Titian was one of the most versatile of Italian painters, equally adept with portraits, landscape backgrounds, and mythological and religious subjects. His painting methods, particularly in the application and use of colour, exerted a profound influence not only on painters of the lateItalian Renaissance, but on future generations ofWestern artists.[4]
His career was successful from the start, and he became sought after by patrons, initially from Venice and its possessions, then joined by the north Italian princes, and finally theHabsburgs and the papacy. Along withGiorgione, he is considered a founder of the Venetian school of Italian Renaissance painting. In 1590, the painter and art theoristGiovanni Paolo Lomazzo described Titian as "the sun amidst small stars not only among the Italians but all the painters of the world".[5]
During his long life, Titian's artistic manner changed drastically,[c] but he retained a lifelong interest in colour. Although his mature works may not contain the vivid, luminous tints of his early pieces, they are remarkable and original in their loose brushwork and subtlety of tone.
The exact date of Titian's birth is uncertain. When he was an old man he claimed in a letter toPhilip II of Spain to have been born in 1474, but this seems most unlikely.[6] Other writers contemporary to his old age give figures that would equate to birth dates between 1473 and after 1482. Although his age at death being 99 was still accepted into the 20th century,[7] most modern scholars believe a birth date between 1488 and 1490 is likeliest.[8]
He was the son of Gregorio Vecellio and his wife Lucia, of whom little is known. The Vecellio family was well established in the area, which was ruled by Venice. Titian's grandfather Conte Vecellio was a prominentnotary who held a number of offices in the local administration. Three of Conte's sons were notaries, not including Gregorio,[9] who was active as a soldier and closely associated with theVenetian Arsenal,[10] but worked mainly as a timber merchant and also managed mines in the mountainousCadore region for their owners.[11]
Ludovico Dolce, who knew Titian, says that Titian had four masters, the first being Sebastiano Zuccato, the secondGentile Bellini, then his brotherGiovanni Bellini, and last, Giorgione. No documentation for these relationships has been found. The Zucatti family of artists are best known as mosaicists, but there is no evidence that the painter Sebastiano Zuccato himself was active as a mosaicist, although Joannides says he probably was.[12]
According toGiorgio Vasari, who also knew Titian and included a not always accurate biography of the artist in hisLives, Titian first studied under Giovanni Bellini. Dolce writes that the boy was sent to Venice at age nine, along with his brother Francesco, to live with an uncle and apprentice to Sebastiano Zuccato. Leaving Zuccato, Titian briefly transferred to the studio ofGentile Bellini, one of the largest and most productive workshops in Venice. Following Gentile's death in 1507 he entered into an apprenticeship with Gentile's younger brother Giovanni, acknowledged by contemporaries as the preeminent Venetian painter of the day. As there is no documentation of Titian's work before 1510, there is no way to know which version, Dolce's or Vasari's, is closer to the truth.[13] Living in the city, Titian found a group of young men about his own age, among them Giovanni Palma da Serinalta,Lorenzo Lotto,Sebastiano Luciani, and Giorgio da Castelfranco, nicknamedGiorgione.[14]Francesco Vecellio, Titian's brother, while more workmanlike in his approach to painting and lacking Titian's talent, was able to achieve some notice in his home town of Cadore and theBellunese area around it.[15]
Giorgio Martinioni mentions in his edition (1663) ofSansovino's guide to Venice a fresco ofHercules painted by Titian above the entrance to the Morosini house, a painting that would have been one of his earliest works, although a year laterMarco Boschini rejected this attribution.[16] Others attributed to his early years were the Bellini-esque so-calledGypsy Madonna in Vienna,[17] andThe Visitation from the monastery of Sant'Andrea,[18] now in theAccademia, Venice.[d] According to Joannides, features of theVisitation's execution such as the painter's deployment of light to stress the two pregnant women and the focus on colouristic values are qualities to be found in the earliest of Titian's works, and its attribution to him is supported as well by its dramatic expression of movement and the geometry of the arrangement of visual elements on the canvas.[20]
A Man with a Quilted Sleeve is an early portrait, painted around 1509 and described by Giorgio Vasari in 1568. Scholars long believed it depictedLudovico Ariosto, but now think it is of Gerolamo Barbarigo.[21] Rembrandt had seenA Man with a Quilted Sleeve at auction, and drew a thumbnail sketch of it. Later he was able to examine the painting more closely in the home of the Sicilian merchant Ruffio, who had bought it. The work inspired the Dutch artist to sketch his own self-portrait in 1639 and then to make a similar etching, followed by a self-portrait in oils in 1640.[22]
In 1507–1508, Giorgione was commissioned by the state to create exterior frescoes on the recently rebuiltFondaco dei Tedeschi, a warehouse for the German merchants in the city,[23] which stood next to theRialto bridge facing theGrand Canal.[24] Titian andMorto da Feltre worked on the project—Giorgione painted the facade facing the canal in 1508, while Titian painted the facade above the street, probably in 1509. Many contemporary critics found Titian's work more impressive.[25] Only some badly damaged fragments of the paintings remain.[26] Some of their work is known, in part, through the engravings ofFontana.
The relationship between the two young artists evidently contained a significant element of rivalry. Distinguishing between their works during this period remains a subject of scholarly controversy. A substantial number of attributions have moved from Giorgione to Titian in the 20th century, with little traffic the other way. One of the earliest known Titian works,Christ Carrying the Cross in theScuola Grande di San Rocco, was long regarded as being by Giorgione.[27]
After Giorgione's early death in 1510, Titian continued to paint Giorgionesque subjects for some time, though his style developed its own features, including the bold and expressive brushwork so characteristic of his later years.[28]
Titian's talent in fresco is shown in those he painted in 1511 atPadua in theCarmelite church and in theScuola del Santo, some of which have been preserved, among them theMeeting at the Golden Gate, and three scenes (Miracoli di sant'Antonio) from the life of St.Anthony of Padua,Murder of a Young Woman by Her Husband, which depicts The Miracle of the Jealous Husband,[29]A Child Testifying to Its Mother's Innocence, andThe Saint Healing the Young Man with a Broken Limb.The Resurrected Christ (Uffizi) also dates to 1511-1512.
