RANUCCIO FARNESE (1530-1565) BY TITIAN
–
there he is
as tiziano painted him
in fifteen forty two
at twelve years old
his grandfather is paul the third
the reigning pope
his family the first in italy
-
the portrait is a present for his mother
on the occasion of his first preferment
prior to san giovanni dei forlani
of the knights of malta
you see he wears their cross
-
in three years he was made a cardinal
later some bishoprics besides
-
he cares for nothing but his older brothers
who call him giuseppe when they play with him
in his shirt
giu for short
you can call him joe
–
(by david lisle crane)
One shouldn’t boast, but the instant I saw it I prsumed it was a Titian, though I don’t thik I’ve seen it before. When I saw Ranuccio Farnese I felt a bit put out at being wrong, though honour satisfied when seeing it was and is indeed a Titian. Do I win a prize?
Though I’d say there’s probably a very good chance I had seen it before. And it couldn’t really be anybody but Titian, or someone intentionally painting in his style.
You do indeed win a prize – when i’m elected to be the next Black Pope, you can run my cultural insurgency programme.
I might as well add a thought spring from seeing this painting, wchihc is that Titian is the most aristocratic of artists; aristocratic in the relatively normal sense as opposed to the spiritual aristocracy, or aristocracy in the highest sense if spirit. Titian’s entire style exuding luxurious worldly opulence utterly at ease with itself. Muted rich colours, no tension of felt necessity to display the richness. Compare to the vulgar ostentation of Rubens. Vermeer more upper middle class)though not a lesser artist), Leonardo more of the aristocracy of the spirit(why did he waste his genius on fucking science- plenty hacks would appear to fill the cracks of that discipline), Velazquez too contemptuous of all earthly presumption, Raphael too much spirituality. Goya too likely to expose your inner reality.
No, if you wanted an aristocratic portrait, Titian had to be the man.
Must read before posting… a thought sprung(?), highest sense OF spirit. no tension OR felt…
He was born the year the Knights of Malta moved to Malta (previously called the Knights Hospitallers of St.John of Jerusalem (where you get the word hospital) and later the Knights of Rhodes before moving to Malta). The year he died was another signficant year for the Order, 1565 they had a great battle to successfully defend Malta. The Knights Hospitaliers of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem started out in 1050 (their origins go back earlier than this) as an Order to provide medical care to pilgrims to the Holy Lands, soon they became a guard unit for pilgrims and along with the Templars who formed in 1119 after, they became the 2 most powerful Roman Catholic/Christian Orders in the area. The Knights Hospitallers became wealthy escorts/bodyguards and landowners in the area. The Knights went from being a religious medical care order to being a wealthy military Order. After the conquering of Jerusalem in the First Crusades in 1099 they were given their military status and were charged with the protection of the Holy Lands. However despite now being a Military Order, they still retained their Religious Order status, which meant they had privileges granted by the Pope, the order was exempt from ALL authority save that of the Pope (like Blackwater group in Iraq and USA today), and it paid no tithes and was allowed its own religious buildings. Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, pledged his protection to the Knights in a charter of privileges granted in 1185. After the fall of Jerusalem the Knights moved to Rhodes (where they became more militarised). The Knights Templar were dissolved in 1312 and their property and enormous financial power was given to the Hospitallers. Incidentally the leader of the Templars, DeMolay was a homosexual peadophile and rapist of young boys, and is much admired by Freemasons today!!! (we know today that their are peadophile rings connected to freemasonry) The Templars suffered a very gruesome end by the Pope. Many surviving Templars joined the Knights Hospitallers.
In 1522 the Hospitallers were pushed off Rhodes by Muslim forces and moved to Sicily, and in 1530 the Holy Roman Emporor & King of Sicily gave them the island of Malta. They again became a priority target of the muslim forces and came under attack again. in 1565 the Ottomans attacked with 40,000 against 700 Knights Hospitallers and 8000 soldiers, at the end of the Great Seige the Hospitallers were weak and reduced to 600 soldiers, but apparently the Ottomans were reduced to 15,000 and became greatly discouraged, and likely had imagined the Hospitallers were of greater numbers with reinforcements on the way, but still it was an impressive success. After the seige a new city was built, named Valleta after the leader of the Hospitallers, and became the Capital of Malta.
