Biography

            Tiziano Vecellio was born into a middle class family in the mountain town of Pieve di Cadore in the Republic of Venice around 1490. He travelled to Venice as a young boy to be a student within the studio of the painter and mosaicist Sebastiano Zuccati. He then went on to the tutelage of Gentile Bellini, and then on to his brother, and the more successful Bellini, Giovanni. From Giovanni he learnt all about Venetian colore and the density of figures.

Giovanni Bellini, San Zaccaria Altarpiece, 1505, oil on canvas, transferred from wood, 402 x 273 cm, San Zaccaria, Venice.

            He also met several other artists such as Giorgione and Sebastiano del Piombo. The young Titian once again changed studios to that of the younger Venetian artist Giorgione.

Giorgione, Tempest, c. 1505, oil on canvas, 82 x 73 cm, Gallerie dell’ Accademia, Venice.

           

Giovanni Bellini’s works were often restrained compositionally, but Giorgione’s teaching allowed Titian to create dynamic compositions with much more naturalism than his previous master.  Titian learnt about how to create humanistic movement, dynamism, and nature and his early work heavily relies on that of his teacher. However, this did not last long, for Giorgione passed away in the autumn of 1510 around the age of 30 and Titian was alone to begin his career as an artist. Titian’s earliest recorded work are the frescoes that he painted on the side of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi which was a building in Venice used by German merchants. Giorgione also had frescoes on the façade of this building. However, these have not survived as well as his paintings and only fragments can still be seen.

Titian, Justice (Judith), fresco (detached), 1508-1509, 213 x 346 cm, from Fondaco dei Tedeschi, Venice.

            Another early work is Man with the Blue Sleeve from around circa 1510 which is an oil painting on canvas. It shows a man in a blue coat with his body facing the side with his arm resting on a trompe l’oeil ledge that is signed by the artist. It was thought to depict the poet Ariosto but is now believed to be one of Titian’s first patrons, a nobleman from the Barbarigo family.

Titian, Man with the Blue Sleeve, c. 1510, oil on canvas, 84.6 x 69.5 cm, National Gallery, London.

            In 1513 Titian had refused the opportunity to move to Florence and work in the papal court for Pope Leo X. Instead, he chose to stay in Venice to cultivate his status as the next Venetian painter, much like Giovanni Bellini had done as young artist in the 15th century. In his attempt to be the reigning Venetian artist in 1514 Titian established his own studio and workshop. This is the studio in which Titian would have for his entire career. He had very little competition in Venice, and through his flourishing career there, he gained patrons all across Italy. Also, at this time Titian was beginning to expose himself to the work of Raphael and Michelangelo, because of their praise from the likes of Giorgio Vasari and other patrons. The works produced by these Florentine artists would have a profound effect on the painting Titian created in the middle of his career.

Titian’s real success came in 1518 when his Assumption of the Virgin was installed at the high altar of the Venetian church Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.

Titian, Assumption of the Virgin, 1516-1518, oil on wood, 690 x 360 cm, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice.

            This work was completely different than the previous Venetian style. It was dramatic in its movements, expressions, and colours and would have definitely been a complete artistic change for the people of Venice. The Francsicans who ran the church were initially inclined to decline the work until they were told that this style was what was occurring in art at this time. Another religious work that altered the Venetian tradition is The Pesaro Altarpiece commissioned in 1519 that is still in situ at the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.

Titian, Pesaro Altarpiece, 1519-1526, oil on canvas, 478 x 266 cm, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice.

            This large-scale painting shows the traditional sacra conversazione between the Virgin, saints, and donors. While this was something that Giovanni Bellini often portrayed in a very orderly and organized way, Titian completely reorganized this format to a vertical composition.

Titian’s personal life also greatly improved at this time with his marriage to Cecilia Soldano in 1525. They already had 2 sons, Pomponio and Orazio, and thus it was a happy union. Unfortunately, this joy did not last long for Cecilia died in childbirth with their daughter Lavinia in 1530. However, his personal life became joyful once more with the addition of two men who would become lifelong friends: the poet Pietro Aretino and the architect and sculptor known as Sansovino. These men would aid in his career and they often held meetings at Titian’s home.

