Titian

tish'an (1477-1576), a celebrated Venetian painter. Titian painted many religious pictures--Madonnas, Holy Families, The Descent From the Cross, etc., also many portraits of Emperor Charles V and other distinguished people. Venus and female figures were favorite subjects. Little is known of Titian's private life. He is believed to have lived in luxury, and to have died of the plague. He is known to have painted at Bologna, Augsburg, and Rome; but his favorite place of residence was Venice. He kept at work until he was over ninety. Over one hundred of his paintings are shown in the museums of Venice, Rome, Madrid, Florence, and Naples. A few are at Dresden, Berlin, and London. Art critics consider Titian a great master of coloring, of light and shade. The private observer feels, however, that Titian is satisfied with mere beauty and that something is lacking. One doesn't seem to get more thought out of his pictures the longer he looks at them. Titian is considered the master of all portrait painters, the greatest colorist of all the schools. Michelangelo said: "It is a great pity they do not learn to draw well in Venice; this man would have had no equal if he had strengthened his natural genius by the knowledge of drawing." See Raphael; Painting