-
ingly pushed into the background by other artists such as Albrecht
Ddrer (fig. 9), or even deleted as Albrecht Altdorfer had done (fig. 16).
Titian also rejected the popular topoi of drinking and physical contact in
the seduction scene. He changed and added novel elements. His por-
trayal of the daughter disrobing was outrageously innovative, as was his
placing Lot and his other daughter deep in the background, resting after
their sexual encounter. And although other artists had included animals
as part of Lot's flock, none had portrayed a huge goat and boar, and
placed them prominently in the front of the picture. Yet many of
Titian's contemporaries, especially his erudite friends and fellow artists,
would have responded to the ample hints and would have recognized
that the subject of the drawing was Lot and His Daughters.
Even some of Titian's modern interpreters have observed elements in
the drawing that suggest this theme. Michael Kimmelman and Clark
Hulse both remarked that a fire rages in the picture's background, and
Byam Shaw went further with his question, "Can it be Sodorn?,16' and
60
Rosand, 1982, 111-18.
61
Panofsky,36-39.
62
Rosand, 1982, 111-18.
61
Panofsky,14o-4i.
64Kimmelman,B 12; Hulse, 36; and Shaw, 1984, 456.
his observationthatthewoman in the foreground seemedto be disrob-

ing. The goat and the boar,I noted,also provokedinterestand several
moderncommentators havesuggestedthattheseanimalsperforma sym-
bolic function- Oberhuberthattheypointto an allegoryof Lust,and
Hulse thattheyallude to aspectsoftheVenusand Adonistheme.65
Moreover,the bizarrecopies of Titian's drawing that reveal the
women changedinto men and the additionof two rabbitssuggeststhat
at least the firstcopyist knew that Titian's subject was Lot and His
Daughters. The rabbitsare particularlysignificantsince theyamplify
theconnotationsoflustand fecundity associatedwiththegoat and boar.
G a-ibor the
Klaniczaysuggested interesting possibilitythat Titianhimself
was thatfirst"copyist,"and thatTitianmade thosechangesas a humor-
ous prank.66 If so, Titian'soriginaldrawingwas itselfa satire.
In sum, Titian, a remarkablyinventiveartist,drew a new and
unique versionof Lot and His Daughters.It is but one moreexampleof
his inventiveness, his stunningabilityto createan iconographicvaria-
tion,a unique versionof an ancienttheme.
LOS ANGELES
" Oberhuber,104; andHulse,33.

" GAbor aftermylecture
Klaniczayoffered duringa discussion
thatinterpretation
abouttheTitiandrawing October1995).
(Budapest,
APPENDIX: TITIAN"S PASTORAL SCENE 845
Appendix o Figures
It
FIGURE Ia. Detail, drawing by Titian. Los Angeles, J.Paul Getty Museum.
or,
FIGURE lb. Detail, drawing by Titian. Los Angeles, JPaul Getty Museum.
cz, AW
AW
fff[
FIGURE I c. Detail, drawing by Titian. Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum.
Zz.
....... ......... V .4
.. . .... .
..
<
.-rem.
FIGURE Id. Detail, drawing by'ritian. Los Angeles, J.Paul Getty Museum.
APPENDIX: TITIAN"S PASTORAL SCENE 847
........... ---
-------
---
-
dr.
........
.....
f
W
0) vr-fl,
.............
.... . ... .......
......
FIGURE 2. Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery. MS. 196, folio 4 recto.
commitvo,%!- t-,I
Li W
Kremsmiinster
FIGURE3. Kremsmiinster, 243, folio37.
Cod. Cremifanensis
tIn,
MS. 769, folio44 recto.

FIGURE4. NewYork,MorganLibrary.
APPENDIX: TMAN'S PASTORAL SCENE 849
.;k
FIGURE5. Vienna,BiblemoraWe,OsterreichischeNationalbibliothek.
Codex
Vindobonensis
2554,folio5 recto,topleftroundel.
Ax
FIGURE6. Vienna,Biblemorafisie,Osterreichische Codex

Nationalbibliothek.
2554,folio5 recto,toprightroundel.
Vindobonensis
CA
Ak.
zo
t-:
aN
cfl)
vl
771
7a
1-y
Al
APPENDIX: TITIAN'S PASTORAL SCENE 851
FIGURE8. Los Angeles, Paul GettyMuseum. MS. 33, folio32 recto.
FIGURE9. AlbrechtDiirer,Lot and His Daughters Sodomand

