High art or soft core? Titian's glorious nudes have set pulses racing for centuries. As their sensual charms go on show at the National Gallery, Martin Gayford examines the art that makes whores divine

From: The Sunday Telegraph London | Date: January 19, 2003| Author: | Copyright information

Avoluptuous woman reclines languidly upon a bed, naked except for a rumpled sheet covering part of one thigh. On the left is a curtain, swept back theatrically as if the scene has just been revealed; on the right, a winged cupid, gazing, like her, at a strange disturbance in the air. We are looking at Titian's Danae, painted in 1544-6. Ostensibly it depicts a pretty classical legend about one of the love affairs of Jupiter.

Danae was the daughter of the King of Argos, who locked her away in a brazen tower to keep her out of the way of men. Unable to gain access to her in the normal fashion, ...

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