TIZIANO Vecellio
(b. 1490, Pieve di Cadore, d. 1576, Venezia)

The Healing of the Wrathful Son

1511
Fresco, 340 x 207 cm
Scuola del Santo, Padua

The Scuola del Santo in Padua, the house where the brotherhood of St Anthony met, was on the edge of the square in front of the church in which the famous Franciscan saint was buried. In 1510-11 Titian worked alongside other painters to decorate two walls in the upper assembly room (Sala Capitolare) with frescoes depicting miracles from the saint's life. He painted three scenes from the Life of St Anthony of Padua. They are the first of Titian's works that can be definitely dated and that still exist in their entirety.

One of Titian's scenes depicts The Healing of the Wrathful Son. St Anthony reattached the foot of a young man who had cut it off in an outburst of violent temper because he had hurt his mother with it. Despite the difficulty of working on frescoes, which demanded great speed on the part of the artist, Titian succeeded in producing splendid landscapes.




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