Titian

Lore & Background

Titian's exact birth date is uncertain; he claimed in a letter to Philip II of Spain to have been born in 1474, but most modern scholars believe a birth date between 1488 and 1490 is likeliest. He was the son of Gregorio Vecellio and Lucia. According to Ludovico Dolce, Titian had four masters: Sebastiano Zuccato, Gentile Bellini, Giovanni Bellini, and Giorgione. No documentation for these relationships has been found. Titian's 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 the Habsburgs and the papacy. Along with Giorgione, he is considered a founder of the Venetian school of Italian Renaissance painting.

Reader's Guide

Titian's significance lies in his profound influence on Western art through his innovative use of colour and brushwork. During his long life, his artistic manner changed drastically, but he retained a lifelong interest in colour. His mature works are remarkable for their loose brushwork and subtlety of tone. In 1590, the painter and art theorist Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo described Titian as 'the sun amidst small stars not only among the Italians but all the painters of the world'. His career was marked by major commissions from the Venetian state, north Italian princes, the Habsburgs, and the papacy. His early works show the influence of Giorgione, but after Giorgione's death in 1510, Titian developed his own style, including bold and expressive brushwork. His legacy endures as a master of colour and a key figure in the Venetian Renaissance.

Did You Know?

• Titian's painting methods, particularly in the application and use of colour, exerted a profound influence on future generations of Western artists.
• He was one of the most versatile Italian painters, adept with portraits, landscape backgrounds, and mythological and religious subjects.
• Titian's early work 'A Man with a Quilted Sleeve' inspired Rembrandt to sketch his own self-portrait in 1639 and create a similar etching.
• The exact date of Titian's birth is uncertain; most modern scholars believe a birth date between 1488 and 1490 is likeliest.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"At Asti, it would seem, Titian was quite in Spanish waters. He doubtless met and perhaps again portrayed the Emperor Charles V." — Titian "[I] purposely avoided the styles of Raphael and Michaelangelo because I was ambitious of higher distinction than that of a clever imitator." — Titian "[I wish]to engrave and distribute [the prints] for the benefit and knowledge and use of painters and sculptors and other knowledge-able persons." — Titian "He who improvises can never make a perfect line of poetry." — Titian