On 31 May 1513 Titian petitioned the Council of Ten for a commission to paint a canvas depicting a great battle scene (it was completed only in 1538) for the Doge's palace.[30] At the same time he requested the next availablesansaria (orsenseria), a broker's patent at the Fondaco dei Tedeschi which assured the recipient an annual stipend of 120 ducats,[31] and whose symbolic value was usually greater than the income itself. The Council, who already knew his reputation, were receptive to his offer. The request was granted, but it was reversed in March 1514. His application was recorded again in November 1514, with the understanding that he had an expectation of Giovanni Bellini's position unless another became vacant in the meantime. Titian did not obtain thesansaria upon Bellini's death in late 1516, however.[32] Apparently the Senate wanted to keep his services in reserve until he proved himself, and the appointment was withheld until 1523.[33]
Thesansaria was important for Titian with its implicit recognition as quasi-official painter to the republic and represented an opportunity to gain major commissions from the state. Once he obtained it, he transformed it over time into a sinecure which required little work, although it was intended as payment for the performance of certain tasks in the Doge's Palace.[34]
During this period (1516–1530), which may be called the period of his mastery and maturity, the artist moved on from his earlyGiorgionesque style, undertook larger, more complex subjects, and for the first time attempted a monumental style. Giorgione died in 1510 andGiovanni Bellini in 1516, whileSebastiano del Piombo had gone to Rome, leaving Titian unrivaled in the Venetian School.[35] For sixty years he was the undisputed master of Venetian painting.[36]
Assumption of the Virgin, 1516–1518; it took Titian more than two years to complete this painting in theFrari church in Venice
In 1516, he completed his masterpiece, theAssumption of the Virgin, for the high altar of the Basilica diSanta Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. It is stillin situ, and is his largest single panel.[12] This piece of colourism, executed on a grand scale rarely before seen in Italy, created a sensation.[37] In the pictorial structure of theAssumption, the three domains of the composition are occupied by the apostles on earth, the Madonna rising in the sky, and God the Father in heaven looking over all. These are united to form a coherent whole, unlike the less dynamic and more fragmented renditions of earlier painters. According to Bruce Cole, Titian studied traditional renderings of theAssumption like every artist of the Renaissance. He would have been familiar withAndrea Mantegna's large fresco of the subject executed in Padua'schurch of the Eremitani in the 1450s, having worked in 1510 on frescoes for theScuola del Santo in Padua. Nearby Venice on the lagoon isle ofMurano there was another example of the subject, painted by Giovanni Bellini and his workshop, that Titian would have known. Although he surely held these previous works in high esteem, his approach to composing his ownAssunta was individualistic and innovative.[38][39]
The commission for theAssumption, undertaken in 1515, was soon followed by commissions for major altarpieces at Brescia and Ancona, as well as for the altar of the Pesaro family chapel in the Frari. By 1520 he must have been working on several of these works at once, including the second version of theSan Nicolò altarpiece[40] now displayed in theVatican Pinacoteca.[12]
Merchants in theDalmatian city ofRagusa (Dubrovnik), across theAdriatic Sea from Italy, commissioned Titian and his workshop to execute apolyptych,The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, now on the high altar of the cathedral in Ragusa, as well as a recently restored painting by Titian depicting St Blaise, Mary Magdalene, the Archangel Raphael and Tobias in the Dubrovnik Dominican convent.[41][42]
St Sebastian, painted on a separate panel of a polyptych, was commissioned by a papal legate to Venice,Altobello Averoldi, for the altarpiece of the Church of Santi Nazzaro e Celso in Brescia.[43] Signed and dated 1522, according toDavid Rosand it was ready for viewing in 1520. Jacopo Tebaldi, an agent forAlfonso I d'Este, was present for the studio preview, and schemed to purchase it for the duke. Saint Sebastian, bound and wounded, had special status as an intercessor during periodic outbreaks of theplague, and was a very popular subject of sacred painting. Such a figure, intended for a religious context, nonetheless provided an occasion for portrayal of the male nude and could be appreciated as an independent work of art.[44] Bette Talvacchia alludes to Luba Freedman's discussion of the figure of Sebastian in terms of its reception by a contemporary "learned audience", acquainted with the literature of art, who could be said to have had some claim to connoiseurship.[45]
To this period belongs a more extraordinary work,The Assassination of Saint Peter Martyr (1530), formerly in the Dominican Church ofSan Zanipolo, and destroyed by a fire in 1867.[47][48] Only copies andengravings of this proto-Baroque picture remain. It combined extreme violence and a landscape, mostly consisting of a great tree, that pressed into the scene and seems to accentuate the drama in a way that presages the Baroque.[49]
The artist simultaneously continued a series of smallMadonnas, which he placed amid beautiful landscapes, in the manner of genre pictures or poetic pastorals. TheVirgin with the Rabbit, in theLouvre, is the finished type of these pictures. Another work of the same period, also in the Louvre, is theEntombment. This was also the period of the three large and famous mythological scenes for thecamerino ofAlfonso d'Este inFerrara,The Bacchanal of the Andrians and theWorship of Venus in theMuseo del Prado and theBacchus and Ariadne (1520–23) inLondon,[50] "perhaps the most brilliant productions of the neo-pagan culture or 'Alexandrianism' of theRenaissance, many times imitated but never surpassed even byRubens himself."[14]
Finally, this was the period when Titian composed the half-length figures and busts of young women, such asFlora in theUffizi andWoman with a Mirror (orWoman at Her Toilet) in the Louvre. There is some evidence that prostitutes were used as models by Titian and other painters of the time,[51] including some of Venice's famouscourtesans.[52] In Syson's view, if this practice was generally known in 16th-century Venetian society, it might have influenced the "reactions and interpretations" by some of the paintings' owners and those who viewed them.[51]
During the next period (1530–1550), Titian developed the style introduced by his dramatic Death of St. Peter Martyr.
