Historical Figures Codexery

Titian

Italian Renaissance painter, founder of the Venetian school, known for his masterful use of colour.

Titian

Titian · via Wikipedia: Titian · Public domain

Born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno, Titian was the most significant painter of Renaissance Venetian art.[1]

Quick Facts

Birth name
Tiziano Vecellio
Born
c. 1488/90
Birthplace
Pieve di Cadore, Republic of Venice
Died
27 August 1576
Place of death
Venice, Republic of Venice
Occupation
Artist
Movement
Venetian school

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

In 1507–1508, Titian worked on exterior frescoes for the Fondaco dei Tedeschi alongside Giorgione.[2] After Giorgione's death in 1510, Titian continued to paint Giorgionesque subjects for some time.[3] In 1516, he completed his masterpiece, the Assumption of the Virgin, for the high altar of the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.[4] During the period 1530–1550, Titian developed the style introduced by his dramatic Death of St. Peter Martyr.[5]

While Titian's precise birth date is unknown, a date between 1488 and 1490 is now considered most probable by scholars.[6][7] Gregorio Vecellio and his wife Lucia were Titian's parents, though little information about them survives.[8] Giorgio Vasari's biography of Titian states that Giovanni Bellini was the artist's first teacher.[9] Titian was among the earliest painters to receive a noble title from a monarch.[10]

What the cited sources add

The same source notes that the sitter is likely a member of the aristocratic Barbarigo family, not the poet Ludovico Ariosto as long believed.[11] The National Gallery's description of Bacchus and Ariadne explains that Titian captured the moment when Bacchus falls in love at first sight with Ariadne.[12] That account also states that Titian began Bacchus and Ariadne in Venice in 1520 or 1522 and finished it at Ferrara early in 1523.[12] The National Gallery notes that Titian self-consciously attempted to emulate, and perhaps outdo, Raphael by drawing inspiration from classical sculpture.[12]

According to Carlo Corsato, on 15 August 1541 Charles V awarded Titian an annual stipend of 100 scudi payable at a bank in Milan.[13] In Titian's early portrait, the subject glances back over his shoulder and briefly makes eye contact with the viewer, according to the National Gallery.[11] Lisa Jardine argued that a competitive desire to acquire was essential for the Renaissance's growing output of extremely costly artworks.[14][15]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Titian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wolf, "I, Titian", Prestel, 2006 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Titian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Romano, "Venice: The Remarkable History of the Lagoon City", Oxford University Press, 2023, p. 125; Joannides, "Titian to 1518: The Assumption of Genius", Yale University Press, 2001, p. 51 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Titian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nichols, "Titian: And the End of the Venetian Renaissance", Reaktion Books, 2013, p. 149 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Titian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Joannides, "Titian to 1518: The Assumption of Genius", Yale University Press, 2001, p. 10–11; Charles Hope, in Jaffé, 2003, p. 14 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Titian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Titian Bacchus and Ariadne NG35 National Gallery, London", www.nationalgallery.org.uk, 2025 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Titian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cecil Gould, The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools, National Gallery Catalogues, p. 265, London, 1975, (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Titian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sohm, "The Artist Grows Old: The Aging of Art and Artists in Italy, 1500-1800", Yale University Press, 2007, p. 83; Cole, "Titian And Venetian Painting, 1450-1590", Routledge, 2018, p. 62 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Titian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hope, "Late Titian and the Sensuality of Painting", Rizzoli International Publications, 2008, p. 29; Joannides, "Titian to 1518: The Assumption of Genius", Yale University Press, 2001, p. 7; Nichols, "The Master as Monument: Titian and His Images", Artibus et Historiae: An Art Anthology, 1 January 2013, p. 225–229; Joseph Archer Crowe, "Titian - His Life and Times, with some account of his family, chiefly from new and unpublished records -", Read Books Design, March 2011; Angella, "Sulle terre dei da Camino", Bubola & Naibo, 1993; Picotti, "I ca en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Titian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cole, "Titian And Venetian Painting, 1450-1590", Routledge, 2018, p. 63; Gillet, "The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church", Robert Appleton Company, 1912, p. 744–745; Freedberg, "Painting in Italy, 1500-1600", Yale University Press, 1993, p. 345 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Titian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bostock, "Old Age in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: Interdisciplinary Approaches to a Neglected Topic", Walter de Gruyter, 2012, p. 525; Watts, "Titian's Allegory of Marriage: New Approaches", Amsterdam University Press, 2022, p. 100 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. "Portrait of Gerolamo (?) Barbarigo, about 1510, Titian", National Gallery. facts only, no text reused. nationalgallery.org.uk
  12. "Titian Bacchus and Ariadne NG35 National Gallery, London", www.nationalgallery.org.uk, 2025. facts only, no text reused. nationalgallery.org.uk
  13. Wikipedia, "Titian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Corsato, "Titian's Pensions and the Rediscovery of the Original Royal Privilege of 1571", Studi Tizianeschi, 1 January 2016, p. 99–100 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  14. Wikipedia, "Titian" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jardine, "Worldly Goods: A New History of the Renaissance", W. W. Norton & Company, 1998, p. 12; Loh, "Titian Remade: Repetition and the Transformation of Early Modern Italian Art", Getty Publications, 2007, p. 32 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  15. Open Library record, ISBN 9780393318661 ("Worldly Goods"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Titian (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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