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“The goal,” says art historian Jodi Cranston, “is to help people visualize the interrelationship between an artwork and its changing historical context. ”

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Tracking the Masterpieces

Explore some of the paintings from Mapping Titian below

Danae with Cupid

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In 1798, as Napoleon approached the city of Naples, this painting was hurried for safekeeping to a ship captained by Lord Horatio Nelson and bound for Palermo. Returned to Naples in 1815, Danae with Cupid enjoyed more than a century of peace, until 1943, when it was moved to the abbey at Monte Cassino in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to hide it from Nazi officers. Transported to Berlin, the reclining nude was considered as a likely adornment for the hunting lodge of Luftwaffe commander Hermann Göering, who instead relegated the painting to his bunker at Kurfürst. In 1945 it was liberated by Allied troops, and in 1947 it was returned to Naples. It currently hangs in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples.

Follow the painting through history

Europa

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King Philip V of Spain gave this painting as a gift to Antoine, Duc de Gramont (French ambassador to Spain), who then gave it to the Duc d’Orleans in Paris. It was bought by a group of British noblemen known as the Bridgewater Syndicate and sold again, eventually to Bernard Berenson, a Renaissance art authority and an advisor to the American art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner. It now hangs in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Mass. Follow the painting through history

Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria

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This painting was owned by Sir Richard Worsley, a British ambassador to Venice, who in 1797 was forced to flee to Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia) and sent his artworks on a ship to London. The ship carrying the painting was commandeered by French pirates and Lucien Bonaparte, then the Napoleonic ambassador to Madrid. Bonaparte had the picture delivered to Malaga. Bonaparte eventually moved to Rome and then England. In 1814, bankruptcy forced the sale of the picture at auction in London, where it was purchased by the governor of the Bank of England. It was eventually bought by Charles Pascoe Grenfell, who passed it on to his son, William Grenfell. It hung in the Grenfell estate, Taplow Court, in England, where it was admired by visitors Edward VII (then Prince of Wales), H. G. Wells, Edith Wharton, and Oscar Wilde. It is now in a private collection in an unknown location. Follow the painting through history

Charles V with a Hound

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This painting was given to Charles I by the Spanish king as an inspirational picture for the British monarch’s rule. Charles I was beheaded and the painting was reacquired by the Spanish, who wanted the portrait back in the family. It currently hangs in the Prado Museum in Madrid. Follow the painting through history

Pietà

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Titian painted this picture to hang in his tomb; he delivered it to Santa Maria dei Frari but took it back to his studio after a short period of time, presumably because of a disagreement with the church. When Titian died, it was bought by another painter, Palma il Giovane, who owned it until he died, and it went to another church in Venice, Sant’Angelo. It currently hangs in the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice. Follow the painting through history

Portrait of a Man in a Red Cap

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This picture was bought by Pittsburgh industrialist and art collector Henry Clay Frick, who displayed it in his house (now a museum) in New York City. Frick didn’t covet the painting, but he bought it at a steeply discounted price after its previous owner, Hugh Lane of Dublin, died in the RMS Lusitania sinking following a meeting with Frick in New York. It currently hangs in the Frick Collection in New York City. Follow the painting through history