The Miracle of the Jealous Husband 1511

Titian painted this fresco of ‘The Miracle of the Jealous Husband’ in Padua, Italy, sometime in the early 16th century. Here, a woman is saved from her husband’s rage by Saint Anthony, intervening to prevent the man from murdering his innocent wife. Titian was commissioned to produce a number of frescos to decorate the Scuola del Santo, a building which was connected to the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua. Constructed in the early 16th century, the Scuola was an institution that performed both a religious and a social function. It provided a space for laypeople to practice devotion and participate in charitable works. We might consider this fresco within the context of a wider cultural negotiation of marriage roles at the time, and the place of the church in stabilizing the family unit. Primary sources from the time, such as legal documents, sermons, and literature, might help us to understand better the social function of this image.