Titian’s Allegory of Marriage as an ‘Allegory of Peace’

This chapter interprets Titian’s painting as an allegory of peace, integrating the mythological account of Mars and Venus with a political symbol of balance, as represented by the sphere held by the female protagonist. The mythological story of the love affair of Mars and Venus as told by Lucretius, Statius, and Plutarch, and the visual representations that followed this tradition are discussed as the sources for Titian’s painting. Contrary to previous readings of the glass sphere as a symbol of transience or inconsistency, it is discussed here as a sign of balance in relation to an iconographical precedent. This new reading of Titian’s Allegory is strengthened by the consideration of its influence on successive allegorical paintings of peace.