1^ j^jrj 
 
TITIAN : 
 
 HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
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 the Internet Archive 
 
 
 
 in 2014 
 
 
 
 https://archive.org/details/titianhislifetim01crow_0 
 
TITIAN 
 
 HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 WITH 
 
 SOME ACCOUNT OF HIS FAMILY, 
 
 CHIEFLY FROM NEW AND UNPUBLISHED RECORDS. 
 
 BY 
 
 J. A. CEOWE *™ G. B. CAVALCASELLE, 
 
 AUTHORS OF THE " HISTORY OF PAINTING IN NORTH ITALY." 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. — VOL. I. 
 
 WITH PORTRAIT AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 
 1877. 
 
 [Right of Translation reserved.] 
 
LONDON I 
 
 BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFR1ARS. 
 
TO 
 
 f is Imperial mh llopl f iglwcss, 
 
 THE CROWN PEINCE OF GERMANY 
 AND PRUSSIA, 
 
 TESTIMONY OF ADMIRATION FOE, HIS EFFORTS IN PROMOTING 
 AND PROTECTING THE STUDY OF THE ARTS, 
 
 THESE VOLUMES 
 
 ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY 
 
 THE AUTHOKS, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The materials for Titian's Life and Times are not 
 to be found in a condensed or easily accessible form, 
 nor are they to be collected otherwise than by patient 
 search and laborious reading. In the contemporary 
 "Dialogues" of Dolce, Pino, and Biondo, we are 
 treated more frequently to anecdote than to fact, and 
 the letters of Aretino which illustrate the period 
 extending from 1527 to 1556 require to be sifted 
 iind controlled with the more care as they were often 
 altered and interpolated to serve a political purpose. 
 Vasarrs biography, written ten years before Titian s 
 death, is necessarily curt and incomplete, but it is 
 feebly supplemented by Sansovino, whilst Borghini's 
 Eiposo " and Tizianello's " Anonimo," printed in 
 1584 and 1622, are altogether sketchy and imperfect. 
 Eidolfi, the first to attempt a finished life of Titian, 
 had ample sources of information at his command, 
 but he used them superficially, and his account of the 
 great master is as short as it is slight and diffuse. 
 Early in the present century Dr. Taddeo Jacobi, a 
 
viii 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 descendant of the Vecelli, began collecting matter for 
 a history of his ancestors at Cadore, and in the course 
 of years he brought together a fair number of docu~ 
 ments of interest. Dr. Jacobi unfortunately was* 
 unable to weave his records into a literary shape, and 
 he found himself obliged to transfer his treasures to 
 other hands. But Stefano Ticozzi, to whom he en- 
 trusted his MS., laboured under the serious dis- 
 advantage of being ignorant of art and unacquainted 
 with pictures, and the book which he published in 
 1817, though it has never been superseded, was so* 
 shallow and redundant in style, that it only served to- 
 call forth the satire of Andrea Maier, who wrote the- 
 "Imitazione Pittorica" to chastise and expose Ticozzi's* 
 ignorance and presumption. 
 
 The field which Dr. Jacobi surveyed at Cadore had 
 yielded so large a harvest that it encouraged search 
 in other quarters. Abate Cadorin, Jacobi's friend and 
 contemporary, undertook to do for Venice what had 
 already been done for Titian's birth-place, and the 
 result was the publication of a work often quoted in 
 these pages, in which copious illustrations are given of 
 the great artist's home in the Alps and lagoons. The 
 whole of the facts thus gathered up were condensed 
 by Francesco Beltrame into a quarto of ninety-eight 
 pages published in 1853 under the title of "Tiziano 
 Vecellio e il suo monumento." 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 ix 
 
 Titian's fame was not confined even in Lis own 
 time to Italy. He was not more appreciated in 
 Venice than in Spain, France, or Germany. Yet if 
 we look into the pictorial annals of these countries it 
 is surprisiDg how little we gain by the study of them. 
 Spain is perhaps more fruitful in early notices than 
 any other State, but the works of Cean Bermudez and 
 his successors contain little more than is derived from 
 Italian sources; and the most abundant spring of 
 information is the modern catalogue of the Madrid 
 Museum by Don Pedro de Madrazo, in which docu- 
 mentary evidence of an important kind is made 
 public in a short and useful form. In Germany the 
 unwieldy folios of Sandrart, in France the lighter 
 volumes of Felibien, add nothing to our store. Rio's 
 " Art Chretien " contains little more than a long 
 and virulent attack on Titian as a painter who 
 mainly contributed to the decay of religious tradition 
 in art. 
 
 In England, as early as 1829, Sir Abraham Hume 
 condensed the narrative of Ridolfi into a volume, to 
 which he added lists of pictures and engravings, which 
 are still useful, whilst Northcote, in 1830, tried to 
 supersede Hume by pirating Ticozzi. But the barren- 
 ness of English research has in some measure been 
 retrieved by the delightful work of Mr. J osiah Gilbert, 
 whose bright pictures of the Cadorine country are not 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 less charming than his insight into Titian's feeling for 
 the scenery of the Dolomitic Alps. 
 
 In the Netherlands, strong light was recently thrown 
 on an interesting period of Titian's career by the pub- 
 lication of inventories and correspondence of Charles 
 the Fifth and Mary of Hungary, under the direction of 
 Mr, Gachard and Mr. Alexandre Pinchart. 
 
 Within the last half century, laudable efforts had 
 been made to exhume the records of Titian which lay 
 concealed in the archives of Italy. Pungileoni edited 
 some pieces which he found at Mantua, Morelli in MS. 
 notes to the " Anonimi " of Zen and Tizianello, dis- 
 interred a vast amount of matter and extracted with 
 care the interminable diaries of Sanuto. Ciani wrote 
 the history of the Cadorine people. Elze, Heyd, and 
 Thomas told of the rise and fall of the Fondaco de' 
 Tedeschi. But the most important contributions to 
 the literature of Venetian art of late years have been 
 Lorenzi's " Mojmmenti," elucidating the progress and 
 completion of the Ducal Palace at Venice, Campori's 
 essays and correspondence on the relations of Titian 
 to the Court of Ferrara, and Eonchini's statement of 
 the connection of the same master with the Princes of 
 the House of Farnese. 
 
 All the materials brought together by Dr. Jacobi, 
 with additions made by Giuseppe Ciani, have been 
 kindly placed at our disposal by their present possessor, 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 XL 
 
 Antonio da Via, curate of Pieve di Caclore. Canon 
 Braghirolli opened to us the correspondence of Titian 
 with the Marquises and Dukes of Gonzaga; and by the 
 kindness of Don Francisco Diaz, Simancas has yielded 
 its treasures in the shape of countless letters exchanged 
 between Titian, Charles the Fifth, Philip the Second, 
 and their ministers. To these unusual sources of 
 information, for the communication of which we 
 desire here to express our most grateful thanks, we 
 have to add the fruit of our own study and travel, 
 upon which it is only necessary to dwell for the 
 purpose of saying — that the pictures to which the 
 name of Titian is attached exceed the number of one 
 thousand, in Italy, in England, and on the continent ; 
 and that we have been at pains to visit and to study 
 all but a very few of these works, with which we have 
 compared, when it was possible, numerous engravings 
 and photographs. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Rise of Venice as a Maritime State ; her decline in the sixteenth 
 century. — Early Art defective but Oriental in Type. — Mercantile 
 Occupations and their Influence. — Venetian Trade. — Effects of 
 Territorial Extension on Venetian Art. — Religious and Ecclesias- 
 tical Policy ; Manners and Customs ; effect of both on Venetian 
 Art. — Early Painting and Painters. — The Muranese. — The Bellini. 
 — Slow progress of change in Pictorial Methods. — Introduction of 
 Oil Medium. — The Venetians become Colourists and Landscape 
 Painters 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Cadore and its History. — The Vecelli Family. — Grregorio Vecelli. — 
 Social Condition of the Cadorines. — Cadorine Geography and 
 Landscape. — Cadore Town and Castle. — Titian's House ; Views 
 near it, and their effect on Titian's Art. — Titian's Birth ; his 
 Family Relations, and where he learnt to paint. — Madonna of Casa 
 Vallenzasco. — Antonio Rosso 25 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Titian leaves Cadore. — Venice as he found it. — Titian's Masters : 
 Sebastian Zuccato ; the Bellini. — State of Venetian Art. — The 
 Rialto. — Painters' Studios. — Social Condition of Painters. — House- 
 painting, and Titian as a House-painter. — Titian's Apprentice 
 time. — Portraits of his Father and Mother. — Early Fresco at Pieve, 
 and dubious early Works. — Titian's first Madonna. — Growth of his 
 style. — Influence of Palma. — The Man of Sorrows, San Rocco. — 
 The Cross-bearing Christ, San Rocco. — Artless and Sated Love. 
 — Titian and the Antique. — Venice, Csesar Borgia, and the Pesari. 
 — Votive Picture of Bishop " Baffo." — Continued Influence of 
 Palma ... ... 43 
 
xiv 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Fondaco de' Tedeschi, and its History. — Girolamo Tedesco and 
 Scarpagnini. — Frescos of Titian at the Fondaco, compared with 
 those of Giorgione. — The Vecelliat Venice and Cadore. — Francesco 
 Vecelli. — Wars of the League.— Battle of Cadore. — Effects of the 
 War on Artists. — Progress of Venetian Art. — Influence of Diirer. 
 — Titian's Manner. — Madonnas at Vienna, the Louvre, and the 
 Uffizi. — Virgin and St. Bridget at Madrid. — Virgin of Burleigh 
 House. — Doges' Portraits not from Life. — Christ of the Tribute 
 Money. — Titian's visit to Padua ; he consorts with Campagnola. — 
 Cornaro Palace. — Triumph of Faith. — Frescos of the Carmine and 
 Santo at Padua. — Titian at Vicenza.— He Teturns to Venice . . 80 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Titian's Keturn to Venice after the Peace. — Condition of the City and 
 Status of the Painter at this Time. — St. Mark : an Altar-piece at 
 the Salute. — Culture of Letters ; the Aldine Club and Titian. — 
 Bembo causes Titian to be asked to Eome. — Navagero prevents 
 him. — Titian applies for Official Employment. — His Quarrel with 
 Bellini and his Faction. — The Hall of Public Council. — Workshop 
 at San Samuele. — Negotiations with the Council of Ten. — The 
 Sanseria and its Duties. — Titian's first Canvas in the Hall of 
 Council. — Ferrara. — Alfonzo d'Este and his Treatment of Eaphael 
 and Titian. — The First Bacchanal. — Belations to Ariosto and first 
 visit to Ferrara.— Correspondence with Alfonzo, and Alfonzo's visit 
 to Venice 142 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Lucretia Borgia and Laura Dianti. — Did Titian paint these Portraits ? 
 — Likeness of Alfonso d'Este. — Ferrarese Pictures. — Worship of 
 Venus at Madrid. — So-called Portraits of Ariosto. — Poetry of Titian's 
 Art. — The Three Ages. — Puposo. — Noli me Tangere — The Assunta at 
 Venice. — Titian's Technical Treatment of Pigments. — His Style. — 
 Annunciation at Treviso. — Quarrel of Titian with the Signoria. — 
 Visit to Ferrara. — Bacchanal of Madrid. — Better Relations with 
 Alfonso. — Pottery. — Madonna of Ancona. — Alfonso and Titian's 
 St. Sebastian 185 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xv 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Antonio Grimani, his life ; he becomes Doge. — Portraits of him by 
 Titian. — The Kesurrection at Brescia. — The St. Sebastian and 
 Portrait of Bishop Averoldo. — Titian begins the Bacchus and 
 Ariadne. — Alfonso d'Este asks him to Ferrara and Borne. — 
 Attempt to purchase the St. Sebastian. — Bemonstrance of the 
 Council of Ten at Titian's neglect. — He loses and recovers the 
 Broker's Patent. — Titian takes the Bacchus and Ariadne to 
 Ferrara. — Description of the Picture. — What became of the Bac- 
 chanals. — Laura Dianti and Alfonso. — Flora at the Uffizi. — 
 Venus of Darmstadt and Companion Pieces. — Venus Anadyo- 
 mene . 241 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Gonzagas. — Their first acquaintance with Titian. — Titian at Man- 
 tua, and his first picture for the Marquess Federico. — The Entomb- 
 ment. — Portraits of Jacopo Soranzo and A. Capello. — Madonna of 
 San Mccolo de' Frari. — Accession of Doge Gritti ; fresco of St. 
 Christopher. — Titian and Paris Bordone. — The Baptism of Christ. — 
 Frescos in the Doge's Chapel at Venice. — Portraits of Gritti. — 
 Titian and Sansovino. — Journey to Ferrara. — Tommaso Mosti. — 
 Promotion of Titian's father. — Annunciation at San Bocco. — 
 Madonna di Casa Pesaro. — Influence of Titian on Paolo Veronese . 278 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Pietro Aretino, his first acquaintance with Titian. — His likeness and 
 portrait of Girolamo Adorno by Titian. — Both pictures are sent to 
 the Marquess of Mantua. — The " triumvirate." — Titian at Mantua 
 and Ferrara. — Portraits of the Gonzagas. — Altarpiece of Zoppe in 
 Cadore. — Titian, Palma, Pordenone, and the Peter Martyr. — 
 Sebastian del Piombo and Michaelangelo at Venice ; their in- 
 fluence on Titian. — Peace of Bologna and coronation of Charles 
 the Fifth. — Titian's visit to Bologna and likeness of Cornelia. — ■ 
 Death of Titian's wife. — St. Sebastian and other pieces at Mantua. 
 — Benefice of Medole. — Pictures of St. Jerom, the Magdalen, and 
 the Infant Baptist. — Portraits of Max Stampa, Francesco Sforza, 
 and Christine of Denmark. — Aretino's comedy of the Marescalco. — 
 Doge Gritti's votive picture 311 
 
XVI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Charles V. revisits Italy. — Titian is asked to meet him at Mantua. — He 
 joins the Court at Bologna. — Conferences with Secretary Covos. 
 — Titian chooses the pictures which Alfonso d'Este gives to the 
 Emperor. — Charles sits to Titian.— ^Sketch portrait and other like- 
 nesses of the Emperor. — Titian returns to Venice and receives a 
 knighthood. — Davalos and portrait allegories. — Ippolito de' Medici 
 sits twice to Titian. — St. John the Almsgiver. — Titian's social posi- 
 tion and state of parties at Venice. — Portraits of Francis the First. 
 — Titian and the Rovere. — Venus at Florence. — Bella di Titiano . 358 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 A summer storm. — Titian in Cadore and his relations with the Cado- 
 rines. — Death of Clement VII. and Alfonso d'Este. — Titian and 
 Ferrante Gonzaga.— Portrait of the Cardinal of Lorraine. — Re- 
 newed promise to visit Rome. — The Triumvirate. — Charles the 
 Fifth offers to take Titian to Spain. — Tunis expedition. — Ver- 
 meyen. — Death of Ippolito de' Medici. — Portrait of Charles V. — 
 Titian with the Duke of Mantua at Asti. — His acquaintances at 
 Court. — Portraits of the Sforzas and Estes ; of the Duke and 
 Duchess of Urbino ; of Bembo. — The twelve Caesars. — The An- 
 nunciation. — Titian's style compared with that of Raphael and 
 Michaelangelo. — Was Titian acquainted with Correggio 1 — Contem- 
 porary painters and disciples of Titian 305 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 411 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. I. 
 
 PORTRAIT OF TITIAN BY HIMSELF (ENGRAVED BY GRUNER) . Frontispiece 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ARTLESS AND SATED LOVE 62 
 
 MADONNA AND SAINTS 107 
 
 CHRIST OF THE TRIBUTE MONEY 116 
 
 NOLI ME TANGERE 208 
 
 THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN . . . . . .211 
 
 BACCHUS AND ARIADNE 259 
 
 VENUS ANADYOMENE 276 
 
 THE ENTOMBMENT 283 
 
 DEATH OF ST. PETER MARTYR 329 
 
 %* By mistake, the cut of the "Noli me Tangere," at page 208, represents Titian's picture 
 inverted. This should be borne in mind in reading the text. 
 
 b 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 Adomo, Girolamo, i. 212. 
 Agatone, ii. 371-2. 
 Agnello, B., i. 345. 
 Albano, i. 195, 266. 
 Albert III., Duke of Bavaria, ii. 174. 
 Albert V., Duke of Bavaria, ii. 365, 
 368-9. 
 
 Aldobrandini Coll., Titian, i. 264; ii. 
 474. 
 
 Aldovrandi Coll., Titian, i. 113. 
 
 Aldus Manutius, i. 149, 151. 
 
 Alcssandrino, Cardinal, ii. 377. 
 
 Alexander VI. (Borgia), i. 70, 75, 77. 
 
 Alfonso I. of Ferrara. — Titian paints 
 for him the Christ of the Tribute 
 Money, i. 117, 178 ; his life, his 
 education and fondness for art, 
 170-3 ; his acquaintance with the 
 works of Bellini and Titian, 173 ; 
 he meets and corresponds with 
 Baphael, 173 ; with Michaelangelo, 
 ib. ; with Pellegrino da Udine; he 
 employs the Lombardi and Dossi, 
 ib. ; he invites Bellini to Ferrara, 
 ib ; he employs Titian and plays him 
 against Raphael, 174 ; gets Titian 
 to finish Bellini's Bacchanal, 175 ; 
 gives a knighthood to Titian (?), 
 176 ; he lodges Titian at Ferrara, 
 and corresponds with him, 178-9 ; 
 employs Pellegrino, Titian, and 
 Raphael, 180-2 ; visits Titian at 
 Venice, 183 ; he sits to him for a 
 portrait, 189 ; his appearance and 
 character, 190-1 ; he gets from 
 
 Amelio. 
 
 Alfonso I. of Ferrara — continued. 
 Titian "Eros and the apples," 191 ; 
 his Bacchanal, 226 ; founds a manu- 
 facture of pottery with Titian's aid, 
 232 ; tries to obtain, then refuses 
 Titian's St. Sebastian, 236-9 ; invites 
 Titian to Ferrara, 253 ; and offers 
 to take him to Rome, 254-5 ; he 
 receives the Bacchus and Ariadne, 
 and other works, 259-70 ; he again 
 invites Titian to Ferrara, 302, 323 ; 
 reccomends him to Marquess Gon- 
 zaga, 323-4 ; bids Titian choose 
 what pictures he thinks necessary 
 to gain the Emperor Charles V. 
 and his secretary Covos, 360-6 ; his 
 death, 400 ; his posthumous portrait 
 by Titian, 410 ; ii. 95 ; allegory of 
 " Minerva and Neptune," ii. 360. 
 
 Alford, Lord, Coll., Titian, ii. 316. 
 
 Aliense, ii. 17. 
 
 Allegri, Pomponio, i. 430. 
 
 Alnwick, Bellini, G., i. 174-5, 261 ; 
 Morone, ii. 468 ; Morto, ii. 468 ; 
 Pellegrino, ii. 468 ; Poussin, i. 265 ; 
 Titian, i. 174, 261, 265, ii. 91, 151, 
 303, 468 ; Yecelli, O., ii, 443, 487. 
 
 Alticri Coll., Titian, ii. 91. 
 
 Alva Coll., Titian, i. 423. 
 
 Alva, Duke of, ii. 172, 174, 191, 198, 
 199, 249, 427, 429. 
 
 Alvarotti, Jacopo, i. 363-7. 
 
 Alviano, d'. See Dalviano. 
 
 Amberger, E. Evangelical ch. Venice, i. 
 88. 
 
 Amelio, Cortona, i. 304. 
 
 b 2 
 
XX 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Ancona. 
 
 Ancona, S. Domenico, 'Titian, i. 235, 
 
 334, 430 ; ii. 328. 
 — S. Francesco, Titian, i. 233, 234-5. 
 Andelot, ii. 123. 
 
 Andrea del Fabbro, Sant., Titian, ii. 
 240. 
 
 Andrea of Asola, i. 149. 
 Angerstein Coll., Titian, ii. 459. 
 Anguisciola, Sophonisba, ii. 444. 
 Anichini, L., i. 206, 402, 408 ; ii. 199. 
 Anna of Bavaria, ii. 174, 177. 
 Anna, Queen of Philip II. ii. 397-8. 
 Anne de Montmorency, ii. 147. 
 Ansogne, Titian's mills, ii. 74. 
 Antonello da Messina, i. 23, 47, 58. 
 Antonio da Murano, i. 19. 
 Antwerp Mus., Titian, i. 147. 
 Aravjuez, Titian's Entombment, ii. 
 291. 
 
 Arefino. See Leone. 
 
 Arctino, Pietro. His youth, arrival 
 at Venice and acquaintance with 
 Titian, i. 311-16; Titian's early por- 
 traits of him, 317-19 ; plays, 356 ; 
 politics, 383 ; relation with Titian, 
 lampoons, ii. 26, 40 ; the Talanta, 
 56 ; meets Charles V. at Verona, 
 83 ; his portrait by Titian in the 
 great Ecce Homo, 95 ; he canvasses 
 for Titian, who paints another like- 
 ness of him in 1545, 108-10, 133 ; 
 Titian gives him a ' ' Christ " as 
 Ecce Homo, 160-61 ; Aretino and 
 the Fuggers, 169, 192 ; Titian pro- 
 motes his request for a cardinal's 
 hat, 198 ; his death, 254 ; alleged 
 portraits of him by Titian. 424-25. 
 
 Ariosti, Orazio, i. 202 ; Virginio, i. 
 197, 199. 
 
 Ariosto, his portrait by Titian in the 
 Hall of Council, Venice, i. 166 ; his 
 relation with Titian, 176-77 ; por- 
 traits of him, 196-202. 
 
 Armenini, G. B., i. 428. 
 
 Artaria Coll., Mannheim, Titian, ii. 
 451. 
 
 Arundel, Marchioness of, i. 35, 
 
 Thomas, Earl of, ii. 92. 
 Arundel Coll., Titian, ii. 392, 475. 
 
 Bellini. 
 
 Ascoli, San Francesco, Titian, ii. 328, 
 Ashburton Coll. See London. 
 Assonica Coll., Titian, ii. 158, 446, 
 
 459, 470. 
 Asti, Ch. Ces. Vecelli, ii. 493. 
 Augsburg, Cardinal of, i. 206. 
 — Gall., Titian, ii. 336. 
 Aumale, Duke of, Titian's Ecce Homo r 
 
 ii. 161, 167. 
 Austria, daughter of Aretino, ii. 169. 
 Averoldo, Bishop of Brescia, i. 233 - 7 
 
 ii. 373. 
 
 B. 
 
 Badoer, F., ii. 106 ; S., ii. 313. 
 Bagolino, Ch. Eosa, P., ii. 438 ; Titian, 
 ii : 438. 
 
 Bankes. See Kingston Lacy. 
 
 Barbarigo, B., i. 94. 
 
 Barbarigo Coll., i. 93, 114, 231, 245, 
 
 301 ; ii. 90, 141, 187-88, 314-16, 
 
 422, 423, 471. 
 Barbarigo, M., i. 214. 
 Barbara, D., ii. 106-7. 
 Barker Coll., Titian, 201-306 ; Gior- 
 
 gione, i. 201. 
 Bartolommeo, Fra, i. 147 ; ii. 241. 
 Basaiti, ii. 432. 
 
 Bassano, G., i. 437 ; ii. 406, 468, 469, 
 Baucousin Coll., Titian, i. 208. 
 Bavaria, Prince of, ii. 337. 
 Baxter, Mr. R., Titian, ii. 465. 
 Beccadelli, L., ii. 217-18, 351. 
 Beccarruzzi, ii. 463. 
 Becci, L., ii. 42. 
 
 Bellini, Gentile, i. 20-4 ; his connec- 
 tion with Titian, 45 ; his art in 1488* 
 47 ; his studio in Eialto, 49. 
 
 Bellini, Gio. His influence, i. 20-24 ; 
 was he Titian's first master ? i. 44 - r 
 his art in 1488, 47 ; Madonna of S. 
 Zaccaria, 59 ; his style at the begin- 
 ning of the 15th century, i. 104 ; his- 
 acquaintance with Bembo, i. 151 ; 
 his old age, 153 ; his position at 
 Venice, and his engagements a» 
 painter of the Hall of Great Council 
 
INDEX. 
 
 xxi 
 
 Bellini. 
 
 Bellini, Gio. — continued. 
 
 in 1513 ; he paints a Bacchanal for j 
 
 the Duke Alfonso of Ferrara, which j 
 
 Titian finishes, 173-5. 
 j 
 
 Bellini, Jacopo, i. 19, 20. 
 Bello, Gio., ii. 65. 
 
 Belluno, Casa Agosti, Titian, Ces. I 
 Yecelli, ii. 492. 
 
 — Casa Pagani, Titian, ii. 435, 483, 
 493 ; Cesare Vecelli, ii. 435, 483, 492. 
 
 — Casa Piloni, Titian, ii. 435 ; 
 Vecelli, C, ii. 435. 
 
 — Duomo, Vecelli, C, ii. 493. 
 
 — S. Croce, Yecelli, F., ii. 483., 
 
 — JS. Giuseppe, Titian, F. Yecelli, 
 ii. 482. 
 
 — S. Rocco, Yecelli, Ces., ii. 493. 
 
 — S. Stefano, Titian, ii. 435, 456, 
 491 ; C. Yecelli, ii. 435, 456, 491, 
 493. 
 
 — Villa Piloni, Titian, ii. 460 ; 
 Yecelli, C, ii. 460. 
 
 Bembo Coll., Titian ii. 367. 
 
 — Pietro. His connection with the 
 Al dines at Yenice, i. 149 ; with Gio. 
 Bellini, 151 ; he proposes to Leo the 
 Tenth to invite Titian to Rome, 152 ; 
 his likeness in the Hall of Great 
 Council at Yenice, 167, 417-19, ii. 
 28, 76, 112 ; he receives Titian at 
 Home, ii. 113, 128, 367. 
 
 — T., ii. 367. 
 Benevides, Don Gio., ii. 237. 
 BercJitold, Countess, Titian, i. 248. 
 Bergamo Gallery, Santo Zago, ii. 438. 
 
 Schiavone, A., ii. 439 ; Titian, i. 231, 
 264, ii. 438 ; Yarottari, i. 231, 264. 
 
 — Ricardi. Titian, ii. 58. 
 
 Berlin Mus. , Bonifazio, ii. 449 ; Fiu- 
 micelli, ii. 450; Lotto, ii. 449; Mazza, 
 ii. 450 ; B. Pordenone, ii. 78 ; 
 Rubens, ii. 401 ; Santo Zago, ii. 449 ; 
 Schiavone, A. ii. 449-50 ; Tintoretto, 
 ii, 450 ; Titian, i. 333, 342, ii. 59- 
 61, 77, 136, 139, 449 ; Yecelli, C, 
 ii. 78 ; F., ii. 483. 
 
 Berni, ii. 26. 
 
 Besanqon, Gall., Titian, ii. 183-4. 
 Binehe, Titian, ii. 177, 187. 
 
 Brescia. 
 Biondo, M. A., i. 428. 
 Biri Grande, Titian, i. 245 ; ii. 37-41, 
 43-5. 
 
 Bisenzio Coll., Titian, ii. 428. 
 Blenheim Schwarz, ii. 446 ; Teniers, 
 
 ii. 60, 78, 183 ; Titian, i. 107, ii. 
 
 60, 78, 183, 211, 466. 
 Boccaccino, i. 433. 
 Boldrini, ii. 220, 264, 357. 
 Bollani, ii. 385. 
 Bologna, Gio., i. 342-3. 
 
 — Aldrovandi, Titian, i. 113. 
 
 — Gualandi, Titian, i. 113. 
 
 — Titian's sketches, i. 327. 
 
 — Zambeccari, Titian, i. 367. 
 Bonifazio, i. 434-5; ii. 449. 
 Bonnivet. His portrait begun by- 
 Titian, ii. 196. 
 
 Bonvalot, Nicole, ii. 174-85. 
 
 Bordone, P., i. 289, 296 ; pupil of 
 
 Titian, 297, 387 ; ii. 36, 170, 184, 
 
 436-7, 453-60, 464-6. 
 Borgia, Caesar, i. 70-2. 
 
 — Lucretia. Did Titian paint her 
 portrait ? i. 185 ; the duchess and 
 the negro page, 186-7 ; medal por- 
 trait of Lucretia, 187 ; Dosso Dossi's 
 alleged likeness of her, 188. 
 
 Borromeo, ii. 310. 
 Boschetti, C, ii. 131. 
 Bourvalais Coll., Titian, ii. 230. 
 Bowood, Titian, ii. 467 ; Yecelli, M. ib. 
 BracJiieri, F., ii. 369, 390. 
 Braghino, Croce, i. 281. 
 Bramante, ii. 460. 
 