In 1538 he decided to stay in Venice once again after an invitation from the Spanish crown to move to Madrid. This just reiterates how he felt about his home state and the artistic atmosphere that he was tied to. In the 1530s and 1540s, art historians state that he entered a “Mannerist crisis” due to the competition with central Italian artists such as Michelangelo. An example of this phase is The Crowning of Thorns from 1540 to 1542 for the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. This can be seen in the figures forms, which as depicted as thicker and more muscular than his earlier works, as well as the influence of classical sculpture in contrapposto and foreshortened manners.

Titian, The Crowning of Thorns, 1540-1542, oil on panel, 303 x 181 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris.

            However, in the 1540s Titian almost gave himself completely to portraiture. These included everything from a series depicting Roman emperors to be placed in the Palazzo Ducale of Mantua to a portrait of his friend Aretino. Also, thanks to Aretino, Titian had developed ties to the Farnese to whom he travelled to Rome in 1545 to meet. It was here that he completed his famous painting titled Danaë for Alessandro Farnese.

Titian, Danaë, 1544-1545, oil on canvas, 117 x 69 cm, Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples.

            This work depicts a change in artistic style for Titian and is highly erotic in nature. His style has become looser and his use of colour is free and rich. When Titian was working on this painting in the Belvedere, Michelangelo and Vasari came to visit him. The older artist, Michelangelo, had praised the use of colour and style in Titian’s presence but later stated to Vasari “it was a pity that in Venice they never learned to draw and that their painters did not have a better method of study.” This was based upon an age-old debate between Florentine disegno and Venetian colore. This did not stop Titian though on his way to greatness. After painting several portraits for the Farnese family, Titian returned home to his native Venice in 1546. However, this did not last long for in 1548 he traveled to Augsburg to meet Charles V, where he painted his lively and courageous official portrait: Charles V on Horseback.

Titian, Charles V on Horseback, 1548, oil on canvas, 332 x 279 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid.

He returned to Venice once again to only turn around and travel back to Augsburg on invitation from Prince Philip, Charles V’s son. Philip was to become Titian’s great and constant patron, whom Titian painted a full-length portrait.

Titian returned to Venice once again in 1551. He was focusing solely on his noble and international patrons and left the Venetian art market to younger artists, such as Tintoretto and Paolo Veronese, who were beginning to emerge after the many years that Titian reigned as the sole Venetian artist. Titian’s final years show a great change in style again, as is expected in such a long life of an artist. His life was beginning to be filled with deaths, for his great friend Pietro Aretino, his noble patron and friend Charles V, his brother Francesco, and his own daughter Lavinia all passed away within a few years. This loss and pain is evident in these final paintings, such as his Entombment from 1565 to 1570. He painted the figures in such as expressive way that one can feel the emotion emanating from the canvas.

Titian, Entombment, 1559, oil on canvas, 137 x 175 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid.

            However, Titian’s most important work that shows this final phase is his last painting for his own tomb: the Pietà. It was meant to be placed in the Cappella del Cristo in the Frari but the work was left unfinished due to his death. Palma Giovane then took over to finish the final details and write an inscription: “What Titian had left unfinished Palma respectfully completed, and dedicated the work to God.”

Titian, Pietà, 1576, oil on canvas, 352 x 349 cm, Gallerie dell’ Accademia, Venice.

            This work focuses on the death of Christ and the moment in which the Virgin holds her son in an intimate embrace. Titian included his own image in the work as the kneeling St. Jerome who looks up to the figures with emotional expression. The figure of the Magdalene heightens the moment by appearing to be in utter despair for her mouth is wide open in a cry and her arms fly open. The composition is loose and painterly in style and shows every stroke that the great artist made. This was his final evolution. Titian passed away in his beloved Venetian home on August 27, 1576. 


Torie Sifton


Works Cited:


Kennedy, Ian G. Titian. London: Taschen, 2006.


Pedrocco, Filippo. Titian. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 2000.