Bacchus and Ariadne (1520–1523),[53] depictsAriadne, a Cretan princess abandoned byTheseus, whose ship is shown in the distance and who has just left her at the Greek island ofNaxos, at the moment whenBacchus arrives. Bacchus, falling immediately in love with Ariadne, leaps from his chariot, drawn by two cheetahs, to be near her. In the mythical love story, Ariadne is frightened by the wine god's raucous retinue and runs away. Bacchus wins her over and they are married, following which he creates from her jewelled wedding crown the constellation of theCorona Borealis, whose stars Titian places in the upper left of the sky to symbolize their eternal love.[54] The painting belongs to a series commissioned from Bellini, Titian, andDosso Dossi, for theCamerino d'Alabastro (Alabaster Room) in the Ducal Palace,Ferrara, byAlfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, who in 1510 tried to commission Michelangelo andRaphael for the series.[55]
In early 1508, Titian's father Gregorio had fought with the victorious forces ofBartolomeo d'Alviano atValle against the armies ofMaximilian I.[56] In 1513, Titian applied to theCouncil of Ten of theRepublic of Venice, offering to paint a battle scene in theSala del Consiglio Maggiore (Hall of the Great Council) of the Ducal Palace. The battle painting, which came to be known asBattle of Cadore, was commissioned in 1513 and documents in the palace archives record that Titian went to work on it immediately, but eventually his enthusiasm for the project diminished and by June 1537, it remained unfinished. A document dated 23 June 1537 records that he had been granted a broker's patent in 1513, contingent on his painting the canvas of the battle scene, and since 5 December 1516 he had been paid the revenues of that appointment. Because he had not fulfilled its terms the council demanded he return all the funds he had received for those years in which he had done no work.[30]
When Titian was threatened with withdrawal of the commission and the obligation to refund the payments he had received, a serious competitor,Pordenone, was available to replace him, one who had proved his abilities in the specialized field of painting battle scenes filled with horses and horsemen.[30] Since at least 1520 Pordenone had mounted a powerful challenge to the primacy of Titian in Venice.[57] According toHarold Wethey, the oil-on-canvas painting finally completed by Titian in 1538 covered the deteriorated fresco,Battle of Spoleto, executed byGuariento di Arpo in the 14th century.[58] Contemporary or near contemporary sources pertaining to the canvas are contradictory and do not clarify exactly when it was painted or which particular battle it represented. Sansovino says Titian omitted the inscription Guariento had placed above the former painting of the battle of Spoleto.[30]
This major battle scene by Titian was lost—with many other major works by Venetian artists—in the 1577 fire that destroyed all the old pictures in the great chambers of theDoge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale). It depicted in life-size the moment when the Venetian generald'Alviano attacked the enemy, with horses and men crashing down into a river during a heavy rainstorm (according to Vasari).[30] It was Titian's most important attempt at a tumultuous and heroic scene of movement to rivalRaphael'sThe Battle of Constantine at the Milvian Bridge, Michelangelo's equally ill-fatedBattle of Cascina, andLeonardo da Vinci'sThe Battle of Anghiari (these last two unfinished). Gillet mentions a "poor, incomplete copy at theUffizi, and a mediocre engraving by Fontana."[14] This period of Titian's work is still represented by thePresentation of the Blessed Virgin (Venice, 1539), one of his most popular canvasses, and by theEcce Homo (Vienna, 1543). Despite its loss, theBattle of Cadore had a great influence onBolognese art and Rubens. HisSpeech of the Marquis del Vasto (Madrid, 1541) was also partly destroyed by fire.[14]
TheAllegory of Marriage, oil painting by Titian, made about 1530 to 1535, in the collection of the Louvre
Esthy Kravitz-Lurie writes that modern scholarly consensus holds that the traditional identification ofAlfonso d'Avalos, Marquis of Vasto, as the male protagonist in Titian's painting,Allegory of Marriage, now in the Louvre, presents problems of interpretation.[59] It is generally believed to have been finished in 1530–1535. Alfonso d'Avalos wrote a letter in November 1531 toPietro Aretino, in which he stated that he wished to be portrayed by Titian with his wife and son. Although the letter does not prove that the artist undertook such a commission, the painting subsequently was regarded as a portrait of the military figure. The earliest identification of the painting's protagonist as the warrior d'Avalos is in an inventory of artworks belonging to the EnglishKing Charles I, completed in 1639 byAbraham van der Doort, Keeper of Charles I's art collections. As noted by Paul Johannides, van der Doort's reference can be interpreted as 'owned by' rather than as 'representing', suggesting that Alfonso might have been the commissioner of the painting rather than its male subject.[60]
Walter Friedlaender calls Titian's three paintings on the ceiling ofSanta Maria della Salute "manifestations of genius unprecedented even in Titian's own work", as expressed in the impassioned power of movement in the composition and in his "daring" use ofcontrapposti and foreshortening. These representCain and Abel, theSacrifice of Isaac, andDavid and Goliath. Friedlaender says these paintings, finished in 1544, were greatly influential in the development of Baroque painting, and admired because of his success in projecting powerful movement in the spaces overhead without using a complicated system of perspective. Further, this new mode introduced in the Salute paintings was an important influence on Veronese's decorations in San Sebastiano and on Rubens in his later decorations for the Church of San Carlo Borromeo[61] in Antwerp.[62]At this time also, during his visit toRome, the artist began a series of reclining Venuses:TheVenus of Urbino of the Uffizi,Venus and Love at the same museum, andVenus—and the Organ-Player, Madrid, which shows the influence of contact with ancient sculpture.Giorgione had already dealt with the subject in his Dresden picture, finished by Titian.[14]
Lisa Jardine says a competitive acquisitiveness was necessary for the increased production of extravagantly expensive works of art during the Renaissance. A painter who wanted to establish his reputation was obliged to stimulate a commercial demand for his art, rather than to build it on some imagined basis of intellectual value. Titian's canvases of voluptuous naked women reclining in seductive poses were regarded as learned "visual explorations of allegories drawn from classical Latin literature" by art historians of the 19th century. More recent scholarship has revealed contemporary correspondence indicating these works of art were created to satisfy a strong demand for erotically charged paintings of nudes in blatantly sexual poses, and meant to be hung in the bedrooms of the nobility. When in 1542 CardinalAlessandro Farnese saw the painting now known asThe Venus of Urbino at the duke's summer palace, he made haste to commission from Titian a similar nude for himself,[63] the first in a series representing Danaë and the golden shower.[64]
Original Danaë painted for Cardinal Farnese, one of several variants by Titian: Cupid alongside Danaë (1544). Oil on canvas, 120 × 172 cm (47.2 x 67.7 in). National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples
The FarneseDanaë (1544–1546) is a masterful demonstration of Titian's painterly use of colour, imbuing the painting, according to Janson, with "unrivaled richness and complexity of colour". Janson contrasts Titian's embrace of the sensual and emotional appeal ofcolore with Michelangelo's more intellectual emphasis ondisegno, or design, as seen in the detailed drawings of figures made in preparation for his painted compositions.[65]Danaë was one of several mythological paintings, or "poesie" ("poems"), as the painter called them.[66] This painting was done for Cardinal Farnese,[67] but a later variant was produced forPhilip II[66] (while he was still crown prince),[68] for whom Titian painted many of his most important mythological paintings. AlthoughMichelangelo adjudged this piece deficient from his point of view regarding the importance of preliminary drawings for a composition,[65] Titian and his studio produced several versions for other patrons.
