Mater Dolorosa aux mains jointes

Titian painted this grieving Virgin in 1554 for the most powerful man in Europe, the Emperor Charles V, who ruled Spain, the Low Countries, and much of the New World. It was made small and private, a devotional image the emperor could pray before. The Virgin's hands are pressed together and her eyes are wet, a mother weeping for her son and an intercessor the aging ruler could appeal to. Two years later Charles gave up his thrones, worn out, and withdrew to a monastery at Yuste in the Spanish hills, carrying pictures like this one with him. The blue of her robe is ground from lapis lazuli, the costliest pigment Titian could buy.