03 TITIAN. 



tectural backgrounds in painting, in which he also showed great 

 knowledge of perspective. His pencil waa frequently employed on 

 merely temporary decorations, either on occasions of solemn funeral 

 obsequies or splendid festivities, of which latter kind were those which 

 he painted at the celebration of th<? nuptials of the Duke of Brac- 

 ciano. Sauti died in 1603, leaving a son named Tiberio, who was also 

 an artist, and who did not long survive him. 



TITIAN. TIZIA'NO VECE'LLIO, commonly called TITIAN, 

 one of the greatest painters of modern times, was born at Capo del 

 Cadore, a small place on the river Piave in the Venetian state, in 1477, 

 [the common accounts say 1480]. He was of the ancient family of 

 Vecellio, of which was San Tiziano, bishop of Uderzo. At the age of 

 about ten young Titian was sent by his father to Venice to an uncle, 

 to be placed with some competent painter. He was first placed with 

 Sebastiauo Zuccati, and shortly afterwards with Gentile Bellini, whom 

 however he also soon left for Giovanni his brother, the most eminent 

 painter of his time at Venice. Titian 'soon surpassed his master. 

 1 1 is early works, in themselves extraordinary, are infinitely more so 

 when compared with the works of the leading artists of Venice of his 

 time. His early portraits are finished with remarkable care, drawn 

 iu excellent taste, and some of his pictures rival the works of the 

 Dutch and old German artists iu finish : there is in the gallery of 

 Dresden a picture of the Tribute Money of this description. The 

 great improvement in the works of Titian upon those of Giovanni 

 Bellini and his school has been considered to be in a great degree 

 derived from the works of Giorgione di Castel Franco who had appro- 

 priated much of the style of Lionardo da Vinci. [GIORGIONE.] 

 Giorgione was two years the senior of Titian, and their works were so 

 much alike that they could not always be distinguished ; but the 

 merit of introducing the new style into Venice belongs to Giorgione. 

 These two painters were fellow-pupils, and for some time friends, 

 until, upon an occasion when Titian was appointed, or Giorgione 

 employed him, to assist him in some frescoes for the new foudaco de' 

 Tedeschi (German warehouse), the portion executed by Titian was 

 preferred to that of Giorgione by some of his own friends, and a jealousy 

 arose between them. 



At the death of Giovanni Bellini in 1512, Titian was employed by 

 the state to complete a work in the Sala del Gran Consiglio of the 

 Homage of Frederic Barbarossa to Pope Alexander III., which he had 

 left unfinished. Titian completed the picture, but he made many 

 alterations in it ; the senate was however so well satisfied with the 

 work, that they presented him with the office of La Senseria, with a 

 salary of about 300 crowns per annum, by which he was obliged to 

 paint for eight crowns the portrait of every doge created in his time, 

 to be placed in he palace of St. Mark. He painted by virtue of this 

 place the portraits of Pietro Lando, Francesco Donato, Marcantouio 

 Trevisano, and the Venieri : he was unable to paint the portraits of 

 the last two doges of his time on account of the infirmities of age. 



In 1514 Titian painted his Bacchus and Ariadne, and other Baccha- 

 nalian and similar works in the palace of Alfonso I., duke of Ferrara, 

 which display his extraordinary power of seeing and imitating nature 

 to a remarkable degree. It was upon a door in an apartment of this 

 palace that he painted his celebrated picture of the Tribute Money 

 noticed above : it represents a Pharisee showing Christ a piece of 

 money, who appears to be asking him the question, " Whose is this 

 image and superscription ? " The figures are half-length and of the 

 natural size. He painted also at the same time the portrait of the 

 duke with his hand resting upon a cannon, and one of the Signora 

 Laura, who afterwards was married to the duke. All these pictures 

 are amongst Titian's finest works; and Michel Angelo, when he first 

 saw the duke's portrait, is said to have exclaimed, " Titian alone is 

 worthy of the name of a painter." Titian became acquainted at 

 Ferrara with Ariosto, and painted his portrait. The poet compliments 

 the painter in his 'Orlando Furioso' (c. xxxiii. 2) : 



" Bastiano, Hafael, Tizian, ch'onora 



Non men Cadore, eke quci Yenezia e Urbino." 



In 1516, shortly after he returned from Ferrara to Venice, he painted 

 in oil his famous picture of the Assumption of the Virgin, for the 

 great altar of the church of Santa Maria gloriosa de' Frari: it is now 

 iu the Academy of the Fine Arts at Venice. This picture is very 

 large, and the figures are larger than life : in the highest part is God 

 the Father between two angels ; in the middle the Virgin ascending, 

 accompanied by angels ; and on the ground are the twelve apostles 

 witnessing the miracle. It is certainly one of the finest pictures in 

 the world, grand in composition and design, and in colouring wonder- 

 ful. Titian never surpassed it in these respects by any of his later 

 works. 



This and the works Titian painted at Ferrara so spread his reputa- 

 tion, that he was invited by Leo X. to Rome. Raffaelle also entreated 

 him to make the -journey; the deaths however of the pope and 

 Itaflaelle in 1520, put an end for a time to the project. He was invited 

 likewise about the same time by Francis I., whose portrait he painted, 

 to France ; an invitation which he showed no disposition to accept. 



In 1528 he painted his celebrated picture of St. Peter Martyr, for 

 the chapel of that saint, in the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. This 

 work has been extravagantly praised by many critics, both for its 

 arrangement and execution ; the landscape ig particularly excellent. 