 Brescia, S. Afra. Campi, Giulio, ii. 
 437 ; Rosa, P., ii. 437 ; Titian, ii. 
 437. 
 
 — Averoldi, Titian, ii. 161. 
 
 — Erizzo, Maffei Moretto, ii. 438 ; 
 Tintoretto, ii. 438; Titian, ii. 438. 
 
 — Fenaroli, Abate, Titian, i. 253 ; 
 Coll., Savoldo, ii. 438 ; Titian, ii. 
 159, 424, 438. 
 
 — Lecchi, Titian, i. 253. 
 
 — Martinengo Colleoni, Titian, ii. 
 58. 
 
 — S.S. Nazzaro c Celso, Titian, i. 
 235, 237-9. 
 
xxii 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Brescia. 
 
 Brescia, Tosi, Giorgione, i. 201 ; Titian, 
 
 i. 201, 253. 
 
 — Town Hall, Titian, ii. 341, 343, 
 345, 351, 357, 360, 383-5. 
 
 Bridgewater. See London, Bridge- 
 water. 
 
 Brownlow Coll., Titian, i. 423, ii. 58, 
 316. 
 
 Brunswick, Duke of, ii, 337. 
 
 — Gall., ; Livens, ii. 443 ; Titian, j 
 
 ii, 441, 443, 459. 
 
 Brussels, Archd., Leopold Will. See 
 
 Leopold. 
 Buchanan, Coll., Titian i. 264. 
 Buckingham, Duke of, ii. 92-3 ; Coll., 
 
 Titian, ii. 186, 289, 293. 
 Buoncompagni Coll., Titian, ii. 230. j 
 Buonaparte, Jos., Coll., Titian, ii, 
 
 393. 
 
 Busse, Titian, ii. 81, 83. 
 Buxei, A., i. 297. 
 
 C. 
 
 Cadore. Geographically, i. 25; histori- 
 cally, 26 ; its climate, i. 29; its 
 produce, 30 ; corn stores, ib. ; timber 
 trade, ib. ; mountains and valleys, i. 
 31, 32; castle, 33; Titian's cottage, 
 35, 36 ; his portrait, ii. 59. 
 
 — Pieve di, Casa Coletti, Titian, ii. 
 432. 
 
 — Commie, Vecelli, Fabrizio, ii. 
 494. 
 
 — Duonio, Titian, i. 53, ii. 63, 
 297, 351, 378 ; Vecelli, C, ii. 493 ; 
 
 F. , ii. 477 ; M., ii. 494 ; O., ii, 
 433. 
 
 — S. Vito, F. Yecelli, ii. 477. 
 Calalzo, S. Biagio, Or. Vecelli, ii. 485. 
 Calcar, ii. 418. 
 
 Calisto da Lodi, ii. 458. 
 Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Mus., Titian, 
 ii. 159. 
 
 Cammuccini Coll., Titian, ii. 91, 151. 
 Campagnola, D., i. 127-8, 132, 140; 
 
 G. , 131. 
 
 Campi, B., i. 422, 423 ; G., ii. 462. 
 
 Charles V. 
 Candide Church, Titian, C. Vecelli, ii. 
 
 433, 489. 
 Canonici Coll., Titian, ii. 65. 
 Cantccroix, Count F. de, ii. 185. 
 Capello, A., i. 288. 
 Capilupi, I., i. 422 ; ii. 316, 323. 
 Caralio, i. 426. 
 Cardi da Cigoli, i. 330, 334. 
 Cariani, G., ii. 458. 
 Caro, Annibal, ii. 81, 88. 
 Carpaccio, i. 24, 47, 155. 
 Carpi, G. da, i. 411. 
 Carracci, i. 334, 422, 424 ; ii. 62. 
 Casa. See Giovanni della. 
 Casella, M., i. 363, 367. 
 Cassel Gall., Titian, i. 375, ii. 138, 
 
 427, 445, 450, 451 ; Varottari, ii. 
 
 450 ; Vecelli, C, iL.450. 
 Castaldo, G. B., ii. 174, 242. 
 Castel Bolognese, Giovanni da, i. 205-6. 
 Casteldardo, Villa Piloni, Titian, Ces. 
 
 Vecelli, ii. 49, 435. 
 Castellino, J. P., ii. 366. 
 Castle Howard, Titian, ii. 19, 211. 
 Cattaneo, D., i. 419, ii. 363. 
 Cattani, G. B., ii. 170. 
 Catullus, Titian's copy of that author, 
 
 i. 259. 
 
 Cedola, Ces. Vecelli, ii. 492-3. 
 
 Celesti, A., i. 265. 
 
 Cellini, Benvenuto, i. 334, 418. 
 
 Cclotti, Abate, ii. 140. 
 
 Cencenighe, Titian, ii. 434. 
 
 Cencda, Duomo, C. Vecelli, i. 493. 
 
 Charles I. of England, Coll., Titian, 
 
 i. 71, 74, 78, 252, 253, 269, 283-6, 
 301, 349, 370, 386-7, 388, 394, 422 ; 
 
 ii. 52, 65, 141, 153, 154, 158, 223, 
 293, 317, 319, 380, 392, 465. 
 
 Charles V., his arrival at Bologna, 
 his first portrait by Titian, i. 336, 
 342 ; his policy in 1532, he revisits 
 Italy, 358-9 ; his feeling for art, 
 
 360 ; he enters Italy by Mantua, 
 
 361 ; his portrait painted by Titian 
 at Bologna, 363, 366-70 ; he creates 
 Titian a count, 370-1 ; offers to take 
 Titian to Spain, 403 ; contents him- 
 self with the services of Vermeyen, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 xxiii 
 
 Charles Y. 
 
 Charles V. — continued. 
 404 ; receives Titian at Asti (1536), 
 407 ; gives him a grant of corn from 
 Naples and promises him a canonry, 
 409 ; visits Milan and gives Titian a 
 pension, ii. 54; meets Paul III. at 
 Buss^, 80 ; and orders of Titian a 
 likeness of the Empress, 83 ; which 
 Titian sends in duplicate, 103-5 ; 
 his quarrels with the Farnese, 123 ; 
 and breach with the Protestants, 
 132 ; his policy in regard to the 
 Pope, 162-3 ; sends for Titian to 
 Augsburg (1547-8), 169 ; how he 
 rode at Muhlberg, 170-1 ; his occu- 
 pations at Augsburg, 173-5 ; his 
 equestrian portrait by Titian, his 
 portrait seated, 178-80 ; he again 
 sends for Titian (1550) to Augsburg, 
 197 ; his plans of retirement, his 
 picture of the "Trinity," 199-200 ; 
 his kindness to Cranach, 201-2 ; 
 inquiries (1553) after Titian's health, 
 224-5 ; pictures by Titian which he 
 takes to Yuste, 236 ; receives the 
 "Trinity" and "Grieving Virgin" 
 by Titian, 42 ; his death, 269. 
 
 Charles VI. Emperor, ii. 93, 306. 
 
 Clmtsworth. Bordone, Castiglione, 
 Schiavone, ii. 466-7 ; Titian, i. 210, 
 352, ii. 210, 466-7. 
 
 Christine of Denmark, i. 409 ; ii. 174, 
 177. 
 
 Christine of Sweden, Coll., Titian, i. 
 
 187, 206, 266, 269, 275-6, 423, 424 ; 
 
 ii. 159, 179, 239, 316, 336, 463. 
 Cicogna, Emmanuel, i. 113. 
 Cicognara Coll., Titian, i. 269 ; ii. 62. 
 Cima da Conegliano, i. 47 ; ii. 259. 
 Clement VII. , his portrait by Titian, 
 
 ii. 88. 
 
 Cobham. Titian, i. 197 ; ii. 64, 151, 
 230, 324, 336, 405, 422, 429. 
 
 Coburg Castle. Vermeyen, i. 404. 
 
 Coello, S., ii. 187, 396-7-8, 403, 404, 
 405, 407, 447. 
 
 Coffino, A., ii. 324. 
 
 Colalto, S. Salvatore, Titian, ii. 435 ; 
 Vecelli, C, ii. 493. 
 
 Damn a. 
 
 Colic by Ceneda, Titian, ii. 100. 
 Colonna Coll., Titian, ii. 459. 
 Conegliano, S. M. ISTuova, Titian, i. 
 240. 
 
 Contarini, A., ii. 152, 239 ; G., ii. 54, 
 336 ; Collection, Palma Vecchio, i. 
 327 ; Titian, ii. 367, 471. 
 
 Conyngham Coll. , Titian, ii. 393. 
 
 Comaro, Aloise, i. 129 ; Andrea, ii. 
 76 ; Cath., ii. 57 ; Georgio, i. 166, 
 ii. 253. Collection, Titian, ii. 57, 
 253, 303, 305, 366, 467 ; Vasari, ii. 
 57. 
 
 Cornelia, i. 342-3-6, 447-9. 
 
 Corona, L., ii. 17, 46. 
 
 Correggio, Ant., i. 429, 432; ii. 115, 
 
 116, 120, 184, 321. 
 Cort, C, ii. 357, 386, 392. 
 Corvino, A., ii. 107. 
 Costabile, i. 180. 
 Covos, i. 342, 346, 363-5, 408. 
 Coxie, ii. 270. 
 Coypel, A., ii. 319. 
 
 Cranach, Lucas. He paints the like- 
 ness of Charles Y. as a boy, ii. 201 ; 
 he intercedes for the elector, John 
 Frederick, 202 ; visits his prince at 
 Augsburg, ib. ; his character for 
 quick painting, 203 ; he takes a like- 
 ness of Titian, ii. 203 ; Cranach and 
 Titian compared, 203-4. 
 
 Crasso, L., ii. 33; K, ii. 136, 140, 
 316, 331, 333, 336. 
 
 Crema, S. Agostino, Bordone, i. 297. 
 
 Cristoforo da Cusano, ii. 325. 
 
 Crivelli, i. 22. 
 
 Crozat Coll., Titian, i. 393; ii. 230. 
 Cueva, Don G., ii. 341, 344. 
 Curtoni Coll., Titian, ii. 473. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dalkeith, Titian, ii. 429, 468. 
 Dalviano, i. 97 ; ii. 17, 18. 
 Damiano, Fra, i. 361. 
 Danese, C. See Cattaneo. 
 Danna, D., ii. 92 ; G., ii. 92, 360, 
 490 ; M., ii. 92 ; P., ii. 402. 
 
xxiv 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Dabmstadt. 
 Darmstadt Mus., Titian, ii. 451 ; 
 
 Tintoretto, ii. 451. 
 Davalos, del Vasto, i. 430 ; ii. 52, 
 
 54-5, 427-28. 
 Davila, Don Luigi, ii. 54, 198, 306, 
 
 407, 408. 
 
 Dawson Turner Coll., Titian, ii. 324. 
 Day, Mr., Titian, ii. 459. 
 Delfino, ii. 307. 
 
 Del Mazo, ii. 230, 283, 284, 292, 324 
 
 Dcnison, Evelyn, Esq., Paolo de' Fran- 
 ceschi, Schwarz, Titian, i. 401-2. 
 
 D'Este. See Alfonso and Este. 
 
 Diana of Bourbon, ii. 75. 
 
 Doges, their portraits in the 14th cen- 
 tury, i. 18. 
 
 Dolce, L., i. 38-9, 45, 427 ; ii. 8, 239, 
 302. 
 
 Dolfin, F., ii. 343. 
 
 Domegge, Casa Bernabo, Titian, ii. 
 433. 
 
 Domeniehino, i. 195. 
 
 Domenico delle Greche, ii. 195. 
 
 Donatella, i. 19, 148. 
 
 Donato, F., Doge, ii. 128, 129, 133, 
 
 226 ; L., ii. 293, 402. 
 Doria Coll., Titian, ii. 475. 
 
 — G., Carlo, ii. 152. 
 
 Dorothy, Countess Palatine, ii. 174, 177. 
 
 Dosso Dossi, i. 188, 201. 
 
 Dresden Mus., Celesti, ii, 160 ; Gior- 
 gione, i. 188 ; Licinio, B., ii. 448 ; 
 Sassoferrato, ii. 154 ; Schiavone, A., 
 ii. 448 ; Titian, i. 117-21, 188, 275; 
 ii. 31, 135, 137-38, 154, 157, 159, 
 160, 221, 269, 333, 336, 423, 447-49, 
 484. 
 
 Dublin International Exhibition, 
 Titian, Crayer, ii. 469. 
 
 — Viscount Powerscourt, Titian, ii. 
 430. 
 
 Dudley House. See London. 
 Dulwich Gall., Titian, i. 275 ; ii. 239, 
 324, 463. 
 
 Diirer, A. , opinion of Venetians on his 
 art in 1506 ; influence of his style at 
 Venice, i. 105 ; ii. 184, 203. 
 
 Diisseldorf Acad., Titian, i. 127, 240 ; 
 ii, 425, 430. 
 
 Faknese. 
 E. 
 
 Edinburgh Royal Institution, Titian, 
 Bassano, Polidoro, ii. 465. 
 
 Edwards, Mr. F., Titian, ii. 545. 
 
 Emmanuel of Augsburg, ii. 351, 390. 
 
 Escorial. Titian, i. 191-96, 206-8, 
 341 ; ii. 233, 236, 253 ; Titian's 
 Entombment, ii. 291-92 ; Christ in 
 the Garden, 320-22, 405 ; St. Jerom, 
 334; Last Supper, 326-27, 338-39. 
 343-44, 346-49, 359, 405 ; Faith and 
 Heresy, 362, 378 ; St. Lawrence, 
 341, 343, 357, 360, 380-83, 405 ; 
 St. Sebastian, 423, 427, 446. 
 
 Esdaile Coll., Titian, ii. 17. 
 
 Este Coll., Titian, ii. 475. 
 
 — Alessandro d', i. 201. 
 
 — Ercole I. 170, 172; Ercole II., i. 
 410-11 ; ii. 129. 
 
 F. 
 
 Fachinetti, G. A., bishop of Nicastro, ii. 
 
 375-6. 
 Fallaro, J., ii. 470. 
 
 Fano Casa Montevecchio, Titian, ii. 
 459. 
 
 Farncse, Cardinal, ii. 73, 75, 78, 81-2, 
 84 ; his portraits by Titian, ii. 85, 
 89, 97, 111, (1545), 118, 124-6, 129, 
 133 ; visits Titian at Venice, ii. 142 ; 
 Titian asks him for the Piombo 143 ; 
 paints for him a Venus and Adonis, 
 ii. 149-50, 310, 315 ; Titian's letters 
 to him in 1567 ; ho receives from 
 Titian a Magdalen, a Martyrdom of 
 St. Peter Martyr, and a St. Catherine, 
 374-8. 
 
 — Clelia, ii. 118. 
 
 — Coll., Titian, i. 121; ii. 85, 87, 89, 
 91, 118, 122, 124-6, 131, 150, 179, 
 193, 423, 473-4. 
 
 — Orazio, ii. 73, 163. 
 
 — Ottavio, ii. 54, 75, 80, 81, 98, 
 118, 123, 124-6, 133, 158. 
 
 — Pier Luigi, ii. 75, 79, 80 ; his 
 
INDEX. 
 
 XXV 
 
 Farnese. 
 Farnese, Pier Luigi — continued. 
 
 portrait by Titian, ii. 85, 88, 111, 
 118, 123, 124 ; second portrait by 
 Titian, ii. 130 ; his assassination, 131, 
 163. 
 
 — Ranuccio ; his portrait by Titian, 
 ii. 66, 75-7, 79, 97. 
 
 — Vittoria, ii. 75, 143. 
 Feliciano, Father, ii. 420. 
 
 Fcltre Episcopal palace, Titian, ii. 
 436 ; Tintoretto, ii. 437. 
 
 Ferdinand, King of Bohemia, ii. 92 ; 
 his appearance at the battle of Miihl- 
 berg, ii. 171-2 ; his stay at Augs- 
 burg (1548), 173 ; his portrait by 
 Titian, 177, 179, 187-8 ; portrait of 
 his four daughters by Titian, ii. 177 ; 
 his infant daughter, ii. 188-9-90. 
 
 Ferdinand the Third, Emperor, ii. 93. 
 
 Fernando, Infant of Spain, ii. 398. 
 
 Ferrara, Canonici Coll., Titian, ii. 
 473. 
 
 — Cardinal d' Este, Titian, ii. 473. 
 
 — Castello, Bellini, i. 173-5 ; Dossi, 
 i. 173 ; Lombardi, i. 173 ; Pellegrino, 
 
 i. 173, 180 ; Titian, i. 117, 178, 
 191. 
 
 — Coccapani Coll., Titian, ii. 473. 
 Ferrarc, Agosto, ii. 43. 
 
 Fesch Coll., Titian, ii. 462. 
 FesUtici Coll., Titian, ii. 226. 
 Fialetti, 0., ii. 65, 66. 
 Figueroa, ii. 174, 313. 
 Fiumicelli, ii. 101, 450. 
 Florence, Mr. Cotterel, Lotto, Titian, 
 \. 301. 
 
 — Guicciardini Palace, Titian, i. 265. 
 
 — Pitti, Bordone, P., ii. 91 ; Savoldo, 
 
 ii. 379-80 ; Schiavone, A., i. 438 ; 
 Tintoretto, ii. 441 ; Titian, i. 265, 
 303 ; Mosti, 350 ; Magdalen, 378 ; 
 Ipp. de' Medici, 391 ; Bella di Tiziano, 
 ii. 50, Mendozza, 91, 211, 379 ; Nati- 
 vity, 417-8, 441 ; Vecelli, C, ii. 
 441. 
 
 — Torrigiani, Coll., Titian, ii. 292. 
 
 — Uffizi, Cigoli, i. 330-4 ; Titian, i. 
 108-9 ; Virgin with Roses, 121, 270 ; 
 Flora, 330-4, 389-91 ; Young Venus, 
 
 Giovanni d'Allemania. 
 Florence — contin ued. 
 
 411-15 ; Duke and Duchess of Urbino, 
 
 i. 411-15 ; ii. 9, 14, Battle of Cadore, 
 57 ; C. Cornaro, 59-62 ; Titian by him- 
 self, 72 ; drawings, 133 ; Gio. delle 
 Bande Nere, 155-7 ; Venus and 
 Cupid, 166; D"., 217; Beccadelli, 
 423-440, 441, 467. 
 
 Fontana, G., ii. 9, 362. 
 
 Fon r ~aso, Cam Ponte, Titian, ii. 435 ; 
 
 Francesco Vecelli, ii. 435, 482. 
 Foscarini Coll., Titian, ii. 367. 
 Franccschi, Chancellor, ii. 65; Coll., 
 
 Titian, ii. 471. 
 — P., i. 401, ii. 33. 
 Francesco degli Stefani, ii. 483. 
 Francesco- Maria, Duke of Urbino, 
 
 his Magdalen by Titian, i. 359 ; 
 
 Venus, 389 ; his portrait by Titian, 
 
 411-13 ; death, ii. 24. 
 Franco, Battista, i. 87 ; ii. 250. 
 Franco of Benevento, ii. 26. 
 Frederick II., Count Palatine, ii. 174. 
 Fugger, A., ii. 168; G., ii. 169; J., 
 
 ii. 168-9 ; John, ii. 168 ; Max, ii. 
 368-9. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gambara, L., ii. 461. 
 
 — Veronica, i. 415. 
 Gamberato Coll., Titian, ii. 380. 
 Garscube Coll., Titian, i. 352. 
 Gaztelu, D., i. 408, ii. 174. 
 Genoa, Balbi, Titian, i. 352, ii. 417. 
 
 — Doria, Titian, ii. 475. 
 
 — Durazzo, Titian, ii. 315, 439, 453. 
 
 — Lomellini, Titian, ii. 239. 
 Gentile da Fabriano, i. 19, 155. 
 Giocondo, Fra, i. 150, 151, 167. 
 Giorgionc, i. 37, 31 ; Titian becomes an 
 
 imitator of his manner, i. 44 ; his 
 partner, 45 ; his study of music, 
 49 ; his frescos at the Fondaco, 85, 
 90, 91 ; his art in 1507-8, 104, 141, 
 165, 206; ii. 461, 469. 
 Giovanni d'Allemania, i. 19. 
 
 — da TJdine, ii. 14. 
 
xxvi 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Giovanni. 
 Giovanni della Casa, ii. 48, 73, 107, 131, 
 
 142, 144, 216. 
 Girolamo da Treviso, i. 433 ; ii. 443. 
 
 — di Titiano, ii, 230, 243, 259, 288, 
 343, 386. 
 
 — Tedesco, i. 83, 84, 85. 
 
 Giulio Bomano, i. 315-17, 420 ; ii. 49, 
 
 134, 223. 
 Giunti, B., Titian, ii. 471. 
 Giustiniani Coll. , Home, Titian, i. 474. 
 Glasgow Mus. , Titian, ii. 431. 
 Glass, Venetian, ii. 277-8. 
 Gonzaga, Cardinal, ii. 325. 
 
 — Fleonora, Duchess of Urbino ; her 
 portrait by Titian, i. 413. 
 
 — Federico, his first acquaintance 
 with Titian, i. 278 ; he introduces 
 Aretino to Doge Gritti, 316 ; he is 
 encouraged by Aretino to patronise 
 Titian ; he receives portraits from 
 Titian of Aretino and others, 317-19 ; 
 Titian paints his portrait ; Nude 
 "Women, Madonna and St. Catharine, 
 the Entombment, 337 ; Cornelia, 342 
 -5, 447-9 ; St. Jerome, the Magdalen? 
 348-9 ; gives Titian the benefice of 
 Medole, 353, 453 ; receives Charles 
 the Fifth at Mantua, 361 ; asks Titian 
 to meet the Emperor, 362 ; receives 
 a copy of his portrait of Charles V. , 
 370, 406 ; his mother Isabella por- 
 trayed by Titian, 385 ; he introduces 
 Titian to Ferrante Gonzaga, 400 ; 
 receives from him a ' ' Christ " ; and 
 takes him to Charles V.'s camp at 
 Asti, 405-7 ; orders and receives 
 eleven canvases of Roman Emperors, 
 421-5, ii. 21 ; commissions his por- 
 trait by Titian, for the Duke of 
 Bavaria, ii. 48 ; his death, 49. 
 
 — Ferrante, i. 360, 400, 410, ii. 79, 
 131, 132, 163 ; Titian gives him a 
 portrait of Charles V., 169-70, 193, 
 194; he visits Titian at Venice, 255-5. 
 
 Gonzaga, Guglielmo, ii. 240-2. 
 Gosellini, Giuliano, his portrait by 
 
 Titian, ii. 192. 
 Gozzi, Alvise, i. 233, 235. 
 Grammont, Marquis of, ii. 283. 
 
 Henry III. 
 Granvelle, Anthony, Bishop of Arras, 
 solicited in Titian's favour, ii. 170, 
 174, 175 ; his portrait by Titian, ii. 
 186, 212, 213 ; he visits Titian, 402. 
 
 — Chancellor, ii. 54, 81, 152, 174-5 ; 
 his portrait by Titian, 183-4, 186, 
 199. 
 
 — Coll., Titian, ii. 184-5, 229, 336. 
 
 — Thomas, ii. 184, 227. 
 Gregory XVI., ii. 431. 
 
 Grenfell, G. P. Esq., Titian, ii. 466, 
 Grimani, Abate, Venice, Titian ii. 471. 
 
 — Antonio, his defeat at Lepanto, i. 
 70-1, 241 ; his portraits, 243-5 ; 
 death, i. 292, ii. 247. 
 
 — Coll., Giorgione, i. 141, Titian, i. 
 141, 244, 246, ii. 448, 470. 
 
 — Cardinal D., i. 290. 
 
 — Girolamo, ii. 385. 
 
 — Marco, ii. 76. 
 
 Gritti, A. His accession ; immediate 
 employment of Titian, i. 294 ; his 
 portrait, i. 229-301. 
 
 Gualteruzzi, Carlo, ii. 98. 
 
 Guariento, i. 17, 155, 166. 
 
 Guecello da Pozzale, i. 27. 
 
 Guglielmo della Porta, ii. 167. 
 
 Guido, Desiderius, ii. 328. 
 
 Guidubaldo, Duke of Urbino, ii. 75 ; 
 his court at Venice, ii. 105 ; opinion 
 of Titian, 106 ; his likeness by 
 Titian, 107 ; his favour to Titian, 
 110-12, 143-4, 165-6, 336, 371. 
 
 Guild of Painters at Venice, i. 20. 
 
 Gussoni Coll., Titian, ii. 441, 471. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hamilton Palace, Bassano, Giorgione, 
 
 Morone, Tintoretto, ii. 469 ; Titian, 
 
 ii. 292, 469. 
 Hampton Court, Santo Zago, ii. 264 ; 
 
 Schiavone, A., ii. 465 ; Stone, ii. 
 
 304 ; Titian, i. Ill, 351, 391 ; ii. 
 
 289, 304, 421, 428-9, 462, 463, 465. 
 Manna. See Danna. 
 Henry III. of France. Visits Titian, 
 
 ii. 92, 402. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 xxvii 
 
 Hernandez. 
 Hernandez, Garcia, ii. 137, 259, 277-8, 
 
 307, 311-13, 339-45, 357, 380. 
 Hertford. Marquis of. See Wallace. 
 Hesse, Landgrave of, ii. 202. 
 Hillewerve, Canon, ii. 93. 
 Hoby, Sir Philip, ii. 199. 
 HolJcham Coll., Titian, ii. 159; Celesti, 
 
 A., ii.U60. 
 Hume, Mr. A., Titian i. 423. 
 — Sir A., Coll., Titian, ii. 316. 
 
 I. 
 
 Ippolito da Porto, ii. 172. 
 
 Ippolito d' Este, Cardinal, i. 196, 203. 
 
 Isabella, d' Este ; her portrait by Titian 
 
 and others, i. 385-6. 
 Isabella, Empress, her portrait by Titian, 
 
 ii. 103-5. 
 
 J. 
 
 Jabach, ii. 319. 
 
 Jacobi, Coll., Cadore, Titian, ii. 253, 
 299. 
 
 James II. Coll., Titian, ii. 289, 293, 
 465. 
 
 Jansenius, ii. 419. 
 
 Janson, the printer, i. 149. 
 
 John, Don, of Austria, ii. 398. 
 
 John Frederick, Elector of Saxony, 
 made prisoner at Muhlberg, ii. 172 ; 
 a captive at Augsburg, 173 ; his ap- 
 pearance, 176 ; his portrait by Titian, 
 ii. 181 ; invites Cranach, 201-2. 
 
 John of Speyer, i. 149. 
 
 Jovius, Bishop, ii. 107. 
 
 Julius the III., ii. 196-97. 
 
 K. 
 
 Khevenhiller, ii. 293. 
 
 Kingston Lacy, Titian ii. 20-1, 431. 
 
 London. 
 L. 
 
 La Motta, Scarpa, Coll. Titian copy, i. 
 265. 
 
 Lampsonius, D., ii. 357, 368. 
 
 Lando, A. , his portrait by Titian, ii. 27. 
 
 — Doge, his portrait by Titian, ii. 
 
 25, 66, 128. 
 Landscape and landscape backgrounds, 
 
 i. 24, ii. 219-21. 
 
 Lanzani, Polidoro, i. 296, 451, 466, 
 468. 
 
 Laocoon, studied by Titian, copied by 
 Sansovino, i. 290 ; The Monkey 
 Laocoon, ii. 264. 
 
 Laitanzio, da llimini, ii. 259. 
 
 Laura, Dianti. Was she wife or mis- 
 tress of Alfonso of Ferrara ? Portraits 
 of her, i. 266-7. 
 
 Laurence Coll., Titian ii. 17. 
 
 Lcfebre, the engraver, ii. 220. 
 
 Leigh Court, Titian ii. 151. 
 
 Lentiai S. Maria, Titian, ii. 434, 488 ; 
 Cesare Yecelli, ii. 434, 488. 
 
 Leo the Tenth invites Titian, 1513, to 
 Eome, i. 152. 
 
 Leone, Leoni, Aretino, i. 418, ii. 25, 
 212-13, 272-4, 280-1, 366 ; G. B., 
 
 ii. 116 ; G. F., ii. 76, 78, 81. 
 Leopold, Wilhelm of Austria, Coll., 
 
 Titian, i. 56, 107, 108, ii. 93, 152, 
 370. 
 
 Lepanto, battle of, ii. 395. 
 Leyva, Antonio da, i. 406-7. 
 Licinio, B., ii. 436, 448, 458, 462, 463. 
 Lille Mus., Titian, i. 333, ii. 305. 
 Lionardi, Gian. Giacomo, ii. 106. 
 Lisbon, Titian, ii. 475. 
 Livens, Jan., ii. 443. 
 Liverpool Institution, Titian, copy, i. 
 341. 
 
