Before continuing with the interpretation of Titian’s First Essay, two problems have to be considered. First, Ridolfi‘s Maraviglie dell’Arte had not been translated into English in the nineteenth century. It must be examined, if Dyce knew enough Italian to understand Ridolfi‘s text or if he had advisers, who helped him to comprehend the account of the anecdote. Second, we have to explore the intentions behind Dyce‘s adaption of Ridolfi‘s biography.
60 Jonathan Buckley, The rough guide to Venice and the Veneto, London 2004, p. 52; Robert C. Davis and Garry R. Marvin, Venice, the tourist maze: a cultural critique of the world’s most touristed city, Berkeley 2004, p. 326.
5.1. Dyce’s Experience with Italy
As early as in the eighteenth century, the Grand Tour had been a suitable way for upper-class young men to broaden their horizon. Italy was the most popular destination thanks to its inexhaustible abundance of art historical treasures and beautiful sites.61 Dyce had visited Italy for four times in 1825, 1827, 1832, and 1845. Although neither his letters nor his writings can provide certain evidence that he was able to read Italian texts and understand the spoken language, his experiences in Italy might provide a solution to this issue. He stayed in Italy for quite long periods, which normally lasted several months.62 These sojourns enlarged his knowledge of the country‘s culture, and his language skill might also be able to reach the level to communicate with local people.
Furthermore, after returning from Italy in 1832, he had planned to launch his career in Rome, where he intended to carry out a scheme to paint a series of works based on the life of the Virgin. It is difficult to believe that an artist would start his business in a foreign country without any capacity of knowing and speaking the local language. However, in the end, his plan failed, because he was dissuaded from practicing in Rome by a friend, Nicholas Wiseman (1802–1865), cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and the Rector of the English College in Rome.63 Wiseman believed that Dyce, as a High-church painter, would not have been capable of satisfying Roman Catholic clients and afterwards unable to obtain any commissions in
61 Jeremy Black, Italy and the Grand Tour, New Haven–London 2003, pp. 2-3.
62 His first trip to Rome, started in autumn 1825, took nine months. In autumn 1827, he set off to Italy again, and it was only in 1829 that he was back to Aberdeen. In 1832, he spent at least three months visiting Southern France, Venice and Mantua. The last journey to Italy was from October 1845 to March 1846, and he stopped in Pisa, Rome, Siena, and Florence for the fresco business of the Royal
Commission. Pointon (as note 6), pp. 7, 12, 15, 25; Irwin (as note 6), pp. 255-256; Carter (as note 6), pp.
5-7.
63 Pointon (as note 6), p. 33; ―Wiseman, Nicholas,‖ in: Britannica Online Traditional Chinese Edition at http://0-daying.wordpedia.com.opac.lib.ntnu.edu.tw/Content.aspx?id=114426&sword=Nicholas+
Wiseman (accessed January 8, 2015).
Rome.64 Dyce followed Wiseman‘s suggestion and gave up his plan.
What is more, Dyce‘s impressive collection of books offers a clue to his possible reading skills in foreign languages, especially in Italian. He owned Italian literature stemming from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, and most of the books were works on art and architecture. Dyce owned nearly all the important Italian texts on art history, such as Vasari‘s Vite de’ piu eccellenti Pittori, Scultori, e Architettori (Florence 1568), Marco Boschini‘s Carta de Navegar Pitoresco (Venice 1655), Carlo Ridolfi‘s Maraviglie dell’Arte, which has already been mentioned above, and a new edition of Cennino Cennini‘s Libro dell’arte, published in 1821.65 His collection of books not only shows his enthusiasm for Italian Renaissance art and culture, and implies that Dyce must have had a sufficient, if not excellent command of Italian, which allowed him to understand Ridolfi‘s writing.
5.2. Dyce and Charles Lock Eastlake
Although it is most plausible that Dyce was able to read Italian, it is not sure whether he understood the content of Ridolfi‘s text. One of his close friends, the painter and scholar Charles Lock Eastlake (1793–1865), who is well-known as the first director of the National Gallery in London, might have acted as Dyce‘s advisor in matters of art history.
