Sacred and Profane Love

Titian at 24 — already a master. Two women at an antique sarcophagus: one richly dressed (mortal beauty), one nude and luminous (divine beauty). The painting's meaning has been debated for 500 years. What is undisputed: the nude figure's luminous skin — almost phosphorescent against the darkening sky — is among the greatest passages of paint in all of Western art.