From the beginning of his career, Titian was a virtuoso portrait-painter, demonstrated in works such asLa Bella (Eleanora de Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino, at thePalazzo Pitti). He painted the likenesses of princes, or Doges, cardinals or monks, and artists or writers. "...no other painter was so successful in extracting from each physiognomy so many traits at once characteristic and beautiful".[14] Concerning portraiture and portrait-painters, the art historianKenneth Clark writes: "The portrait is a thorn in the side of the student of aesthetics. Having established to his satisfaction that art does not consist in imitation, he must face the fact that three of the greatest artists who ever lived, Titian,Rembrandt, andVelázquez, gave the best of their talents to painting portraits."[69]
These qualities show in thePortrait of Pope Paul III, thePortrait of Pietro Aretino, thePortrait of Isabella of Portugal, and the series of EmperorCharles V, especially theEquestrian Portrait of Charles V (1548), commissioned by the emperor to commemorate his defeat of theSchmalkaldic League at theBattle of Mühlberg.[70] It shows Charles in his battle armour carrying a lance, suggesting the appurtenances of a Roman emperor going on campaign. According to Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, depicting Charles in contemporary armour with a lance also suggests that in the context of Mühlberg, Charles is appearing in his role as a Christian knight.[71] In 1533, after painting a portrait of the Emperor Charles V in Bologna, Titian was made a Count Palatine andKnight of the Golden Spur.[72] According to Crowe and Cavalcaselle, his children were also made nobles of theEmpire.[73]
Self-Portrait, (Berlin) dated variously from the mid-1540s to the early 1550s[74]
His appointment ascourt painter to Charles V allowed Titian to gain royal patronage and work on prestigious commissions. Considering the profoundly conservative disposition of Venetian society and politics, painters in Titian's time were relegated to the craftsmen guild of theArte dei Depentori.[75] Although active in the local affairs of the guild,[76] Titian was far from feeling confined by the medieval corporate system of the guilds with their duties and political strictures, and enjoyed the freedom afforded by his continued residence in the Most Serene Republic. Having been court painter of Charles V since 1533, he also took commissions from the pope, and executed works for the courts of Ferrara, Mantua, and Urbino. The duties imposed on him by the imperial court in exchange for his annual pensions were comparatively light. He crossed the Alps twice to join the emperor in Germany and made a few trips to Asti, Bologna, and Milan, but otherwise his presence at court was not required, allowing him to avoid the degrading obligations of most courtiers.[77]
In the first decades of the 16th century, sophisticated patrons of art such asIsabella d'Este had begun to seek works for their collections beyond the conventional portraits, civic images, and altarpieces, and to acquire paintings by certain artists, whose productions were avidly sought by collectors. Consequently, extraordinarily talented artists including Raphael, Michelangelo, and Titian rose in social status far above that traditionally accorded painters, who previously had been regarded as tradesmen, and acquired wealth of their own.[78] As recounted by Sophie Bostock, Titian was appointed "First Painter to the Most Serene Republic of Venice" upon the death of Giovanni Bellini, and his fame throughout Europe increased accordingly. Titian, like Gentile Bellini, was one of the first artists to be granted noble status by a monarch—only the work and person of Michelangelo were held in such high esteem. In a self-portrait from the 1550s, he depicts himself clothed in the rich attire of a patrician, including the heavy gold chain bestowed on him by Charles V in 1533.[79] In 1540 he received a pension of 50 ducats from Alfonso d'Avalos, marquis del Vasto.[80]
Art historian Carlo Corsato conducted research to reconstruct the sequence of events concerning Titian's pensions, and the context in which they occurred: On 15 August 1541, Charles V awarded Titian an annual stipend of 100scudi payable at a bank in Milan. Early in 1548, Charles and Titian met at theDiet of Augsburg. During his sojourn there, Titian solidified his position as official court painter by completing six paintings, among them theEquestrian Portrait of Charles V. The meeting also afforded Titian a chance to make the emperor aware that he had not received a single payment of the stipend. On 10th July 1548 Charles V granted him a second annual pension of 100 scudi, in addition to the stipend granted in 1541.Philip II signed a royal deed on 5 July 1571 reaffirming his father's earlier concession of a stipend of 200 scudi annually to Titian. He also bestowed on the artist the right to transfer the privilege to his son Orazio following his death.[81]
Titian's country house, now the Villa Fabris, at Col di Manza
Titian was adept in managing his affairs: he invested in real estate and lent money at interest. Like other merchants, he dealt in lumber and grain,[82] one source of profit was a contract he obtained in 1542 for supplying grain to Cadore when local stores were low.[83] Titian had a villa on the Manza Hill in front of the church (Chiesa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo) ofCastello Roganzuolo, where he painted atriptych.[84] The so-called Titian's mill, frequently discernible in his studies, is at Collontola, near Belluno.