 Lodovico di Giovanni, pupil of Titian, 
 ' i. 297. 
 
 Lombard, L., ii. 368. 
 Lombardi, Alfonso, i. 366-7. 
 London. Apsley House, Correggio, ii. 
 
 321 ; Padovanino, ii. 461 ; Titian, 
 
 i. 275, ii. 58, 230, 461. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 xxviii 
 
 * 
 
 London. 
 
 London. Ashburton, Beccaruzzi, ii. 462; 
 Licinio, B., ii. 462 ; Titian, ii. 315, 
 336, 463. 
 
 — Baring, Titian, ii. 179. 
 
 — Bridgewater, Schiavone, ii. 349 ; 
 Titian, i. 204-5 ; Three Ages, 275-7 ; 
 Ven. Anad., ii. 89, 282-8 ; Actaeon, 
 Calisto, 349 ; Last Supper, 405. 
 
 — Brit. Mas., Titian, i. 333, ii. 334. 
 
 — Brownlow. See Brownlow. 
 
 — Bute, Licinio, Titian, ii. 462. 
 
 — Butler- Johnstone, Bassano, ii. 309 ; 
 Giorgione, i. 201, ii. 461 ; Schiavone, 
 A., ii. 309, 461 ; Titian, i. 201, 391, 
 ii. 309, 460. 
 
 — Cleveland, Titian, ii. 237. 
 
 — Cowper, Titian, ii. 136-40, 462. 
 
 — Dudley, Campi, G., ii. 462 ; Titian, 
 
 i. 206, 275 ; ii. 123, 428, 461-2. 
 
 — Elcho, Titian, i. 252, ii. 64, 239. 
 — Ellesmere. See Bridgewater. 
 
 — Grey, Lady, Titian, ii. 141. 
 
 — Gh*osvcnor, Gambara, L. ii. 461 ; 
 Titian, i. 121, ii. 461. 
 
 — Hamlet, Titian, i. 264. 
 
 — Holford, Titian, i. 341, ii. 58, 461. 
 
 — Kensington, Raphael, ii. 148. 
 
 — Labouchere, Bordone, ii. 460 ; Ti- 
 tian, ii. 460. 
 
 — Lucas, Lady, Titian, ii. 141. 
 
 — Malmesbury, Delia Vecchia, ii. 
 462 ; Titian, ii. 230, 462, 465. 
 
 — Morrison, Titian, ii. 139. 
 
 — Munro. See Butler- Johnstone. 
 
 — National Gallery, Mazza, ii. 459 ; 
 Schiavone, ii. 460 ; Titian, i. 208 ; 
 Noli me Tang., 259-65 ; Bac. and 
 Ariad., ii. 239 ; Venus and Adon., 
 386-9, 405, 428, 459, 471 ; Zelotti, 
 
 ii. 460. 
 
 — Overstone, Titian, ii. 349-50. 
 
 — Sanders, Mr. J., Titian, ii. 316. 
 
 — Stafford House, Schiavone ; Titian, 
 ii. 463. 
 
 — Yarborough, Titian, ii. 155, 289, 
 316. 
 
 — Wallace, Sir R,, Titian, 391-4. 
 
 — Walton, Titian, i. 341. 
 
 — Wilkins, Titian, i. 341. 
 
 Madrid. 
 Longniddy, Titian, ii. 468. 
 Longford Castle, Morone, ii. 467 ; 
 
 Tintoretto, ii. 467 ; Titian, i. 72 ; 
 
 ii. 467. 
 Lope de Soria, ii. 27, 49. 
 Lopez Coll., Titian, i. 197, 272. 
 Lorraine, Cardinal of, i. 401-2. 
 Loredano Coll., Titian, ii. 367. 
 — Doge, his portrait (?) by Titian, 
 
 i. 241. 
 
 Lotto L, i. 125, 296, 301, 431-2 ; ii. 
 
 169, 432, 457. 
 Louvre, Calisto da Lodi, ii. 458 ; 
 
 Franco B, i. 379 ; Giulio Eomano, 
 
 ii. 223 ; Pordenone, ii. 459 ; Raphael, 
 ii. 223 ; Schiavone A, ii. 459 ; 
 Titian, i. 107, 108 ; Madonna and 
 three saints, 266-70 ; Titian and his 
 Mistress, 283-7 ; Entombment, 338- 
 40 ; Mad. d. Coniglio, 341 ; Riposo, 
 352 ; St. Jerome, 373-5 ; Davalos 
 Allegory, 383 ; Francis I., ii. 153 ; 
 Emmaus, 222, 249, 264-6 ; Christ 
 Derided, 270, 317, 405 ; Antiope, 
 421 ; Homme au gant, etc., 458. 
 
 Louis XIV., Coll. Titian, ii. 316, 
 
 392-3, 421-2. 
 Lorenzi, Giuseppe, ii. 416. 
 Zow3r<3,TadiniColl., P. Bordone, i. 298. 
 
 Titian, ii. 437-8. 
 Lozzo, Tommaso Yecelli, ii. 495. 
 Luini, Aurelio, ii. 219. 
 
 M. 
 
 Madrid, Alcazar, Del Mazo, ii. 292. 
 Titian, ii. 52, 63. 
 
 — Ifuseum^Coello, ii. 187 ; Del Mazo, 
 ii. 292 ; Lotto, i. 352 ; Pordenone, 
 ii. 446 ; Rubens, ii. 321, 406 ; Tin- 
 toretto, ii. 446, Titian, i. 110, 189 ; 
 Alfonso d'Este, 191-6 ; Eros and the 
 apples, 226-30 ; Bacch., 368-70 ; 
 Charles V., 387 ; ii. 62-3 ; Titian's 
 portrait, 136, 141 ; Lavinia, 155, 
 157-8 ; Venus and organ-player, 
 160; Ecce Homo, 178; Charles V. 
 Equest., 185 ; 2nd Venus and organ- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 xxix 
 
 Madrid. 
 Madrid Museum — continued. 
 player, 187; Prometheus and Sisyph., 
 188 ; King Ferdinand, 200 ; Trinity, 
 205 ; Philip II., 222 ; S. Marg., 
 227, 232-3 ; Noli me Tangere, 227, 
 231, 233 ; Addol., 227, 237, 238 ; 
 Venus and Adonis, 227, 232, 234-6; 
 Trinity, 227-9, 237 ; Danae, 270 ; 
 Addol., 283, 284; Act. Calisto, 289- 
 92 ; Entombment, 308-9 ; Epiphany, 
 322 ; Christ in Garden, 362 ; Faith 
 and Heresy, 378 ; St. Catherine, 396- 
 9, 403, 405 ; Lepanto, 405 ; 2nd 
 Entombment, 405 ; Epiphany, 405 ; 
 Yenus and Adonis, 405 ; Christ 
 bearing his Cross, 406 ; Adam and 
 Eve, 420, 422; Ecce Homo, 445-6; 
 Van Dyke, ii. 401. 
 
 — Palace of Prado or Pardo, Titian, 
 i 74 ; ii. 319, 177, 181, 187, 319. 
 
 Madruzzi, Cardinal, ii. 167, 186. 
 Maffei, B., ii. 84-5, 97. 
 Malatesta, G., i. 280. 
 Malchiostro, i. 221, 4. 
 Malcolm, Mr., of Poltallock. Titian, 
 ii. 221. 
 
 Malipiero Coll., Titian, ii. 471. 
 Malmaison Coll., Titian, ii. 336. 
 Manchester Exhibition, Titian, ii. 465. 
 Manfrini Coll., Giorgione, i. 201 ; 
 
 Titian, i. 201, 206. 
 Maniago, Titian, ii. 302-3. 
 
 — Count F., Titian, ii. 302. 
 Mansueti, ii. 259. 
 
 Mantegna, A., i. 20, 148 ; ii. 373. 
 Mantua Coll., Titian, i. 253, 387, 402, 
 405-6 ; ii. 21, 24, 52, 153, 465, 472. 
 
 — S. Benedetto, in Polirone, Titian, 
 i. 372. 
 
 Maratta, Carlo, i. 40 ; ii. 459. 
 Marcantonio, i. 314. 
 Marcello Coll., Ven., Giorgione, i. 95 ; 
 Titian, i. 95 ; ii. 367, 423. 
 
 — Doge, his portrait by Titian, i. 
 112-13. 
 
 Marescalchi Coll., Titian, ii. 21. 
 Margaret of Austria, ii. 80, 118, 123. 
 Mariano, Fra., ii. 84. 
 Marino Falicro, his portrait, i. 18. 
 
 Milan. 
 
 Mariscotti Coll. , Titian, ii. 152. 
 Martinengo, G., ii. 52. 
 Mary of Arragon, i. 373. 
 
 — of Hungary, ii. 174, 177, 197, 199, 
 209, 210, 225. 
 
 — Jacqueline, of Baden, ii. 177. 
 
 — Tudor, ii. 205, 209, 227. 
 Matteo, Soldano, i. 303. 
 Massa, Damiano, ii. 432. 
 
 — Niccolo, ii. 215-16. 
 Massolo, L., ii. 259. 
 
 Maurice, of Saxony, ii. 172, 174. 
 Maximilian, Emperor, ii. 201. 
 
 — Prince of Austria, ii. 197-99, 337. 
 Maycnce Gall., Titian, ii. 451. 
 Mazarin Coll., Titian, ii. 319, 341. 
 Mazza, D., ii. 450, 459. 
 
 Medici, Alessandro de', i. 382, ii. 79, 
 404, 465. 
 
 — Cosimo II. de', ii. 82, 130, 210. 
 
 — Giovanni de', i. 152-3. 
 
 — Giov/ delle Bande Nere, i. 315-16, 
 ii. 133. 
 
 — Ippolito de', i. 377-9, 394, 402, 
 404. 
 
 — Ottaviano de', ii. 25. 
 Medole, S. Maria, Titian, ii. 240-2. 
 Mel, Ch., Titian, ii. 433 ; Niccolo de' 
 
 Stefani, ii. 434. 
 Melancthon, Titian, ii. 200. 
 Melzi, F., i. 172. 
 
 Mendozza, Don Diego, ii. 27, 49-50, 
 79, 103, 106, 128. 
 
 Michaelangelo, his head of Julius II. 
 in bronze, saved by Alfonso I. of 
 Ferrara, i. 173 ; comparison with Ti- 
 tian, 179 ; he admires Titian's por- 
 trait of Alfonso I., 190 ; visits Venice, 
 328-9; compared socially with Ti- 
 tian, ii. 42; a " Dantist," ib., ib. ; 
 Titian's correspondence with him, ii. 
 98, 114-15, 116 ; he visits Titian 
 at Pome, ii. 117-21, 344-5, 383. 
 
 Michele, M., ii. 330. 
 
 Milan, Ambrosiana ; Cariani, Diirer, ii. 
 440 ; Titian, ii. 292, 310, 440. 
 
 — Brera, Titian, ii. 333, 440. 
 
 — Casa Pino, Titian, ii. 438. 
 
 — Hospital, Titian, ii. 266. 
 
XXX 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Mil ax. 
 
 Milan, D. Pelosi, Titian, ii. 474. 
 
 — S. M. delle Grazie, Titian's Christ 
 crowned with thorns, ii. 264. 
 
 Moccnigo, Venetian envoy to Augsburg 
 
 in 1548, ii. 171, 173, 174. 
 Modena, Bevilacqua Coll., Titian, ii. 
 
 474. 
 
 — Gonzaga di Novellara, Titian, ii. 
 474. 
 
 — Gall., Apollonius of Bassano, ii. 
 440 ; Titian, i. 341, ii. 439, 440 ; C. 
 Vecelli, ii. 440 ; Vecelli, F., ii. 483. 
 
 Moha, ii. 81. 
 
 Monte, Cardinal, ii. 192, 196. 
 Moretto, i. 126, 252, 253, 433, ii. 438. 
 Mow, A., ii. 105. 
 Moronc, ii. 467, 468, 469. 
 Morosini Coll., Titian, i. 52, ii. 406. 
 
 — Dom°., ii. 106. 
 
 — Marcanton, ii. 106; his portrait by 
 Titian, 107. 
 
 Morto da Feltre, i. 125, 468. 
 Mosti, A., ii. 82. 
 
 Munich Gall., Bordone, Moretto, ii. 
 
 453 ; Tintoretto, ii. 418 ; Titian, i. 
 
 423, ii. 179-80, 399-40 j, 424, 425, 
 
 439, 452-3, 468 ; Vecelli, ii. 453. 
 Munro Coll. See Butler-Johnstone. 
 Murano, S. M. degli Angeli, Titian i. 
 
 425. 
 
 — School of, i. 19. 
 
 Musclli Coll., Titian, i. 210, ii. 316, 
 
 466, 472. 
 Musi, Natale, ii. 169. 
 Musurus, i. 150, 166. 
 
 K. 
 
 Nanto, de, i. 197, 202. 
 
 Naples, Davalos Palace, Titian, i. 423. 
 
 — Museum, Titian, ii. 86-7, 91 ; Paul 
 III., 89 ; Card. Farn., 119-22 ; Danae, 
 130-1 ; P.L. Farn., 194 ; Ch. V., 210 ; 
 Phil. II., 315 ; Magdalen, 423, 444, 
 445. 
 
 — Palace, Titian, ii. 88-9. 
 Nardi, Jacopo, ii. 40. 
 
 — Collection, Titian, i. 418-19. 
 
 Padua. 
 
 Navagero, A., i. 150-3, 166 ; B., ii. 106, 
 171. 
 
 Navarrete, J. F., ii. 346-7, 359. 
 
 Nave, B. della, Titian, ii. 470. 
 
 Niccolb de' Stefani, ii. 434, 436. 
 
 Noailles Coll., Titian, i. 208. 
 
 Northwick Coll. , Romanino, i. 352 ; 
 Titian, i. 352, 423 ; ii. 91, 123, 210, 
 393, 429, 430, 460 ; C. Vecelli, ii. 
 492. 
 
 Novara, S. Giuseppe, Titian, ii. 55. 
 Nys, D., i. 334, 349, 422, 424; ii. 367, 
 475. 
 
 O. 
 
 Odoni, A., Correggio, Lotto, i. 432, 
 
 433 ; Titian, ii. 470. 
 Olgiati, B., ii. 366. 
 Onufrius Panvinius, ii. 419. 
 Orleans Coll., Titian, i. 206, 211, 277, 
 
 341, 423-4 ; ii. 141, 159, 249, 283-4, 
 
 316, 321, 336, 463. 
 Oriago, F. Vecelli, ii. 483. 
 Oroboni, C. Venice, Titian, ii. 471. 
 Orrente, Pedro, ii. 456. 
 Orsetti, C, Venice, Titian, ii. 470. 
 Ott, D., ii. 368-9, 390. 
 Otto Henry, Duke of Bavaria, ii. 48. 
 Oxford Gallery, Titian, ii. 294, 380, 
 
 417, 466. 
 
 P. 
 
 Pachcco, Cardinal, visits Titian, ii. 402. 
 Padovanino, i. 231, 264, 275 ; ii. 141, 
 
 316, 336, 378, 450, 454-5, 461. 
 Padua, Bonfio, Titian, ii. 471. 
 
 — Carmine, Scuola. Campagnola, i. 
 127, 132-3 ; Titian, i. 127, 132-3. 
 
 — Frescoes of Titian's lodging, i. 
 130. 
 
 — S. Gaetano, Titian, ii. 96, 271. 
 
 — Casa Galeazzo Orologio, Titian, ii. 
 471. 
 
 — Gallery, Calcar, ii. 418, Titian, ii. 
 141. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 XXXI 
 
 Padua. 
 
 Padua, Giustiniani, Count S. Barbarigo, 
 Morone, ii. 188 ; Titian, i. 114, 244, 
 299-300, 319, 383-4 ; ii. 188, 206-7. 
 
 — Grimani, Titian, ii. 471. 
 
 — Casa Lazara, Titian, i. 78. 
 
 — Casa Maldura, Titian, i. 388 ; ii. 
 437, 490 ; Cesare Vecelli, ii. 437, 
 490 
 
 — Santo, Bembo, Cattaneo, i. 419 ; 
 Campagnola, D., i. 127 ; Titian, i. 
 127, 134-138. 
 
 — Via del Basanello, Titian, i. 107. 
 Padola, Ch. Ces., Vecelli, ii. 493. 
 Palatini Matteo, i. 324. 
 
 Paleotti Galeazzo, ii. 131-2. 
 
 Palladio, A., ii. 363. 
 
 Pallavicini, Card. A., ii. 422. 
 
 Palma Vecchio, as to the date of his 
 birth, i. 37, 38 ; his influence on 
 Titian's early style, i. 46, 66, 88, 104 ; 
 his influence on Titian ; they compete 
 for an altar-piece, i. 327-8 ; his 
 death, ib. and 328, 433, ii. 464. 
 
 — Giovine, i. 88 ; ii. 64, 411-12. 
 Panshanger, Lord Cowper, Titian, ii. 
 
 190. 
 
 Pantoja della Cruz, ii. 447. 
 Paolo del Sera Coll., Titian, ii. 219. 
 Paolo di Venezia, i. 17. 
 Paris, M. Chaix d'Est Ange, Titian, 
 ii. 62. 
 
 — Mr. Reiset, Palma Vecchio, i. 66. 
 Parma, Dr., by Titian, ii. 425. 
 
 — S. Giovanni, Allegri, i. 430. 
 Pasqualino Coll., Stefano, Titian, ii. 
 
 349, 367 ; Niccolo de' Stefani, ii. 436. 
 Pat, Casa Manzoni, Titian, ii. 435. 
 Paul Manutius, i. 436. 
 Paul III., his accession, i. 400 ; 
 
 policy, ii. 79 ; meets Ch. V. 80 ; 
 
 portrayed by Titian at Bologna and 
 
 Rome, 85-7, 113, 117-18, 124-6, 
 
 147, 162-3 ; death, 196. 
 Paul Veronese, ii. 36, 64, 122, 215, 
 
 250, 268, 286, 288, 295, 296, 330, 
 
 347, 356, 363, 371. 
 Peccanisio, ii. 101. 
 
 Pellegrino da S. Daniele, i. 53, 125-6, 
 180, 201, ii. 468. 
 
 PHiLir II. 
 Perarolo, S. Rocco, Fab. Vecelli, ii. 
 494. 
 
 Percy, Earl of Northumberland, ii. 304. 
 Perez, A., ii. 293, 317, 339, 342-3, 261, 
 
 392, 402-4, 409 ; G. i. 408. 
 Perino del Vaga, ii. 114, 117. 
 Perroncei, ii. 170. 
 Perugino, Pietro, i. 164. 
 Peruzzi, ii. 113. 
 Pesaro, Benedetto, i. 73, 307. 
 
 — Jacopo, his life, i. 73 ; Titian 
 paints his likeness kneeling before 
 St. Peter, 74 ; orders of Titian the 
 Madonna di Casa Pesaro, at Venice, 
 i. 305. 
 
 — Marquis Antaldi, F. Vecelli, ii. 
 484. 
 
 Pescara, Marquess of (1561), ii. 312. 
 
 Petersburg, St., Bordone, i. 387 ; Tin- 
 toretto, i. 301 ; Titian, i. 93, 114, 
 301 ; Gritti, 387, 393, ii. 90, 141, 
 229-30; Danae, 314-16; Magd., 
 334-6 ; Venus with the mirror, 405 ; 
 Christ bearing the cross, 422-3, 445, 
 456, 457. 
 
 — Lazarew Coll., Titian, ii. 458 ; 
 Delia Vecchia ; Schiavone, ii. 458. 
 
 — Leuchtenberg Coll., Bordone, ii. 
 458; Cariani, ii. 458 ; Licinio, B., ii. 
 458 ; Titian, ii. 457. 
 
 — Stroganoff Coll. , Titian, ii. 458. 
 Petreo, A., ii. 42. 
 
 Philibert Emmanuel of Savoy, ii. 174. 
 Philip of Burgundy, ii. 204. 
 
 — of Hesse, ii. 172. 
 
 Philip II. at Augsburg (1550), ii. 197; 
 his personal appearance ; his por- 
 traits, ii. 204-211 ; marries Mary 
 Tudor, ii. 227 ; he removes Titian's 
 pictures from Yuste to the EscoriaJ, 
 236 ; Titian sends him the Adonis 
 to London ; other pictures, 237, 238 ; 
 the Perseus and Andromeda, ii. 249 ; 
 he orders Titian's pension to be paid, 
 ii. 256 ; vows to build a monastery 
 to St. Lawrence ; asks Titian for a 
 St. Lawrence, ii. 259 ; orders search 
 to be made for Titian's lost Entomb- 
 ment, 274-5 ; acknowledges the re- 
 
xxxii 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Philip 11. 
 
 Philip II. — continued. 
 
 ceipt of the Entombment, Actseon, 
 Calisto, and Epiphany, 305-7 ; he 
 orders Titian's Spanish pension to be 
 paid, 310-11 ; he also receives from 
 Titian a Magdalen, 313 ; the Jupiter 
 and Antiope of the Louvre, 317 ; 
 Christ in the Garden, and the Europa, 
 320; Titian offers him a Last Supper, 
 ii. 326-7; sends him a St. Jerom, 534 ; 
 and a Venus with the Mirror, 336 ; 
 Philip urges payment of Titian's pen- 
 sions, 339 ; he receives the portrait of 
 his sister, Queen of the Romans, from 
 Titian, 341 ; he orders a copy of the 
 Martyrdom of St. Lawrence to be 
 purchased from Girolamo di Titiano, 
 345; he receives Titian's Last Supper, 
 and allows it to be cut down, ii. 
 246-9 ; Titian sends him the St. 
 Lawrence, and a Nude Yenus, 381-3 ; 
 he transfers Titian's pension at Milan 
 to Orazio Vecelli, 317 ; receives the 1 
 second Christ of the Tribute Money, 
 388-9 ; and the Tarquin and Lucretia, 
 391-3 ; orders and receives the "Al- 
 legory of Lepanto," 396-9 ; Titian's 
 last letters to him, 407-9. 
 
 Philip V., ii. 283. 
 
 Philip IV., ii. 317. 
 
 Piero della Francesca, i. 170. 
 
 Pietro da Cortona, i. 208. 
 
 Pigott, Mr., Titian's Peter Martyr, copy, 
 i. 334. 
 
 Pino, P., i. 428, 433, 435. 
 
 Pio, Prince of Savoy, Kome, Titian, ii. 
 
 122, 474-5. 
 Pirrovano, his portrait by Titian, ii. 
 
 170. 
 
 Pisano, Yittore, i. 19, 155, 170. 
 Pisani Coll., Venice, Titian, ii. 470, 
 Pistoia, J., ii. 330. 
 
 Pius V. receives a Martyrdom of 
 Peter Martyr from Titian, ii. 375-7. 
 
 Plasencia, Palace of Don Luigi Davila, 
 Titian, ii. 306. 
 
 Pola, ii. 212, 254-5. 
 
 Ponte, Giulia da, ii. 301. 
 
 — Paolo da, ii. 301. 
 
 Portraits. 
 Pontormo, ii. 121. 
 
 Pordenone, i. 125, 139, 222, 224, 289 ; 
 his rivalry with Titian at Venice, i. 
 327, 328 ; ii. 1-5, 92, 301, 446, 459. 
 
 Portraits of— Accolti, Cardinal, ii. 
 476 ; Alfonso I. of Ferrara, i. 189, 
 190, 410 ; Alva, ii. 177, 191-2, 427, 
 466-8 ; Anna of Bavaria, ii. 177 ; 
 Ardinghello, Card., ii. 476 ; Aretino, 
 
 i. 317-19, ii. 95, 108-10, 424, 475-6; 
 Ariosto, i. 166, 196-7, 201-3 ; 
 Assonica, F., ii. 473 ; Bishop 
 Averoldi, i. 235 ; Barbarigo, A., i. 
 93, M., i. 114 ; Barbaro, D., ii. 106-7; 
 Beccadelli, L., ii. 217-18 ; Bembo, 
 Pietro, i. 167, 418-19, ii. 28, 29 ;. 
 Bembo, Torquato, ii. 476 ; Benavides, 
 M., ii. 476 ; Benedetti, A., ii. 472 ; 
 Boccaccio, ii. 465 ; Bolzanio, U., ii. 
 435 ; Bonnivet, ii. 196 ; Bonvalot, 
 Nicole, ii. 174-85 ; Borgia, C, i. 72 ; 
 Borgia, Lucretia, i. 185, 188 ; Bour- 
 bon, Duke of, ii. 475 ; Bramante, ii. 
 460, 492 ; Capello, A., i. 288 ; Carlos, 
 Don, ii. 476 ; Charles V., i. 336, 
 368-70, 406, ii. 169-70, 178-80, 
 193-4, 271, 471-2 ; Clement VII. r 
 
 ii. 88 ; Cornaro, Cath., ii. 57; Family, 
 ii. 303 ; Giorgio, i. 166, ii. 17, 19 ; 
 Cornelia, i. 342-6, 447-9 ; Corvino, 
 A., ii. 107 ; Crasso, L., ii. 33, 476 ; 
 Niccoli, ii. 476 ; Christine of Den- 
 mark, i. 409, ii. 177 ; Danna, G., ii. 
 92, 470 ; Davalos, i. 372-5, 427-8, 
 445 ; Delfini, ii. 476 ; Dianti Laura, i. 
 266-70; Donato, Doge, ii.133 ; Doria, 
 A., ii. 476 ; Dorothy, Countess Pala- 
 tine, ii. 177 ; Ercole II. of Ferrara, i. 
 410-11 ; Este, Cardinal, ii. 471 ; 
 Farnese, Cardinal, ii. 85, 89, 97, 111, 
 118, 123-6, 133; Clelia, ii. 118, 471 ; 
 Ottavio, ii. 118, 123-6, 133, 158 ; 
 Pier Luigi, ii. 85, 88, 111, 118, 
 123-4, 130; Ranuccio, ii. 66, 75-7, 
 79, 97 ; Ferdinand, King of Bohemia, 
 ii. 177, 187; Ferdinand's daughters, 
 ii. 188 ; Ferdinand's sisters, ii. 177 ; 
 Filetto, F., ii. 476 ; Fracastoro, G., 
 ii. 476 ; Franceschi, Paolo de', i. 401, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 xxxiii 
 
 Portraits. 
 Portraits of — continued. 
 
 ii. 33, 65 ; Francesco Maria of Ur- 
 bino, i. 411-15 ; Francis I., i. 383-5; 
 Gonzaga, Cardinal, ii. 476 ; Gonzaga, 
 Eleanora, i. 413, Federico, i. 337, 
 361, 368, ii. 48 ; Gonzaga, Giulia, ii. 
 476 ; Garzoni, M., ii. 476 ; Gastaldo, 
 ii. 476 ; Gosellini, Giuliano, ii. 192 ; 
 Granvelle, A., ii. 186, Chancellor, ii. 
 183, 186, Thomas, ii. 227 ; Grimani, 
 Antonio, i. 244, 246, ii. 244 ; Gri- 
 mani, D., ii. 470 ; Gritti, A., i. 299, 
 301, 356 ; Guidubaldo of Urbino, ii. 
 107 ; Hannibal, ii. 476 ; Isabella, 
 d'Este, i. 385-7 ; John Frederick of 
 Saxony, ii. 181 ; Julius II., ii. 476 ; 
 Lando, A., ii. 27; Doge, ii. 24, 66 ; 
 Lezze, P. da, ii. 432 ; Loredano, 
 Doge, i. 241 ; Lorraine, Cardinal of, 
 
 i. 401-2 ; Madruzzi, Cardinal, ii. 186; 
 Malipiero, C, ii. 471 ; Manutius, P., 
 
 ii. 476 ; Marcello, Doge, i. 112 ; 
 Margaret of Parma, ii. 118, 123 ; 
 Martin the Sculptor, ii. 476 ; Mar- 
 tinengo, G., ii. 52; Mary Jacqueline 
 of Baden, ii. 177 ; Mary of Arragon, 
 i. 373 ; Mary of Hungary, ii. 174 ; 
 Maurice of Saxony, ii. 177 ; Mauro, 
 G., ii. 22 ; Medici, Alessandro de', ii. 
 465 ; Medici, Gio de', ii. 132, Ippol ., 
 
 i. 378-9 ; Mendozza, Diego, ii. 49 ; 
 Miani, G., ii. 476 ; Monaco, G., ii. 
 436 ; Montevecchio, ii. 439 ; Moro- 
 sini, M. A., ii. 106 ; Mosti, i. 303 ; 
 Musurus, i. 166 ; Navagero, A., i. 
 166; Pallavicini, A., ii. 422, 474 ; 
 Parma, ii. 425 ; Paul III., ii. 85, 91,' 
 117, 124 ; Perez, Antonio, ii. 403, 
 Antonio's wife, ii. 404, Gonzalo, i. 
 408 ; Pesaro, Benedetto, i. 307, 
 Jacopo, i. 74 ; Pescara, ii. 476 ; 
 Philip of Hesse, ii. 183 ; Philip of 
 Spain, ii. 204-11, 396 ; Philibert 
 Emmanuel of Savoy, ii. 177 ; Piloni, 
 
 ii. 435, 460, 491 ; Pirrovano, ii. 170 ; 
 Quirini, Eliz., ii. 48 ; Ram, ii. 471 ; 
 Eezzonico, M., ii. 266 ; Rubeis, F. 
 de', ii. 476 ; Salvaresius, F., ii. 266 ; 
 Savorgnano, G., ii. 20; Sforza, 
 
 Quirini. 
 Portraits of — continued. 
 
