Titian’s Pastoral Painting

• In Event: Titian II

Abstract

The pastoral as a poetic category has been difficult to define in literary studies. Is it a genre or a mode? Does it possess a specific form? Is it defined by the presence of shepherds or a landscape or both? Such indeterminacy in framing the pastoral in poetry exerts pressure on how to articulate the pastoral in the visual arts. This paper considers the alignment (and possible misalignment) between pastoral poetry and painting and addresses if and how pastoral painting—and particularly Titian’s pastoral painting—follows the same objectives and agendas articulated for pastoral poetry.

Author

• Jodi Cranston, Boston University