Titian visited Rome in 1545–1546 and was honoured with thefreedom of the city.[85] He was offered the office ofpiombotore or keeper of thepapal seal three times, the first when he became the Farneses' chosen portraitist,[86] and presumably the last time whenSebastiano del Piombo's death left the position unoccupied, but he politely refused the lucrative sinecure.[87] He was summoned to Augsburg from Venice in 1547 to paint portraits of Charles V and of other dignitaries. Titian took advantage of the opportunity to present himself as more than a portrait painter and one whose versatility as an artist could be of value to the emperor.[70]
After his first trip to the imperial court at Augsburg, Titian's production gained new dimensions as a result of his presence there and the relationship, built on mutual trust, that he established with Charles V. Commissions from the emperor and then from his sonPhilip II monopolized the artist's output from the 1550s. The model of portraiture he developed for the Habsburgs became a standard for princes, nobles, and ecclesiastics in the hierarchy of power, and thus necessitated a reordering of his workshop to accommodate increased demand from a wider clientele.[88]
Consequently he began to produce variants and replicas of his works in a systematic almost assembly-line fashion, an unprecedented practice.[89][90] In his studio Titian used "specialised collaborators" who made copies of his works, which he then retouched for corrections and to impart hisesprit to paintings that might be sold as originals, or to purchasers who were not necessarily averse to settling for copies. In Titian's time retouching was practiced widely by artists, especially to perfect the work done by apprentices in their workshops.[89]
Titian relentlessly revised his works, but the changes he made did not follow a linear progression. He tested the positions of different motifs such as figures and landscape elements numerous times, but new arrangements were not always adopted and those previously rejected might be taken up again.[91] When laying-in the background of a composition, the master and his workshop team typically laid in more than one iteration, which might be obliterated by others, as often happened, or revised and reworked later, even 40 or 50 years later.[92] Titian treated his underdrawings as mere suggestions, and frequently made changes to the original drawing which might not be followed in the painting's execution.[93]
For Philip II, he painted a series of large mythological paintings known as the "Poesie", inspired mostly byOvid's mythological narrative texts,[94] which scholars regard as among his greatest works.[95] Thanks to the prudishness of Philip's successors, these were later mostly given as gifts, and only two remain in the Prado. Titian was producing religious works for Philip at the same time, some of which—the ones insideRibeira Palace—are known to have been destroyed during the1755 Lisbon Earthquake. The "poesie" series contained the following works:
The Death of Actaeon, now in the National Gallery in London, begun in 1559 but worked on for many years and never completed or delivered[97]
In 1623, whenPrince Charles of England was to be married to InfantaMaria Anna of Spain, "[h]er enormous dowry was to be partially paid in pictures. Prince Charles had asked for all of Titian'sPoesie".[98] When Charles cancelled the wedding, "Titian'sPoesie, not yet shipped, were taken out of their crates and hung back up on the walls of the Spanish royal palace".[99]
For each of the problems which he successively undertook he furnished a new and more perfect formula. He never again equalled the emotion and tragedy of the "Crowning with Thorns" (Louvre), in the expression of the mysterious and the divine he never equalled the poetry of the "Pilgrims of Emmaus", while in superb and heroic brilliancy he never again executed anything more grand than "The Doge Grimani adoring Faith" (Venice, Doge's Palace), or the "Trinity", of Madrid. On the other hand from the standpoint of flesh tints, his most moving pictures are those of his old age, the "Dana" of Naples and of Madrid, the "Antiope" of the Louvre, the "Rape of Europa" (Boston, Gardner collection), etc. He even attempted problems of chiaroscuro in fantastic night effects ("Martyrdom of St. Laurence", Church of the Jesuits, Venice; "St. Jerome," Louvre). In the domain of the real he always remained equally strong, sure, and master of himself; his portraits of Philip II (Madrid), those of his daughter, Lavinia, and those of himself are numbered among his masterpieces.[14]
Titian married off his daughter Lavinia in 1555 with a noble dowry of 1,400 ducats[103] to Cornelio Sarcinelli, a member of the local nobility ofSerravale, a town on the road between Venice and Pieve di Cadore. Lavinia bore five children whose names are known, two of them daughters, and there is some evidence she had another, older girl. The fact that Cornelio provided a dowry of 1,200 ducats for their daughter Helena gives some idea of his wealth.[104]
Titian continued to accept commissions to the end of his life. Augusto Gentili writes that from the mid-1540s on, his work was mostly outside Venice, with obligations to Italian and European patrons elsewhere. Aside from his imperial and Spanish commissions, there was comparatively little demand for his works in Venice and he lost influence there during his long absences. Few of his works from that period remain in the city.[105] Nevertheless, the volume of Titian's artistic work remained undiminished even when he was in his late eighties—the workshop was still carrying on at its usual pace, and could well have continued to produce paintings under his name if Orazio had outlived his father. Titian planned for his legacy by introducing Orazio to his patrons and trying to win their favor on his behalf.[106]
His final painting, thePietà, is an image of tragic pathos that evokes feelings of pity and sorrow in the presence of death. It is a highly personalized composition, wherein Titian, portrayed as Saint Jerome, prostrates himself before the Virgin and reaches out to the lifeless body of Christ.[107] Statues of Moses with the Ten Commandments and theHellespontine Sibyl, who prophesied Christ's death and resurrection, flank the stone piers of a niche with asemi-dome apse and a mosaic ceiling that depicts a pelican piercing its breast to feed its young[108] (a symbol of the resurrection), the whole surmounted by a pediment topped with burning lamps.[107] Mary Magdalene turns away in horror from the scene, unable to bear the sight.[108] Thevotive tablet in the lower right depicts Titian and his son Orazio praying before a heavenly vision of the Pietà. Behind the tablet is Titian's coat-of-arms with the double-headed Habsburg eagle.[109] The canvas, composed of seven pieces of canvas stitched together and measuring 378 centimetres (12.40 ft) x 348 centimetres (11.42 ft), is one of the largest ever painted by Titian. Because the Pietà was to decorate the artist's own tomb, it is often interpreted as an invocation or “painted prayer” for protection from the plague that eventually killed him.[110]