In 1630 the Grand Master was awarded ecclesiastic equality with cardinals, and the unique “His Most Eminent Highness”, reflecting both qualities qualifying him as a Prince of the Church (he was made Prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1607).
Like all the other Roman Catholic Orders, they lost much of their european lands in the Lutheran/Protestant Reformation, but obviously they retained sovereign over Malta and had their staggering wealth and business interests. They would later be restored as an Order in Prussia in 1850 and in England Queen Victoria opened a branch of the Knights of Malta in 1885, with herself as head, a clear illustration of the British Monarchs connections to the Vatican. Here is a photo of Elizabeth II wearing her Knight of Malta regalia, displaying her allegiance to the Vatican (incidentally the Queen can trace her family roots to the Guelph Black Nobility bloodline and the House of Hanover, A research of the Guelph line is interesting, and shows their historical closeness to the Pope
http://wikicompany.org/wiki/images/Queen_elizabeth_guelp_smom.gif
After the Knights Hospitallers, or Knights of Malta expelled the Jesuits from Malta, they would soon find themselves expelled from Malta by Napoleon (working under the instruction of his second consul, Jesuit Abbe Emmanuel Seiyes), they then moved to St. Petersburg (the russian Czar Paul I even being named a Grandmaster of the Order in Russia, later to become sole Grandmaster), where the acting Jesuit Superior General was now resident. St. Petersburg was a haven for the Jesuits who had been expelled out of western europe, and is the reason why Napoleon attacked Moscow rather than the capital St. Petersburg in his ill-fated invasion of Russia. The Knights of Malta also had a strong presence in the Imperial Russian Navy and many of the russian naval officers were sent to Malta for training prior to their expulsion from Malta. The Knights also had a presence in the French Navy, pre-revolutionary France, the revolution caused the French Knights to flee for their lives and it cost the order many of their sources of revenue from France.
While in St. Petersburg, the Czar became Grandmaster, which is interesting as he was Orthodox, and the Order was Roman Catholic sworn to the Pope!!! The Canon Laws of the Vatican prevented the Pope recognising the Czar as Grandmaster, however the Pope was now receiving large sums of money from Orthodox Russia, due to the massive expansion of the Order there by the Orthodox Czar Paul I. In 1810 Czar Alexander stopped the flow of money to the Vatican through the Knights of Malta and directed them into his own coffers (motivated by a desire to fund his war against Napoleon).
Due to the actions of Jesuit-led Napoleon in Europe, the Knights of Malta’s european interests were severely damaged. After Napoleons reign the Order re-established itself in Europe with Rome as its HQ and it once again became a Sovereign entity, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (their own passports, licence plates, stamps, coins etc), with membership of various international bodies, including permanent observer status on the UN. The officers of the Order had to be of noble birth and membership is invitation only.
A study of the House of Farnese, and the Farnese in that painting is interesting as it illustrates not only the hypocrisy of the Popes who had many illegitimate children, but it also highlights the Popes connections to the Black Nobility, and to their roots in Venice, and obviously the connections between the Knights of Malta and the Vatican. Ranuccio’s brother was Duke of Parma.
Pope Paul III, his grandad, established the Council of Trent (Jesuits Counter Reformation) which would ultimately lead to the 30 years war and the destruction of much of Protestant/Lutheran Germany. During the 30 Years War the Swedish armies alone destroyed 2,000 castles, 18,000 villages and 1,500 towns in Germany, one-third of all German towns (the destruction of Germany at the end of WWII was the finishing of the second Protestant/Lutheran revival in Germany which had been lead by Bismarck, with Germany once again becoming predominantly Roman Catholic). (I have no time to reread, so you will have to accept any typo’s)
Is the theory that modern day Templars go by the secret initials of AXJ around the world?
dunno, anon (with a small ‘a’) is the one to ask.