On this day in 1576, artist/painter Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio, da Cadore, Titian died from a fever in Venice, in his eighties or nineties. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno (in Veneto, Republic of Venice) around 1490. In my opinion, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. Recognized by his contemporaries as “The Sun Amidst Small Stars” (recalling the famous final line of Dante’s Paradiso), Titian was one of the most versatile of Italian painters, equally adept with portraits, landscape backgrounds, and mythological and religious subjects. Titain was noted for his mastery of colour.
The Final Footprint – Titian was entombed in the Frari (Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari). He lies near his own famous painting, the Madonna di Ca’ Pesaro. No memorial marked his grave, until much later the Austrian rulers of Venice commissioned Canova to provide a large monument.
Gallery
A Man with a Quilted Sleeve, an early portrait, c. 1509, National Gallery, London.
Salome with the Head of John the Baptist c. 1515, (Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome), or Judith; this religious work also functions as an idealized portrait of a beauty, a genre developed by Titian, supposedly often using Venetian courtesans as models.
Bacchus and Ariadne, c. 1520-1523.
Venus and Organist and Little Dog, c. 1550.
Danaë is one of the paintings from the Danaë (Titian series), completed between 1553 and 1556.
Equestrian Portrait of Charles V, 1548, Museo del Prado.
Pietà, c. 1576, his last painting.
The Allegory of Age Governed by Prudence (c. 1565–1570) is thought to depict (from left) Titian, his son Orazio, and his nephew, Marco Vecellio.
Diana and Actaeon, 1556–1559
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Violante, c. 1515.
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Doge Andrea Gritti, the Doge of Venice from 1523 to 1538.
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PPortrait of Philip II, c. 1554.
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TThe Death of Actaeon, 1559-1575.
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CChrist – (fragment) 1553, oil on canvas, 68x62cm, Prado Museum Madrid.
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Religion saved by Spain, 1572-1575, Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain.
On this day in 1950, Italian poet, novelist, literary critic and translator Cesare Pavese, died from an overdose of barbiturates in Turin, Italy at the age of 41. Born 9 September 1908 in Santo Stefano Belbo, in the province of Cuneo.
After World War II Pavese joined the Italian Communist Party and worked on the party’s newspaper, L’Unità. The bulk of his work was published during this time. Toward the end of his life, he would frequently visit Le Langhe, the area where he was born, where he found great solace. Depression, the failure of a brief love affair with the actress Constance Dowling, to whom his last novel and one of his last poems (“Death will come and she’ll have your eyes”) were dedicated, and political disillusionment led him to his suicide. That year he had won the Strega Prize for La Bella Estate, comprising three novellas: ‘La tenda’, written in 1940, ‘Il diavolo sulle colline’ (1948) and ‘Tra donne sole’ (1949).
Literary critic Leslie Fiedler wrote of Pavese’s death “…for the Italians, his death has come to have a weight like that of Hart Crane for us, a meaning that penetrates back into his own work and functions as a symbol in the literature of an age.” The circumstances of his death, which took place in a hotel room, mimic the last scene of Tra Donne Sole (Among Women Only), his penultimate book.
The Final Footprint – His final resting place is in the Cimitero di Santo Stefano Belbo, Piemonte, Italy.
On this day in 1964, vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, appearing with him on radio, television and film as the duo Burns and Allen, Gracie Allen died from a heart attack in Hollywood at age 69. Born Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen on 26 July 1895.
The Final Footprint – Her remains were entombed in a crypt at the Freedom Mausoleum in the Sanctuary of Heritage at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.
Burns’ remains were interred at her side in 1996 when he died at the age of 100. The marker on the crypt was changed from “Grace Allen Burns—Beloved Wife And Mother (1902–1964)” to “Gracie Allen (1902–1964) and George Burns (1896–1996)—Together Again”. Say good night, Gracie.
#RIP #OTD in 1971 photographer (first American female war photojournalist, Fort Peck Dam the cover of the first issue of Life magazine) Margaret Bourke-White died at Stamford Hospital in Stamford, Connecticut, from Parkinson’s aged 67
And on this day in 1990, legendary blues guitarist, Grammy award winner, SRV, Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a helicopter crash in East Troy, Wisconsin at the age of 35. Born 3 October 1954 in Dallas, Texas. He was only 35. Younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan. As a founding member and leader of Double Trouble, with drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon, they ignited the blues revival of the 1980s. In March 1983, veteran record producer John Hammond Sr. of Epic Records signed Vaughan and Double Trouble and released their debut album, Texas Flood in June of that year. While successfully touring, the group released the albums, Couldn’t Stand the Weather (1984) and Soul to Soul (1985). In June 1989, they released In Step, which earned them a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Performance. In my opinion, Vaughan is one of the greatest musicians to come from the state of Texas. He derived his uniquely eclectic yet intense style from a variety of musical genres. His guitar playing, for which he has received wide critical recognition, reflected the pentatonic blues scales. I know exactly where I was when I heard the news; at home in Victoria, Texas. Do you know where you were?
Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Statue, Lady Bird Lake, Austin
The Final Footprint – Vaughan is interred in the Vaughan Estates in Laurel Land Cemetery in Dallas. His grave is marked by a full ledger custom bronze on granite with the epitaph: Thank you … for all the love you passed our way. In 1994, the city of Austin, Texas erected the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial bronze statue by Ralph Roehming on the south shore of Town Lake (now known as Lady Bird Lake). I have visited the statue many times to pay my respects. A fitting final footprint for someone whose music has touched many lives. Every time it rains hard I hear the songs “Texas Flood” and “The Sky is Cryin'” in my head. What do you think of SRV’s final footprint? How has his music touched you?
Have you planned yours yet?
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