Titian's estate was in disarray soon after his death. Orazio died only weeks afterwards, leading to a five-year dispute between Titian's other son Pomponio and his son-in-law Cornelio Sarcinelli over the estate, including the contents of the workshop and paintings in the house.[110] Around 1581, when a settlement was reached between Pomponio and Sarcinelli, Palma il Giovane acquired the painting and held it until his death in 1628. In about 1631 it was installed in thechurch of Sant’Angelo in Venice, where it remained until 1814, when it became part of the collection of theGallerie dell'Accademia. Recent scholarship has shown that Palma il Giovane had only a small role in completing the painting despite the inscription he wrote on it declaring that "What Titian left unfinished, Palma reverently completed".[111] Nygren says he retouched only parts of the picture, including theputto in the lower left, the putto at its center, and some elements of the architecture, mainly along the upper edge.[110]
Another painting that apparently remained in Titian's studio at his death is theFlaying of Marsyas. According to Robertson, it was not well known until it entered the critical literature in 1909 when Frimmel deemed it a work by the master's hand. Robertson describes its subject as "superficially, at least, repellent", and refers to the "brutality" of its treatment. It has been widely accepted as one of Titian's important later works since the 1930s.[112] Another violent masterpiece isTarquin and Lucretia.[113]
While theplague raged in Venice, Titian died on 27 August 1576.[114] Given the modern scholarly consensus that he was born between 1488 and 1490, he would have been at least eighty-six years old, and no more than ninety.[8] Although in 1575 he had installed his last painting, thePietà, which he designed specifically for his own burial site in the Frari, it was soon removed, and he was buried beneath the Frari's Altar of the Crucifix (Altare del Crocifisso) without the painting in place.[115] According to Nichols, the Franciscan friars of the Frari felt that the painting did not respect the 'ancient devotions' to the medieval crucifix in the Chapel of Christ, and had returned it to him. Very shortly after Titian's death, his son, assistant and sole heirOrazio, also died of the plague, greatly complicating the settlement of his estate, as he had made no will.[116] The painting apparently remained in his studio and eventually the painterJacopo Palma il Giovane, who claimed to have been a pupil in his workshop, came into its possession and added a few small touches. After Palma's death in 1628, the church of Sant'Angelo acquired the canvas in 1631, where it remained until the church was destroyed in the early 18th century. The Pietà became part of the collection of the Accademia Galleries in 1814.[109]
A large monument to honor Titian at his original burial site was commissioned by the EmperorFerdinand I of Austria in 1843. Its completion was carried on after his abdication in 1848 by his successorFranz Joseph through 1852.[117] Luigi Zandomeneghi, a student ofAntonio Canova, and director of the Accademia when the commission was made, was selected to create the monument. It was built of the finestCarrara marble across the nave from Titian's ownCa' Pesaro Madonna. Zandomeneghi's sons, Pietro and Andrea, completed the project after he died.[115]
The house where Titian was born in Pieve di Cadore
Titian's wife, Cecilia, was a barber's daughter from his hometown ofPieve di Cadore. As a young woman she had been his housekeeper and mistress for some five years. Cecilia had already borne Titian two sons, Pomponio andOrazio,[118] when in 1525 she fell seriously ill. Titian, wishing to legitimize the children, married her. Cecilia recovered, the marriage was a happy one, and they had another daughter who died in infancy.[119] In August 1530 Cecilia died.[120] Titian remarried, but little information is known about his second wife; she was possibly the mother of his daughter Lavinia.[121] Titian had a fourth child, Emilia, the result of an affair, possibly with a housekeeper.[122] His favourite child was Orazio, who became his assistant.
In 1531, Titian moved his two sons and infant daughter to a new house on the northern edge of Venice in Biri Grande. Thecasa da stazio had two floors, the lower probably used for storage, and the upper as his dwelling place. His workshop, built of masonry and wood, was separated from the rest of the house. The grounds featured a private garden where he could air-dry his paintings and hide them from observation. The house had direct access to the lagoon, allowing the paintings to be shipped easily to patrons.[123] His sister Orsa came from Pieve di Cadore to help manage the household and his business affairs.[124]
In about 1526 he had become acquainted withPietro Aretino, the influential and audacious figure who features in the chronicles of the time.[e] Philip Cottrell considers that a crucial element in Titian's success internationally was the endorsement of the satirist Aretino, who arrived in Venice in March 1527, and rarely left the city until he died in 1556. Aretino began friendships with Titian and with the sculptor and architect Jacopo Sansovino, also new arrived from central Italy. The three were so close they were known popularly in Venice as "the triumvirate", and effectively became the centre of the city's artistic establishment, around which revolved a group of lesser artists. Aretino enlisted Titian and Sansovino to join him in pursuing the patronage ofFederico II Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, and by the autumn of 1527 the Marquis had received a portrait of Aretino, now lost, from Titian's hand. Numerous important commissions and an introduction to Emperor Charles V followed.[127]
The Italian painterTintoretto was brought when he was very young to Titian's studio by his father. Tom Nichols says Tintoretto probably entered Titian's workshop during the period of 1530–1539, but only for a very brief time, and that he likely switched to another Venetian studio.[128] Ridolfi tells in hisLife of Tintoretto (1642) that after being cast out of Titian's studio, the young Tintoretto realized he could "become a painter by studying the canvases of Titian and the reliefs of Michelangelo Buonarroti". To remind himself of this aspiration he wrote on the walls of his rooms a motto for his striving: "il disegno di Michelangelo e il colorito di Tiziano" ("Michelangelo's design and Titian's colour").[129][130]
