Learning Resource Slideshow

Look from the foreground to the background in the painting and identify how the artist has  created a sense of depth.

Think about the stories conveyed in this painting. What elements contribute to this?

Look through all the ‘rooms’ in this painting, noticing the people and search out iconographic objects and symbols.

Think about possible meanings for the objects and symbols. Who might the people be?

Look at the position of the two figures in relation to each other and their body language. This painting is about Mary Magdalene being the first person to see Jesus after the Resurrection.

Titian did quite a bit of re-painting to finalise the composition – originally Mary and Jesus were closer. Think about why he moved them further apart and the effect this creates.

Look at how this man has been pictured and note the objects in the painting. Describe what sort of person you think he was.

Think about how the stance, props, colours and contrasts create a mood that evokes the man’s personality.

Look at how the figures create a sense of action. Here the Roman god Jupiter takes his mortal son Hercules to suckle at his wife Juno’s breast while she sleeps, so he becomes immortal. Waking up, Juno knocks the baby away, her breast milk squirting upwards to create a constellation of stars.

Think about how people throughout history have tried to understand the skies. Tintoretto’s The Origin of the Milky Way predates Galileo’s discovery that the galaxy is made up of stars by 100 years.