TITIAN. M 



Algarotti calls it a picture without a fault : its general truth and 

 appearance of reality are not its least remarkable properties. This 

 picture, as well as the Assumption already mentioned are painted in 

 a much freer style than Titian's earlier works. Aretin wrote in 1536 

 a letter to Tribolo, the sculptor, in praise of the St. Peter Martyr, by 

 which we learn that this sculptor and Benvenuto Cellini were strongly 

 impressed with its extraordinary excellence. It is full 16* feet high, 

 by nearly 10 wide, was painted upon wood, but was transferred to 

 canvas by M. Haquin, at Paris, in 1799, whither it had been taken 

 with many other fine works : it was sent back to Venice in 1815. 



In consequence of the St. Peter Martyr, Titian received a commis- 

 sion to paint the Victory of the Venetians over the Janissaries in the 

 great council-chamber at Venice, which was considered the best 

 picture there : it perished by fire, but there is a print of it by Fontana. 

 Another celebrated picture which Titian painted about the same time 

 was his St. Sebastian, for the church of San Nicolo de' Frari, at 

 Venice, but now in the Vatican at Rome. This work also has been 

 the subject of much eulogy, especially for its colouring : it has been 

 engraved by Lefevre. 



Notwithstanding Titian's great reputation, he lived in a very humble 

 way until he obtained, through his friend Aretin, the notice and the 

 patronage of the emperor Charles V. In 1530 Charles sent for him to 

 Bologna to paint his portrait : he painted that of Ippolito de' Medici 

 at the same time; besides portraits of many other distinguished person- 

 ages ; and he received also several other commissions from the 

 emperor. Titian went from Bologna to Mantua with the Duke 

 Frederico Gonzaga, for whom he executed many works ; amongst 

 them eleven of the twelve Caesars. Domitian was painted by Bernar- 

 dino Campi : they were lost in 1630 at the plundering of Mantua, but 

 they have been often copied. In 1532 Titian went again to Bologna, 

 and painted the emperor a second time : about this time also he 

 appears to have accompanied Charles into Spain, and remained there 

 three years, during which time he executed many celebrated works ; 

 but there will be occasion to mention this subject lower down. In 

 1536 aUo Titian appears to have met Charles at Asti, after his return 

 from Africa. 



In 1537 he painted for the church of Santa Maria degl' Angeli, at 

 Murano, an Annunciation, which was rejected on account of the price, 

 500 crowns (about 100 guineas); and he presented the picture to 

 Charles V., who sent him 2000 crowns in return. In 1541 he painted 

 the Descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles for the altar of the 

 church of Santo Spirito ; and three others, in oil, for the ceiling, the 

 Sacrifice of Abraham, David and Goliah, and the Death of Abel. 

 Copies were afterwards substituted for these works, which were re- 

 moved to Santa Maria della Salute ; and in 1543 he painted a picture 

 of the Virgin and San Tiziano for his native place, in which he intro- 

 duced his own portrait. In the same year he was invited by Pope 

 Paul III. to Bologna, and painted his portrait there, a celebrated 

 picture, with which the pope was so much pleased, that he requested 

 Titian to go with him to Rome ; but the painter was obliged to decline, 

 on account of an engagement with the Duke of Urbiuo, for whom he 

 painted several pictures. 



A letter from Aretin to Titian, of the year 1545, shows in what 

 great favour Titian stood with the government of Venice : it speaks of 

 his large pension, and the many imposts from which he was exempted. 

 In the same year there was a false report of his death, which appears 

 to have distressed the emperor, from a letter which Titian himself 

 wrote to Charles to contradict it. In this year also Titian visited 

 Rome, and painted Paul III. again, with the Cardinal Farnese and 

 Duke Octavio Farnese in one group. Northcote terms this picture 

 one of the finest examples of portrait in the world; and he relates that 

 he and Fuseli saw it together at Capo di Monte, at Naples, and the 

 latter exclaimed upon seeing it, " That is true history." 



Aretin wrote several letters to Titian whilst he was at Rome, one of 

 which, dated October, 1545, he finishes by requesting him not to be so 

 lost in contemplation of the Last Judgment, in the Sistiue chapel, as 

 to forget to make haste back, and be absent from him and Sansoviuo 

 all the winter. Michel Augelo visited Titian with Vasari in the 

 Belvedere, whilst he was painting a picture of Jupiter and Danae, and 

 Vasari says he praised the picture very much in the presence of 

 Titian : and he afterwards spoke very highly of his colouring and 

 execution ; but he observed that it was a pity that the Venetian 

 painters had not a better mode of study, and were not early initiated 

 in sound principles of drawing: and he added, that if Titian had 

 been as much assisted by art as. he was by nature, nothing could 

 surpass him. 



Titian appears to have left Rome in May 1546 ; and he visited 

 Florence ou his return to Venice. Vasari however says that after the 

 death of Sebastian del Piouibo, in 1547, Pope Paul III. offered his 

 office of keeper of the seals of lead to Titian, which however Titian 

 declined, and this has led some writers to suppose that Titian must 

 have been then in Rome, but it is most probable that the offer, if 

 made, was forwarded to Titian after his return to Venice. Late in 

 1547 he was invited by the emperor to Augsburg, whither he went in 

 the beginning of 1548. In 1550 he went again to Charles to Augsburg 

 and iu 1553 is said to have accompanied him into Spain, where accord- 

 ing to some accounts, he remained three years, but this is certainly 

 incorrect. It was at Barcelona that Charles created Titian count 



