Column, light and clouds in Titian’s Annunciation in San Domenico Maggiore of Naples

The infrared and X-ray show that Titian’s underdrawing of the Annunciation in San Domenico Maggiore of Naples had several alterations and the result reveals the thoughts and ideas of the artist for the work of art. Titian originally divided the figures area into two relatively independent regions. The left was for the complete image of Gabriel and the right was for Mary with a row of columns behind her. However in the final representation, the row of columns was changed to one column with a figure-sized pedestal on which a relief related to a Christian subject other than Annunciation is painted. The altering makes the column, the relief, the light and clouds the key to understanding the work of art, and a thorough study of the column, the relief, the light and clouds in the religious contexts respectively is necessary. The historical development of the association of Mary with theological texts and symbolic motifs sheds light on the interpretation of the combination of Mary, column, relief and light and clouds. The examination of the artist’s initial idea and the final representation leads to a deeper understanding of Titian and the work of art. Different from the artist’s other Annunciations, Titian exerts a unique combination of Mary, the relief, the column, the light and clouds to convey complicated religious connotations. Titian’s art is not simply the visualization of the theological texts, but it realizes the religious subject in both form and content. The innovation that has been intentionally made by Titian is related to the complicated contemporary artistic, religious and social contexts, which discloses Titian’s profound understanding of the Christian subjects narratively, religiously and aesthetically. Titian’s realization of the Neapolitan Annunciation attests to the artist’s iconographic innovation in his mature years and the religious work of art demonstrates himself as a master of colorito integrated with both pictorial practice and humanist considering.