Sexual Fables

This article accompanies the fable
Sacred Prostitute



Titian red

"Titian red" refers to the red hair in Titian's paintings such as this one of Mary Magdalene, dated around 1532-33 in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence. This pose was one he painted a number of times, as the examples below attest.

Titian-Mary-Magdalene

These more modest later paintings shown below are from around 1565. The first is in the Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the lower one is in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.

Titian-Penitent-Magdalen

Titian-Mary-Magdalene

The red hair motif for Mary persisted. See Dante Gabriel Rossetti's and Frederick Sandys' versions here.

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