Titian
Tiziano Vecellio, known in English as Titian, was born in Pieve di Cadore near Belluno. The exact date of his birth remains uncertain to this day. When he was an old man, he claimed in a letter to Philip II of Spain that he had been born in 1474. Modern scholars now believe a birth date between 1488 and 1490 is likeliest. He was the son of Gregorio Vecellio and his wife Lucia. His grandfather Conte Vecellio was a prominent notary who held several offices in local administration. Three of Conte's sons were notaries, but Gregorio worked mainly as a timber merchant and managed mines in the mountainous Cadore region for their owners.
Ludovico Dolce stated that Titian had four masters. The first was Sebastiano Zuccato, followed by Gentile Bellini, then his brother Giovanni Bellini, and last Giorgione. No documentation exists for these relationships. Giorgio Vasari wrote that Titian first studied under Giovanni Bellini. Dolce claims the boy was sent to Venice at age nine along with his brother Francesco to live with an uncle and apprentice to Sebastiano Zuccato. After leaving Zuccato, Titian briefly transferred to the studio of Gentile Bellini. Following Gentile's death in 1507, he entered an apprenticeship with Gentile's younger brother Giovanni. As there is no documentation of Titian's work before 1510, it remains unknown which version of events is closer to the truth.
Living in the city, Titian found a group of young men about his own age. Among them were Giovanni Palma da Serinalta, Lorenzo Lotto, Sebastiano Luciani, and Giorgio da Castelfranco, nicknamed Giorgione. Francesco Vecellio, Titian's brother, while more workmanlike in his approach to painting, achieved some notice in his home town of Cadore and the Bellunese area around it.
In 1516, Titian completed his masterpiece, the Assumption of the Virgin, for the high altar of the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. It is still in situ and remains his largest single panel. This piece of colourism, executed on a grand scale rarely before seen in Italy, created a sensation. In the pictorial structure of the Assumption, three domains occupy the composition: apostles on earth, the Madonna rising in the sky, and God the Father in heaven looking over all. These form a coherent whole unlike less dynamic renditions by earlier painters.
The commission for the Assumption, undertaken in 1515, was soon followed by commissions for major altarpieces at Brescia and Ancona. By 1520 he must have been working on several works simultaneously, including the second version of the San Nicolò altarpiece now displayed in the Vatican Pinacoteca. Merchants in the Dalmatian city of Ragusa commissioned Titian and his workshop to execute a polyptych known as The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This work now sits on the high altar of the cathedral in Ragusa.
St Sebastian, painted on a separate panel of a polyptych, was commissioned by a papal legate to Venice, Altobello Averoldi. Signed and dated 1522, it was ready for viewing in 1520 according to David Rosand. Jacopo Tebaldi, an agent for Alfonso I d'Este, schemed to purchase it for the duke. Saint Sebastian had special status as an intercessor during periodic outbreaks of the plague. Such a figure provided an occasion for portrayal of the male nude and could be appreciated as an independent work of art.
In 1533, after painting a portrait of Emperor Charles V in Bologna, Titian was made a Count Palatine and Knight of the Golden Spur. His children were also made nobles of the Empire. His appointment as court painter to Charles V allowed him to gain royal patronage and work on prestigious commissions. He crossed the Alps twice to join the emperor in Germany and made trips to Asti, Bologna, and Milan. Otherwise his presence at court was not required, allowing him to avoid degrading obligations of most courtiers.
On the 15th of August 1541, Charles V awarded Titian an annual stipend of 100 scudi payable at a bank in Milan. Early in 1548, Charles and Titian met at the Diet of Augsburg. During this sojourn, Titian solidified his position as official court painter by completing six paintings, among them the Equestrian Portrait of Charles V. The meeting afforded Titian a chance to make the emperor aware that he had not received a single payment of the stipend. On the 10th of July 1548 Charles V granted him a second annual pension of 100 scudi. Philip II signed a royal deed on the 5th of 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.
In a self-portrait from the 1550s, he depicts himself clothed in rich attire of a patrician, including the heavy gold chain bestowed on him by Charles V in 1533. In 1540 he received a pension of 50 ducats from Alfonso d'Avalos, marquis del Vasto.
For Philip II, Titian painted a series of large mythological paintings known as the Poesie. These were inspired mostly by Ovid's mythological narrative texts and scholars regard them as among his greatest works. Thanks to prudishness of Philip's successors, these were later mostly given as gifts, and only two remain in the Prado. The poesie series contained Danaë sent to Philip in 1553, now in the Wellington Collection. It included Venus and Adonis, of which earliest surviving version delivered in 1554 is in the Prado. Several versions exist for this work.