Several other members of the Vecelli family tried a hand at painting.Francesco Vecellio, Titian's brother, worked as his assistant in 1511, then gave up painting for a while to become a soldier. Francesco worked for much of his career in Venice, and shared his brother's workshop in Venice until the early 1550s, often working side-by-side with him. Francesco got most of his commissions from the interior regions ofVeneto, especially from Belluno and Cadore.[131] Historical documents show that these commissions were carried out at the family workshop.[132] Numerous works executed in Belluno and Cadore are attributed to Francesco, including altarpieces in the Church of Santa Maria Annunziata, Sedico, the Church of Santa Croce, Belluno (now at theOld Masters Staatliche Museum in Berlin), the Church of Madonna della Difesa, San Vito di Cadore, and the Church of Santa Maria Nascente, Pieve di Cadore.[133]
Tom Nichols describes how over time Titian's relatives such as his brother Francesco, and his younger cousins Marco and Cesare, played more prominent roles in the Titian workshop at Biri Grande. Titian produced the so-calledAllegory of Prudence in the early 1570s, representing his growing desire for artistic continuity in a family succession. Nichols thinks Erwin Panofsky is probably correct when he suggests that the allegory depicting the heads of wolf, lion and dog represents portraits of Titian, Orazio and (possibly) Marco as the three generations of the Vecellio family workshop. This ideal image, however, required manipulation of the genealogical and historical facts on Titian's part. Marco (1545–c. 1611), was not, as the image seems to imply, Orazio's son, but instead a distant second cousin who had come to Venice from Cadore about 1560, and probably played an active role in the workshop only in the last decade of Titian's life.[11] He created several productions in the ducal palace, theMeeting of Charles V andClement VII in 1529; inSan Giacomo di Rialto, anAnnunciation; inSanti Giovanni e Paolo,Christ Fulminant. A son of Marco, named Tiziano (or Tizianello), painted early in the 17th century. He made a name for himself as a portraitist, but is best known for writing a biography of his relative Titian, published in 1622.[134]
Few of the pupils and assistants of Titian became well known in their own right; for some being his assistant was probably a lifetime career.Paris Bordone andBonifazio Veronese were his assistants during some points in their careers.Giulio Clovio said Titian employedEl Greco (or Dominikos Theotokopoulos) in his last years.Polidoro da Lanciano is said to have been a follower or pupil of Titian. Other followers wereNadalino da Murano,[135]Damiano Mazza,[136] and Gaspare Nervesa.[137]
Tom Nichols says that the role ofcolore as the defining aesthetic in Venice, and the related concept that an all-encompassing 'Venetian-ness' determined artistic developments there, is sometimes exaggerated.[138] He finds that Titian's late style drew attention to the manner in which 'colouring' (colorito), rather than mere colour (colore), could shape the composition of a painting.[139] According to David Rosand, there was an aesthetically refined audience in the 16th century, consisting mainly of fellow artists, that was keenly responsive to Titian's art, and responded to the challenge presented by his expressive brushwork. In his discussion of interpreting Renaissance brushwork generally, Rosand writes that one point should be emphasized: the semantic distinction betweencolorito andcolore.Colorito is "the act of colouring, the actual application of paint and manipulation of the brush", while Venetians hardly ever used the uninflectional nouncolore. For him, the style of Venetian painting,il colorito alla veneziana, characterized by an open pictorial structure with its parts connected in a fabric of constructive brushstrokes, defines itself by its process.[140]
Rosand wrote of the "caressing touch" of Titian's brush—[141] in his essay, "Titian and the Critical Tradition", he says Aretino perceived that a primary fount of Titian's imitative power was the process and structure of his brushwork.[142] Sylvia Ferino-Pagden finds that his brushwork seems sometimes to have been done with a leisurely carelessness, and at other times to have been dashed off with intense energy. Titian's technique of open painting with visible traces of brushwork was revolutionary, and gave his portrayals an unprecedented sensuous effect. His later work influenced his contemporaries and the painters of following centuries up to the modern day, and set a mark to which later artists compared themselves, including even theExpressionists.[141]
Dunkerton, Springet al, the authors of a study that appeared in a National Gallery technical bulletin, describe the various aspects of the artist's technique as revealed by technical analysis. They recount that Joyce Plesters conducted an examination ofBacchus and Ariadne during its cleaning and restoration treatment in 1967–1969, following which Lorenzo Lazzarini made related studies in Venice. Plesters's and Lazzarini's investigations showed that Titian used a traditionalgesso ground, occasionally modified by animprimatura layer, and that his paint medium was a drying oil. Paint layer composition revealed in cross-sections of paint samples could be complex, either to attain certain colour effects or as a result of the various adjustments and changes he made while applying the paint. Since these tests were carried out many more of Titian's paintings have been analysed using different technical processes and new scientific methods, especially developments in infrared technology, that disprove the long-established belief that Titian composed his works wholly in paint without first drawing his intended design.[143]
The art historian Peter Humfrey says some three hundred items are catalogued in his bookTitian: The Complete Paintings, but that if all the paintings issued from the artist's workshop had been included, that number might have been doubled.[144] According to Joanna Woods-Marsden, Humfrey's list of 300 pictures includes twenty lost works whose appearance was recorded in paintings or print, for a total of 280 surviving works. His catalogue supplants thecatalogue raisonne published by Harold Wethey in 1969. She points out that assembling such a catalogue presents complications for the cataloguer, but a list of Titian's corpus, as Humfrey notes, is made more difficult by the fact that Titian relied heavily on workshop assistants, with lesser standards.[145]
Two of Titian's works in private hands were put up for sale in 2008. One of these,Diana and Actaeon, was purchased by theNational Gallery in London and theNational Galleries of Scotland on 2 February 2009 for £50 million.[146] The galleries had until 31 December 2008 to make the purchase before the work would be offered to private collectors, but the deadline was extended. The sale created controversy with politicians who argued that the money could have been spent more wisely during a deepening recession. TheScottish Government offered £12.5 million and £10 million came from theNational Heritage Memorial Fund. The rest of the money came from the National Gallery and from private donations. The other painting,Diana and Callisto, was bought jointly by the National Gallery and National Galleries of Scotland in 2012.[147]
