Tiziano Vecelli, best known as Titian, was an influential Italian painter. A prominent representative of the Italian Renaissance, he is regarded as one of the leading figures of the 16th-century Venetian school. He painted landscape backgrounds, mythological and religious subjects, and portraiture, having Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Pope Paul III, Philip II of Spain and Henry III of France as his sitters.
Background
Titian was born sometime between 1488 and 1490, in Pieve di Cadore, Veneto, Italy (the Republic of Venice at the time). He was the eldest of five children in the family of Gregorio Vecellio, a wealthy councillor and captain of the local Venetian militia, and Lucia.
Education
A ten-years-old Titian and his brother Francesco were transferred to Venice where they lived with their uncle and studied mosaic at Sebastiano Zuccato's workshop. Quickly, Titian first became an apprentice to Gentile Bellini, and then to his brother Giovanni, the greatest Venetian painter of the time.
While in Venice, Titian got acquainted with many peers, including Lorenzo Lotto, Sebastiano Luciani and Giorgione. Another pupil of Giovanni Bellini, the latter influenced Titian's early works.
Career
The start of Titian's career can be counted from about 1508 when he worked alongside Giorgione on the external decoration of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. It was the point of departure for his artistic path.
The first independent commission, the one for the frescoes of three miracles of St. Anthony of Padua, came to the painter two or three years later. It resulted in the Miracle of the Speaking Infant and the Miracle of the Irascible Son, a canvas with a very beautiful landscape background.
Upon his return from Padua to Venice, Titian founded a workshop on the Grand Canal, at S. Samuele. The atelier was managed by his younger brother Francesco. Other early works of that period include the Miracle of Jealous Husband, religious canvases Gypsy Madonna and the Madonna of the Cherries, and mythological paintings Flora and Sacred and Profane Love.
In 1516, Titian succeeded his teacher, Giovanni Bellini, in his post of the official painter of the Republic of Venice. Titian held the post for about sixty years and invested his income in the lumber trade of his birthplace, Pieve di Cadore. The spectacular altarpiece panel for the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Assumption of the Virgin, praised for its innovative color palette, dates to the same year. A series of small Madonnas for several rich patrons are also among the examples of Titian's works of the time.
Titian's fame as of a great master grew from day to day, and soon he was assigned as the official painter of King Philip II of Spain. His work was sought out by the noblest and wealthiest people of the time.
By the end of the 1520s, Titian began to incorporate the elements of the style, introduced to him by Jacopo Sansovino and Pietro Aretino, the style, that would later be best known as Mannerism. The painter created the first versions of reclining Venus and experimented with the topic throughout the next twenty years, as can be seen in The Venus of Urbino, Venus and Love and Venus with an Organist and a Dog. His Venus with a Mirror is a natural theme for the goddess of love and beauty.
At the request of Pope Paul III, Titian went to Bologna in May 1543 where he worked on the celebrated official portrait of Pope Paul III Without Cap. Three years later, the master visited Rome for the first and last time with an intention to portray the Farnese family. While in the city, he discovered the archaeological remains of ancient Rome and the Renaissance masterpieces of Michelangelo, Raphael, Sebastiano del Piombo and others. The most notable portrait of the family, created during the trip, are Paul III and His Grandsons Ottavio and Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. Other important portraits of the time included Portrait of Pietro Aretino and Equestrian Portrait of Charles V.
From the beginning of the 1550s onwards, Titian lived permanently in Venice, except the short summer visits to Pieve di Cadore. He worked regularly with Philip II of Spain since then, creating a number of mythological paintings which he dubbed "poesies" himself. The major examples of this kind of works are the Danae with Nursemaid, the Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Europa, perhaps one of the gayest "poesies."
Titian kept his productivity, both in quantity and in creative ideas, throughout his last years. In his later works, the painter shifted from realistic approach to more abstract one, working increasingly through loose brushstrokes.
Quotations:
"A good painter needs only three colors: black, white and red."
"He who improvises can never make a perfect line of poetry."
"The painter must always seek the essence of things, always represent the essential characteristics and emotions of the person he is painting."
"Painting done under pressure by artists without the necessary talent can only give rise to formlessness, as painting is a profession that requires peace of mind."
Personality
According to all retained descriptions of Titian, he was a wise, eloquent and polite person.
Titian's relationship with his colleague, Giorgione, is still under question among scholars and art historians. Some of them claim, that the painters were open rivals, while others state, that they were close friends.
Quotes from others about the person
Giovanni Lomazzo, art theorist: "The sun amidst small stars not only among the Italians but all the painters of the world."
Paul Cézanne, artist: "Titian is like a page out of Shakespeare."
Eugène Delacroix, artist: "Titian, here is a man made to be appreciated by those who grow old [...]. The qualities of the painter are brought to him at the highest point: what he does is done: the eyes look and are animated by the fire of life. Life and reason are everywhere."
Marco Boschini, painter and engraver: "Titian truly was the most excellent of those who painted: because his brushes always gave birth to expressions of life."
Connections
Titian was married twice. He first wife was named Cecilia, a barber's daughter, with whom he had a love affair during her service as his housekeeper. The relationship produced two sons, Pomponio and Orazio. After the marriage, Cecilia gave birth to a girl, who didn't survive infancy.
After the death of Cecilia in August 1530, Titian married for the second time. In addition to his daughter, Lavinia, whose probable mother was Titian's second wife, the artist had another daughter, Emilia, possibly born from an affair with a housekeeper. When Titian's second wife died, Orsola Vecellio, his sister, was tasked to look after the artist's children.
Titian: His Life
Brilliant in its interpretation of the 16th-century master's paintings, this monumental biography of Titian draws on contemporary accounts and recent art historical research and scholarship, some of it previously unpublished, providing an unparalleled portrait of the artist, as well as a fascinating rendering of Venice as a center of culture, commerce and power.
2012
Masters of Art: Titian
In this volume, numerous large-sized illustrations showcase the artist's oeuvre, and authoritative texts illustrate the decisive stages in his life and in the development of his work, explaining their significance in the context of his time and for the following generations of artists.
Titian
The book traces Titian's complete career and its trailblazing influence on successive generations of artists, from Diego Velázquez to van Dyck.
2006
Titian
In this gorgeously illustrated book, renowned Titian scholars examine some of the celebrated artist's masterpieces and discuss his life and times, portraits, replicas and technique. The reproductions and text provide new evidence of Titian's genius as a stylistic innovator.
1980
Titian
The book examines Titian's evolution, from his early years, training under Giovanni Bellini, to his later mature work, giving a wide perspective on the life's work of this legendary master painter.
Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice
With more than 150 stunning examples by the three masters and their contemporaries, this volume elucidates the technical and aesthetic innovations, that helped define the uniquely rich "Venetian style," as well as the social, political and economic context, in which it flourished.