Titian

No one is sure when Titian was born but it was sometime between 1477 and 1490. He painted during the Renaissance and became the leading artist of Venice.

Even as a young boy Titian was a good artist. His drawings caught his father’s attention and Titian became an apprentice. His teachers were well-known master painters and included Gentile Bellini and Giovanni Bellini. The painter who influenced young Titian the most, though, was Giorgione.
Titian and Giorgione were friends but also rivals. They often worked on the same projects and each learned from the other as they grew as painters. The painting shown above was created as a team Titian and Giorgione. It is Portrait of a Venetian Gentleman. Even art historians sometimes have difficulty telling which paintings were painted by which of these artists. Titian eventually developed his own style.
When Giovanni Bellini died, Titian was hired to complete the paintings Bellini had left unfinished. He did a good job and he was asked to paint frescos in the Doges Palace and other government buildings. Because of this commission, Titian painted portraits of several Dukes.
Titian painted many portraits and he created altar pieces for churches throughout Venice.
Much of Titian’s work has been lost or destroyed. There was a fire in the Doges Palace in 1577 which destroyed many pieces. Late in his life he began finishing copies of his paintings that his students began. Because so many copies were made during his life and after, it is hard to tell how many paintings he really worked on.
Titian died of the plague in 1576.

The paintings above, in order, are Portrait of a Venetian Gentleman, Assunta, Allegory of Age Governed by Prudence, and La Bella.

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