Drowning of Pharaoh's Army in the Red Sea, 1515–17, woodcut, 221.5 cm wide
Titian never attemptedengraving, but he was very conscious of the importance ofprintmaking as a means to expand his reputation. In the period 1515–1520 he designed a number ofwoodcuts, including an enormous and impressive one ofThe Drowning of Pharaoh's Army in the Red Sea, in twelve blocks, intended as wall decoration as a substitute for paintings;[148] and collaborated withDomenico Campagnola and others,[149] who produced additionalprints based on his paintings and drawings. Much later he provided drawings based on his paintings toCornelis Cort from the Netherlands who engraved them.Martino Rota followed Cort from about 1558 to 1568.[150]
Titian employed an extensive array of pigments and it can be said that he availed himself of virtually all available pigments of his time.[151] In addition to the common pigments of the Renaissance period, such asultramarine,vermilion,lead-tin yellow,ochres, andazurite, he also used the rare pigmentsrealgar andorpiment.[152]
Well, we heard him say—didn't we, Jane?—'Who is that girl on the platform with the splendid Titian hair? She has a face I should like to paint.' There now, Anne. But what does Titian hair mean?""Being interpreted it means plain red, I guess," laughed Anne. "Titian was a very famous artist who liked to paint red-haired women."[153]
^Though the modern Republic ofItaly had yet to be established, theLatin equivalent of theterm Italian had been in use for natives ofthe region since antiquity.[2]
^The contours in early works may be described as "crisp and clear", while of his late methods it was said that "he painted more with his fingers than his brushes." Dunkerton, Jill, et al.,Dürer to Veronese: Sixteenth-Century Painting in the National Gallery, pp. 281–286. Yale University, National Gallery Publications, 1999.ISBN0-300-07220-1
^The website ofAccademia attributes this work toSebastiano del Piombo, while noting alternative attributions to "Giorgione and Titian in his early period",[19] and the Italian General Catalogue of Cultural Property mentions Titian and Sebastiano del Piombo, simply attributing the work to theVenetian school.[18]
^"The relationship between the writer and the painter became particularly close over the almost thirty years Aretino spent in Venice."[125] Aretino became "the closest companion of Titian's life, his most sensitive critic, as well as his adviser, agent, publicist, debt collector, scribe, and hanger-on."[126]
^abcdefgGillet, Louis (1912)."Titian". In Herbermann, Charles George (ed.).The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church. Vol. 14. Robert Appleton Company. pp. 744–745.
^Cole, Bruce (2010)."Titian: An Introduction". In Bondanella, Julia Conway; Bondanella, Peter; Cole, Bruce; Shiffman, Jody Robin (eds.).The Life of Titian. Penn State Press. p. 4.ISBN978-0-271-04053-0.
^Ruso, Anita (26 April 2018). "The community of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) in Genua and their chapel of Saint Blaise in Santa Maria di Castello".Il Capitale Culturale. Studies on the Value of Cultural Heritage.2 (7): 72.doi:10.13138/2039-2362/1848.
^Scientific images of this painting are available, with explanations, on the website of the French Centre for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France.
^de Armas, Frederick (2013)."The Artful Gamblers". In Barnard, Mary E.; de Armas, Frederick A. (eds.).Objects of Culture in the Literature of Imperial Spain. University of Toronto Press. p. 74.ISBN978-1-4426-4512-7.
^abFalomir, Miguel (1 September 2023). "Titian, Philip II, and the Poesie : The Artist, the Patron, the Paintings".I Tatti Studies in the Italian Renaissance.26 (2):179–201.doi:10.1086/726847.
^Kaufmann, Thomas DaCosta (April 2012). "Representation, Replication, Reproduction: The Legacy of Charles V in Sculpted Rulers' Portraits of the Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Century".Austrian History Yearbook.43: 4.doi:10.1017/S0067237811000555.
^Crowe, J. A. (Joseph Archer); Cavalcaselle, G. B. (Giovanni Battista) (1877).Titian: His Life and Times. With Some Account of His Family. Vol. 1. London : J. Murray.His children are raised to the rank of Nobles of the Empire, with all the honours appertaining to families with four generations of ancestors.
^Tagliaferro, Giorgio (2008)."In the Workshop With Titian". In Ferino-Pagden, Sylvia; Scire, Giovanna Nepi (eds.).Late Titian and the Sensuality of Painting. Rizzoli International Publications. p. 71.ISBN978-88-317-9412-1.
^Matino, Gabriele (6 March 2020). ""Et de presente habita ser vetor scarpaza depentor": new documents on Carpaccio's house and workshop at San Maurizio".Colnaghi Studies Journal, 06 March 2020(PDF). London: Colnaghi Foundation. p. 19.ISBN978-1-91622-941-9.
^Riggs, Arthur Stanley (1946).Titian the Magnificent and the Venice of His Day. Bobbs-Merrill Company. p. 96.With the Paduan religious frescoes we encounter the name of Domenico Campagnola as Titian's assistant and associate. Very bad draughtsman, weak on composition, but seemingly a good copyist and lively imitator far more than an original painter, he was the steady collaborator of Titian in all his Paduan work...
^Landau, 304–305, and in catalogue entries following. Much more detailed consideration is given at various points in: David Landau & Peter Parshall,The Renaissance Print, Yale, 1996,ISBN0-300-06883-2
^Jill Dunkerton and Marika Spring, with contributions from Rachel Billinge, Kamilla Kalinina, Rachel Morrison, Gabriella Macaro, David Peggie and Ashok Roy, Titian's Painting Technique to c. 1540, National Gallery Technical Bulletin, volume 34, 2013, pp. 4–31. Catalog I and II.
Hope, Charles (2003). Jaffé, David (ed.).Titian: Catalogue published to accompany an exhibition at the National Gallery, London, 19 February–18 May 2003. London: National Gallery [u.a.]ISBN1-85709-903-6.
Landau, David, in Jane Martineau and Charles Hope (eds.),The Genius of Venice, 1500–1600, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1983,ISBN0810909855,ISBN0297783238
Penny, Nicholas, National Gallery Catalogues (new series):The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, Volume II, Venice 1540–1600, 2008, National Gallery Publications Ltd,ISBN1-85709-913-3
Gayford, Martin,Venice: City of Pictures, London and New York: Thames & Hudson, 2024 (esp. ch. 5, "'Night and Day with Brush in Hand': Titian in the 1520s", and ch. 8, "'A New Path to Make Myself Famous': Titian in Old Age").
Hall, James.The Self-portrait: A Cultural History. London: Thames & Hudson, 2014.ISBN978-0-5002-3910-0
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