 Franco., i. 355, 409 ; Sinistri, ii. 
 476 ; Sixtus IV., ii. 476 ; Soliman, 
 Sultan, ii. 24, 95, 301 ; Soranzo, J., 
 i. 287 ; Sperone, S., ii. 106 ; Spilim- 
 berg, E., ii. 303 ; Irene, ii. 301 ; 
 Strada, J., ii. 370 ; Strozzi, P., ii. 
 426 ; Strozzi, Roberto's daughter, ii. 
 66-8 ; Surrey, Earl of, ii. 430 ; 
 Tadino, ii. 437 ; Titian, ii. 59-63, 65, 
 203, 435-7, 473, 476 ; Titian and his 
 mistress, i. 266-70 ; Titian's mistress, 
 
 i. 391-3 ; Trevisani, M. A., ii. 226, 
 243 ; Varana, Giulia, ii. 107 ; 
 Valeriano, P., ii. 435 ; Varchi, V., 
 
 ii. 426 ; Vargas, ii. 227, 232, 235 ; 
 Vecelli, Gregorio, i. 52 ; Lavinia, ii. 
 135-9, 267-8 ; Lucia, i. 52 ; Venier, 
 Francesco, ii. 243, Seb., ii. 473 ; 
 Verdizotti, ii. 465 ; Vesalius, ii. 
 455 ; Zono, F., ii. 476 ; Zuccato, 
 Francesco, ii. 64-5, 422; Zurinelli, 
 ii. 407. 
 
 Poussin, K, i. 195, 265. 
 
 Pozzale, San Thomaso, Titian, ii. 433. 
 
 Pozzo, Lodovico, ii. 406. 
 
 Prague Gallery, Titian, ii. 336. 
 
 — Hradschin, Titian, i. 107. 
 
 — Kunstverein, Titian, ii. 453. 
 
 — Nostitz Coll. , Paolo Veron, ii. 289 ; 
 Titian, ii. 122, 239. 
 
 Praxiteles^ Statues in Venice, i. 49 ; in 
 
 Rome, ii. 121. 
 Previtali, i. 222. 
 Prineri, ii. 170. 
 
 Pringle, Sir J. Smith, Coll., Titian's. 
 
 Peter Martyr (copy), i. 334. 
 Prints of Titian, i. 130-1. 
 Priscianese's visit to Titian, ii. 40-2. 
 Priuli, Girolamo, ii. 243, 486. 
 
 — Lorenzo, i. 243, 248, 486. 
 Pulzone, Scipio, of Gaeta, ii. 443. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quattre Case, F., ii. 122. 
 Quirini, Girol ., i. 418, ii. 28, 76 
 111-12 ; Lisbetta, ii. 48, 259. 
 
 c 
 
xxxiv 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 R. 
 
 Magusa, S. Domenico, Titian, ii. 416. 
 Ram Coll., P. Bordone, Titian, i. 297. 
 Rangone, Argentina, ii. 136 ; Claudio, 
 
 ii. 321 ; Guido, i. 416-17. 
 Raphael, Urbinas, i. 173, 179, 180-4, 
 
 361, 368]; ii. 113-15, 147-9, 247, 260, 
 
 262, 432. 
 
 Beinst Coll., Titian, ii. 464, 471. 
 Rembrandt, ii. 291, 401. 
 Renard, ii. 208-9. 
 
 Renter Coll., Titian, i. 197, 199, 206 ; 
 
 ii. 65, 471. 
 Reynolds, Sir J., i. 211, 218, 334; ii. 
 
 263, 266. 
 
 Rezzonico, M. A., his portrait by Ti- 
 tian, ii. 266. 
 Ricci, Seb., i. 91, 265. 
 Riccio, L. del, ii. 42. 
 Righetto, Girolamo, ii. 47. 
 Ringomes, i. 423. 
 
 Roganzuolo, Castel, Titian, ii. 100-1 ; 
 
 Yecelli Orazio, ii. 101. 
 Rogers Coll., Titian, i. 210 ; ii. 179, 
 
 310, 237. 
 Romanino, i. 126, 352, 433. 
 Rome. « — Barberini, Bonifazio, ii. 442 ; 
 
 Maganza, ib. ; Palma-Vecchio, ib. ; 
 
 Titian, i. 264, ii. 28-9, 151, 442. 
 
 — Borghese, Titian, i. 62-5, 76, 206 ; 
 ii. 419, 352, 355-6, 443. 
 
 — Capitol, Bordone, Titian, i. 208,297. 
 
 — Colonna, Bonifazio, ii. 442 ; Ti- 
 tian, ii. 239, 315, 419, 442. 
 
 — Corsini, Palma V., ii. 442; Rocco 
 Marcone, ib. ; Titian, ii. 89, 90, 
 211, 319, 441-2. 
 
 — Doria, Anguisciola, ii. 444 ; Titian, 
 
 i. 206, 351, 361, 418-19, 443. 
 
 — Luca, Acad. d. S., Titian, i. 121, 
 126 ; ii. 289, 334, 430, 442. 
 
 • — Ludovisi, Titian, i. 264-5. 
 ■ — Quirinal, Titian, i. 292. 
 
 — Sciarra Colonna, P. Vecchio, ii. 
 
 442 ; Titian, i. 66-7, 420, 425, 442. 
 
 — Spada, Girolamo da Treviso, ii. 
 
 443 ; Scipio of Gaeta, ib. ; Titian, 
 
 ii. 91, 442-3. 
 
 SCHWARZ. 
 
 Rome, Vatican Museum, Titian, i. 112, 
 
 288 ; ii. 466. 
 Rosa, Christoforo, ii. 294, 345-6, 349, 
 
 385 ; G. ii. 349. 
 Rosso, A., i. 41. 
 
 Rouen, Museum, Titian, ii. 459. 
 Rovigo, Epl. Palace, Titian, ii. 108. 
 
 — Gall., Licinio, Schiavone, Titian, 
 i. 56 ; ii. 436. 
 
 Rubens' copies of Titian's pictures, i. 
 265, 271, 301, 334, 355, 379, 387, 
 394 ; ii. 11-14, 138, 183, 211, 316, 
 311, 401, 406, 429, 475. 
 
 — Collection, Titian, i. 334 ; ii. 59, 
 104. 
 
 Rudolph II., ii. 293. 
 Buskin Coll., Titian, i. 301. 
 Ruzzini Coll., Titian, ii. 47, 65, 316, 
 429. 
 
 S. 
 
 Salerno, Prince of, ii. 54. 
 Salviati, Cardinal, 129, 132. 
 
 — G., ii. 250, 363, 396. 
 Sampieri of Cadore, i. 40. 
 Sandrart, i. 271. 
 Sannazaro, J., i. 167. 
 Sanseria, i. 82, 257. 
 Sansovino, F., ii. 67. 
 
 — Jacopo, i. 321-2, 348, 403 ; ii. 21, 
 40, 48, 51, 56, 97, 127-8, 131, 192, 
 199, 249, 390. 
 
 Santafiore, Cardinal, ii. 85, 90. 
 
 Santo Zago, ii. 303, 432, 438, 449, 484. 
 
 Sarcinelli, C, ii. 135, 195, 248. 
 
 Sarto, A. del, i. 139, 361. 
 
 Savoldo, i. 433 ; ii. 379-81. 
 
 Savorgnano, G., i. 99 ; ii. 20-21. 
 
 Scarpagnini, A., i. 84 ; ii. 4. 
 
 Scliiavone, A., i. 88, 438 ; ii. 51, 94, 
 96, 148, 152, 239, 250, 259, 288, 
 295, 330, 349, 376, 386, 436, 439, 
 448-50, 455, 457, 459, 461, 463, 
 465. 
 
 Schilders, P., ii. 60. 
 Schleissheim Gall., Titian, ii. 401. 
 Schwarz, Christopher, i. 401-2 ; ii. 466. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 XXXV 
 
 Sebastian. 
 Sebastian del Piombo, i. 49, 53, 125, 
 321-2, 328, 360 ; ii. 84, 143, 144, 
 262. 
 
 Sedico, Ch., F. Vecelli, ii. 447. 
 Serlio, S., i. 402, 403. 
 Serpa, C. della, ii. 368, 369. 
 Serra Coll., Titian, ii. 239. 
 Serravalle, Casa Camel uitti, Titian, ii. 
 434. 
 
 — Ch. of, Titian, ii. 59, 133, 145-9. 
 .Sertorio, G., ii. 84, 85, 129, 131. 
 Servio, M. P., Venice, Titian, ii. 470. 
 Sessa, Duke of, ii. 272 ; his portrait 
 
 by Orazio Vecelli, ii. 273. 
 Sfondrato Coll., Titian, ii. 475. 
 Sforza, Francesco. His portrait by 
 
 Titian, i. 355, 409. 
 
 — Guid. Ascanio, ii. 79, 80. 
 
 — Lodovico, i. 69. 
 
 Smith Barry, Mr., Titian, ii. 466. 
 Sqiaro, Gatti, ii. 91. 
 Soliman, Sultan, ii. 95. 
 Solly Coll., F. Vecelli, ii. 483. 
 Somerset Coll., London, Titian, ii. 475. 
 Soranzo, J., his portrait by Titian, i. 
 287. 
 
 Sorisole, Ch., Or. Vecelli, ii. 485. 
 Soult (Marshal), Coll., Titian, ii. 389. 
 Spain, San Pasquale, Titian, i. 74. 
 Sperone (Speron), ii. 106 ; his portrait 
 
 by Titian, 107. 
 Spavento, Giorgio, i. 83, 85, 298. 
 Spilembcrg, Adrian of, ii. 301 ; Emilia, 
 
 ii. 302 ; Irene, ii. 30-3. 
 
 — Casa Monaco, Titian, ii. 436. 
 Spinelli, G. B., ii. 74. 
 
 Spira, F., i. 402, 403. 
 Stampa, M., i. 355. 
 Stanhope, Lord, Titian, ii. 211. 
 Stockholm, Court of Justice, Rubens, 
 Titian, i. 265. 
 
 — Mus., Titian (copy), i. 342. 
 
 — Royal Palace, Titian, ii. 446, 447 ; 
 Pantoja della Cruz, ii. 447 ; Coello, 
 ii. 447. 
 
 Stoppio, Niccolo, ii. 366, 367, 369. 
 Strada, J., ii. 365, 366, 367, 369. His 
 
 portrait by Titian, ii. 370. 
 Strahow, Titian (copy), i. 388. 
 
 Titian. 
 Slrozzi, Filippo, ii. 66. 
 — Robert, portrait of his daughter 
 
 by Titian, ii. 66-8. 
 Stuart, Lord, Titian, i. 269. 
 Stidtgardt Gallery, Lanzani, P., ii. 452 ; 
 
 Titian, ii. 316, 452. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tai, S. Candido, Ces. Vecelli, ii. 493. 
 
 Tassis Coll., Titian, i. 275 ; ii. 275. 
 
 Tasso, B., ii. 106 ; T., ii. 302. 
 
 Tebaldo, J., i. 181, 237-9, 410. 
 
 Teniers, i. 56, 180, 203. 
 
 Thevenm Coll., Titian, ii. 230. 
 
 Tintoretto, i. 17, 166, 320, 437 ; ii. 94, 
 116, 215, 243, 259, 399, 401, 438, 
 441, 447, 451, 453, 467, 469 ; J., ii. 
 330, 363, 406. 
 
 Titian (See vol. i.). His ancestors, 
 the Vecelli of Cadore, i. 27 ; his 
 grandfather Conte Vecelli, i. 28 ; his 
 lather Gregorio, i. 28 ; his portrait 
 by Titian, 29, 52 ; influence of 
 Cadorine landscape on Titian, i. 34 ; 
 the cottage at Pieve ; was Titian 
 born there? ib., 35, 36 ; Tizianello's 
 account of his birth, 35, 36 ; Titian's 
 own statement of his age. 
 
 1477. — He is born; he paints a Madonna 
 with the juice of flowers, 38, 39, 40 ; 
 was Antonio Rosso his master? 41. 
 
 1488. — He leaves Cadore for Venice, 
 43 ; different accounts of his early 
 years at Venice, Giovanni Bellini, 
 Giorgione, Sebastian Zuccato, 44, 
 45 ; Titian's education judged by 
 Ids style, 45 ; he is Bellinesque, 
 Giorgionesque, but more than either 
 Palmesque, 45 ; legend of Titian's 
 love for Palma's daughter, 47 ; influ- 
 ence of Palma, ib. ; state of Venetian 
 art in 1488, 47 ; Titian is probably 
 first apprenticed to Zuccato ; visits 
 the studios of the Bellini ; becomes 
 the partner of Giorgione and Palma 
 Vecchio, 48 ; Venetian painting and 
 oil medium ; was Titian acquainted 
 
XXXVI 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Titian — continued. 
 with Greek art, 50 ; he paints the 
 front of a house, 51 ; his character in 
 youth, 52 ; altarpiece in the Genova 
 chapel at Pieve, 53 ; earl}' works 
 assigned to Titian at Venice, 53 ; 
 Virgin and Child at Vienna, 54 ; 
 Titian's early manner, 56-7 ; diffi- 
 culty of ascertaining the chronology 
 of his first pictures, ib ; Virgin 
 and Child with two saints, Vienna, 
 58 ; The Man of Sorrows, at San 
 Eocco, Venice, ib. ; Christ carrying 
 his Cross, S. Rocco, Venice, 60-2 ; 
 Artless and Sated Love, Palazzo 
 Borghese, Rome, 62 ; Nature and 
 the Antique, 65 ; leaning to Palm a, 
 66 ; comparison with Giorgione, 67 ; 
 Lowland landscape, 67 ; policy of 
 Venice at the close of the 15th 
 century, 68 ; Titian's alleged con- 
 nection with Lodovico Sforza, 69 ; 
 the Borgias, and particularly Caesar 
 Borgia, 70-1 ; portraits of Caesar 
 Borgia and Alexander VII., 71, 72. 
 1501. — Crusade against the Turks ; 
 Jacopo da Pesaro and his relations, 
 73. 
 
 1503 circa. — Pesaro altarpiece at Ant- 
 werp, 74-8 ; copy at Padua, 78 ; 
 Fondaco de' Tedeschi, 80 ; brokers 
 and other officials, 82 ; the Fondaco 
 burnt down, and rebuilt (1505-8), 
 83. 
 
 1508. — Frescos of Giorgione, Morto, and 
 Titian, 85 ; description of the build- 
 ing, 85-6 ; bust of Christ assigned 
 to Titian, 87 ; Titian's frescos, 89 ; 
 criticised by Vasari and others, 
 90-1 ; relative position of Titian 
 and Giorgione at the Fondaco, 91-4 ; 
 alleged portrait of Giorgione by 
 Titian, 95 ; Titian's relations with 
 the Vecelli of Cadore at Venice, 95 ; 
 Venetian politics in 1507-8 ; the 
 imperialists take and lose Cadore ; 
 battle of Cadore, 96-102 ; Francesco 
 Vecelli, his history ; he takes service 
 in the army, 96 ; Titian's share in the 
 development of art at Venice in the 
 
 Titian — contin ued. 
 opening years of the 16th century,. 
 104 ; his mode of drawing and finish- 
 ing at that time, 105 ; Virgin and 
 Child with two saints, at Vienna, 
 105-7 ; copies of it, 107 ; Madonna 
 with three Saints, Vienna, and 
 Louvre, 107 ; Virgin and Child, St. 
 Anthony and John, Uffizi, 108 - r 
 Virgin and St. Bridget, at Madrid, 
 110, 111 ; Madonna, of Burleigh 
 House, 111 ; portraits 112 ; Doge 
 Marcello, at the Vatican, 112, 113 ; 
 portrait of Doge Marco Barbarigo^ 
 114, 115 ; Christ of the Tribute 
 Money, at Dresden, 116 ; anecdote- 
 told respecting its production, 117, 
 Venetian history in 1508 ; league 
 of Cambrai and its results ; disasters' 
 and recovery, 122-5 ; influence of 
 the war, on art, 125 ; rise and 1 
 fall of Padua as a fosterer of art, 
 ib. 
 
 1511. — Titian visits Padua, 125 ; he- 
 paints at the Carmine and Santo, 
 and in Casa Cornaro, with D. Cam-- 
 pagnola, 126-7 ; he paints frescos on 
 the walls of his lodging at Padua, 
 130 ; the print of the Triumph of 
 Faith, 131 ; how journeymen painters 
 were engaged, 131 ; fresco of the 
 Carmine of Padua, 132; of the Santo, 
 134-8 ; comparative claims of Titian 
 Pordenone and A. del Sarto, to rank 
 as fresco and oil painters, 139 ; 
 Titian at Vicenza, 140. 
 
 1512. — Return to Venice, frescos of the 
 Grimani Palace, 140-1 ; Truce be- 
 tween Venice and the Imperialists, 
 condition of Venice at that time, 
 143 ; altarpiece of St. Mark, at San 
 Spirito, 144-8 ; Titian is still under 
 the influence of Palma and Giorgioni, 
 145 ; study of the antique and of 
 perspectives, 148 ; literature and 
 printing at Venice ; Venetian printers, 
 and chiefly Aldus Manutius and his 
 relations with Bembo and Navagero ; 
 the Aldine Club, 148 ; connection of 
 Titian with the Aldinis, 152. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 XXXVI 
 
 T iti an — continued. 
 1513. — Titian is invited to Rome at 
 the instigation of Bernbo, 152 ; is 
 dissuaded by A. Navagero, 152 ; 
 Titian offers his services to paint in 
 the Hall of Great Council, at Venice, 
 153 ; quarrel with Gio. Bellini as 
 to this, 155 ; history of the decora- 
 tion of this Hall, 155 ; appointment 
 of Titian to paint there, 156 ; work- 
 shop of S. Samuele ; A. Buxei, and 
 Lodovico di Giovanni, assistants, 
 156-7 ; Titian's appointment revoked, 
 157. 
 
 2.514.— His re-appointment, 158-9 ; 
 official report on the paintings of the 
 Hall of Great Council, 160; dismissal 
 of all painters in the service of 
 Venice. 
 
 1516. — Re-appointment of Titian, who 
 receives a brokers' patent in the 
 Fondaco, 163; duties and emoluments 
 of a painter-broker, 162-3 ; Titian 
 neglects the paintings of the Hall 
 of Great Council ; he finishes a 
 canvas begun by Bellini, 164-5, 168; 
 ■description of the Hall of Great 
 Council. 165 ; Titian's first connec- 
 tion with the Court of Ferrara, 169 ; 
 history of Ferrara, ib. and 170-4 ; 
 Alfonso the First ; his love of art 
 -and acquaintance with Titian, 173 ; 
 he employs Titian to finish the 
 Bacchanal of Gio. Bellini, 175; per- 
 sonal relations of Titian to Alfonso 
 of Ferrara ; i. 176-9 ; to Ariosto, ib. 
 Titian goes to Ferrara in 1516, 178 ; 
 his correspondence compared with 
 that of Raphael and Michaelangelo, 
 179 ; Titian, Raphael, and Pelle- 
 grino da Udine, 180. 
 
 1517. — Letters to Ferrara ; Eros, 181-2. 
 
 1518. — Alfonso the First at Venice, 
 183 ; his quarrels with Raphael and 
 Titian, ib. and 184 ; Titian's picture 
 for Lautrec, 184 ; Lucretia Borgia ; 
 portraits of her, 185-6 ; the Duchess 
 and the negro page, 186-8 ; Laura 
 Dianti, 187 ; alleged likenesses of 
 Lucretia, 188; portrait of Alfonso I., 
 
 Titian — continued. 
 189-90 ; admired by Michaelangelo, 
 190 ; Eros and the apples at Madrid, 
 191-6 ; Titian and Ariosto ; portraits 
 of the latter, 196-201 ; Apelles and 
 Homer, 197 ; Ariosto in the Renier 
 Collection, 197-9 ; in the Lopez Col- 
 lection, and at Cobham Hall, 197-9 ; 
 in the National Gallery, 199-200 ; in 
 the Orlando Furioso, 200 ; in the 
 Tosi, Munro, and Barker Collections, 
 201; which is the genuine "Ariosto?" 
 201-2 ; ^Eneas Vico, 202 ; Titian's 
 Three Ages ; Ellesmere Collection, 
 303-5 ; copies of that picture, 206 ; 
 the Virgin's Rest, National Gallery, 
 206-8 ; Noli-me-Tangere, National 
 Gallery, 207-9 ; the Assunta, Venice, 
 210-21 ; treatment of Titian, 217 ; 
 opinion of Sir Joshua Reynolds, 218 ; 
 technical handling, 218-20 ; Annun- 
 ciation at Treviso, 221-4; Titian and 
 Previtali, 222 ; Titian's position at 
 Venice in 1519, 224 ; Titian is re- 
 minded of his duty at the Palace 
 Great Council, 225 ; he does not 
 reproof, ib. ; goes to Padua, ib. 
 
 1519. — He visits Ferrara ; he paint 
 the Bacchanal of Madrid, 226-9 
 death of Lucretia Borgia, 231. 
 
 1520. — Better relations between Dukt 
 Alfonso and Titian, 231 ; Ferrarese 
 pottery and majolica, 232 ; Titian 
 paints a Gazelle, 233 ; Madonna of 
 Ancona, ib. and 234-5 ; Titian begins 
 the Bacchus and Ariadne, and an 
 altarpiece for Brescia, 236 ; Duke Al- 
 fonso tries to obtain the St. Sebastian 
 of the Brescian altarpiece, 237-9 ; 
 order for the Pesaro altarpiece, 239 ; 
 Titian at Conegliano, 240. 
 
 1521. — Antonio Grimani elected doge ; 
 his life, 241 ; portraits of him by 
 Titian at Venice, 244 ; Padua, ib. ; 
 Vienna, 244-5. 
 
 1522. — Completion of the Brescia altar- 
 piece, 247 ; copies of the St. Sebas- 
 tian, 252 ; Titian again invited to 
 Ferrara, 253-4 ; he goes to Brescia, 
 255 ; paints at the Bacchanal, 256 ; 
 
xxxvm 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Titian — contin ued. 
 Titian divides his time between the 
 picture of the Public Palace and those 
 of his private practice ; he is threat- 
 ened with the loss of the Sanseria, 
 257. 
 
 1523. — After visiting Mantua he comes 
 to Ferrara, 258 ; Bacchus and Ariadne, 
 259-65 ; history of the picture, and 
 copies of the same, 265 ; Titian and 
 his mistress, or Alfonso of Ferrara 
 and Laura, 266-70 ; "The Flora," 
 270-2 ; female nudes, 273 ; Venus 
 of Darmstadt, 273-4 ; copies of the 
 same, 275 ; Venus Anadyomene, 
 275-6 ; the Gonzagas, their first ac- 
 quaintance with Titian, 278-80, 441, 
 442 ; Titian at Mantua, where he 
 paints a portrait, 281 ; the Entomb- 
 ment, Louvre, 283-7 ; wane of 
 Palma's influence on Titian, 285 ; 
 copy of the Entombment, 286 ; por- 
 trait of J. Soranzo, 287; of A. 
 Capello, 288 ; Madonna of S. Niccolo 
 at the Vatican, 288-92; Titian and the 
 Laocoon, 289 ; influence of Correggio, 
 291 ; progress of Titian's art since 
 1518 ; A. Gritti, Doge, fresco of 
 St. Christopher, 293-5 ; Paris Bor- 
 done as pupil of Titian, 297. 
 
 1524. — Titian paints the Doge's Chapel, 
 298-9 ; his portraits of Doge Gritti, 
 299, 391 ; Titian is ill and goes to 
 Ferrara (1524-5), 302-3 ; portrait of 
 Mosti, 303. 
 
 1525. — Gritti promotes Titian's father, 
 303-4, 442 ; Annunciation at San 
 Eocco, Venice, 305 ; new relations of 
 Titian with the Pesaro family, ib. 
 
 1526. — Madonna di Casa Pesaro, 306- 
 10, 441 ; influence of that altar-piece 
 on Paul Veronese, 310. 
 
 1527. — Pietro Aretino, his history, 
 311-16 ; Titian paints his likeness 
 and that of the Imperial Envoy 
 Adorno, and sends them to Mantua, 
 317, 443 ; portrait of Aretino as a 
 young man, 319. 
 
 1528. — Titian again visits Ferrara, 
 
 323. 
 
 I Titian — continued. 
 
 j 1529. — Alfonso of Ferrara recommends 
 him warmly to the Duke of Mantua, 
 323, and to the Doge Gritti, 324 ; 
 altar-piece of Zoppe, 324. 
 
 1530. — Competition for the altar-piece 
 of St. Peter Martyr, Palma Vecchio, 
 Pordenone, compete with Titian, 
 
 ' 326-7 ; Titian delivers the altar- 
 piece, influence on his style of 
 Michaelangelo, then at Venice, 328- 
 9 ; destruction of the Peter Martyr,, 
 description of it, 3i9-35 ; drawings 
 for this altarpiece, 333 ; supposed 
 preliminary study, 335 ; fragment 
 for the Peter Martyr, 334, 445 ; 
 Charles V. visits the Pontifical 
 States, was Titian invited to his 
 Court ? 335-6 ; more pictures for the 
 Duke of Mantua, the Virgin and 
 St. Catherine, 386, 446 ; portrait of 
 Federico Gonzaga ; pictures of nude 
 women, 336, 446 ; Madonna del Co- 
 niglio, Louvre, 339 ; Titian's home, 
 his wife, and birth of his son Pom- 
 ponio, 340-1; the Rest in Egypt, 
 Louvre, and replicas, 341-2 ; close 
 of the Conference of Bologna (1530), 
 342 ; Secretary Covos and Cornelia, 
 Titian is sent to Bologna to paint 
 the portrait of the latter for the Duke 
 of Mantua and Covos, 342, 343-5, 
 447-9 ; Titian returns to Venice, he 
 loses his wife ; his children, Orazio 
 and Lavinia, 345 ; St. Sebastian for 
 the Marquis of Mantua, ib. ; Titian 
 leaves his house at San Samuele, 346 ; 
 Pomponio enters the church, 347 ; 
 Benefice of Medole, 347, 449 ; St. 
 Jerome, 349, 351 ; the Magdalen for 
 F. Gonzaga and Davalos, 348, 450, 
 451, 452 ; Magdalen for the Duke of 
 Urbino, Pitti, 350 ; replicas of the 
 same, 351 ; replicas of the St. Jerome 
 (1531), 352. 
 
 1531. — Pomponio and the benefice of 
 Medole, 353-4 ; Aretino and Max 
 Stampa, Titian's St. John the Bap- 
 tist, portraits of Stampa, Francesco 
 Sforza, and Christina of Denmark,. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 XXXIX 
 
 T iti an — continued. 
 355 ; Votive picture of Doge Gritti, 
 356, 454 ; Titian again visits Ferrara, 
 357. 
 
 1532. — Charles V. at Mantua, sees 
 Titian's portrait of the Duke of 
 
 Mantua, and wishes to engage him 
 to paint his own, 361 ; Titian invited 
 to Mantua, 362, 456 ; Titian, being 
 at Ferrara, draws the profile of 
 Ariosto, returns to Venice and joins 
 the Imperial Court at Bologna, 362 ; 
 Alfonso d' Este, Covos, and Titian, 
 ib. 
 
