提香聖馬可祭壇畫贊助之研究

A Study on the Patronage of Titian’s Saint Mark’s Altarpiece

這幅聖馬可祭壇畫位於威尼斯的巴洛克安康聖母大殿（Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute）聖器室內，是著名藝術家提香（Tiziano Vecellio, c. 1488–1576）早期傑出的作品之一。該作品係為威尼斯潟湖南部與聖靈島（Santo Spirito）島上同名修道院而作。儘管這件作品是提香職業生涯早期的作品，但已揭示了他對祭壇上的傳統主題宗教藝術的原創和獨特處理方式，即為聖馬可坐在中央寶座的神聖對話場景。 這幅祭壇畫的歷史背景細節，特別是有關創作和贊助時間的相關資料，目前未有保存任何檔案記錄。因此，首先需要透過觀察16世紀和17世紀的一些描述，其次從作品的圖像中，重建其最初的情形。聖馬可寶座底部的四位聖人，洛可、賽巴斯蒂安，以及聖醫生科西莫與達米安，皆明顯與16 世紀初肆虐威尼斯的瘟疫有關。 在瘟疫時期，描繪特定聖人的祭壇畫經常被創作以感謝神的救贖或為社群尋求協助。然，這幅具有公共主題的作品最初卻被置放在一個潟湖島上的修道院內。藝術家兼作家喬治奧•瓦薩里（Giorgio Vasari, 1511–1574）曾提到，這幅作品中的瘟疫聖人的面容可能為肖像。這可能為這幅作品的贊助者提供了一些線索。 本文分析了委託提香創作祭壇畫的可能原因，並對於1500 年前後影響威尼斯的瘟疫提供了不同的視角。將特別關注於委託這件畫的贊助者之身份。

The Altarpiece of Saint Mark’s in the Sacristy of the Baroque church of Santa Maria della Salute in Venice is one of the first great masterpieces by the Venetian artist Titian (c.1488–1576). The work was created for the monastery of Santo Spirito on the homonymic island in the south of the Venetian lagoon. Even though this work stems from the painter’s early career, it already reveals his original and ingenious approach to a traditional theme of religious art on the altar, the sacra conversazione with Saint Mark enthroned in the center.
No archival documentation has been preserved to clarify the details of the altarpiece’s historical background, especially regarding its time of creation and patronage. Therefore, it is all the more necessary to observe, first, some descriptions of the 16th and 17th centuries and, second, the work’s iconography to reconstruct the circumstances of its origins. The four saints at the foot of Saint Mark’s throne, Roch, Sebastian, and the holy doctors Cosmas and Damian, are clearly associated with the plague that ravaged Venice in the early 16th century.
In the time of the plague, altarpieces featuring particular saints were commonly created to thank God for salvation or request assistance for the benefit of the general community. Yet, this work with a public theme was originally placed in a monastery on a lagoon island. Artist and writer Giorgio Vasari (c.1511–74) mentioned that the plague saints’faces in the work could be portraits. This might give a hint to the work’s patron.
The present paper analyzes the possible reasons for the commission of Titian’s altarpiece with a differentiated view on the plague that affected Venice in the decades around 1500. A special focus will be given to the question of who commissioned the painting.