A focused look at the milieu surrounding two Gardner Museum gems.

Aiming to bring an understanding of the contexts of treasures of the past closer to contemporary concerns, three experts discuss Titian's Europa and Rubens's Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, as well as Rubens's Rape of Europa from the Prado Museum and Titian's Francesco Maria della Rovere from the Uffizi. By exploring the dynamic relationship between art and power and how both artists manipulated their style to express the political power of their clients - no less a relevant issue today - an important era comes to life for today's readers.

HILLIARD T. GOLDFARB, Gardner's Chief Curator of Collections, focuses on the works of Titian, discussing the stylistic and emblematic means by which Titian asserted the power of his clients and his own stature as the "painter to princes." DAVID FREEDBERG, Professor of Art History at Columbia University, examines Rubens's profound emulation of and debt to Titian during his later career and its political context. MANUELA B. MENA marqués, Curator of Spanish Paintings of the Eighteenth Century and Goya at the Prado Museum, describes Spanish patronage and the influence of both artists in Spain.

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