Pastoral Concert and social class

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What do you think the great painting, Pastoral Concert depicts? The painting is puzzling at first glance, but the painting Pastoral Concert by Titan during the early 15th century reveals one of the most important factors of determination of social class in the High Renaissance period, to be sophisticated, and the education of the individual. The Italian Renaissance is a non-profit organization that has a variety of resources which are shared with the viewers proving its reliability.

The article published in The Italian Renaissance, explains the setting of the Pastoral Concert revolving around two men who are seated on the grass in a countryside. The man on the left of the painting is dressed in a red clothing which is usually worn by nobles and playing the lute while the man on the right wears a plain brown costume usually worn by peasants. In the distance is a shepherd with his herd. The men are engaging in a conversation completely unaware of the two plump, nude women. The woman on the left is pouring water from a pitcher into a well and the woman on the right has stopped playing the flute while sitting right in front of the men.

There is no written evidence for the interpretation of the scene and the painting is an original idea, so the depiction is not entirely clear. One such interpretation the author states is that the female characters are muses, divine figures that inspire mortals.The woman pouring water from the pitcher was not playing a musical instrument. I was curious and wondered what does her actions depict. After researching a bit, the glass pitcher and water flowing from it symbolize the discussion of knowledge which the two men are depicting. The instruments played hint to poetry. The music made by the figures, "creates a type of harmony in this setting that echoes the larger harmony found in the universe, thereby linking the activities in this scene to the cosmos".The following interpretation means the mortals are creating music which symbolizes peace and intellect. The music is creating a type of harmony that is linking the sophisticated period with a system of intellectual thought. The author further states that the shepherd's arrival interrupts the harmony. Here the shepherd is said to symbolize a person of lesser learning or class and is unable to appreciate the sophisticated music. The painting gives a view of the factor, education in social class in the High renaissance. I find it interesting how education has been an important factor in determining social class from the 15th century to the present. On the whole, the Pastoral Concert gives a glimpse on the expectation of how one must be in this world, through scholarship and learning. That is something that an uneducated person does not possess.

FUTURE RESEARCH QUESTION: What are the visual arts depicting about the livelihood of people in the High Renaissance?