Eleven Caesars

The ''Eleven Caesars'' was a series of eleven painted half-length portraits of Roman emperors made by Titian in 1536-40 for Federico II, Duke of Mantua. They were among his best-known works, inspired by the ''Lives of the Caesars'' by Suetonius. Titian's paintings were originally housed in a new room inside the Palazzo Ducale di Mantova. Bernardino Campi added a twelfth portrait in 1562.

The portraits were copied by Flemish engravers in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, who added engravings of twelve Roman Empresses. Between 1627 and 1628 the paintings were sold to Charles I of England by Vincenzo II Gonzaga, and when the Royal Collection of Charles I was broken up and sold after his execution by the English Commonwealth, the ''Eleven Caesars'' passed in 1651 into the collection of Philip IV of Spain. They were all destroyed in a catastrophic fire at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid in 1734, and are now only known from copies and engravings.

History

Titian was commissioned in 1536 to paint eleven portraits for the ''Gabinetto dei Cesari'' (sometimes ''Camerino dei Cesari'', "Cabinet of the Caesars"), one room in new suite at the Palazzo Ducale di Mantova designed by Giulio Romano, with décor inspired by ancient history. The suite, the ''Appartamento di Troia'' ("Troy Apartments"), was named after the theme of the main room. Titian's portraits were inspired by Suetonius's account of the ''Lives of the Twelve Caesars'' and informed by Titian's study of ancient medals and busts. The dimensions of the room allowed three portraits on each wall, but a window on the west wall meant that only eleven painting were included in the decorative scheme. Titian's portraits were completed shortly before the death of Duke Federico in August 1540. Romano later added a portrait of the twelfth emperor, Domitian, displayed elsewhere.

The emperors were depicted in classical poses, wearing armour and flowing draped clothing, accompanied by various objects such as swords and staffs. The series ran clockwise around the top of the room, from Julius Caesar on the north wall to Titus on the west wall. Romano added frescos on the ceilings; stucco and niches to frame Titian's paintings; and a series of further paintings on wooden panels as a dado or ''basamento'' around the lower part of the walls, with a scene from the life of each emperor below the relevant portrait. Some of the works by Romano, or his workshop, designed to hang below Titian's portraits are in the British Royal Collection.Lucy Whitaker, Martin Clayton, ''The Art of Italy in the Royal Collection; Renaissance and Baroque'', pp. 139-145, Royal Collection Publications, 2007,

Titian's eleven portraits were copied by Bernardino Campi in 1561 for Francesco Ferdinando d'Ávalos, governor of Milan. To Titian's eleven portraits, Campi added the twelfth Caesar, Domitian, in 1562, after the portrait by Romano. Campi returned to the subject several times, painting at least another four sets for other patrons.

Drawings of most of Titian's originals (but omitting the west wall) were made by Ippolito Andreasi for Jacopo Strada in about 1568. The portraits were engraved by Aegidius Sadeler II and published in Antwerp in about 1593, and then republished by Marcus Sadeler in about 1625. Both were court artists to Emperor Rudolf II in Prague. The engravers added twelve accompanying empresses - eleven wives and Otho's mother, Albia Terentia - based on portraits by Giulio Romano. Each engraved portrait is accompanied by a poem in Latin. The engravings are an important source for the details of Renaissance armour, including examples attributed to Filippo Negroli.

The Gonzaga collection, including Titian's paintings, was sold by Vincenzo II Gonzaga to Charles I of England in 1628, but Charles's Royal Collection was broken up and auctioned under the English Commonwealth. The Titian portraits were sold for £1,200 in 1651 and bought by the Spanish Ambassador Alonso de Cárdenas, acting on behalf Don Luis Méndez de Haro, who gave them to Philip IV of Spain.

Titian's portraits were displayed at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid, along with other portraits by Titian and Tintoretto, where the ''Galería del Mediodía'' (the South gallery) became known as the '' Galería de Retratos'' (Portrait Gallery). They were lost in the catastrophic fire that destroyed the Alcázar in 1734.

Gallery

Set of engravings with English commentary, after those of Aegidius Sadeler II (Antwerp c. 1593, and later editions), after the lost paintings by Titian.

