The Pastoral Concert – Titian

The Pastoral Concert – Titian (attr.), c. 1509

A golden afternoon in the Venetian countryside. Two young men — one richly dressed, one in peasant clothes — sit with a lute, lost in music. Beside them, two nude women move through the scene like figures from a dream, one pouring water from a glass pitcher, the other lifting a flute to her lips. The landscape glows with the warm, hazy light that only the Venetian masters could conjure.

The Pastoral Concert is one of the most debated and enchanting paintings of the Italian Renaissance. Long attributed to Giorgione, modern scholarship now leans toward Titian — or perhaps a collaboration between the two, with Giorgione beginning the work before his death in 1510 and Titian completing it. The painting passed through the collections of the Gonzaga family, Charles I of England, and the banker Eberhard Jabach before Louis XIV acquired it for the French crown in 1671. It has hung in the Louvre ever since.

Its influence has been immeasurable. When Édouard Manet visited the Louvre and stood before this painting, he conceived Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe — one of the defining works of modern art.

• Artist: Titian (attr.), with possible contribution by Giorgione
• Painted: c. 1509, Venice
• Style: Venetian Renaissance
• Medium: Premium digital reproduction on Luster Photo Paper
• Available in multiple sizes