A Titian masterpiece once considered excessively lascivious is expected to fetch up to £12m when it is sold in December.
The painting by the celebrated 16th-century old master was one of a series depicting the tragic story of Venus and Adonis told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. It is the most important work by Titian to be sold this century, according to the auction house Sotheby’s.
Six versions were commissioned by Philip of Habsburg, later King Philip II of Spain, and were deemed by some – including the Spanish ambassador in Venice – to be “too lascivious”.
The paintings – known as “poesie”, or poem paintings – were created over 11 years, and are regarded as among the greatest achievements of Titian’s career.
Some of the surviving pictures hang in the world’s top galleries, including the Prado in Madrid, the Getty in Los Angeles, the National Gallery in London, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The painting, being sold at Sotheby’s in London on 7 December, was hidden from public sight for two centuries. Its owners included Prince Eugene of Savoy, a military commander and statesman of imperial Austria, and Benjamin West, who helped found the Royal Academy in 1768.
George Gordon, Sotheby’s co-chairman of old master paintings worldwide, said: “The subject of Venus and Adonis is justly celebrated as one of Titian’s most popular creations, sought out by collectors the world over ever since it was made famous by his ambitious commission for the future Philip II of Spain 470 years ago.
“One of the very finest of Titian’s renditions of this subject, it is only recent research, made possible by its re-emergence last year, that has revealed the full extent of the artist’s hand in the execution of this painting.”
Titian’s interpretation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses shows the goddess Venus parting company with Adonis, a young man of exceptional beauty with whom she had fallen in love after being accidentally pricked with one of Cupid’s arrows.
As Adonis sets off to hunt, Venus warns him against chasing dangerous beasts and implores him to stay. Her warning goes unheeded and the couple part. Adonis is soon fatally wounded by a boar. Venus arrives from Olympus in her chariot to find him bleeding to death.