 1533. — Covos obtains some of Titian's 
 pictures from Alfonso, 363-5 ; Titian 
 begins the Emperor's portrait, 363 ; 
 copy of Alfonso's likeness by Titian, 
 366 ; " Minerva and Neptune," 366 ; 
 portraits of Charles V., 366, 370 ; 
 Titian takes the sketch portrait 
 to Venice, and copies it for the Mar- 
 quis of Mantua, 370, 457 ; he receives 
 a patent of Count, 371 ; his relations 
 with del Vasto, Allegory of Victory, 
 Love and Hymen, at the Louvre, 
 373-4 ; alleged portrait of Davalos at 
 Cassel, 375 ; replicas of the Louvre 
 Allegory at Vienna, i. 375-6 ; por- 
 traits of Ippolito de' Medici, 377-8 ; 
 copy at the Louvre, 378 ; altarpiece 
 of St. John the Almsgiver, at Vienna, 
 379-381 ; French and Spanish parties 
 at Venice, 382; Titian paints the por- 
 trait of Francis I. ; sketch at Padua, 
 finished likeness at the Louvre, 
 and other replicas, 383-5. 
 
 1534. — Titian's likeness of Isabella d' 
 Este, 385-387, 457 ; replicas of the 
 same, 387-88 ; Titian's acquaintance 
 with Francesco Maria of Urbino, 
 388 ; the early Venus of the Uffizi, 
 389-91 ; copies of it, 391 ; Bella di 
 Titiano at the Pitti, 391-2; "Mis- 
 tress of Titian," St. Petersburg, 393 ; 
 Vienna, 393 ; Titian's wanderings in 
 Cadore, 395 ; his Summer Storm, 
 Buckingham Palace, 396-7 ; his re- 
 lations with the Cadorine commune, 
 397-99 ; accession of Paul the Third, 
 
 Titian — continued. 
 Titian, and Ferrante Gonzaga, 400 ; 
 Kape of Proserpine, 401 ; Titian ex- 
 cuses himself for not accepting Ip- 
 polito de' Medici's invitation to Rome, 
 402. 
 
 1535. — Titian reports on SansOvino's 
 work at S. Francesco della Vigna, 
 403 ; Charles V. asks Titian to Spain, 
 perhaps to join the Tunis expedition, 
 403 ; Titian refuses. " Christ " for 
 Mantua, 405, 458 ; portrait of Charles 
 V. for Mantua, ib., and 406. 
 
 1536. — The Emperor at Asti is joined 
 there by the Duke of Mantua and 
 Titian, 407 ; Titian's portraits of 
 F. Sforza and his wife, 409 ; promise 
 of a canonry and pension in Naples, 
 409 ; Titian and Ercole II. of Fer-- 
 rara, posthumous portrait of Al- 
 fonso I., 410-31 ; portrait of Ercole 
 II., 411. 
 
 1537. — Likenesses of Francesco Maria, 
 Duke of Urbino, and his Duchess, 
 411-415 ; intrigues of parties at 
 Venice, 416 ; renewal of Titian's re- 
 lations with Bembo, 417 ; Bembo's 
 portrait, "bearded," 418, 419; Titian 
 begins the series of the twelve Em- 
 perors for Mantua, 420, 458, 459 ; 
 Annunciation for the Empress, 424-5 ; 
 qualities of Titian as an artist at sixty, 
 426-7 ; opinions on his skill, 428 ; 
 probable relations with Allegri, 429 ; 
 L. Lotto, 131-2 ; Palma Vecchio, 
 
 433- 4 ; Moretto, Romanino, Savoldo, 
 433 ; Boccaccino, ib. ; Girolamo da 
 Treviso, the Zuccati, 434 ; Bonifazio, 
 
 434- 5 ; Paris Bordone, 436-7 ; 
 Giacomo Bassano, 437 ; Tintoretto, 
 ib. ; Schiavone, 438. 
 
 Vol. II. — Titian and Pordenone, ii. 1-6; 
 Titian loses the Sanseria, 5 ; he paints 
 •the battle of Cadore in the Hall of Coun- 
 cil at Venice, contemporary notices 
 of the picture, 7 ; its symbolic mean- 
 ing, 8 t 14 ; copy at Florence, 9-16 ; 
 print by Fontana,9, 14, 15; the battle- 
 field, 9-10, 12, 13 ; the picture des- 
 troyed by fire, 11 ; description of it, 11 
 
si 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Titian, Vol. ii.— continued. 
 -13 ; Rubens drawing from it, 11- 
 12, 14; woodcut by Burgkmair, 14; 
 sketches, 17 ; copies, ib. ; portrait of 
 George Comaro, 17-19 ; of G. Savorg- 
 nano, 20 ; Titian sends three pictures 
 of Emperors to Mantua, 21. 
 
 1538. — He sends Sansovino to Cadore ; 
 portrait of G. Moro, Berlin, 22 ; like- 
 ness of Sultan Soliman ; Titian at 
 Pesaro, 24. 
 
 1539. — Titian paints the portrait of 
 Doge Lando, 24 ; Aretino tries to ob- 
 tain for Titian invitations to Florence 
 and Rome, 25 ; Davalos visits Venice 
 and orders "the Allocution"; he 
 gives Titian a canonry for his son 
 Pomponio at Milan, 27; portrait of 
 Agostino Lando, 27 ; of Bembo, 
 Barberini Palace, 28 ; Titian is re- 
 stored to the Sanseria, ib. ; the Angel 
 and Tobit, 29, 30 ; the presentation 
 in the Temple, 29, 31-35. 
 
 1540. — North-east of Venice, 37; 
 Titian's house in Biri and its visitors, 
 37-41 ; character of Titian and 
 Michaelangelo, 42 ; topography of 
 Biri Grande, 43-45 ; Pordenone, his 
 death, ii. 28 ; Titian buys an organ ; 
 portrait of Alessandro the organist, 
 ii. 46-7 ; home-life at Biri Gralade ; 
 Pomponio, Orazio, and Lavinia, 
 ib. ; portrait of V. Capello, 47-8 ; 
 of Eliz. Quirini, 4$ ; the Duke 
 Federico Gonzago orders his portrait 
 of Titian for Duke Otto Henry of 
 Bavaria, 48 ; Federico's death, 49 ; 
 Titian goes to Mantua, ib. ; portrait 
 of Mendozza, ib. and 50 ; work at 
 the "Allocution," 51; Davalos re- 
 ceives the original sketch. 
 
 1541. — The Allocution finished, 52-3 ; 
 Titian goes to meet the Emperor 
 Charles V. ; he receives a pension on 
 the treasury of Milan, 54-5 ; Nativity 
 at No vara, 55 ; return to Venice, ib. 
 
 1542. — The academy supersedes the 
 triumvirate, ib. ; Descent of the 
 Holy Spirit, 56 ; festival of the 
 Calza ; Titian, Aretino and Vasari, 
 
 Titian, Vol. ii. — continued. 
 56-7 ; Titian paints a portrait of 
 Catherine Cornaro, 57 ; varieties of 
 the same, 58 : votive picture of Doge 
 Lando, 59 ; order of an altarpiece for 
 Serravalle, ib. ; portraits of Titian 
 by himself, 59-66. 
 
 1543. — Again the votive picture for 
 Doge Lando ; portrait of Strozzi's 
 daughter, 66-8 ; ceilings of San 
 Spirito, now at the Salute Venice, 
 69-72 ; Titian's quarrel with the 
 brothers of San Spirito, 73 ; his 
 litigious spirit ; he lends money to 
 the community of Cadore, Alessandro 
 Vitelli, 74 ; the Farnese and Titian's 
 portrait of Ranuccio ; negotiations 
 lor inviting him to Rome, 75-8 ; 
 Titian the guest of Cardinal Famese ; 
 at Ferrara and Brussels, 81-3 ; 
 Charles V. orders of Titian a portrait 
 of the Empress ; the Pope offers and 
 Titian refuses the Piombo ; negotia- 
 tions for the benefice of Colle for 
 Pomponio Vecelli, 83-85 ; portraits 
 of Pier Luigi Farnese, 85, 88 ; of 
 Paul III., 85, 86-7 ; of Cardinal 
 Farnese, 85, 89 ; replicas of Paul 
 III., 90-117 ; Titian paints the Ecce 
 Homo for Giovanni d'Anna, 92 ; the 
 Ascension of the Virgin at Verona, 
 96. 
 
 1544. — More canvassing for the bene- 
 fice of Colle, 97 ; Titian writes to 
 Michaelangelo, 98 ; Colle and Ro- 
 ganzuolo, altarpiece of Roganzuolo, 
 100 ; Titian sends two portraits of 
 the Empress to Charles V., 103-5. 
 
 1545. — Titian's relations with Guidu- 
 baldo of Urbino and his court, 105 ; 
 portraits of the Duke and Duchess, D. 
 Barbaro, Morosini, Corvino, Sperone 
 and Aretino, 107-110 ; Guidubaldo, 
 the Farnese, and Charles V., strive 
 to secure Titian for themselves, 110- 
 11 ; Guidubaldo takes him to Pesaro 
 and gives him an escort to Rome, 
 112 ; Titian is received by Bembo 
 and Paul III. ; Vasari takes him 
 about Rome ; Sebastian del Piombo 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Titian, Vol. ii. — continued. 
 shows him the Stanze ; he regrets 
 not to have seen Rome twenty years 
 before^ 113 ; Aretino's advice, 114 ; 
 •opinions respecting Titian of Michael - 
 angelo and others ; effects of the 
 Roman visit on Titian's style, 114- 
 16 ; dread of him amongst the 
 painters at Rome, 117; Titian begins 
 the family picture of the Farnese, 
 117-18 ; the Danae of Naples, 118 ; 
 comparison between him, Correggio, 
 and Buonarroti, 120-1 ; his study of 
 Roman antiques and his adaptation 
 of them, 121-2 ; policy of the 
 Farnese, 123 ; Paul III. and his two 
 grandsons portrayed, 124-6; Sanso- 
 vino's mishap, 127-8 ; Titian's inte- 
 rest saves him, 128 ; Doge Donato's 
 accession, 128. 
 
 1546. — Doge Donato allows Titian to 
 stay in Rome, continuation of Titian's 
 efforts to obtain the benefice of Colle, 
 129 ; portraits for the Duke of 
 Urbino, ib. ; Titian leaves Rome and 
 visits Florence, 130 ; probable visit 
 to Piacenza, portrait of Pier Luigi 
 Farnese, 130-1 ; return of Titian to 
 Venice, 'more about the benefice of 
 Colle, 131-2 ; descent of the Holy 
 Spirit for San Spirito, portrait of 
 Doge Donato, 133 ; posthumous 
 likeness of Giovanni de' Medici, 
 133-4 ; portraits of Lavinia, 134, 141 ; 
 Cardinal Farnese at Venice, 142. 
 
 1547. — Death of the Duchess of Urbino, 
 Guidubaldo marries again, Titian 
 asks Cardinal Farnese for the seals 
 of the Piombo, 143-4; Titian com- 
 pletes the altarpiece of Serravalle, 
 145-9 ; his reminiscences of Raphael, 
 147-9; Farnese Venus and Adonis, 
 replicas at Alnwick, Leigh Court, 
 and Cobham, 150-1 ; varieties of the 
 Supper at Emmaus, 152-5 ; Venus 
 and Cupid at Florence, 156-7 ; Venus 
 with the organ-player at Madrid, 
 157 ; replicas of the same, the small 
 Ecce Homo, 160-1 ; relations of 
 Paul III. and Charles V. in 1547, 
 
 Titian, Vol. ii. — continued. 
 162, 163 ; Titian promises to take 
 service at Rome, but prefers to obey 
 Charles V.'s order to come to Augs- 
 burg, 163 ; his excuses to Cardinal 
 Farnese are backed by the Duke 
 of Urbino, 164-6 ; Guglielmo della 
 Porta gets the Piombo, 167. 
 
 1548. — Titian starts for Augsburg pass- 
 j ing through Ceneda, 167 ; Augsburg 
 
 in 1548, 168 ; Titian's arrival there, 
 J his reception by the emperor, 169 ; 
 his pension in Milan is doubled, ib. ; 
 he promises Ferrando Gonzago a 
 portrait of Charles V., 169-70 ; 
 personal appearance of Charles V. 
 as he rode at Miihlberg, 170-1 ; of 
 King Ferdinand on the same occasion, 
 171-2 ; of John Frederick of Saxony 
 and others, 172 ; the Court at Augs- 
 burg, 173-4 ; the Granvelles, 174-5; 
 they try to insinuate the interim to 
 John^Frederick, who refuses, 175-6 ; 
 personal appearance of John Fre- 
 derick, 176-7 ; Titian portrays the 
 emperor, his relatives, captives, and 
 court, 177 ; most of the portraits 
 pass to Flanders and Spain and 
 perish, ib.; others are saved ex. gr., 
 Charles V., Chancellor Granvelle, 
 Cardinal Madruzzi, 178-80. Cesare 
 Vecelli, Titian's assistant at Augs- 
 burg, 180-1 ; portraits of John 
 Frederick, 181-3 ; Granvelle, 183 ; 
 his gallery at Besangon, 184-5 ; 
 Madruzzi, 186; Prometheus, Sisyphus, 
 Ixiou and Tantalus, 187 ; portrait of 
 King Ferdiuand, ib. and 188 ; Fer- 
 dinand's infant daughters, 188-90 ; 
 Titian obtains from King Ferdinand 
 the right to cut timber in Tyrol, 
 189 ; Titian returns to Venice (Oct. 
 1548), but leaves soon after to meet 
 Prince Philip and Alva at Milan, 
 191-2 ; portraits of Alva and his 
 secretary, Gosellini, 192. 
 
 1549. — Titian's return to Venice ; 
 " Charles V. " for Cardinal Farnese, 
 193 ; for Ferrante Gonzaga, ib. ; Sub- 
 mersion of Pharaoh, 195 ; betrothal 
 
xlii 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Titian, Vol. ii. — continued. 
 of Lavinia, and thriftlessness of Pom- 
 ponio, ib. 
 
 1550. — Death of Orsa Vecelli, 196 ; 
 Titian, invited to court, again visits 
 Augsburg, 197 ; his reception by 
 Charles V. in presence of Philip of 
 Spain, 198 ; state of the court at 
 Augsburg, 199-200 ; Charles V. 
 orders the "Trinity;" his confer- 
 ences with Titian, Melancthon, 
 Cranach, 200 ; John Frederick invites 
 the latter to Augsburg, and Titian 
 sits to him for a likeness, 201-3 ; 
 comparison of Titian and Cranach, 
 203-4 ; the principal duty of Titian 
 at Augsburg is to make portraits of 
 Philip of Spain, 204 ; Philip's per- 
 sonal appearance, sketch likeness and 
 parade portraits, 205-11 ; one of 
 them is sent to Mary Tudor, 209. 
 
 1551. — Payments to Titian from Philip, 
 211 ; correspondence about the Milan 
 pension, 212 ; Titian returns to 
 Venice by way of Innspruck ; he 
 gets a pension in Spain, 213 ; anec- 
 dote of Titian appearing before the 
 Doge and Senate at Venice, 214-15 ; 
 suspension of the Sanseria. Rein- 
 statement, 1552, 215 ; life at Venice, 
 Titian and Niccolo Massa, 215-16. 
 
 1552. — Portrait of Beccadelli, 217 ; 
 "Queen of Persia" and "St. Mar- 
 garet" sent to Prince Philip, 218; 
 Titian's landscapes, and Aurelio 
 Luini, 219-20 ; landscape distances 
 in pictures and prints and drawings, 
 220-1; the "St. Margaret" at 
 Madrid, 222-3. 
 
 1553. — Titian in correspondence with 
 Philip of Spain, 224 ; Rumour of 
 Titian's death, ib. 
 
 1554. — Titian completes and sends to 
 Charles V. and Philip of Spain the 
 Virgin Lamenting, the Trinity, the 
 Danae, 225-7 ; Christ appearing to 
 the Magdalen, for Mary of Hungary, 
 ib. ; death of Doge Donato, portrait 
 of Doge Trevisani ; marriage of 
 Philip to Mary Tudor, despatch of a 
 
 Titian, Vol. ii. — continued. 
 Venus and Adonis to London, 227 ; 
 description of the Danae, 228-9 ; 
 replicas in the Granvelle Collection, 
 at Petersburg, Vienna, London, and 
 Cobham, 228-9 ; sending the Trinity 
 to diaries V., Titian urges the pay- 
 ment of his pensions, 231-2 ; Vargas, 
 Lavinia, 232 ; Noli-me-Tangere, 
 Grieving Virgin, at Madrid, 232-3 ; 
 description of the Trinity, 234-6 ; 
 sketch copy of the Earl of Cleveland, 
 237 ; arrival of the Adonis in Lon- 
 don, Titian promises a Perseus and 
 Andromeda, Jason and Medea, and 
 other pieces to Philip of Spain, 237 ; 
 description of the Adonis and re- 
 plicas, 238-9 ; Pomponio and his 
 father, 239-40 ; Titian gives the 
 canonry of Medole to his nephew, 
 and a picture to the church of Medole, 
 240 ; death of the Doge Trevisani and 
 accession of Francesco Venier, Ti- 
 tian's portrait of the latter ; the last 
 which he painted officially, votive 
 picture of Doge Trevisani, 243. 
 
 1555. — Commission for the Fede, a 
 votive picture in memory of A. 
 Grimani, description of the picture, 
 244-7 ; marriage of Lavinia, 248 ; 
 death of Venier, accession of Lorenzo 
 Priuli, ib. ; Titian sends the Perseus 
 and Andromeda to King Philip, 249. 
 
 1556. — He names the artists to paint 
 the library at Venice, and gives the 
 prize to Paolo Veronese, 250-1 ; 
 paints the Baptist in the Desert for 
 Santa Maria Maggiore, 251-2 ; death 
 of Aretino, 253 ; Ferrante Gonzaga 
 at Venice, 255. 
 
 1557. — Orazio is sent to claim his 
 father's pension at Milan, 254-5 ; 
 Titian's Entombment lost, he gives 
 Pomponio a curacy, 257. 
 
 1558. — Philip of Spain and St. Law- 
 rence ; Titian's Martyrdom of St. 
 Lawrence at the Gesuiti of Venice, 
 358-63 ; the Monkey Laocbon, 264 ; 
 Christ crowned with thorns, Paris, 
 265-6; likeness of Marc Antonio, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 xliii 
 
 Titian, Vol. ii. — continued. 
 Kezzonico, and Salvaresius, 266 ; of 
 Lavinia (?) at Dresden, 267-8 ; death 
 of Charles V. at Yuste, where he had 
 gathered together several of Titian's 
 pictures, 269-71 ; Philip II. at 
 Ghent, he orders the arrears of 
 Titian's pension to be paid, Orazio 
 Vecelli at Milan, where he meets 
 Leone Leoni, 272 ; who attempts to 
 murder him, 273 ; Titian accuses 
 Leoni to King Philip of murder, 274. 
 
 1559. — Philip II. orders search to be 
 made for the lost Entombment ; 
 Titian announces the completion of 
 the "Actseon" and "Calisto," and 
 promises a Christ on the Mount, an 
 Europa, and Actseon torn by his 
 hounds, 275-7 ; he sends the two 
 first and an Entombment, comparing 
 himself to Apelles, and Philip to 
 Alexander the Great, 278-80 ; de- 
 scription of the Actseon, 282-3 : of 
 the Calisto, 283-4 ; Titian's manner 
 in both pictures, 284-5 ; contrast 
 between him and Paolo Veronese, 
 286-7 ; replicas of the Calisto, 288 ; 
 the third Entombment and replicas, 
 289-94; Titian paints the "Wisdom," 
 in the Library at Venice, 295-6 ; 
 death of Francesco Vecelli, 296 ; al- 
 tarpiece of Pieve, 297-8 ; heroines, 
 300-1 ; Irene of Spilimberg and her 
 sister Emilia ; their portraits by 
 Titian, 302-3 ; the Cornaro family, 
 303-4. 
 
 1560. — Philip II. acknowledges the re- 
 ceipt of the Epiphany, Entombment, 
 Calisto, and Actseon, 305-7. 
 
 1561. — Titian prepares a Magdalen to 
 accompany the "Christ in the Gar- 
 den " and the Europa, 308 ; the Epi- 
 phany at Madrid and replicas, 308-10; 
 Philip orders Titian's Spanish pension 
 to be paid; correspondence with Titian 
 on this matter, 310-11 ; the Mag- 
 dalen is sent to Philip ; numerous 
 varieties of that subject, 312-16 ; 
 the "Venus of Pardo " or Jupiter 
 and Antiope, 316-19. 
 
 Titian, Vol. ii. — continued. 
 
 1562. — Completion of the " Christ in the 
 Garden" and the Europa, 320 ; 
 " Christ in the Garden " at the Es- 
 corial ; Titian and Correggio, 321-2 ; 
 the Europa, 322-4 ; Titian sends a 
 Venus and Adonis and a Madonna to 
 his kinsman Vincenzo at Cadore, 
 324 ; his loans to the Cadorine com- 
 munity, 325 ; he begins the Last 
 Supper, 326-7 ; paints the Cruci- 
 fixion of Ancona and the Vision of 
 St. Francis at Ascoli, 328 ; his con- 
 nection with the mosaists at St. 
 Marco, 329-30 ; cartoons for mo- 
 saics drawn by Orazio, 331. 
 
 1563. — Orazio's probable aid to his 
 father in painting the St. Nicholas 
 in St. Sebastian of Venice, 331, 
 332 ; Titian produces the St. Jerom 
 of the Brera and several replicas of 
 Venus with, the Mirror, 333-6 ; cor- ( 
 respondence with Urbino ; loss of the 
 Nativity and Last Supper at Venice 
 by fire, '337-8, 
 
 1564. — Letters exchanged between Ti- 
 tian and the King of Spain as to pen- 
 sions, the painting of the Last 
 Supper, and the portrait of the 
 "Queen of the Romans," 339-41 ; 
 Philip asks for a Martyrdom of St. 
 Lawrence, 341 ; Titian goes to Bres- 
 cia ; he withholds the Last Sujpper, in 
 hope of obtaining preliminary pay- 
 ment for it, 342-5 ; contract to paint 
 the canvases of the townhall of Bres- 
 cia, 345-6 ; the Last Supper and its 
 mutilation at the Escorial, 346-9 ; 
 Titian and Lionardo da Vinci, 348-50. 
 
 1565. — The pensions of Titian at Milan 
 are paid ; he neglects the St. Lawrence, 
 goes to Cadore and plans the frescos of 
 the Pieve church, 350-1 ; the Trans- 
 figuration at San Salvadore, 352 ; 
 the Annunciation in the same church, 
 353 ; St. James in San Lio, 354-5 ; 
 education of Cupid at the Borghese 
 Palace, 356-6. 
 
 1566. — Titian employs as engravers C. 
 Cort and Boldrini, 357 ; Vasari visits 
 
xliv 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Titian, Vol. ii. — continued. 
 him at Venice, 358 ; his opinion of 
 Titian and his style ; pictures at that 
 time on Titian's easel, 359-60 ; 
 "Religion persecuted by Heresy," 
 at Rome and Madrid, 361-2 ; Titian 
 joins the Florentine academy, 363 ; 
 Titian's income 364-5 ; his dealings 
 with antiquaries and collectors, 365- 
 9 ; his portrait of Strada, 370. 
 
 1567. — His last correspondence with 
 the Duke of Urbino, 371-2 ; the 
 Last Supper and Resurrection at 
 Urbino, 373 ; final relations with 
 the Farnese, 374 ; last replica of the 
 Magdalen ; the second Martyrdom of 
 Peter Martyr, 375-7 ; St. Cathe- 
 rine, 377-8 ; Titian's pupils finish 
 the frescos of Pieve ; Nativity at the 
 Pitti, 378-9 ; Titian sends the Martyr- 
 dom of St. Lawrence and a Venus to 
 Madrid, 380-1 ; he proposes to paint 
 ten episodes of the life of St. Law- 
 rence, 381 ; description of the St. 
 Lawrence, 383 ; completion of the 
 Brescian canvases. 
 
 1568. — Subjects of the Brescian can- 
 vases, their history and loss by fire, 
 383-5 ; Titian's dependence on his 
 disciples, 386 ; his picture of the 
 Saviour and Pharisee, ib., 388-9 ; he 
 transfers his substance to Orazio, 
 387 ; he presses Philip II. for his 
 dues, 388 ; he legitimizes the song of 
 a priest, 390. 
 
 1570. — Death of Sansovino, 390. 
 
 1571. — Titian sends a Tarquin and 
 Lucretia to Philip II., 391-4; war 
 between Turkey and Venice and 
 Spain, battle of Lepanto, 394-6 ; 
 the Venetian senate orders a picture 
 commemorative of the battle ; Titian 
 and Tintoretto, 396 ; Philip II. also 
 orders a picture Commemorative of 
 Lepanto. Coello's sketch design is 
 taken to Titian who begins the 
 "Allegory of Lepanto" at Madrid, 
 397-8 ; the Christ crowned with 
 thorns at Munich, 399-400. 
 
 1572. — Antonio Perez asks for pictures 
 
 Van Dyke. 
 Titian, Vol. ii. — continued. 
 by Titian, 401 ; Titian receives high 
 visitors, Cardinals Granvelle and 
 Pacheco, 402. 
 
 1574. — He receives Henry III. of 
 France, 402 ; he begins a Nativity 
 and finishes the Allegory of Lepanto 
 for Philip II., 403 ; he sends a list 
 of pictures to Madrid, and claims 
 payment for these works, 404-5 ; 
 Christ bearing his Cross, 405 ; the 
 " Adam and Eve," 406. 
 
 1575. — Titian's last letters to Philip II. 
 407-8 ; the Plague at Venice ; Titian 
 bargains for a grave, and begins the 
 Pieta, 410-11-13. 
 
 1576. — He dies of the plague, and is 
 buried at Venice, 415 ; pictures which 
 Titian left behind him, 416. 
 
 Tizianello, i. 35, 45 ; ii. 494. 
 
 Tomline, Mr., Titian, i. 423. 
 
 Torlioni, Fra B., ii. 251. 
 
 Torre, G. della, ii. 167. 
 
 Trent, Casa Salvadori, Titian's Cardinal 
 
 Madruzzi, ii. 186. 
 Trevisani, Marc-Antonio, Doge, ii. 
 
 226, 242, 243-4. 
 Treviso, Scuola del Sacramento, Titian, 
 
 i. 224. 
 
 — S. Niccolo, Titian, i. 221-4. 
 Tribolo, i. 334. 
 
 Trissino, ii. 106. 
 Trivulzi, Cardinal, ii. 240, 257. 
 Turin Mus. Paolo Veronese, ii. 287 ; 
 Titian, ii. 154, 191. 
 
 U. 
 
 Urbino Coll., Titian, i. 383, 385, 389, 
 413 ; ii. 24, 157. 
 
 — San Francesco di Paola, ii. 373. 
 
 V. 
 
 Van Dalen, engraver of Titian's works, 
 i. 95. 
 
 Van der Weyden, R., i. 170. 
 Van Dyke, i. 147, 195, 286, 291, 304, 
 401. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 xlv 
 
 Van Uffel. 
 Van Uffel Coll., Titian, ii. 107, 136, 
 
 452, 475. 
 Vane, Lord Harry, Titian, ii. 237. 
 Varana, Giulia, ii. 105, 107, 143. 
 Vargas, F., ii. 115, 174, 218, 224, 227, 
 
 232, 235. 
 Varottari. See Padovanino. 
 Vasari, his account of Titian's early 
 
 education, i. 44, 45 ; of Venetian 
 
 craftsmen, 50 ; ii. 18, 56, 113, 117, 
 
 354, 358. 
 Vason, Sign or, i. 419. 
 Vecchia, Delia, ii. 458, 462. 
 Vecelli, ancestors of Titian, i. 27. 
 
 — Antonio, i. 27. 
 
 — Catherine, i. 38. 
 
 — Cecilia, i. 340. 
 
 — Cesare, ii. 51, 78 ; assistant to 
 Titian (1548), 181, 190, 210, 230,351, 
 378, 422, 431, 433, 435, 436, 437, 
 440, 441, 456, 460 ; his life and 
 works, 487, 493. 
 
 — Conte, i. 27, 28, 95. 
 
 — Fabrizio, ii. 493. 
 
 — Fausto, ii. 351. 
 
 — Francesco ; was he older or younger 
 than Titian, i. 38, 53, 96 ; a soldier, 
 102 ; retires to Cadore, 395 ; his life, 
 ii. 476-84 ; his death, 296, 298, 432, 
 435-6. 
 
 — Gregorio, i. 28, 38-9, 52, 97, 303, 
 422. 
 
 — Lavinia, i. 345 ; ii. 46-7, 66, 135, 
 231, 248. 
 
 — Lucia, i. 44, 52. 
 
 — Marco, i. 188 ; ii. 62, 247-8, 386, 
 423, 441, 467, 494. 
 