File:Julius Caesar. Line engraving, after A. Sadeler Wellcome L0049801.jpg, Julius Caesar
File:Augustus, Emperor of Rome Wellcome L0049802.jpg, Augustus
File:Tiberius, Emperor of Rome Wellcome L0049803.jpg, Tiberius
File:Caligula, Emperor of Rome Wellcome L0049804.jpg, Caligula
File:Claudius, Emperor of Rome Wellcome L0049805.jpg, Claudius
File:Nero, Emperor of Rome Wellcome L0049806.jpg, Nero
File:Pompeia, wife of Julius Caesar. Line engraving, 16--, after Wellcome L0050546.jpg, Pompeia, wife of Julius Caesar
File:Livia Drusilla, wife of Augustus Caesar. Line engraving, Wellcome L0050547.jpg, Livia Drusilla, wife of Augustus
File:Vipsania Agrippina, wife of Tiberius Caesar. Line Wellcome L0050548.jpg, Vipsania Agrippina, wife of Tiberius
File:Milonia Caesonia, wife of Caligula, Emperor of Rome. Line Wellcome L0050549.jpg, Milonia Caesonia, wife of Caligula
File:Aelia Paetina, wife of Claudius, Emperor of Rome. Line Wellcome L0050550.jpg, Aelia Paetina, wife of Claudius
File:Statilia Messalina, wife of Nero, Emperor of Rome. Line Wellcome L0050551.jpg, Statilia Messalina, wife of Nero
File:Galba, Emperor of Rome Wellcome L0049807.jpg, Galba
File:Otho, Emperor of Rome Wellcome L0049808.jpg , Otho
File:Vitellius, Emperor of Rome Wellcome L0049809.jpg, Vitellius
File:Vespasian, Emperor of Rome Wellcome L0049810.jpg, Vespasian
File:Titus, Emperor of Rome Wellcome L0049811.jpg, Titus
File:Domitian, Emperor of Rome Wellcome L0049812.jpg, Domitian, after Giulio Romano
File:Aemilia Lepida, wife of Galba, Emperor of Rome. Line Wellcome L0050552.jpg, Aemilia Lepida, wife of Galba
File:Albia Terentia, mother of Otho, Emperor of Rome. Line Wellcome L0050553.jpg, Albia Terentia, mother of Otho
File:Petronia, wife of Vitellius, Emperor of Rome. Line Wellcome L0050554.jpg, Petronia, wife of Vitellius
File:Flavia Domitilla, wife of Vespasian, Emperor of Rome. Line Wellcome L0050555.jpg, Flavia Domitilla, wife of Vespasian
File:Martia Fulvia (Marcia Furnilla), wife of Titus, Emperor of Wellcome L0050556.jpg, Martia Fulvia (Marcia Furnilla), wife of Titus
File:Domitia Longina, wife of Domitian, Emperor of Rome. Line Wellcome L0050557.jpg, Domitia Longina, wife of Domitian

References

Sources

* F. Valcanover, ''L'opera completa di Tiziano'', Milano 1969, p. 109

Titian Portraits of Roman Emperors and Empresses
George Glazer Gallery

''The Life of Titian''
Carlo Ridolfi, Penn State Press, 2010, , p.86

''Heroic Armor of the Italian Renaissance: Filippo Negroli and His Contemporaries''
Stuart W. Pyhrr, Filippo Negroli, José-A. Godoy, Silvio Leydi, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), p.149-152

Giulio Romano, ''Nero playing while Rome burns''
from the Cabinet of the Caesars; Royal Collection

External links

After Tiziano Vecellio, called Titian, First half of the 18th century, A rare set of 24 portraits of Roman emperors and their consorts, in classical poses, dressed in armour and draped clothing, together with the personification of Rome
Alain R. Truong, 1 February 2015

Catalogue of the Pepys Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge
Eric Chamberlain, Boydell & Brewer, 1993, , p.31-34


Sotheby's, 25 April 2006

''Notices of the Life and Works of Titian''
A. Hume, John Rodwell and Colnaghi, 1829, p.55-59

The image of "the Twelve Caesars" from Titian to the end of the 17th century: images of military triumph of the Spanish monarchy
Margarita-Ana Vázquez-Manassero, in ''Actual problems of theory and history of art: Sun. researcher articles. 5. ed. S.v. Maltsev, E.y. Stanyukovich-Denisova, A.v. Zakharova. St. Petersburg: NP-print, 2015. S. 655–663. ISSN 2312-2129. https://dx.doi.org/10.18688/aa155-7-71

{{Titian

History paintings by Titian
Lost paintings
Gonzaga art collection
Paintings depicting Julius Caesar
Cultural depictions of Augustus