Tiziano vecelli biography

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The so-called ‘Assunta’ (Assumption of the Virgin Mary), which is nearly seven metres high, was displayed in 1518, creating a revolutionary watershed in Venetian altarpiece design.

Between 1519 and 1526, he painted the celebrated ‘Pala Pesaro’ for the same church. No memorial marked his grave, until much later the Austrian rulers of Venice commissioned Canova to provide a large monument.

The Assumption can be seen from the far end of the church, drawing the eye to the sacred space of the altar.

The 'poesie' included Diana and Actaeon and Diana and Callisto, which are now part of the National Gallery's collection, along with The Death of Actaeon, which was originally conceived as part of the series, but in fact remained unfinished in the artist's studio at his death.

In 1527 the Florentine sculptor and architect Jacopo Sansovino and the Tuscan man of letters Pietro Aretino arrived in Venice.

This later style has been defined as ‘magic impressionism’. Titian and Cecilia had three children, who were all given the names of famous figures from ancient Rome: Pompeo, Orazio and Lavinia.

Titian’s meeting with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in Bologna in 1530 would be a determining event in his life. Starting in about 1551, he painted the celebrated mythological series of pictures for Philip, which he referred to as ‘poesie’.

Later in his career, Titian turned to the theme in paintings for his most important patrons, such as Philip II of Spain. After Gentile’s death in 1507, Titian joined the workshop of Gentile's brother, Giovanni Bellini, which at that time was the most important in Venice.

However, it was through contact with Giorgione, who had also previously trained in Giovanni Bellini’s workshop, that he mainly developed his early style.

Giorgione proved to be especially influential to the young painter. Titian is known above all for his remarkable use of color; his painterly approach was highly influential well into the seventeenth century. During his lifetime he was often called da Cadore, taken from the place of his birth. Pope Paul III also hired Titian to paint portraits of himself and his grandsons.

Titian died on August 27, 1576. He then executed his two famous Bacchanals for Alfonso I, today in the Prado, Madrid, along with Bacchus and Ariadne, now in the National Gallery.

Titian also worked for the court of Mantua. In 1523 he began painting for the future Duke of Mantua, Federico II Gonzaga the son of Isabella d’Este (who was the sister of Titian’s earlier patron Alfonso I).

Titian mainly painted portraits for the Mantuan court.

In 1532 Titian started to work for the Duke of Urbino, Francesco Maria della Rovere.

Death and Legacy

While the plague raged in Venice, Titian died of a fever on 27 August 1576. His religious masterpieces such as “The Assumption of the Virgin” for the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, his sensual mythological nudes like the “poesie” series created for Philip II, and his magisterial portraits demonstrate an incomparable mastery of color and light that revolutionized the painting of his time.

Titian’s genius particularly resides in his innovative pictorial technique, characterized by the application of multiple layers of colored glazes that impart an internal luminosity and extraordinary chromatic richness to his works, progressing toward a bold freedom of brushwork in his late period, termed “pittura di macchia” (painting by patches).

He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno (in Veneto, Republic of Venice). Trained in the workshop of Giovanni Bellini and later a collaborator of Giorgione, completing several of his works after the latter’s premature death in 1510, he quickly gained official recognition, becoming the official painter to the Republic of Venice in 1516. Although his mature works may not contain the vivid, luminous tints of his early pieces, their loose brushwork and subtlety of tone are without precedent in the history of Western painting.

There is still no documentary evidence of Titian’s exact date of birth, but contemporary sources and his early stylistic development suggest that he was born around 1490.

When he was about 10 years old, Titian arrived in Venice, then one of the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan cities in the world.

Titian started his artistic training in the workshop of the mosaicist Sebastiano Zuccato.

Of these, some of the most beautiful were painted as a series of Bacchanals for Duke Alfonso I d’Este of Ferrara from around 1518.