Titian
(1473/1490 - 27 August 1576) |
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portrait, landscape, mythological and religious paintings Art Work
| Name: |
Titian |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Belluno, Italy |
| Nationality: |
Italian |
| Birth: |
1473/1490 |
| Death: |
27 August 1576 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
portrait, landscape, mythological and religious paintings |
| Medium: |
oil painting |
| Method: |
oil painting |
| Style: |
Italian Renaissance |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
Draughtsman
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Biography
Tiziano Vecellio was born in Pieve di Cadore in around 1488. At the tender age of nine, he left his childhood home with his brother Francesco to embark on a journey to Venice. From this humble beginning, young Tiziano (or Titian, as he would come to be known) would grow to become the greatest Italian Renaissance painter of the Venetian school.
Initially, Titian entered the workshop of the mosaicist Sebastiano. He then passed into the studios of Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, the leading artists in the city at that time, where he was introduced to Giorgione of Castelfranco. The two students embraced the emerging experimentation with oil paint to develop a technique of free, expressive brushwork and a depiction of form through color that amazed contemporaries. The works of the young masters were so similar that even today argument rages over which pieces from this period can be rightly attributed to Titian and which to Giorgione.
Shortly after the death of Giorgione in 1510, Titian received his first important commission: to produce a series of frescoes in the Scuola del Santo at Padua. His reputation then burgeoned with a series of independent commissions, culminating in the immense success of his first public commission in Venice, the Assumption of the Virgin (1516-1518), which was the high altarpiece of the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. With Giovanni Bellini's death in 1516, Titian now stood unchallenged as the master of Venetian art.
The ensuing years saw Titian reveal his versatility as an artist by undertaking more complex subjects. Equally inventive in portraiture, allegories, devotional, and mythological painting, he was able to pick and choose his patrons, becoming the first artist to boast a truly international clientele. As Titian's working life bordered on the frantic, his private life was struck by tragedy with the death of his wife in 1530. Beset by grief, Titian's work after this date would reflect a more tranquil and reflective mood. In the same year, Titian met Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at his coronation. He was to portray Charles V a number of times in the following years. Such was the emperor's delight with Titian's work that he elevated Titian to the rank of Count Palatine and Knight of the Golden Spur in 1533, a remarkable honor for a painter. Further calls for his services came from the Italian princes and inevitably from the papacy. In 1543 Titian visited Bologna to complete the official portrait of Pope Paul III. Two years later he embarked upon his one and only journey to Rome where he met Michelangelo Buonarroti. In Rome, he produced a number of portraits of the pope and his nephews. The travels continued in 1548 with the arduous journey across the Alps to reach the emperor's court at Augsburg. It was here that Titian carried out one of his great masterpieces. Emperor Charles V at Muhlberg (1548). Depicting the emperor riding a horse in emulation of a Christian knight, it remains a quintessential state portrait.
The latter part of Titian's life was spent back in Venice, working almost exclusively for King Philip II of Spain. The relationship with the Hapsburgs, although not financially rewarding, gave Titian the freedom to experiment with the use of color and subtleties of the human form. He remained productive up until his death in 1576. Titian was laid to rest in the church of Santa Maria dei Frari, where two of his most famous works remain.
For sixty years Titian dominated Venetian painting, influencing younger artists, such as Tintoretto and Paolo Veronese, and the great masters of another generation, such as Diego Velazquez. His versatility and long life led to a breathtaking output of work. He was highly successful in whatever art form he chose to depict. His style continued to develop throughout his career, continually stretching the limits of what could be achieved with oil painting. |
Samples of Work
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