 — Orazio, i. 188, 345-7 ; ii. 46-7 ; 
 Standard of Koganzuolo, 101, 135, 
 140, 192, 210, 215, 239 ; goes to 
 Milan, 243, 255, 272 ; paints the 
 likeness of the Duke of Sessa, ii. 273; 
 assassinated by Leone Leoni, ib., 
 280-81 ; sends a Crucified Christ to 
 Philip II. , 280-81, 288 ; 1559, at 
 Cadore, 297, 331-337, 368-9, 378, 
 385-7, 404, 433; his portrait of 
 B. Siciliano, 442 ; his life and works, 
 484-7. 
 
 Venice. 
 Vecelli, Orsa, i. 38, 346 ; ii. 196. 
 
 — Pomponio, i. 340, 345, 347, 430 ; 
 ii. 27, 46-7, 135, 196, 239, 257, 319, 
 376-7, 402. 
 
 — Tiziano, i. 95, 99, 398. 
 
 — Tommaso, ii. 494. 
 
 — Vecello, i. 398 ; i. 28, 96 ; ii. 51, 
 74, 296, 298, 324-5. 
 
 Venas, Church, Titian, ii. 432. 
 
 Vendramin Coll., Giorgione, i. 95 ; 
 Titian, i. 95 ; ii. 367. 
 
 Venice ; history of its rise, i. 1 ; decline 
 in the 16th century, 5, 6 ; peculiarity 
 of Venetian trade ; its extent, 7, 8 ; 
 effect of commerce on art, 9 ; religion, 
 customs, and religious legends, 10-12; 
 how Titian found it in 1486, 43 ; in 
 1488, 48, 49 ; its schools of art, 
 48 ; status of its painters, 50 ; 
 dealers' shops, 51 ; public taste as 
 regards art, ib. ; decoration of house - 
 fronts, ib. ; plague, 1570, 145 ; do., 
 1576-7, ii. 409. 
 
 Venice, Academy, Contarini, ii. 123 ; 
 Paul Veronese, i. 310 ; Titian, i. 53, 
 221 ; Assunta, 287-8 ; portraits, ii. 
 29, 31-5 ; Presentation, 152 ; Venus 
 and Adonis, 251-3 ; St. John Baptist, 
 411-14 ; Pieta, 416, 432 ; Vecelli, 
 F., ii. 480, 483. 
 
 — S. Andrea, Titian, i. 53. 
 
 — S. Andrea della Certosa, Titian, ii. 
 470. 
 
 — S. Angelo, Titian, ii. 414. 
 
 — Barbarigo. See Barbarigo. 
 
 — Benfatto, Signor, V., Titian, ii. 20. 
 
 — S. Bernardino, Sc., Titian, ii. 258. 
 
 — Cadorin, Signor, Titian, i. 107. 
 
 — S. Caterina, Titian, Santo Zago, 
 ii. 432. 
 
 — Commie, Frescos, i. 16. 
 
 — Contarini. See Contarini. 
 
 — Cornaro. See Cornaro. 
 
 — Crociferi. See Gesuati. 
 
 — Banna. See Danna. 
 
 — S. S. Ermagora e Fortunato, S. 
 Zago, Titian, Vecelli, F., ii. 432, 484. 
 
 | — Evangelical Ch., Amberger, E., 
 | Schiavone, Titian, i. 87-88. 
 
xlvi 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Venice — continued. 
 Venice, S.Fantino, Sc., Titian, 'ji. 470. 
 
 — Fondaco, de' Tedesclii Franco, B., 
 i. 87 ; Giorgione, i. 83-87, 90-1, 
 104 ; Palma, i. 88 ; Paul Veronese, 
 i. 88 ; Tintoretto, i. 88 ; Titian, 
 85-95. 
 
 — S. Fosca, Titian, ii. 96. 
 
 — Franceschi. See Franceschi. 
 
 — S. Francesco della Vigna, Titian, 
 
 i. 403. 
 
 — Frari, Titian, i. 74, 210. 
 
 — Galeazzi, Signor, Titian, ii. 253. 
 
 — Gesuati, Titian, ii. 470. 
 
 — Gesititi, Titian, ii. 259—63, 343, 
 383. 
 
 — S. Gio. e Paolo, Cigoli, i. 330, 334 ; 
 Lotto, i. 432 ; Titian, i. 326-35 ; 
 
 ii. 337, 338, 470. 
 
 — Giovanelli, Prince, Bassano, Lotto, 
 Titian, ii. 432. 
 
 — S. Gio. Elemosinario, Titian, i. 
 379-81 ; Vecelli, M., ii. 494. 
 
 — S. Gio. Evangelista, Titian, ii. 416. 
 
 — Grimani. See Grimani. 
 
 — Library, Sansovino, ii. 127 ; Titian, 
 ii. 295. 
 
 — S. Lio, Titian, ii. 352, 355. 
 
 — Malipiero. See Malipiero. 
 
 — S. Marco, Bastiano Lazzari, ii. 
 329 ; Bissolo, Bianchini, Kizzo, ib. ; 
 Titian, ii. 337-8 ; Zuccato, ii. 329- 
 32. 
 
 — Marcello. See Marcello. 
 
 — S. Marciliano, Titian, ii. 29-30. 
 
 — S. Maria, de' Miracole, Titian, ii. 
 316. 
 
 — S. Maria Maggiore, Titian, ii. 
 251-3. 
 
 — S. Maria Nuova, Titian, ii. 333, 
 334. 
 
 — S. Michele di Murano, Campagnola, 
 i. 140. 
 
 — Morosini. See Morosini. 
 
 — Morosini, Gatterburg, Titian, i. 
 52. 
 
 — S. Nicolo de' Bari, Vecelli, F., ii. 
 480. 
 
 — S. Nicolo de' Frari, i. 288-92, 429. 
 Odmi. See Odoni. 
 
 Verona. 
 
 Venice, Palazzo Ducale, Bellini, Gentile, 
 i. 166-7 ; Bellini, Gio., i. 153 ; Car- 
 paccio, i. 155 ; Corona, i. 17 ; Gen- 
 tile da Fabriano, i. 19, 155; Gnariento, 
 i. 17, 155 ; Paolo da Venezia, i. 17- 
 19 ; Pisano, V., i. 19, 155 ; Porde- 
 none, ii. 4, 5 ; Serlio, ii. 4 ; Tinto- 
 retto, i. 17; Titian, i. 53, 244-6, 
 257, 293-5, 298-9, 356 ; ii. 5-16, 
 152, 244-6, 296, 360-1 ; Vecelli, 
 M., ii. 247-8 ; F., ii. 480; O., ii. 
 485 ; Vivarini, i. 154-6, 167. 
 
 — Palazzo Realc, Titian, i. 53. 
 
 — Pasqualino. See Pasqualino. 
 
 — Pisani. See Pisani. 
 
 — Procuratie, Titian, ii. 133. 
 
 — Rialto, early frescos, i. 16. 
 
 — £. Rocco, Giorgione, i. 61 ; Titian, 
 i. 58, 62, 94, 304-5. 
 
 — Salute, Titian, i. 145-8; ii. 56, 
 60, 68-72, 133, 427. 
 
 — S. Salvatore, Titian, ii. 352-4, 481. 
 
 — S. Samuele, Titian, i. 156-9. 
 
 — S. Sebastiano, P., Veron., ii. 251 ; 
 Titian, ii. 331. 
 
 — S. Spirito, Titian, 139, 144-8 ; ii. 
 56, 68, 73, 133 ; Vasari, ii. 57. 
 
 — S. Stefano, Tomb of D'Alviano, ii. 
 18. 
 
 — Talenti, Pordenone, ii. 92. 
 
 — S. Zaccaria, Bellini, Gio., i. 59 ; 
 Titian, ii. 271. 
 
 — Zecca, Titian, ii. 431. 
 
 — Zoppi, Scuola de', Vecelli, F., ii. 
 481. 
 
 Vcnier Coll., Titian, ii. 367, 470 ; 
 
 Domenico, ii. 10.6 ; Francesco Doge, 
 
 ii. 214-15, 243-4, 298. 
 Verdizotti, ii. 359, 465 ; Coll., Titian, 
 
 ii. 359. 
 Vergerius, i. 400. 
 Vermeyen, i. 404 ; ii. 161. 
 Verona, Bevilacqua, Titian, i. 247. 
 
 — Curtoni. See Curtoni. 
 
 — Montanari Coll, Titian, i. 388. 
 
 — Moscardi Coll., Titian, ii. 472. 
 
 — Muselli. See Muselli. 
 
 — Museum, Titian, C. Vecelli, ii. 
 436, 490. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 xlvii 
 
 Vesalius. 
 Vesalius, ii. 418, 455. 
 Vicenza, S. Corona, Campagnola, i. 
 140. 
 
 — Gallery, Giorgione, i. 201 ; Titian, 
 
 i. 201, 388 ; ii. 436 ; F. Vecelli, ii. 
 436, 484. 
 
 — Negri, Titian, ii., 471. 
 
 — Palace of Podesta, Campagnola, 
 Titian, i. 140. 
 
 — Salone, Titian, i. 140. 
 
 V'ico, jEneas, i. 202 ; ii. 197-8, 366. 
 Vidman Coll., Titian, ii. 33, 431, 467. 
 Vienna, Albertina, Raphael, ii. 148 ; 
 
 Rubens, ii. 11, 12, 14 ; Titian, ii. 69, 
 
 138, 222, 334. 
 
 — Ambras, Tintoretto, ii. 418. 
 
 — Czernin, Bordone, ii. 457 ; Porde- 
 none, i. 301 ; Titian, i. 301 ; ii. 
 457. 
 
 — Gallery, Calcar, ii. 455 ; Lotto, ii. 
 457; Morone, ii. 418, 455; Orrente, ii. 
 456 ; Padovanino, ii. 378, 455 ; Schia- 
 vone, ii. 455 ; Titian, i. 54 ; Virgin 
 and Child, 58, 105-7 ; Virgin and 
 €hild and two Saints, 107 ; Virgin 
 and Child and three Saints, 203, 273, 
 376 ; Allegories, 385-8 ; Isabella d' 
 Este, 393 ; Titian's Mistress, ii. 60 ; 
 Titian's likeness, 76 ; Jesuit, 77 ; St. 
 James, 91 ; Paul III., 92 ; Ecce Homo, 
 181 ; Elector of Saxony, 151-2 ; 
 Venus and Adonis, 230 ; Danse, 
 266-7 ; Salvaresio, 288-9 ; Diana 
 and Calisto, 294 ; Entombment, 
 370 ; Strada, 377-8 ; S. Catherine, 
 418, 425 ; Parma, 426 ; Strozzi, 
 Varolii, and Lucretia, Vecelli, C, 
 
 ii. 456, 490-1 ; Vecelli, O., 486-7; 
 Vermeyen, i. 404. 
 
 — Harrach, Titian, ii. 427. 
 
 — Lichtenstein, Schiavone, Titian, i. 
 253 ; ii. 457. 
 
 — Rosenberg, Titian, i. 244-6. 
 
 — Sterne, Titian, ii. 226. 
 
 Vigo, S. Orsola, Fab. Vecelli, ii. 494. 
 
 ZURINELLI. 
 
 Villaviciosa, Titian, i. 74. 
 
 Vinci, L. da, i. 172 ; ii. 184, 349. 
 
 Vinigo, Ch., Titian, ii. 433 ; Vecelli, 
 
 C., ii. 433, C. Vecelli, ii. 493. 
 Violante, i. 46, 66. 
 Vitelli, A., ii. 74, 174. 
 Vittoria, A., ii. 366. 
 Vivarini, i. 22 ; Luigi, i. 48, 155. 
 Vrilliere Coll., Titian, ii. 230. 
 
 W. 
 
 Wallace, Sir R., Titian, ii. 123, 237 ; 
 
 ii. 324. 
 Wallis, Mr., ii. 237. 
 Wellesley, Dr., Coll., Titian, i. 333 ; ii. 
 
 17. 
 
 West, Sir B., Titian, ii. 15. 
 
 William III. , King of the Netherlands, 
 
 Coll., Titian, ii. 154, 159. 
 Windsor Castle, Moro, ii. 429 ; Titian, 
 
 i. 56 ; ii. 64, 65. 
 Wotton, Sir Henry, ii. 92. 
 Wurzburg, ex Rinecker [collection ; 
 
 Polidoro Lanzani, ii. 451 ; Titian, 
 
 ii. 451. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yuste, Titian, ii. 236, 269-71. 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zanetti, i. 90. 
 
 Zclotti, ii. 250, 363, 460. 
 
 Zilia Dandola, her portrait by O. 
 
 Vecelli, ii. 486. 
 Zio Coll., ii. 367. 
 Zoppe in Cadore, Titian, i. 324-5. 
 Zuccato, F., i. 46, 434, ii. 406, 422 ; 
 
 S., i. 45, 46 ; V., i. 46, 434. 
 Zurinelli, i. 407, 458. 
 
ERRATA. — VOL. I. 
 
 Page 34, line 10, for "The cottage of the Titians is now an inn, but was,'" 
 substitute "The cottage of the Titians was." 
 ,, 187, note, col. 2, line 3, for " Racolta de'," read " Raccolta di." 
 ,, 336, line 6, for " was sent," read " Titian was sent." 
 358, line 6, for " Davolos," read " Davalos." 
 
TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 Eise of Venice as a Maritime State; her decline in the sixteenth 
 century. — Early Art defective but Oriental in Type. — Mercantile 
 Occupations and their Influence. — Venetian Trade. — Effects of 
 Territorial Extension on Venetian Art. — Eeligious and Ecclesias- 
 tical Policy ; Manners and Customs ; effect of both on Venetian 
 Art.— Early Painting and Painters. — The Muranese. — The Bellini. 
 — Slow progress of change in Pictorial Methods. — Introduction of 
 Oil Medium. — The Venetians become Colourists and Landscape 
 Painters. 
 
 Venice in the sixteenth century, was not less 
 celebrated for refined culture than Eome or Florence. 
 In Yenice — -as in Tuscany — painting came to perfec- 
 tion after the heroic period ; and the arts have been 
 truly described as the gilded bark which covered the 
 cankered trunk of a luxuriant tree. 
 
 Venice at the opening of the Christian era, was 
 very much the counterpart of Tyre and Sidon in the 
 pra> Christian ages. Her people were traders, sailing 
 ships to the utmost limits of navigation, founders of 
 colonies, manufacturers of glass and dyes. Before 
 the inroads of the Huns, they had been known as 
 hardy mariners on the coasts of the Mediterranean 
 and of the Euxine Seas, After they became the 
 vassals, though but in name, of the successors of 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
 7/ 
 
2 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 [Chap. I. 
 
 Constantine, they held an impregnable position in 
 the lagoons, masters of the river months, from the 
 delta of the Po to the Gnlf of Trieste, tyrants in their 
 commercial intercourse with the people of the neigh- 
 bouring valleys, secure by means of the sea, from the 
 greed of their enemies. On the eastern and western 
 coasts of the Adriatic, they were equally active ; 
 their ships were well-known at Constantinople and 
 Alexandria, and not unfrequently seen in the Straits 
 of Gibraltar. They were peaceful merchants, so long 
 as their trade was unimpeded, but ready to avenge 
 the slightest insult done to their flag ; and their naval 
 power soon came to be courted by friends, and acknow- 
 ledged by foes. 
 
 From a very early period they had learned to avoid 
 territorial aggrandisement in the peninsula. Their 
 first settlements were in Dalmatia and Istria. Stations 
 were then founded in the eastern and western ports 
 of Greece. The Italian tongue was carried by the 
 mariners of the Eialto, to the banks of the Bos- 
 phorus, past the shores of the Black Sea, and up the 
 stream of the Danube to the confines of Hungary. 
 It is characteristic of the early development of Levan- 
 tine commerce under Venetian colours, that in the 
 tenth and eleventh century, no subject of the republic 
 was allowed to carry despatches for foreign princes to 
 Constantinople, without passing first through Yenice. 
 A natural jealousy filled the breasts of the merchants 
 of the lagoons, who little brooked the rival powers of 
 Pisa and Genoa; and though the emperors of the 
 East had confirmed their privileges in all their depen- 
 
Chap. I.] 
 
 EISE OF VENICE. 
 
 3 
 
 dencies, and even allotted to them a distinct quarter of 
 the Imperial city ; they feared the enterprise of their 
 western competitors, more than that of their more direct 
 foes. Similar rivalry in the North of Europe after- 
 wards, led the merchants to the well-known federation 
 of the Hanse. In the south no such settlement was 
 achieved ; and the waters of the Adriatic and Mediter- 
 ranean were as frequently dyed with the blood of the 
 Italians fighting against each other, as with that of 
 the Saracens or of the more alien Normans. 
 
 A favourite illustration of Venetian power at the 
 close of the twelfth century, is that which tells of one 
 hundred galleys armed at Venice in one hundred 
 days. This marvellous display was effected at the 
 time when Henry Dandolo helped the Crusaders to 
 capture Constantinople, and Venice held state in the 
 Imperial city with all but Imperial rank. Then 
 indeed Venice might have been called the Queen of 
 the Seas. She now owned, as her chroniclers affirmed, 
 a quarter and a half of the whole Greek Empire; a 
 part of Constantinople governed by her own laws; 
 Candia, which had been bought of Boniface of Mont- 
 serrat, and all the ports of call from Venice to the 
 Dardanelles, and from thence to Alexandria. "Wise 
 in their generation, the Venetians had watched the 
 gradual expansion of feudal power throughout the 
 states of Europe. They had seen the rights of the 
 many absorbed in the privileges of a few. Their 
 struggles for the limitation of ducal power then 
 began. Their acuteness as merchants rather favoured 
 than excluded political craft; nor did either suffer 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. I. 
 
 restraint from the forms of the constitution. It was 
 no disgrace to the patrician to sit an hour in the 
 counting-house, after he had sat an hour in the 
 council of the State. The system of poise and 
 counterpoise, which led to the firm establishment of 
 an oligarchy, was perfected with profound cunning, 
 and complete success ; and Venice is the only republic 
 in Italy, which lived to an age of decrepitude, whilst 
 it is not unworthy of remark, that the enemy to whom 
 she succumbed at last, was not a monarch, but the 
 representative of the greatest European republic of 
 modern times. 
 
 Towards the latter half of the thirteenth century, 
 the Genoese and Greeks combined to humble the 
 Venetians. The loss of an exceptionally favourable 
 position at Constantinople was the result. But 
 Venice felt no doubt that her hold of the Levantine 
 ports was already precarious to an extreme degree. 
 Behind the tottering throne of the Greek Emperors, 
 there loomed the great and rising power of the Turks, 
 whose Moslem brethren were indeed at no distant 
 date to be expelled from Spain, but whose triumphant 
 progress in the East was clearly foreshadowed. It 
 was then we may believe, that Venice resolved to 
 acquire territorial possessions in Italy. Then it was 
 that whilst fighting the Turks and Genoese, she 
 began to extend her authority over the mainland. 
 Mistress of Treviso in 1338, she owned in 1415 all 
 that portion of Italy which lies between the Isonzo 
 and the Mincio, and the Doge Tommaso Mocenigo was 
 able to boast in a public address, that the trade with 
 
Chap. I] DECLINE OF VENICE. 
 
 5 
 
 Lombardy alone, was worth ten millions of secchins 
 every year, whilst her navy numbered forty-three 
 galleys, and her merchant shipping 3,300 vessels 
 manned by 36,000 sailors. It was during the Doge- 
 ship of Tommaso Mocenigo, that Venice reigned 
 supreme. His successor, Francis Foscari, kept the 
 helm for thirty-four years, a period of fierce and 
 destructive wars, during which Italian possessions 
 were won and lost, but Constantinople fell, vainly 
 defended by the Yenetians and Genoese, into the 
 hands of the Turks. ISTo event recorded in history 
 has had more influence on the destinies of European 
 nations than this victory of the Moslems. The 
 Sultans set their feet permanently on European soil ; 
 they deprived Genoa, in a single hour, of all her 
 colonies, and all her greatness ; they sapped the 
 strength of Venice by constant encroachments ; they 
 brought Hungary and Austria to the verge of ruin, 
 and they introduced a new element into the politics 
 of the Old World. After a series of great and irre- 
 trievable losses, the Venetians found themselves at 
 the close of the fifteenth century almost totally 
 shorn of substantial power in the East. In 1477, 
 the year of Titian's birth, she lost Lemnos, Mantinea, 
 and Scutari of Albania, and many of her possessions 
 in Greece. In 1499, she witnessed a formidable 
 invasion of Friuli by the Turks. In 1503 she signed 
 a humiliating peace with Bajazet the Second, and 
 surrendered the whole of the Morea. In 1506 she 
 opened the first page of the "libro d'oro," in which 
 the patricians of the city, after glorying for centuries 
 

 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. I. 
 
 in the name of " citizens," registered their titles to 
 an hereditary noblesse, and the arts which had been 
 gradually rising to perfection, shed a glorious sunset 
 over the sinking form of the republic. 
 
 A striking feature in the development of pictorial 
 art at Venice is the poverty of thought and execution 
 in its earliest craftsmen. We look in vain for such 
 historical figures as Cimabue, Duccio, Giotto, or 
 Masaccio ; and if we inquire the cause, the answer is 
 obscure and unsatisfactory. It may be that the early 
 Venetians, by abstaining from territorial extension, 
 narrowed the field of individual enterprise to the 
 smallest compass; that they were engaged in a 
 struggle too earnest and too constant with hostile 
 elements to do more than secure the foundations of 
 their city on the mudbanks of the lagoons, or it may 
 be again that their exclusive attention to navigation 
 and commerce precluded the cultivation of the 
 highest taste in painting. Clearly the Venetians 
 were for a time mere importers of art. The pillars 
 which upheld the archings of St. Mark's basilica 
 were carried with patient labour from distant places ; 
 the horses which decorated its front were taken as 
 spoil of war from Constantinople; the lion of the 
 Arsenal was plunder from the Pirasus ; and the first 
 mosaics of Venice and Torcello were set by Byzantine 
 designers. The tone of art for centuries was Oriental ; 
 and we may believe that mariners and merchants 
 whose " argosies were on the Ocean," whose markets 
 were at every point of the compass, were content to 
 
Chap. I.] 
 
 VENETIAN TEADE, 
 
 satisfy their requirements by way of traffic. The 
 neglect which art endured extended alike to poetry 
 and literature, and Yenetian annalists can only 
 record the passing visit of Petrarch ; but there was a 
 field in which, besides commerce, they gathered 
 laurels, — the field of travel and discovery. To the 
 Polos they owed their knowledge of Tartary and 
 China. Through Marin Sanuto, Catarino Zeno, and 
 Mccolo Conti, they became acquainted with Armenia, 
 Palestine, Arabia, Egypt, Persia, India, Java, and 
 Sumatra. Carlo Zeno told them of the frozen regions 
 of Greenland and Iceland, and if it had not been 
 contrary to their instincts and wishes that such 
 discoveries should have been made, they would 
 probably have found the sea-passage to the Indies 
 and the continent of America. The whole purpose 
 and activity of Venice lay in the transmission of 
 merchandize from the East to the West and vice versa 
 by the inland seas. Her geographical position was 
 eminently favourable to that purpose ; and the 
 picture which history gives us of the methods by 
 which her trade was managed, is one of the most 
 fascinating that can be conceived. In the beginning 
 perhaps she carried salt of her own manufacture or 
 fish of her own drying, the lagoons being well fitted 
 for the production of those commodities. As her 
 means increased she coasted down the shores of the 
 Adriatic, disposing of her wares in the ports of Italy 
 on the one hand, of Dalmatia, Istria and Greece on 
 the other. She soon rounded Matapan and Sparti- 
 vento, passed the Straits of Gibraltar and the 
 
3 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. I. 
 
 Dardanelles, and visited the far East as well as the far 
 West. From those distant regions, and from the 
 intermediate ports, she bronght home goods in 
 exchange for those which she carried thither, and 
 these she disposed of either at the fairs of Lombardy 
 or in the agencies of continental nations which had 
 their counters in Venice. The utmost liberality was 
 shown in allowing foreign merchants to settle. In 
 the trade of those merchants no born Venetian was 
 allowed to share. The produce which they carried to 
 Venice from the continent, that which they bought 
 for transport to the continent were stored in maga- 
 zines, specially furnished for the purpose by the 
 Venetian state. In these magazines the government 
 levied import and export dues. Every year six fleets 
 were formed, and manned, and convoyed at the public 
 expense. The freightage of the fleet was sold by 
 auction, and any one might ship his merchandize at 
 the price of the day. One squadron sailed to the 
 Black Sea with goods for Eussia and Central Asia; 
 another stopped at Constantinople after touching at 
 the ports of Greece and the islands ; a third took 
 the Armenian traffic to the harbours of Asia Minor 
 and Syria; a fourth fed the markets of Egypt 
 through Alexandria ; a fifth the Moors of Africa and 
 Spain ; the sixth went through the Straits and 
 coasted to the Netherlands and British Isles. There 
 was no intermediate navigation, everything that 
 Venice sold was taken to, and carried from, Venice, in 
 order that money might be made at the entering as 
 well as at the clearing. "With the concentration of 
 
Chap. I.] VENETIAN MANUFACTURES. 
 
 9 
 
 wealth manufactures went hand in hand ; and 
 Venice soon learnt to make camlets like those of Asia 
 Minor, brocade like that of Persia; scarlet and 
 crimson like that which had been peculiar of old to 
 Sidon. Her glass became celebrated. She refined 
 sugar and made soap. Her lace makers and leather 
 dressers were celebrated as were her silk and velvet 
 weavers. But she was quite as willing to export the 
 manufactured produce of others as her own. The 
 Lombard provinces after 1400 sold to the Venetians 
 no less than 25,000 pieces of woollen cloth in one 
 year for half a million of secchins ; the Venetians in 
 turn disposed of the cotton which they took from 
 Macedonia, Candia, and Sicily, of the wool, spices, 
 and slaves, which they brought from the East. In 
 the Levant they sold coined money, and manufactures 
 in exchange for which they accepted woollens, hemp, 
 furs, hides, precious metals, spices, coffee and silks. 
 The galleys which convoyed the merchant fleets were 
 also used for freight ; and it was a well-known privi- 
 lege of the patricians that two of their sons should 
 accompany each galley, that they might learn the 
 cunning of trade and fit themselves for command as 
 the naval captains of the future. 
 
 With such a life before them it was less strange 
 than it might otherwise appear that the Venetian 
 patricians should have failed to appreciate, or neg- 
 lected to encourage, the higher forms of sedentary 
 art. But when the era of conquest on the seas was 
 closed, when provinces were acquired on the main- 
 land, when Padua and Verona were occupied, and the 
 
10 
 
 TITIAN : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. I. 
 
 wild hills of Friuli fell off from the allegiance of the 
 patriarchs, then a change occurred. It was no longer the 
 Greek alone, or the pupil of the Greek, who practised 
 painting. Other strangers than those who preserved 
 the Byzantine traditions of their craft found their way 
 to Yenice — strangers from Italy and beyond the Alps 
 — and painting, under their influence, acquired a new 
 and more mighty impulse. The change began in the 
 early part of the fifteenth century. In less than seventy 
 years Venetian artists held a station as high and as 
 honourable as that of the Tuscans. But then Venetian 
 power was visibly declining. The sea-passage to the 
 Indies had been discovered, and Vasco de Gama had 
 broken the monopoly of the spice trade.* Fifty years 
 more, and painting reached perfection in the hands of 
 Titian, Tintoretto, and Caliari. It grew and bloomed 
 and shed its flowers within the compass of two hundred 
 years. It perished at half the age of the older art of 
 the Tuscans. 
 
 Eeligious forms and local manners naturally affect 
 the development of pictorial taste, and this is nowhere 
 more true than at Venice. Venice was a devout — we 
 may think a superstitiously devout — city, fond of 
 ceremony, and proud of her numerous ecclesiastical 
 
 * It is a well-known fact, says 
 the Economisto (1874), that the 
 discovery of America, and the 
 sea-passage to the Indies, was the 
 cause of the loss to Italy of a 
 privilege which she long enjoyed. 
 Before those discoveries her mer- 
 chants were the carriers, or agents 
 for the carriage, of all the Eastern 
 
 trade. After they were made, this 
 position was gradually lost. Since 
 the opening of the Suez Canal 
 the old importance of Venice has 
 revived. Venice imported from 
 India during the years 1863 — 
 1867 goods to the value of a 
 million lire. In 1873 her imports 
 from India were 7o million lire. 
 
Chap. I.] 
 
 KELIGIOUS LEGENDS. 
 
 11 
 
 foundations. Yet her rulers jealously guarded the 
 Church from papal interference. The Venetians were 
 a light-hearted race, whose freedom of manners was 
 hardly equalled beyond the lagoons ; yet they were 
 governed with Draconian severity. The mixed influ- 
 ence of these elements had its effects upon the cha- 
 racter and practice of painters, especially towards the 
 close of the fifteenth century. 
 