Eastlake mastered the Italian language quite well and he was very familiar with the country‘s culture. He had stayed in Italy from 1816 to 1830 and was leading head of the English colony in Rome.66 His genre painting A Peasant Woman Fainting from the Bite of a Serpent of 1832 (London, Victoria and Albert Museum; Fig. 10) was
64 Vaughan (as note 9), pp. 229-230.
65 Catalogue of the Library of William Dyce (as note 53), pp. 11-12, 14, and 49.
66 David Robertson, Sir Charles Eastlake and the Victorian art world, Princeton, N.J. 1978, pp. 2, 8, and 11-12.
based on an experience in Rome. Eastlake noted on the back of the canvas: ―Nina Ranieri, a young peasant woman of the Roman State, while kneeling before a chapel of the Madonna, was bit by a viper: she sank into a lethargy in a short time, and it is said, died two days after.‖67 Besides, Eastlake depicts a capitello with the figure of Christ in it on the left-hand side of the background.
Eastlake was a great art scholar. He had once participated in the publication of Franz Kugler‘s influential writing. The German art historian Franz Kugler (1808–1858) was the leading figure of the Berlin School of art history; his Handbook of the History of Painting is his representative work.68 Eastlake was responsible for editing its first volume, entitled The Italian School of Painting, a work, which established his reputation.69 Eastlake‘s special field was Renaissance art, and he was a great connoisseur of Titian‘s art. Hence, he was well aware how important Ridolfi‘s Maraviglie dell’Arte were for the research on Titian.70
Friendship between Dyce and Eastlake began in 1837. At that time, Eastlake was one of the committee members, who had to supervise the foundation of the School of Design. When Dyce was appointed to investigate the education of design in the Continent for the School of Design, Eastlake was assigned to be his advisor to plan the journey.71 As a result of this opportunity, they became friends and remained connected in their work.
67 Quoted after Robertson (as note 66), p. 42.
68 Franz Kugler, A hand-book of the history of painting: from the age of Constantine the great to the present time. Part I. The Italian schools of painting, London 1842; Udo Kultermann, The History of Art History, New York 1993, pp. 89-91.
69 ―A Handbook to the Public Galleries of Art in and near London,‖ in: The Literary Gazette: A weekly journal of literature, science, and the fine arts 1309, 1842, p. 124; ―A Hand-book of the History of Painting,‖ in: The Examiner 1776, 1842, p. 99.
70 Eastlake showed an ample knowledge of Titian and Ridolfi in the works he wrote and edited. See Charles Lock Eastlake, Materials for a history of oil painting, London 1847, pp. 11, 37, 195, 212, 404, and 495; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Goethe’s theory of colours, London 1840, pp. 360, 370-1, 406-7 and 422; Kugler (as note 68), pp. 359-60, 363, and 370.
71 Robertson (as note 66), p. 49.
Eastlake introduced Dyce to Prince Albert; he thus gained the commission to decorate the staircase at Osborne House, and he discussed with Eastlake his ideas for this work.72 Moreover, while Dyce was responsible of The Baptism of King Ethelbert, a fresco at the Palace of Westminster, Eastlake was the Secretary of the Royal Commission on the Fine Arts. Hence, Dyce sometimes would ask the personal favor of Eastlake. In 1845, the Royal Commission asked Dyce to hand in a fresco sketch for the exhibition in May, but Dyce was sick and unable to submit on time. Therefore, he wrote to Eastlake, asking him for a postponement of the deadline, which was subsequently granted.73
Still more important is the fact that, at the time when Dyce was preparing Titian’s First Essay, Eastlake was engaged with a research project on Titian. This finally led to an English edition of a selection of Titian‘s manuscript letters in 1857.74
The experiences William Dyce had made in Italy provide the basis for our understanding of his painting Titian’s First Essay (Fig. 1). As we have seen, Carlo Ridolfi‘s text presents the point of departure for the picture‘s iconography. His interpretation of the young genius‘s figure, however, shows a considerable independence from the literary model. Even if we suppose that Dyce had to face problems in his understanding this source, he could have found support from his entourage, and especially from his friend Charles Lock Eastlake, a proven specialist concerning the Italian Renaissance art, who had some experience in dealing with the original sources. It is not likely that the discrepancy between Titian’s First Essay and Ridolfi‘s text is owed to a misunderstanding of the source. The reinterpretation of Dyce is out of his thorough consideration.
72 Pointon (as note 6), pp. 84, 93.
73 Pointon (as note 6), p. 89.
74 Charles Lock Eastlake, ―Letters by Titian, Reflecting from Pictures Completed by him at the Age of Ninety-one,‖ in: Miscellanies of the Philobiblon Society 4, London 1857–58, pp. 3-28.