Sacred and Profane Love

Titian at 25. Two women flank a Roman sarcophagus turned into a fountain: one clothed and worldly, one nude and divine — but which is which? Iconographers still argue. The nude, holding a lamp of heavenly love, is probably the 'sacred' one; the clothed woman with earthly jewels is 'profane'. The landscape behind each mirrors their nature — a fortified castle for the earthly, a shepherd's pastoral for the divine. Painted for a wedding, it's a Neoplatonic meditation on the two Venuses.