 There is probably no place so frequently connected 
 with religious legends as "Venice. The city was 
 founded under the protection of St. Theodore. It 
 spread and increased under that of St. Mark, whose 
 relics were taken by stealth from a church at Alex- 
 andria. After the lapse of a certain time, a cathedral 
 bearing the apostle's name was built over his remains ; 
 and in order that the faithful might not doubt of his 
 gratitude, St. Mark's appearance in a vision sealed 
 with a supernatural approval the theft of his votaries. 
 Twice in the lapse of ages the priests forgot where 
 the bones of the patron saint reposed. Twice they 
 were miraculously informed by his public apparition. 
 On a day of hurricane and storm he was rowed by a 
 fisherman to the encounter of a galley manned by the 
 imps of Satan, and, as a token, the fisherman presented 
 to the Doge the ring of St. Mark. The miracles of St. 
 Mark in Venice were made subjects of pictorial repre- 
 sentation, with the same devout belief as those which 
 he performed in Alexandria or Constantinople. 
 
 A piece of the true Cross was preserved in a pon- 
 derous crucifix by the brethren of the " school " of St. 
 John Evangelist. On a day of procession it happened 
 
12 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 [Chap. I. 
 
 that cross and bearer fell through a bridge into the 
 canal, but the holy wood of the Cross was not pre- 
 destined to sink. It swam ; and for many a year the 
 Doge and clergy celebrated the event by a splendid 
 ceremony. But this tendency to accept and to hallow 
 supernatural agencies, was countervailed by a very 
 subtle policy in the treatment of ecclesiastics, a constant 
 restraint of papal power, and a general subordination 
 of the priestly to the lay element. And it is the more 
 remarkable that this should have been so because the 
 public life of the Doges was deeply commingled with 
 religious observances. The patricians affected to 
 believe, and the people really thought, that all the 
 emblems of the ducal dignity were conferred on the 
 chief of the Venetian state, by Pope Alexander the 
 Third; and the story of those concessions, together 
 with the fictitious account of a naval victory gained 
 by the Venetians over the Emperor Barbarossa, was 
 made the subject of the earliest pictorial decorations 
 in the council hall of the public palace. 
 
 There was much in the relative position of the 
 papacy and Venice to make them suspicious of each 
 other. As late as the middle of the fifteenth century, 
 the Venetians were still slave traders, and sold their 
 captives in the cities of Lombardy. There was an 
 office at Eome for the redemption of slaves, and the 
 traffic was naturally odious to the pontiffs. But this 
 was a small matter compared with the mode in which 
 Venice dealt with prelates and priests. She had such 
 a jealousy of papal policy that she carefully excluded 
 all ecclesiastics from her councils. Priests, even 
 
Chap. I] 
 
 VENETIAN MANNEES. 
 
 13 
 
 though they should be Yenetian nobles, were debarred 
 from place in every form. The primates or patriarchs 
 of Venice, were chosen by the State from the ranks of 
 the noblesse.* Priests elected by their parishioners, f 
 were subject to a tribunal of lay judges; and the 
 primate had no share in appointing them. The patri- 
 arch of Aquileia was also chosen, though late in the 
 history of the republic, from the ranks of the patri- 
 cians by the Venetian Government. "When at the 
 last the Inquisition was allowed to take root, its 
 power was materially curtailed by the appointment of 
 the patriarch as president, and of two Venetian nobles 
 as assessors, without whose presence and countenance, 
 no sentence could be valid. Venice was for ages the 
 refuge of priests or monks, who had escaped from the 
 censures or penalties of their church in other cities of 
 Italy. In her cloisters and nunneries there was a free- 
 dom unknown to similar establishments on the main- 
 land, and the manners of the clergy were not subject 
 to the same rigid supervision from lay magistrates as 
 they would have been from their ecclesiastical superiors. 
 
 Though chroniclers have left us to guess what the 
 state of society may have been in Venice at the close 
 of the fifteenth century ; they give us reason to believe 
 that it was deeply influenced by Oriental habit. The 
 separation of men from women in churches ; the long 
 seclusion of unmarried females in convents or in 
 the privacy of palaces, were but the precursors to 
 
 * Delle cose notabile della citta 
 di Venetia. (Francesco Sanso- 
 vino.) 12mo, Ven. 1592, p. 56. 
 
 f Sansovino, Ven. descr. ed. 
 Martinioni, 4to, Ven. 1663, p. 290. 
 
14 
 
 TITIAN : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. L 
 
 marriages in which, husbands were first allowed to 
 see their wives as they came in state to dance round 
 the wedding supper table. The joys of home, and 
 the endearing ties of open intercourse may have been 
 known to Venetian families ; but they were probably 
 better cultivated amongst the poorer than amongst 
 the richer classes. Eigid sumptuary laws regulated 
 the dress of married women whose pace was con- 
 trolled by the use of high and inconvenient pattens, 
 and whose forms were rarely to be seen unless their 
 white and silken veils were lifted by stealth in 
 the gloom of churches, or in the dusk of streets 
 at sunset. The mixed society of men and women, 
 tolerated on state festivals or at masques and balls 
 of rare occurrence, only made the contrast between 
 ceremonial life and every day life the more striking. 
 To the young and particularly to the rich, secret 
 amours were very familiar, and if the stories of the 
 garrulous Knight of St. Disdier be as true of the 
 sixteenth as they apparently are of the seventeenth 
 centuries, the familiar intrigues of serving maids and 
 duennas which give zest to Lesage's Gil Bias had their 
 daily counterparts in Venice.* 
 
 Something strikes us as suggestive in an answer 
 once given by the Doge Domenico Contarini to an 
 ambassador who asked him why Venetian women 
 wore high and inconvenient clogs instead of shoes. 
 " Shoes," said Contarini, " are too convenient." 
 " Pur troppo commodi, pur troppo." j" To men who 
 
 * Le Chevalier de St. Disdier. I Venise, 8vo, Paris, 1680. 
 La Ville et la Eepublique de | f St. Disdier, u. s. 
 
Chap. L] 
 
 EAELY PAINTING. 
 
 15 
 
 shunned the trouble or feared the danger of intrigues 
 with women, more facilities were probably given in 
 Venice than elsewhere. There was a general corrup- 
 tion in this respect during the sixteenth century 
 throughout Italy, and Yenice had a rival in Eome 
 under Alexander the Sixth or Leo the Tenth, but 
 Yenice, whether rightly or wrongly, has carried off the 
 palm of vice, and we shall see that bacchanals, or por- 
 traits of courtesans in gallant undress, were painted by 
 celebrated masters at Yenice long before such a thing 
 was thought of in other parts of Italy. We may also 
 observe that the poetic platonisms of Bembo and the 
 fiery strophes of Tasso have a background of a 
 common and unethereal sort which is distinctly repul- 
 sive, whilst the shameless confessions of a scribe like 
 Aretino tell of a corrupt morality which bore its fruit 
 in the profligacy of the sons of Titian and Sansovino. 
 
 The slow process of decomposition which early 
 slassic art underwent in South Italy, cannot, for ob- 
 vious reasons, be studied at Yenice ; but such mosaics 
 and pictures as are traceable to remote periods of 
 Yenetian culture, prove that similar phenomena 
 occurred at Yenice and at Eome. In both cities, 
 so long as traditional types were preserved, the older 
 forms were in advance of the new ; but Yenice may 
 be distinguished even from Sienna by her obstinacy 
 in clinging to the venerable lessons of an ancient 
 craft. And there is an overwhelming concurrence of 
 testimony to show that great artistic activity was 
 co-existent with a low development of skill. 
 
16 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. I. 
 
 Early in the fourteenth century, the most important 
 edifices at Yenice were decorated by artists whose 
 portable pictures we know to have been of the feeblest 
 class, and, judging from analogy, we may believe 
 that these artists were, without exception, of less 
 power than the earlier mosaists, whose works gave 
 colour to the churches of San Marco, Santa Maria 
 di Torcello, or San Cipriano of Malamocco.* 
 
 At a time when the siege of Yenice by King Pepin 
 was alive in popular tradition, the battle of Canal 
 Orfano was represented by order of the State on the 
 market-place of Eialto, and it is evidence of the great 
 age to which this fresco attained, that a public order 
 decreed its renewal in 1459 — more than a century 
 before the time when the same subject was composed 
 for the Hall of Great Council by Palma Giovine.t 
 When the palace of the " Commune " was built in 
 1324 near the bridge of Eialto, it was completely 
 adorned with frescoes. :£ When the chapel of San 
 Mccold, in the Doge's palace, was decorated anew in 
 1319, it was covered with wall-paintings, repre- 
 senting subjects from the legend of Barbarossa and 
 Pope Alexander the Third. § We fail to discover the 
 names of the artists to whom these commissions were 
 entrusted ; but that one of them may have been Paolo 
 
 * Many of these mosaics are 
 preserved, — that of San Cipriano 
 in the Priedenskirche, near Sans 
 Souci, whither it was transferred 
 by order of Frederic William IV. 
 in 1837. 
 
 f The original order of council 
 is in Lorenzi, Monumenti per 
 
 servire alia storia del Palazzo 
 ducale di Venezia. Part i. Ven. 
 1869, 4to, p. 81. Compare San- 
 sovino's Ven. descr., pp. 347, 363. 
 
 J Pietro Guilombardo in San- 
 sovino's Ven. descr., p. 364. 
 
 § Lorenzi, p. 12. 
 
Chap. I.] EOUKTEENTH CENTUKY FKESCOES. 
 
 17 
 
 di Venezia, who produced the great shrine of San 
 Marco in 1345, and the altar-piece of San Mccolo in 
 1346, is a permissible assumption.* 
 
 At a great expense of money and labour, the Hall 
 of Great Council in the Doge's palace at San Marco 
 was begun in 1340, and finished in 1367. Like 
 many of the monumental creations of the middle ages, 
 this edifice was interrupted in its progress by plagues, 
 by scarcity of workmen or money, and by the dis- 
 honesty of the servants of the republic. But during 
 the government of Marco Cornaro, the whole of it 
 was laid out with frescoes, of which a list has been 
 preserved. On comparing this list with that which 
 was subsequently made for the use of artists of the 
 16th century, we find that the subjects are the same. 
 We find also that the grand and impressive scene of 
 the Paradise which Tintoretto transferred to a canvas 
 larger than any in the world, was composed before 
 him by the ruder genius of Guariento, and more than 
 this, that Guariento's Paradise lies concealed behind 
 Tintoretto's canvas, the only relic of a cyclus un- 
 paralleled for its size and importance in any building 
 of the Italian peninsula. We may visit and study in 
 the galleries and churches of Yenice and Padua, we 
 may even find in Italian and German collections 
 examples of the skill of Paolo, Guariento, Lorenzo, Ste- 
 phano, and Semitecolo, the masters to whom the most 
 honourable commissions were entrusted in the four- 
 
 * The shrine of St. Mark is still 
 existence. The altar-piece of 
 
 in 
 
 S. Niccolo 
 
 is no longer to be 
 
 found, but the original record of 
 its production is in Lorenzi, p. 33. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
18 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. L 
 
 teenth century. As examples of scriptural and ecclesi- 
 astical art, they appear to be the poor and unculti- 
 vated product of a traditional practice which perished 
 at Florence before the genius of Cimabue, and at 
 Verona, three-quarters of a century later before the 
 enterprise of Giotto's disciples, Avanzi and Altichiero. 
 It is hard to believe that men of this stamp should 
 have been accepted as fit by natural skill or education 
 to paint historical subjects and portraits, yet authentic 
 records vouch for the fact, that amongst the earliest 
 adornments of the Hall of Great Council, the contem- 
 porary portraits of the Doges were considered the 
 most important. 
 
 There is hardly a story more touching or better 
 known in the annals of Venice than that of Marino 
 Faliero, who perished by the hands of the executioner 
 at the age of eighty, because he was driven, after 
 a short reign of ten months, to strike a blow for 
 supreme power. The journals of the Venetian Senate 
 describe the portrait of Faliero as having been placed 
 according to custom in one of the panellings of the 
 Hall of Great Council ; they tell how Pietro Zani, and 
 Andrea Gradenigo proposed, in 1366, that the head 
 should be severed from the rest of the picture, and 
 inscribed with the words, u fuit decapitatus ob crimine 
 prodictionisP Ten years had elapsed since the date 
 of Faliero's execution when this proposal was made. 
 It struck the council as being too cruel to pass, but a 
 resolution was almost unanimously carried that the 
 picture should be removed, the spot on which it was 
 hung being tinged in blue, and marked by a line, 
 
Chap. I.] 
 
 SCHOOL OF MUEANO. 
 
 19 
 
 "Hie fait locus Ser Marini Faletro deeapitati pro 
 crimine prodictionis." * It is characteristic of the 
 importance which the Venetians attached to the lesson 
 conveyed by Marino Faliero's death, that they re- 
 newed the inscription after the fire of 1577. 
 
 Abont the year 1400 the pictorial adornment of 
 the dncal chapel and the frescoes of the Hall of Great 
 Council were reduced to such a state of decay that 
 orders were issued for their complete renewal; but 
 when it became necessary to choose the painter to 
 whom works of such importance might be confided, it 
 appeared that Venice had no artists of her own to 
 whom she could appeal; and the Venetian Govern- 
 ment was obliged to entrust her commissions to 
 Gentile da Fabriano and Vittore Pisano. Under the 
 influence of these men, who carried to Venice some- 
 thing of a more modern style, the school of Murano 
 arose, which feebly combined the accuracy and ten- 
 derness of the Umbrians with the grave conscien- 
 tiousness of the Germans. But the Muranese school 
 alone would not have succeeded in giving an original 
 tone to Venetian art had not its later masters been 
 subjected to influences altogether different from those 
 which had been previously felt in the lagoons. About 
 the time when Antonio of Murano and Giovanni 
 d' Allemania were enjoying all but a complete mono- 
 poly of private practice at Venice, Jacopo Bellini 
 settled at Padua, after taking lessons from Gentile da 
 Fabriano. By associating with Donatello, who had 
 
 * See the Journal of the Council for Dec. 16, 1366, in Lorenzi,. 
 u. 8. p. 39. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. I. 
 
 left Florence for the north, he acquired some of the 
 more masculine qualities of the great Tuscan masters, 
 and he was mainly instrumental in fostering that 
 taste for classical sculpture which began to distin- 
 guish Mantegna. With Mantegna, who married his 
 daughter, Jacopo Bellini probably associated for a 
 time his two sons Gentile and Giovanni ; and they 
 were enabled, after his death, to settle at Yenice and 
 compete with the masters of the school of Murano. 
 
 No time could have been more favourable for en- 
 forcing a new system of teaching than that which the 
 Bellini chose. In Yenice proper Byzantine traditions 
 still clung to the old guild whose schools vegetated in 
 the quarter of Santa Sofia.* To the barbaric hardness 
 and gaudy colours of the Byzantine, an air of softness 
 and tenderness, till then unknown, had been added 
 by the genius of the Umbrians and Yeronese; but 
 the laws of proportion and of form, the detail of 
 design and movement, and the arts of linear perspec- 
 tive, remained uncultivated. It seemed as if there 
 could be no true appeal to the realities of nature. The 
 Bellini took to Yenice the study of the nude and of 
 antique sculpture, the rigid rules of linear perspective, 
 
 * The old guild of painters 
 comprised painters, gilders, mi- 
 niaturists, designers for stuffs, and 
 embroiderers, leather-dressers, 
 playing card-makers, painters of 
 masks, and painters of shields. 
 Their meeting-hall, erected in 
 1532 with the money left by 
 Catena's will, was in the Calle 
 Sporca, or Priuli, near Santa 
 
 Sofia. In 1682 the figure painters, 
 Zanchi, Celesti, Carl Loth, and 
 others, with Cavalier Liberi at 
 their head, withdrew from the 
 guild, and formed an academy for 
 themselves. See Sagredo(A.),Sulle 
 consorterie delle arti edificative 
 inVenezia; 8vo, Ven. 1856, pp. 
 125 and flfc. 
 
Chap. I.] 
 
 BELLINESQTJE AET. 
 
 21 
 
 and the picturesque charm of landscape. Their style 
 was happily realistic and true — realistic indeed to a 
 fault, inasmuch as it not only dealt with every furrow 
 in the face and every projection of bone and muscle 
 in the frame, but with the more marked forms of 
 feeling as expressed by grief and anguish. But the 
 reaction which they created was all the more powerful 
 in proportion as it contrasted with the singular stiff- 
 ness and conventional air of the creations of their 
 predecessors, and it was necessary to administer a 
 drastic remedy to the sickness which paralyzed the 
 art of Venice. Eound the Bellini, partly in rivalry, 
 partly in friendship, a noble band of earnest working 
 painters was formed ; and in the last quarter of the 
 fifteenth century it would have been possible for the 
 Venetian Government to employ a dozen of able 
 artists, where fifty years before not one had been 
 discoverable. But here again the slow progress of 
 change in Venetian, as compared with Tuscan, art 
 was marked. Whilst in Florence and in the Floren- 
 tine state the most intelligent craftsmen were striving 
 to supersede the old process of tempera by the more 
 rapid system of oils, the Bellini and the Vivarini 
 were content to follow the old groove, and satisfy the 
 demands of public taste with the technical mechanism 
 inherited from their forefathers. The truth is that 
 the Venetian masters had a task sufficiently heavy on 
 their hands to discourage them from burdening their 
 shoulders with technical problems. If we look back 
 at the work which they accomplished between 1450 
 and the anniversary of the introduction of oil-paint- 
 
22 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. L 
 
 ing in 1473, we are surprised at the rapidity and 
 thoroughness of their progress, which, indeed, are 
 unparalleled, except in Florence at the time of Giotto. 
 There is as much difference between the Bellini or 
 the Yivarini, and their immediate predecessors, as 
 between the old tiller who scratched the soil with 
 a spike and the more advanced ploughman who 
 deepened and enlarged the furrow. We see these 
 innovating painters searching the depths which their 
 forerunners were utterly careless to explore. We see 
 them collecting treasures of which no one in Yenice 
 had dreamt, and gathering a hoard of experience to 
 be left as a ready bequest for the use of future crafts- 
 men. The novel advantages of a more artful compo- 
 sition, a more natural representation of movement, or 
 a more cunning outline, they all shared alike ; but 
 the Bellini were more subtly gifted than their 
 brethren; they were not mere designers of altar- 
 pieces, but masters of portrait, creators of composed 
 pictures, and founders of landscape art. Leaving to 
 Mantegna the more abstruse pursuit of the classical 
 and sculptural, or the discovery of difficult problems 
 in linear perspective, Giovanni Bellini acquired 
 enough of both to suit the purpose of a colourist. 
 Leaving to Crivelli to combine Mantegnesque dryness 
 with Umbrian daintiness, and to the Vivarini the 
 more superficial forms of Paduan realism, he 
 fathomed many, if not all the secrets of human feel- 
 ing, and discarding the mere solemnity of the Byzan- 
 tine, replaced it by natural delineations, varying from 
 majestic serenity to placid calm, active sympathy, or 
 
Chap. I] 
 
 OIL MEDIUM INTRODUCED. 
 
 23 
 
 sunny smile. JSTor was it for the mere purpose of 
 giving a superficial richness to his subjects, but with 
 the aim of enhancing interest by the addition of 
 something hallowed by custom and education, that he 
 introduced practicable architecture and coloured orna- 
 ment into his picture. He pleased the spectator, too, 
 by frequently exchanging the solid and purely imagi- 
 nary effect of gold ground, or tinted curtains, for that 
 of a crisp white cloud hanging calmly in the atmo- 
 sphere of a pure blue sky, above a landscape of hill 
 and plain. And if we compare Bellini as a beginner 
 with Bellini in a stage of riper manhood we shall 
 contemplate with wonder the change from a quaint 
 and unreal background of craggy bluffs to the pleasing- 
 expanse of verdant plains, quiet lakes, and alpine 
 mountains. Keeping nothing of the Oriental, but the 
 occasional use of Levantine costume, avoiding alike 
 the gaudy richness of surface unmitigated by transi- 
 tions and the faint delicacy of tints imperfectly 
 relieved by depth of shadowing, he came very much 
 nearer to nature in her moments of rest than any 
 other master of his time at Venice, though uncon- 
 scious as yet of those powerful effects which sug- 
 gested themselves after the discovery of a new 
 medium had multiplied the means at the artist's com- 
 mand. 
 
 After Antonello da Messina introduced into Venice 
 the Flemish custom of mixing varnish mediums with 
 pigments, some time elapsed before the Venetians 
 mastered the process ; but when they did so, many 
 qualities which had merely germed expanded into a 
 
24 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. I. 
 
 luxuriant life. Colours began to acquire tones which 
 in gorgeousness and brilliancy vied with the Venetian 
 dyes, or with the hues of Muranese glass, and those 
 Levantine tissues for which Venice was, above all 
 other countries, celebrated. The buildings of the city, 
 with their rich and variegated surfaces, suggested to 
 Gentile Bellini those noble backgrounds of church 
 and canal which the dryer system of tempera had not 
 enabled him previously to realize. The waters of the 
 lagoons, the bays of the Dalmatian and Istrian coasts, 
 and the harbours of the Adriatic, were studied by 
 Carpaccio with an effect altogether new. The softer 
 expanses of the Paduan plain, with its distant fringe 
 of Alp, fettered the attention of Giovanni Bellini. 
 There came into Venice also a new class of painters, 
 bred on the verge of the Brescian and Bergamasque 
 provinces, or born in the Friulan hills, each of whom 
 carried some new form of landscape with him — each 
 of whom added something to the richness of Venetian 
 colouring. So Cimk, Basaiti, Previtali, and Palma 
 Vecchio. The Venetians, we have seen, were losing 
 the mastery of the seas. They were displaying their 
 forces on the continent ; conquering provinces on the 
 mainland, and making Venice what it had not been 
 before — a centre of Italian culture. They attracted a 
 rising generation of artists, whose view was not con- 
 fined to the lagoon, whose practice was not bounded 
 by the city — and thus, by a providential combination 
 of causes, the ground was laid for the grand edifice of 
 Venetian art. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Cadore and its History. — The Vecelli Family. — Gregorio Yecelli. — 
 Social Condition of the Cadorines. — Cadorine Geography and 
 Landscape. — Cadore Town and Castle. — Titian's House; Views 
 near it, and their effect on Titian's Art. — Titian's Birth; his 
 Family Eelations, and where he learnt to paint. — Madonna of 
 Casa Yallenzasco. — Antonio Eosso. 
 
 A traveller, who should ascend the Campanile of 
 St. Mark might chance to see the Venetian Alps as 
 they soar, ghost-like and half-clad in mist, above the 
 waters of the lagoons. High amongst the peaks of 
 that extensive range he would discern the form of the 
 Antelao, which, at a distance of seventy miles, 
 towers over the valleys of Cadore. 
 
 Cadore, the birth-place of Titian, is a mountain 
 district, watered by the torrent of the Piave, which 
 takes its rise in the Carnic Alps, and falls into the 
 Adriatic at Porto di Cortellazzo. Though little fre- 
 quented by travellers of the present day, the road 
 which leads from Mestre, and thence through 
 Conegliano and Longarone to Pieve, is one of the 
 main arteries of communication between the Piave 
 and the Drave. Turning from Pieve, through the 
 Yal d' Ampezzo, it skirts the base of the Antelao to 
 the eastward, and that of the Pelmo to the westward, 
 crossing the higher Alps past Bottestagno, to join the 
 
26 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIPE AND TIMES. [Chap. II. 
 
 sources of the Drave as it runs towards Klagenfurt. 
 Cadore is a border-land, deeply imbedded in the 
 mountains, and a near neighbour of Tyrol ; but being 
 situated south of the Carnic crests, and connected by 
 its rivers with the Adriatic, always had Italian sym- 
 pathies. We find it as early as the eleventh century 
 under the rule of the patriarchs of Aquileia, admi- 
 nistered by a count who acknowledged the patriarch as 
 his feudal lord. But the Cadorines were wont to boast 
 of their municipal institutions as conveying an almost 
 absolute freedom. Though nominally admitting their 
 dependence on the patriarch by accepting his vicar, 
 and doing homage to the count by the recognition of 
 his captain, they governed themselves by means of a 
 council, the privileges of which were as liberal as 
 they were extensive. It is a remarkable coincidence, 
 that the earliest Count of Cadore, who founded the 
 " Caminese " house in the eleventh century, bore the 
 name of Guecello, which also descended to the 
 Podesta of Pieve, of whose race Tiziano Vecelli 
 came. 
 
 Once and once only there was reason to anticipate 
 that the Cadorine valleys would revert to the Empire, 
 of which they had originally been a feud. In 1335, 
 the family of the Caminese counts became extinct, 
 and Lewis of Bavaria gave Tyrol, Belluno, and 
 Cadore to his son, the Count of Brandenburg. Later 
 still, the armies of Sigismund of Hungary secured 
 the allegiance of Friuli and its dependencies, but this 
 was a temporary conquest, for Venice having acquired 
 the mainland, Cadore gave itself, in 1420, to the 
 
Chap. II] 
 
 THE VECELLI. 
 
 27 
 
 republic, reserving only those rights which from time 
 immemorial she had been allowed to enjoy. 
 
 Ser Guecello di Tommaso da Pozzale was elected 
 Podestk of Cadore in 1321.* He was the common 
 ancestor of the Yecelli, but it was Bartolommea, the 
 wife of Guecello's grandson, who brought into the 
 house the name of Titian, for part of her dowry was 
 the patronage of a chapel in the Pieve, dedicated to 
 San Tiziano of Oderzo.t Her husband was Guecello, 
 or Yecelli, who died in 1451 ; and thus the name and 
 surname, which became famous in the sixteenth 
 century, are traced distinctly back to the middle of the 
 fifteenth. But there was more than one Titian 
 amongst the Yecelli. At the very outset, Tiziano 
 Yecelli, a lawyer of note in the administration of 
 Cadore, is to be distinguished from Tiziano Yecelli, 
 the painter, his kinsman ; and numerous Titians 
 succeeded each other as sons or cousins, or cousin's 
 cousins, till past the year 1600. 
 
 It is difficult to fathom the causes which induced 
 a member of this old race to apprentice his children 
 to the trade of painting. In the direct and collateral 
 lines, the Yecelli had mostly followed the profession 
 of the law or of arms. Guecello the 1st, Guecello the 
 2nd, Antonio, and Conte, father, son, grandson, and 
 great grandson had all been lawyers. J Of Conte 
 Yecelli, the Cadorine annals relate that he was one of 
 the councillors of the Pieve, in whom the people most 
 
 * Ciani, Storia del Popolo Ca- 
 dorino, 8vo, Padua, 1856, and 
 Ceneda, 1862, vol. i., p. 306. 
 
 f Cadore MS., by Dr. Taddeo 
 Jacobi. 
 X Jacobi' s Cadore MS. 
 
28 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. II. 
 
 implicitly trusted. To his prudence they appealed 
 when a quarrel arose in 1478 between the Podestk 
 and the council. His aptitude for business was 
 acknowledged when a difficult manipulation of the 
 corn supply became necessary in 1482 and 1504. 
 The weight of his experience was decisive when the 
 Venetian Government taxed its outlying provinces 
 for the purposes of a Turkish war ; and his mission to 
 Venice in 1501 caused the removal of an odious duty 
 on " forests, meadows, and mountains." * But Conte 
 was as poor as he was influential, and on a notable 
 occasion, when hundreds of ducats were subscribed by 
 the councillors of Pieve to replenish the empty stores 
 of the district, he rose to declare " that he only gave 
 ten ducats, because he could give no more."j* 
 
 Gregorio, Conte' s son and Titian's father, was a 
 soldier " equally distinguished by his wisdom in the 
 council of Cadore and by bravery as a soldier in the 
 field." He was chosen captain of the " Century" of 
 Pieve in 1495, and held that office certainly till 1508.$ 
 He was overseer of the corn stores at Pieve in 1518, 
 member of council from 1523 to 1527, superintendent 
 of the Castle repairs in 1526 ; and inspector of mines 
 in 1525. § He died after 1527, and his countrymen 
 have not forgotten how well he behaved in the cam- 
 paign which followed Maximilian's invasion of Friuli 
 in 1508. || A distant relative, Vincenzo Vecelli, calls 
 him a " tribune" raised to municipal honours by the 
 
 * Ciani, Storia, ii., 45, 71-3, 
 126-8. 
 
 t Ibid., p. 130. 
 
 X Jacobi's Cadore MS. 
 § Ibid. 
 || Ibid. 
 
Chap. II.] 
 
 GEEGOEIO YEOELLI. 
 