The series continued with Perseus and Andromeda in Wallace Collection, now damaged. Diana and Actaeon was owned jointly by National Gallery in London and National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh. Diana and Callisto were dispatched in 1559, also owned jointly by those galleries. The Rape of Europa went to Boston Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, delivered in 1562. The Death of Actaeon remained unfinished and never completed or delivered, begun in 1559 but worked on for many years.
In 1623 when Prince Charles of England was to be married to Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, her enormous dowry was partially paid in pictures. Prince Charles had asked for all of Titian's Poesie. When Charles cancelled wedding, Titian's Poesie not yet shipped were taken out of crates and hung back up on walls of Spanish royal palace.
His final painting, the Pietà, is an image of tragic pathos that evokes feelings of pity and sorrow in presence of death. It is a highly personalized composition wherein Titian portrayed as Saint Jerome prostrates himself before Virgin and reaches out to lifeless body of Christ. Statues of Moses with Ten Commandments and Hellespontine Sibyl flank stone piers of niche with semi-dome apse and mosaic ceiling depicting pelican piercing breast to feed young. Mary Magdalene turns away in horror from scene unable to bear sight. Votive tablet in lower right depicts Titian and his son Orazio praying before heavenly vision of Pietà. Behind tablet is Titian's coat-of-arms with double-headed Habsburg eagle.
The canvas composed of seven pieces stitched together measures large dimensions making it one of largest ever painted by Titian. Because Pietà was to decorate artist's own tomb, it is often interpreted as invocation or painted prayer for protection from plague that eventually killed him. While the plague raged in Venice, Titian died on the 27th of August 1576. Given modern scholarly consensus he was born between 1488 and 1490, he would have been at least eighty-six years old and no more than ninety.
According to David Rosand there was aesthetically refined audience in sixteenth century consisting mainly of fellow artists keenly responsive to Titian's art. They responded to challenge presented by expressive brushwork. Sylvia Ferino-Pagden finds his brushwork seems sometimes done with leisurely carelessness and at other times dashed off with intense energy. His technique of open painting with visible traces of brushwork was revolutionary giving portrayals unprecedented sensuous effect.
Titian married off daughter Lavinia in 1555 with noble dowry of 1,400 ducats to Cornelio Sarcinelli member of local nobility of Serravale town on road between Venice and Pieve di Cadore. Lavinia bore five children whose names are known including two daughters. There is some evidence she had another older girl. Fact that Cornelio provided dowry of 1,200 ducats for their daughter Helena gives idea of his wealth.
His final painting the Pietà remained in studio after death. Painter Jacopo Palma il Giovane claimed to have been pupil in workshop came into its possession adding few small touches. After Palma's death in 1628 church Sant'Angelo acquired canvas in 1631 where it remained until church destroyed early eighteenth century. Painting became part collection Accademia Galleries in 1814. Recent scholarship shows Palma il Giovane had only small role completing painting despite inscription declaring what Titian left unfinished Palma reverently completed.
Another painting remaining in Titian's studio at death was Flaying of Marsyas. According to Robertson it not well known until entered critical literature in 1909 when Frimmel deemed work by master hand. Description refers to subject as superficially repellent referring to brutality treatment. It widely accepted one important later works since 1930s. Another violent masterpiece Tarquin and Lucretia.
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Common questions
When was Titian born and what is the most likely birth year according to modern scholars?
Modern scholars believe Titian was born between 1488 and 1490. He claimed in a letter to Philip II of Spain that he had been born in 1474, but this date remains uncertain.
Who were the masters who taught Titian during his early apprenticeship in Venice?
Ludovico Dolce stated that Titian had four masters including Sebastiano Zuccato, Gentile Bellini, Giovanni Bellini, and Giorgione. Giorgio Vasari wrote that Titian first studied under Giovanni Bellini after being sent to Venice at age nine.
What major altarpiece did Titian complete for the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in 1516?
Titian completed the Assumption of the Virgin for the high altar of the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in 1516. It remains his largest single panel and is still located in situ within the church.
How many annual stipends did Charles V grant Titian and when were they awarded?
Charles V awarded Titian an annual stipend of 100 scudi on the 15th of August 1541 and granted him a second annual pension of 100 scudi on the 10th of July 1548. Philip II later signed a royal deed on the 5th of July 1571 reaffirming a total stipend of 200 scudi annually.
Which mythological paintings known as the Poesie did Titian create for Philip II and when were they delivered?
The series included Danaë sent to Philip in 1553, Venus and Adonis delivered in 1554, Diana and Callisto dispatched in 1559, and The Rape of Europa delivered in 1562. The Death of Actaeon remained unfinished and was never completed or delivered.
When did Titian die and what was the cause of his death according to historical records?
Titian died on the 27th of August 1576 while the plague raged in Venice. He would have been at least eighty-six years old and no more than ninety given modern scholarly consensus on his birth date between 1488 and 1490.