Tiziano Vecellio Titian

1487-1576

European Artist

Titian was born at Pieve di Cadore, Italy. He was a pupil of Giovanni Bellini and worked in association with Giorgione from around 1507. His great early triumph was the 'Assumption of the Virgin' in the Frari Church in Venice (1516-18). The works of Michelangelo and of the High Renaissance in central Italy were influential on his mature development. Titian was the greatest painter of 16th century Venice, and the first painter to have a mainly international clientele. He was court painter to the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, and reputedly on terms of friendship with him. He mastered a wide range of subject matter - devotional and mythological themes, portraits and allegories.