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Painter - Titian
A Titian self-portrait from around 1561, which includes a symbol of his knighthood - a golden chain.

Painter - Titian

Titian shaped Renaissance art with rich colour and powerful portraits. Explore his Venetian style, his famous subjects, and how oil paint helped him create glowing surfaces.

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Fascinating Fact:

He is widely described as the greatest painter of sixteenth-century Venice. He became famous during his own lifetime and gained international clients.

Titian (also known as Tiziano) was a key painter of the Venetian Renaissance, admired for colour, texture, and lifelike people. He painted portraits, religious scenes, and myths, often for wealthy patrons and public settings.

  • Venetian Renaissance: Renaissance art from Venice, often known for strong colour and the use of oil paint.
  • Oil glaze: A thin, transparent layer of oil paint added over dry paint to deepen colour and create a glowing effect.
  • Patron: A person or group that pays an artist to create artwork, often for a home, church, or public building.
Who was Titian?

Titian was a leading painter of the Venetian Renaissance, working mainly in the sixteenth century. He is known for portraits and large paintings with rich colour and realistic figures.

What is Titian famous for?

Titian is famous for using oil paint to build deep, warm colour and convincing skin tones. He also became well known for portraits that show personality and status, as well as dramatic myth and religious scenes.

Why is Venetian painting known for colour?

Venetian painters often used oil paint in layers to create bright, glowing colour and soft transitions. This approach helped them show light on fabric, skin, and landscapes in a natural way.

For a closer look at the pictures, please click on them to enlarge.
1 .
This 1511 painting, Saint Mark Enthroned, was commissioned by the church of Santo Spirito in Venice, to celebrate the end of what?
A plague outbreak
A six month drought
War with France
A year long famine
Now located in the Santa Maria della Salute in the same city, the painting shows Saint Mark, the patron saint of Venice, surrounded by four saints invoked for protection from the plague: Roch, Sebastian, Cosmas and Damian
2 .
This is a portrait of which future Spanish king who would in years to come marry one English queen and send an armada to attack another?
Philip I
Ferdinand VI
Philip II
Ferdinand VII
Philip was briefly the King of England after his marriage to Mary I in 1554, and he sent his powerful armada to invade England during the reign of Mary's sister Elizabeth I in 1588.
This picture, Philip II in Armour, was painted in 1551 when he and Titian were both in the German city of Augsberg
3 .
Painted around 1546, this is a picture of Pope Paul III and which other two men?
The Prime Minister and the King of Venice
His nephews
His chief cardinals
His grandsons
By all accounts Pope Paul III was not a religious man. He rose to his position through his links with the Medici family, made his grandson Alessandro (who was later murdered) a cardinal, fathered several illegitimate children, and spent huge sums of the church's money on art and antiques.
Aware of the dangerous political environment and the sensitivity of his subject, Titian abandoned this piece before it was finished
4 .
This semi-nude painting of 1533 shows which repentant biblical woman?
Eve
Jezebel
Mary Magdalene
Salome
Penitent Magdalene was commissioned by the Duke of Urbino. Mary's nudity is accounted for by the medieval legend which states that she spent her last years naked and alone in a French hermitage
5 .
Pietà is thought to be Titian's final work. It is a depiction of Christ after his death on the cross, in which Titian has painted himself as which biblical character?
Joseph of Arimathea
Peter
Nicodemus
John the Divine
Nicodemus helped to prepare Christ's body for burial. In the painting he can be seen looking into Jesus' face, perhaps representing Titian looking at his own impending passing.
Nicodemus' beard outlined against Jesus' arm is reminiscent of a paintbrush, which is perhaps also intended by the artist
6 .
In this painting we see a semi-legendary Roman woman vainly attempting to reject the advances of a king's son. What are the two character's names?
Tarquin and Lucretia
Aeneas and Dido
Caesar and Cleopatra
Brutus and Boadicea
Whether it was true or not, the event depicted in the painting is said to have instigated Rome's revolution which replaced its monarchy with a republic. The piece is thought to have been commissioned by Philip II of Spain circa 1570
7 .
Titian's 1538 work Venus of Urbino was described by which 19th century writer as "the foulest, the vilest, the obscenest picture the world possesses"?
Lord Byron
Mark Twain
Charles Dickens
Edgar Allan Poe
Twain went on to say "it was painted for a bagnio, and it was probably refused because it was a trifle too strong...in truth, it is a trifle too strong for any place but a public art gallery".
In the background of the painting two maids can be seen rummaging through a chest in search of Venus's clothes - apparently more concerned for the goddess' modesty than she is herself!
8 .
Housed in the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh, this 1520 painting shows which Roman goddess emerging from the sea?
Diana
Minerva
Juno
Venus
Venus Anadyomene (literally Venus Rising from the Sea) shows the goddess of beauty wringing her hair as she emerges from the Mediterranean. The seashell from which Venus was born can be seen in the bottom left corner
9 .
Painted in the late 1560s and with a theme of the passage of time, what is the name of this piece?
Allegory of Prudence
Ages of Man
Past, Present, Future
Cradle to Grave
The meaning of the painting can be discerned from the inscription it bears: "From the experience of the past, the present acts prudently, lest it spoil future actions". This has been interpreted by some as meaning that Titian regrets his youthful lack of Prudence.
The three men pictured are thought to be Titian himself, his son Orazio, and his cousin, Marco Vecellio. Each one represents a different stage of life - old age, the prime of manhood, and youth
10 .
Salome was painted by Titian circa 1515. It shows the biblical character holding the head of who?
Daniel
John the Baptist
David
James the Just
Salome had asked Herod for John's head and he duly obliged.
The woman in the painting can be seen in several of Titian's works including, Vanity, Flora, and Woman at the Mirror

 

Author:  Graeme Haw

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