Fleeingfrom
Gomorrah. DC,
Washington, The National of
Gallery Art,SamuelKressCol-
lection.
t9
O
0-4
le
42
APPENDIX: TITIAN S PASTORAL SCENE 853
.11V
FIGURE I 1. Lucas Cranach, Lot and His Daughters Reeing. Bayerische Staats-
gemddesmmlunge, Munich.
NOM
i
FIGURE 12. Lucas van Leyden, engraving of Lot and His Daughters. Paris, Lou-
vre.
tl
.1402m.
.44
10
41
Bell
V-4
"ee F.
WA t
FIGURE 14. Agostino Carraci, engraving of Lot and His Daughters. New York,
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
FIGURE 15. Frans Floris, painting of Lot and His Daughters. Dresden, Staatli-
che Kunstsammlungen.
APPENDDC: TITIAN'S PASTORAL SCENE 857
06,
islands
FIGURE 17. Bonifazio de'Pitati, painting of Lot and His Daughters. Norfolk,
Virginia, Chrysler Museum.
_%Sol
FIGURE 18. Giorgione, Sunset Landscape with St. Roch, St. George, and St.
Anthony.London, National Gallery.
APPENDIX: TITLAN'S PASTORAL SCENE 859
4U-,
o
0
...
.............
7_
2IT
FIGURE 20. Drawing attributed to Battista Angolo del Moro. Vienna, Alber-
tina Graphische Sammlung.
M RE.
V_
2
is
ac
tl &X:y
vm,
".3
A
6
45e Joel,
qivo
FIGURE 21. Copy of Titian drawing. Rennes, Mus6e des Beaux-Arts de

Rennes.
%P
FIGURE 22. Lefebre, engraving. Paris, Fondation Custodia Institut N6erland-

ais.
.. ..... ....
RMV.
M.
,tk
A N
IN
FIGURE 23. Pisanello, drawing, A&gory ofLust. V`ienna, Albertina.
Bibliograp
"Acquisitions 1985." J. Paul Getty Meiss, Millard. FrenchPainting in the
Museumjournal 14 (1986): 234. Timeofjean de Berry.theLate Four-
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Columbia, Missouri,1978. Nikulin,Nikolai. Netherlandish Paintings
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de Charles V Catalogue. Paris, and RenaissanceManuscripts. New
1981-82. York,1974.
Friedhinder, Max J. EarlyNetherlandish- Panofsky,Erwin. Problems in Titian,
Painting. 14 vols. Leyden,1973. Mostly Iconographic. New York,
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CatalogueoftheCollections.Malibu, New Haven, 1982.
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1992. Robert C.Cafritz, Lawrence Gow-
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Titian's Pastoral Scene: A Unique Rendition of Lot and His Daughters

Author(s): Ruth Mellinkoff

TitiansdrawingcalledPastoralSceneorLandscapewitha SleepingNude andAnimals is no

ITIAN'S DRAWING CALLED Pastoral Scene or Landscape with a

'Now in the GettyMuseum, acquired in 1985. For provenanceand bibliography,

Renaissance Quarterly51 (1998): 829-63 [ 829 1

Walshthe directorof the Getty Museum, saw it "full of enigmatic

I mayflee,it is a littleone, and I shallbe savedin it: is it not a littleone,

Lot and His Daughtersevolvedin thevisualartsis essential.Lot'sseduc-

(fig. 6), representedby his two daughtersembracinghim and by Lot

path, a shiftof emphasisthatis reflectedin laterexamples,forhence-

" For vol. 9, pt. 2, plate 21 1.

thispaintingthe seductionappearsin the foreground in frontof a tent.

in the middlebackgroundis nude too. Exceptforthefirein thedistant

But how then does Titian's drawing(fig. 1) fitinto the pictorial

havevariedin theiridentification ofthesex ofthesetwo figures, because,

19) is exemplary.41Its major theme- Saint Jeromepraying- is so

theboar,ancientand commonplacesymbolsof Lust,wereknownto all.

museum (fig. 21), also allegedly a copy of the Titian drawing-48

The relationshipof rabbitswith libidinoussex and fecundityalso

backgroundlandscape on the righthe representeda rabbithunt. The

featuredLot's seductionin the foreground.One daughtertemptsLot

his observationthatthewoman in the foreground seemedto be disrob-

" Oberhuber,104; andHulse,33.

FIGURE I c. Detail, drawing by Titian. Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum.

FIGURE 2. Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery. MS. 196, folio 4 recto.

MS. 769, folio44 recto.

FIGURE6. Vienna,Biblemorafisie,Osterreichische Codex

FIGURE8. Los Angeles, Paul GettyMuseum. MS. 33, folio32 recto.

FIGURE9. AlbrechtDiirer,Lot and His Daughters Sodomand

FIGURE 21. Copy of Titian drawing. Rennes, Mus6e des Beaux-Arts de

FIGURE 22. Lefebre, engraving. Paris, Fondation Custodia Institut N6erland-

FIGURE 23. Pisanello, drawing, A&gory ofLust. V`ienna, Albertina.

. "Drawings from Chatsworth." Walsh,John."Acquisitions/1985."Thej

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