Aaron Cook

Instructor: Joyce Peterson

Western Art
09/04/16

Giorgione an artist in 1500s took advantage the new style that evolved in Venice through
sensual subject matter. The Sleeping Venus is a case at hand. Giorgione placed the Venus across
the entire length of the painting. She stretches one arm behind her head, making a long,
continuous slope of the body whose gentle curves echo the hills of the landscape behind and
suggest some form of connection between the female depicted and nature. Venus's looks are
heightened by her red lips and by the deep red velvet and white satin drapery upon which her
body laid on. she is asleep, so the issue of correctness is sidestepped. Her sleep suggests
dreaming and transport of the figure to another world. In the Sleeping Venus, an important share
has been assumed for Titian, especially in the landscape, where on the right a cupid has been
painted out. The open figures of that nature are usually create by Giorgione. The darks and lights
to create an illusion of three-dimensional look to. Giorgione fully took over the rich possibility of
creating the depth and details with the painting.

If compared with Titian's Venus of Urbino the differences between the two become very
clear since Titian has taken over the same pose and the Venus type almost verbatim from
Giorgione; they are differences of character and personality more than of time passed. If the

Sleeping Venus was actually completed by Titian, the main effect remains focused connected
with Giorgione's style, and one might also suppose that it falls chronologically near the end of
his short career, for we should assume that it was left unfinished at his death.
At the time of Tiziano Vercellis Venus of Urbino was showed off in 1583, Titian was a
renowned Italian artist, the controversy was minimal and it was received. Titian had actually
based his painting off of another Italian master, Giorgiones Sleeping Venus. Giorgiones painting
features a nude female sleeping in nature, among the hilly mountainous countryside. The
painting represented an idealized existence in harmony and beauty, in the majestic sleeping form
of a goddess. Titian took this image and transplanted her into the bedroom, as his work displayed
a nude female reclining against a couch. This Venus, however, was not sleeping. She was
casually relaxing, gazing indirectly at the viewers in quiet relaxed position. Titians Venus was
alluring in her soft, generous beauty. The painting as a whole was composed of subtle brush
strokes, done in precise details. Her warm, glowing tone was inviting while her averted gaze
was innocent but curious. Even though the painting was centered on the nude young woman, it
was divided in half by the background. Her legs were relatively short in proportion, while her
feet were tiny in size. The background was a separate room behind the couch, where two
servants were conjugated while a sleeping dog laid at her feet.
The difference of between awake and asleep is very interesting being that one you are
alert and aware of your surroundings whereas being asleep you are in a total or partial
unconsciousness and the inactivity of nearly all muscles. In conclusion, both artists take on the
Venus was immaculate and very well put together especially with the depth and the threedimensional look to it.