 29 
 
 choice of the people.* His portrait by Titian, which 
 has perished, represented him in armour, from which 
 we might infer that he prized his rank as a soldier 
 more than his honours as a " tribune."*)* But Grego- 
 ry's position may have been honourable without 
 giving him wealth ; and his sword and coat-of-arms 
 were perhaps all that he had to bequeath ; and under 
 these circumstances prudence might suggest that he 
 should bring his children up to an " art " rather than 
 to a profession. N*or must it be forgotten that how- 
 ever noted Cadore may have been for the energy and 
 thrift of its peasantry, it was a poor and thinly 
 peopled hill country ; and there is much in the life of 
 Titian to suggest that the character of the Cadorines 
 — like that of the Swiss, the Scotch, or the Gascons of 
 those days, was affected by the pinched habits of a 
 mountain population.*]: Cadore was so situated that 
 her agricultural produce hardly sufficed for more than 
 three months' consumption of the inhabitants in any 
 one year ; § and such was the uncertainty of the times 
 and the insecurity of the roads in the fifteenth century 
 that a constant supply was only obtained by a judi- 
 cious system of purchase and storage under the super- 
 intendence of the municipality. In summer, milk, 
 
 * Orazione panegirica recitata 
 da Vincenzio Vecelli sopra la 
 spoglia di Francesco Vecelli, in 
 Ticozzi, Vite dei Pittori Vecelli, 
 Svo, Milan, 1817, p. 321. Vin- 
 cenzo Vecelli was a relative whom 
 Titian appointed to the office of a 
 notary at Cadore on the loth of 
 September, 1540. Jacobi's Ca- 
 dore MS. 
 
 t Orazione, sup. 
 
 I ''Might not this 'mountain 
 man,' " says Mr. Josiah Gilbert, 
 acutely, ' ' have been something 
 of a ' canny Scot ' or a shrewd 
 Swiss." — Cadore, or Titian's 
 Country, 4to, London, 1869, p. 14. 
 
 § Ciani, Storia del Popolo Ca- 
 dorino, vol. ii., p. 112. 
 
30 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. H. 
 
 cheese, and butter, and in autumn fruit were naturally 
 abundant; for the country was one of mountains, 
 forests, orchards and pasture ; but for the winter and 
 indeed for part of autumn and spring the council of 
 Cadore bought corn by contract either from the Ger- 
 mans or from the lowland farmers of Treviso and 
 Friuli, carting it up with great labour to the fondachi 
 or stores, of which there was one in each of the ten 
 " centuries " into which Cadore was divided.* The 
 distribution of the contents of these stores in the shape 
 of grain, flour and bread, at a minimum of profit to 
 the more wealthy, or below cost price to the poor, 
 formed part of the onerous duties of the public 
 officers of the district. In many other pursuits be- 
 sides that of agriculture the Cadorines eked out a 
 small and not always abundant existence. Their 
 real wealth lay in the produce of the forests and 
 mines. They supplied Venice with some of the 
 timber which went to build the galleys of their navy 
 — wood in the rough or wood cut into planks in the 
 saw mills of the country. An entire quarter of 
 Venice is called " Alle Zattere " from the rafts that 
 floated down the Piave and other rivers to the 
 lagoons. The iron mines, which are now completely 
 exhausted, were in Titian's time productive ; the 
 able-bodied people found employment as miners or 
 cutters of timber; or they busied themselves in 
 floating rafts from the uplands, upon which they 
 loaded the iron ore, the wool and hides, which the 
 country furnished. Merchants, land and house-owners, 
 
 * Ciani, Storia, ii. 120, 124. 
 
Chap. II.] CADOKINE LANDSCAPE. 
 
 31 
 
 and house keepers remained at home with the aged, 
 the infirm and the children ; there was a current of 
 traffic along the main road which gave employment 
 to carriers with their carts, their oxen and horses. 
 The surplus population wandered periodically to the 
 lowlands and back again. For almost all it was a 
 life bristling with privations, but the air was pure, 
 the race healthy and strong. The Cadorines had in 
 an eminent degree the endurance, the independence, 
 the shrewdness of mountaineers. 
 
 The mere statement that Cadore is an Alpine 
 country is suggestive as to the character of the 
 district in which Titian was born. It is a land of 
 gorges and defiles, of peaks and torrents ; much snow 
 in the mountains during several months of the year, 
 yet snow less visible than that on the Pennine or 
 Bernese Alps, because of the steepness and jagged 
 nature of the dolomites, which thrust their saw- 
 shaped summits in a thousand fantastic ways into 
 the sky. West of the Piave, Antelao soars to a 
 height little short of 11,000 feet; Pelmo is but little 
 lower. The horns and slabs of Marmarolo are so 
 numerous, and its crags so quaintly rent, that we find 
 it hard to single out the tallest. East of the Piave, 
 at a varying level of 8,000 or 9,000 feet, are the 
 rugged points of Cornon, Cridola, and Duranno. 
 Cadore itself is high, the Castle-bluff, hundreds of 
 feet above the boiling Piave which washes its base. 
 In contrast with the bare crags, which are grey and 
 pale, or dark and black, or radiant with golden light, 
 
32 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. II. 
 
 according as the sun is rising, setting, or overcast 
 with storm clouds, the lower ranges look rich in their 
 coats of verdure; and it is hard to convey, in any 
 description, the mighty impress of a nature so solemn 
 and so grand, so luxuriant in its vegetation, so bare 
 and rugged in its barrenness, so full of variety in its 
 lines and tints. Masses of changing shapes rise in 
 picturesque confusion above each other and are lost 
 in mist, lying low and sluggish in rifts and hollows. 
 But above the mist, and sometimes mingling with 
 higher clouds, the summits again appear, and shoot 
 with fanciful boldness into the sky; summits far 
 away from all human habitation; upheaved perhaps 
 in centuries uncounted, as corals from the beds of 
 fathomless seas. Below all these the forms of vege- 
 tation are surprisingly diverse. The silver threads of 
 white torrents cut up the mountain sides, or the 
 crystal waters of brooks run rapidly through wooded 
 hollows, or the breadth of the valleys contracts, and 
 from the road which human ingenuity has built on 
 its precipitous sides, we look upwards at the sky 
 through a lane of rock, or down the depths at the 
 wilderness of waters that gives out to the ear its 
 never-ending roar — sometimes a bold arch is thrown 
 across a ravine, and the rushing torrent pours head- 
 long down the pass which no human foot can tread. 
 Far up on the cliff, which seems all but inaccessible, 
 we see the battlements of castles, which in bygone 
 days effectually checked the passage of an enemy. 
 
 Such landscapes as these are to be found within 
 a very narrow compass in the district of Cadore. 
 
Chap. II.] TITIAN'S HOUSE AT CADOEE. 
 
 33 
 
 Bottestagno, Pieve, and Tre Ponti, are marked by 
 ruins of stalwart towers. Above Longarone, the 
 road from Venice enters a rugged defile, and ascend- 
 ing the right bank of the Piave, which foams 
 wildly below, issues out at Perarolo, where a bridge 
 crosses the tributary torrent of the Boite. Here, of 
 old, the traveller followed the left bank of the stream 
 to Valle ; now he winds his way due north, along the 
 sides of Monte Zucco, turning westward by Tai if his 
 object be the Yale of Ampezzo, running straight for 
 Pieve if he seeks the sources of the Piave. From the 
 bend under Zucco he will see the Castle of Cadore, on 
 a bluff, a little in front to the eastward the village of 
 Sotto Castello, and if approaching the hill from the 
 latter place he will enter a lane, on the right hand 
 side of which a cottage lies, under the roof of which 
 an inscription tells him — Titian was born. 
 
 Looking up the lane the ruins of the castle are 
 visible ; — ruins of which varying representations have 
 been found in a sketch ascribed to Titian, and in a 
 lithograph from a drawing of the last century. Its 
 walls are much reduced in height, as the stones were 
 taken to rebuild the church of Cadore. North-west 
 of the castle, on the saddle between it and the slopes 
 rising towards Pozzale, is the church in an unfinished 
 state, and the campanile overlooking the market- 
 place; the whole relieved in distance by mountains 
 and the dolomite fringe of Marmarolo. It is necessary 
 to be minute in describing the natural characteristics 
 of the situation and landscapes of Cadore, because 
 Titian who lived in his childhood amongst them, and 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
34 
 
 TITIAN : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. II. 
 
 visited them frequently in his manhood, transferred 
 them to his pictures as frequently as the more 
 expanded views of the lowlands, and there can be 
 little doubt that the grandeur of the scenery which 
 surrounded him in his infancy, made its impress on 
 his mind, and helped to produce that love of natural 
 effects, which is so conspicuous in his works, and 
 enabled him to become the greatest landscape painter 
 of the Yenetian school. 
 
 The cottage of the Titians is now an inn, but was 
 once part of a clump of houses and gardens, belonging 
 to Conte Yecelli. As far back as records reach — in 
 this case as far back as the close of the sixteenth 
 century — it was described as being situate in the 
 Contrada Lovaria, and to be distinguished by its 
 contiguity to the piazzetta called Arsenale. That 
 subsequent to the death of Conte Yecelli in 1508-13, 
 it passed tojiis son Gregorio, from him to Titian, then 
 to Francesco, and finally to Titian's son Pomponio, is 
 shown in documents.* The contract of sale, by which 
 Pomponio parted with the cottage and its cor tile to 
 Giovanni da Cesco in 1580, is still preserved; and 
 there is every reason to believe that Gregorio lived 
 and died there, and that his son Francesco used it as a 
 dwelling. On the other hand it is not so clear as local 
 annalists have thought that Titian or his brother and 
 sisters were born there, for it is stated that Conte's 
 property was divided at his death between his two 
 
 * Cadorin (Ab. Giuseppe), Dello 27, and 76. Maier. A. Delia Imi- 
 Amore ai Veneziani di Tiziano tazione Pittorica, 8vo, Ven. 1818, 
 Yecelli, 4 to, Yen. 1833, pp. 24- p. 263. 
 
Chap. II] 
 
 PIEVE DI CADOKE. 
 
 •lb 
 
 sons Antonio and Gregorio, and in order to show the 
 probability of Titian's birth in a cottage belonging to 
 his grandfather, it would be necessary to prove that 
 Gregorio lived in that cottage in Conte's lifetime, yet 
 there is some evidence to favour the belief, that Contc 
 did grant to Gregorio the nse of the cottage in the 
 contrada Lovaria. In so far as they have been pre- 
 served at all, the surveys of Pieve do not reveal that 
 Gregorio ever dwelt anywhere else than in the 
 piazzetta called Arsenale, and one of the earliest 
 biographers who treats of Titian's childhood at 
 Cadore, speaks of the cottage as that in which he 
 was born. We shall have occasion to follow the 
 fortunes of several members of Titian's family, and 
 amongst others of Tizianello his cousin thrice removed, 
 who died at Venice in 1650. Tizianello, on the 16th 
 of August 1622, dedicated to the Marchioness of 
 Arundel and Surrey an anonymous life of Titian, 
 which he described as having been written by a gen- 
 tleman studious of the great master's works. Being the 
 only memoir of its kind that shows any acquaintance 
 with Cadore, and having been written less than fifty 
 years after the painter's death, it deserves particular 
 attention. The author confesses to an enthusiastic 
 admiration for the " modern Apelles." He expresses 
 a hope that his narrative may be read with some sort 
 of interest, and after this preamble he says : — 
 
 "The famous Titian was born at Pieve, the prin- 
 cipal castle of the country of Cadore ... a castle 
 reputed impregnable, resting on a very high hill to 
 which the ascent is by a single path surrounded by 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 TIT r AN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. II. 
 
 broken rocks and inaccessible precipices. . . At the 
 foot of the fortress lies the town, and the palace in 
 which the vicars chosen by the council of Cadore 
 reside. It is a place of small circuit, but prettily laid 
 out. In the centre of the piazza is a fountain of fresh 
 and limpid water. . . Noble palaces are in the neigh- 
 bourhood, amongst them the house in the place called 
 Arsenale, in which Titian was born in 1477."* 
 
 The true indication of the spot upon which Titian's 
 house now stands, and a straightforward assertion that 
 Titian was born there, form the pith of this extract, 
 whilst a characteristic minuteness of description dis- 
 tinguishes the " house " of the Yecelli from the palaces 
 in its vicinity. In the absence of other proofs, this 
 may be accepted as a sufficient record of the birth- 
 place of Titian; but, even were it not so, we should 
 have no difficulty in picturing to ourselves the haunts 
 of his youth, since he may be held to have been as 
 much at home in the dwelling of his grandfather as in 
 that of Gregorio ; and in the gardens that overlook 
 the Piave or the slopes of Tai, or on the pine -clad 
 summits of Monte Zucco, he might equally be able to 
 watch the sunset darkening the dolomites of Mar- 
 marolo, the mist swathing the peaks of Cridola and 
 Cornon, or the storm cloud gathering on the summits 
 of the Pelmo. 
 
 The most intricate puzzles with which the historian 
 has to deal in the domain of art, arise from careless 
 
 * Breve Compendio della Vita • del famoso Titiano Vecellio di 
 Cadore . . . 4to, Yen. 1G22, pp. i. ii. 
 
Chap. II.] 
 
 TITIAN'S BIRTHDAY. 
 
 statements of the birth, the age, or death, of almost 
 contemporary painters. Titian, Giorgione, and Palma 
 Vecchio, are so intimately connected as to make it 
 highly desirable that we shonld know exactly when 
 they were born and when they died ; yet this is the 
 information which no research enables us to acquire. 
 
 Of Giorgione Yasari says, in his first edition, that 
 he was born in 1477, in his second that he was born 
 in 1478 ; but in both editions that he died in 1501, 
 aged 34.* If the last of these facts be correct, the 
 date of 1478 cannot be maintained ; but it would be 
 consistent to say that Giorgione came into the world 
 in 1476 or 1477, for not knowing the month in 
 which Giorgione' s death occurred, we cannot tell to a 
 certainty the year of his birth. 
 
 Palma Yecchio died at Yenice between the 28th of 
 July and the 8th of August, 1528, at the age — if we 
 believe Yasari — of 48.| He may, therefore, have 
 been born between the 29th of July, 1479, and the 
 7th of August, 1480. But these dates and those in 
 respect of Giorgione depend on Yasari's credibility as 
 to the age of Palma and Giorgione on their death-bed. 
 
 In a letter written on the 1st of August, 1571, to 
 Philip II. of Spain, Titian describes himself as an 
 " old man of 95," and this, though it might point to 
 Titian's birth in 1476, coincides also with Eidolfi's 
 assertion that he was born in 1477. J As matters 
 
 * Yasari, Le vite de' piu ecc. 
 pittori, &c, 8vo, Florence, 1846 
 —1870; rii. 80, 87. 
 
 f Yas. ix. 145. 
 
 | See postea, and compare Ei- 
 
 dolfi, Le Maraviglie dell' Arte, 
 Ediz. Seconda, 8vo, Padua, 1835, 
 i. 196, with Tizianello's Anon. 
 Life, p. 2, and Ticozzi's Yecelli, 
 p. 7. 
 
38 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. II. 
 
 stand we are bound to assume that Titian and 
 Giorgione are contemporaries, older by some few 
 years than Palma Yecchio ; yet if we look at 
 the works of Titian we find that they reveal 
 some dependence in him on Palma and Giorgione, 
 whilst history tells us that Titian imitated Giorgione, 
 and tradition recalls his love for Palma's daughter.* 
 
 Before the discovery of Titian's declaration of his 
 birth it would have been free to any inquirer to 
 accept Yasari's authority as to Giorgione' s or Palma's 
 age and reject it as to Titian,*]" or vice versa, a 
 middle course would necessarily have led to the 
 absurdity of admitting that Titian imitated a painter 
 not older than himself, and courted the daughter of 
 an artist some years his junior. As it now seems 
 clear that Titian was not born later than 1477 we 
 might conclude that Giorgione and Palma both died 
 older than Yasari supposed. 
 
 Titian, whose birth we have now discovered, was 
 the son of Lucia Yecelli by Gregorio di Conte, being 
 the only one of four children, himself, Francesco, 
 Catherine, and Orsa, whose age has been approxi- 
 matively ascertained. J Dolce, in his "Dialogo," says 
 
 * We now know that Palma 
 Vecchio had no legitimate chil- 
 dren. See History of North Ital. 
 Painting, ii. 483, and Boschini's 
 Carta del Navegar, 8vo, Venezia, 
 1660, p. 368. 
 
 f The writers of these lines 
 thought, and still think, Titian 
 younger than either Giorgione or 
 Palma. They were, however, in 
 
 clined to transpose Titian's birth- 
 day to a later date than 1477, 
 rather than to put back those of 
 Palma and Giorgione to an earlier 
 period, and in this they made 
 a mistake. See North Italian 
 Painting, ii. pp. 119—120. 
 
 J See Aretino (Pietro) Lettere, 
 Svo, Paris, 1609, vol. v. p. 243; 
 MS. records, which prove the 
 
Chap. II.] 
 
 TITIAN'S CHILDHOOD. 
 
 39 
 
 that Titian was taken to Venice as a boy of nine,* 
 Tizianello's "Anonimo,'' that he left Cadore at the 
 age of ten. Both agree that he was reared and had 
 his schooling nnder his father's roof, and that he was 
 taken yonng to Yenice, where he made his fortune. *j* 
 Is it equally clear that he was taught to draw at 
 Cadore ? An anecdote, which almost coincides with 
 one told by Yasari in the Life of Pordenone, is related 
 by Tizianello's "Anonimo" of Titian's boyhood. He 
 says the child showed an early inclination for art 
 "by painting on the side of his house a Madonna 
 with the juice of flowers, and such was the charm of 
 the colours as to surprise his father, his relatives, and 
 friends." J It is almost a pity to disturb so pretty 
 a tale by doubts and questionings, and it may be 
 confessed that if Tizianello had spoken of wild fruit 
 instead of flowers, as producing the juices with 
 which Titian painted, he might have been believed. 
 But the misfortune which attends anecdotes of this 
 kind is that they become further distorted by 
 credulity, and it is probably in consequence of 
 Tizianello's story that a Madonna is shown inside a 
 house adjacent to Titian's cottage, and that tradition 
 assigns this Madonna to Titian's childhood. 
 
 As to the locality : This Madonna is painted in fresco 
 
 marriage of Catterina di Gregorio 
 with Matteo Soldano, Inspector 
 of Mines at Pieve ; and Ticozzi's 
 Vite dei pittori Vecelli, p. 251. 
 
 * Dolce, Dialogo della Pittura, 
 Ed. Daelli, 12 mo, Milan, 1863, 
 p. 63. 
 
 f This is confirmed from various 
 
 sources, amongst others, from 
 Titian's own petition to the 
 Council of Ten, dated May 31, 
 1513, in which he says, " Havendo 
 da puto in suso io . . . postome ad 
 imparar Parte ! " See postea. 
 X Breve compendio, supra, p. 3. 
 
40 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. II. 
 
 inside the Casa Yallenzasco at Pieve, a house previ- 
 ously inhabited by a family of the Sampieri, to which 
 additions were made, which turned the outer wall 
 into the side of an inner room. As to the date and 
 fashion of the fresco : It is greatly injured, having 
 lost some old and gained some new colours, but being 
 still sufficiently preserved to justify an opinion. The 
 Yirgin sits in an arm-chair at a window ; she holds 
 the child in a standing position on her knee, and 
 bends her glance towards an angel, who kneels at her 
 feet. An opening behind a curtain of tapestry gives 
 a view of sky and hills.* The drawing of this fresco 
 is indeed childish, and there is every reason for con- 
 cluding that the hand which executed it was that of 
 
 * Eenaldis, the author of a 
 History of Friulan Painting, pub- 
 lished in 1798, does not confound 
 the Madonna described by Tizian- 
 ello with, that in the Casa Sam- 
 pieri. He assumes the loss of the 
 first and the subsequent exe- 
 cution of the second by the same 
 hand. He describes the fresco as 
 a monochrome, and speaks of the 
 kneeling angel as being in the act 
 of presenting a tablet to the 
 Virgin. Both assertions are in- 
 correct. See Eenaldis [Girolamo 
 de'], Delia Pittura Eriulana, 4to, 
 Udine, 1798, p. 63. The fresco 
 on the first floor, framed in wood, 
 is ill preserved. The Virgin's 
 head is turned to the left, that of 
 the infant to the right, and Christ 
 holds in his hand an orb. The 
 angel, whose wings are almost 
 obliterated, kneels on the right 
 
 knee ; his hands are joined in 
 prayer, and what Eenaldis takes 
 for a tablet is the arm of the 
 Virgin's chair. Of the landscape 
 fragments only remain. The co- 
 lours are blind and opaque, but 
 sharp and decided in tone; but 
 there are damaging spots in many 
 places, as on the hip and shoulder 
 of the infant, and the Virgin's 
 blue mantle is ground down to 
 the preparation. The fall and lie 
 of the drapery, and the detail of 
 folds, is childish ; yet it is easy to 
 see that the contour and handling 
 are of the sixteenth century. The 
 lights struck in with quick brush- 
 strokes in drapery, the modern 
 movement of the Virgin, all tell 
 the same tale, and prove that we 
 have not to do with even a boy of 
 the fifteenth century. 
 
Chap. II.] 
 
 EAELY FEESCO. 
 
 41 
 
 a boy, but a boy of what age and of what time ? 
 When Titian went to Venice the fifteenth century 
 was closing; but it was still the fifteenth century. 
 It was the period of Bellini's striving, previous to the 
 complete transformation of Venetian art by his own 
 efforts and those of Palma and Giorgione. The 
 painter of the Madonna before us is one who 
 witnessed the change, a boy of the Yecelli 
 family it may well be, since the family yielded 
 more than one generation of painters, but certainly 
 not Titian. 
 
 Traditions which assign to Titian the Madonna of 
 Casa Yallenzasco tend distinctly to distort the history 
 of Venetian art. But others which give to Titian a 
 master of the old Friulan school, are scarcely les& 
 mischievous as they countenance the belief that the 
 style of a great artist can be influenced by teaching 
 attained before the age of nine. The eagerness 
 shown by Friulan antiquaries to prove the descent of 
 Titian's manner from Antonio Eosso, has been so 
 great that they have succeeded thoroughly in con- 
 structing his pedigree and there are tables in 
 existence, fortunately not printed, which show the 
 ramifications of the Eossi family from the middle of 
 the thirteenth to the close of the eighteenth century. 
 But Antonio Eosso, whose frescoes and altarpieces 
 were executed in various churches of Cadore between 
 1472 and 1502, is not entitled to any consideration 
 whatever, being a mere continuator of the old and 
 childish traditions of Alpine art which disappeared 
 happily for ever as the pupils of the Vivarini, Belling 
 
42 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. II. 
 
 and Cima, extended their influence into the regions 
 bordering on the Tyrol.* 
 
 * Lanzi, whose complete his- 
 tory of painting appeared in 1796, 
 was the first to countenance the 
 theory that Titian had a master 
 in the art of painting in Cadore, 
 and that that master was Eosso. 
 See Eoscoe's Lanzi. Ed. of 1847, 
 vol. ii. p. 157. Neither Yasari 
 
 nor Eidolfi, nor indeed any of the 
 older Venetian writers, knew any- 
 thing of Eosso; even Ticozzi is 
 silent respecting him. But see 
 for some account of Eosso, Hist, 
 of North Italian Painting, vol. ii. 
 p. 172. 
 
CHAPTEE in. 
 
 Titian leaves Cadore. — Venice as he found it. — Titian's Masters : 
 Sebastian Zuccato ; the Bellini. — State of Venetian Art. — The 
 Eialto. — Painters' Studios. — Social Condition of Painters. — House- 
 painting, and Titian as a House-painter. — Titian's Apprentice 
 time. — Portraits of his Father and Mother. — Early Fresco at 
 Pieve, and dubious early Works. — Titian's first Madonna. — 
 Growth of his style. — Influence of Palma. — The "Man of 
 Sorrows," San Eocco. — The " Cross-bearing Christ," San Eocco. 
 — "Artless and sated Love." — Titian and the Antique. — Venice, 
 Csesar Borgia, and the Pesari. — Votive Picture of Bishop " Baffo." 
 — Continued Influence of Palma. 
 
 Titian left Cadore a child to learn a trade at 
 Yenice. "What a contrast between the place he was 
 leaving and that to which he was repairing ! Cadore 
 lovely with its pnre air, high Alps and wild scenery, 
 its small and modest dwellings, its poor and thrifty 
 people, its traffic by horse and cart on a mountain road. 
 Yenice a city of enchantments, rising by magic from the 
 bosom of the sea, resting miraculously on the waters ; 
 her streets, lanes, her houses, palaces, traffic on canals, 
 pleasures, luxurious and expensive, the people half 
 asleep, it seemed, by day, but full of life at night, 
 driving bargains at Eialto, talking politics at San 
 Marco, trading with the world or gambling on the 
 piazza. A boy like Titian would see and gape at the 
 wonders of the place ; but he would very soon be told 
 that beneath the glitter of the scene there lay a hard 
 and solid substance of reality. The splendour and the 
 
44 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. III. 
 
 tinsel were on the surface ; hard work beneath it. If 
 Titian had already practised the art at Cadore, all the 
 better for him; if he had but an early developed 
 passion and inclination for painting, here was the place 
 to indulge them. Tizianello believed that Titian came 
 to Yenice to prosecute his studies ; Yasari and Dolce 
 thought he meant to start as a beginner. In either 
 case the place was fitly chosen.* Titian had been sent 
 to one of his relations in Yenice, some say a brother 
 of Gregorio, others a brother of Lucia, Yecelli.f The 
 first care of this relative was to deliver the boy into 
 the hands of an artist to be taught. And here 
 Yenetian history leaves him, taking no heed of his 
 life or doings until he issues from the throng of 
 competitors and appears — a master at the Fondaco de' 
 Tedeschi. Yenetian annals are full of similar gaps 
 and chasms, which seem to prove that the brilliancy 
 of a man's achievements may dazzle the witnesses of 
 his success and disable them from inquiring into its 
 causes. But the difficulty of repairing in the nine- 
 teenth century the neglect of the sixteenth, though 
 not absolutely insurmountable, is naturally very great ; 
 and much that Titian's contemporaries might have 
 told is to us mere matter of conjecture. 
 
 Yasari in his curt way says that Titian's master 
 was Giovanni Bellini; but that he subsequently 
 became an imitator of Giorgione.J It would be folly 
 
 * Vas.xiv.18. Dolce, Dialogo, 63. 
 
 -j- If less trouble had been taken 
 •with this point, and more with 
 others of greater interest, we 
 should perhaps be better ac- 
 
 quainted with the school years 
 of Titian. But see Tizianello's 
 Anon. p. 3; Dolce's Dialogo, p.. 
 63 ; and Vasari, xiii. p. 18. 
 X Yas. xiii. 18. 
 
Chap. III.] TITIAN'S MASTEES AT VENICE. 
 
 45 
 
 to pretend to be satisfied with so vague a statement. 
 Dolce is a little more explicit. According to his 
 account Sebastian Zuccato, a Venetian mosaist, first 
 took charge of Titian, but afterwards gave him up 
 to Gentile Bellini. Gentile disapproved of his pupil's 
 habit of bold and quick drawing, and estranged him 
 by saying that no progress was to be expected on the 
 path into which he had ventured. Titian in disgust 
 left Gentile's workshop and wandered into that of 
 Giovanni Bellini. But even Giovanni's lessons 
 struck him as unsatisfactory, and he became Gior- 
 gione's partner.* There are pictures in existence 
 which give clear evidence of Titian's early style; and 
 if the proverb be true that "the paw betrays the 
 lion," we must accept Dolce's narrative with the 
 greatest suspicion. It cannot be said that Titian 
 always drew boldly and hastily, because on the con- 
 trary he was in his youth a most careful and minute 
 draughtsman ; and if we believe that Gentile Bellini 
 reproved the habit of rapid execution, that reproof 
 must have been administered in the days of Titian's 
 manhood. Again, Titian's manner as a rising artist, 
 ought, if Dolce and Yasari are correct, to betray the 
 exclusive teaching of the Bellini whilst the works of 
 his riper years should display the influence of Gior- 
 gione's ; but nothing can be more incorrect than such 
 an assumption. Titian was not exclusively Bellinesque 
 as a youth any more than he was exclusively Gior- 
 gionesque as a man, and even allowing for the origin- 
 ality of genius, we must doubt that Bellini or Giorgione 
 
 * Dolce, Dialogo, 63. 
 
46 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. III. 
 
 were his masters to the exclusion of others equally 
 illustrious and equally influential. Dolce names 
 Sebastian Zuccato as the first artist to whom Titian 
 was introduced.- Palma Yecchio is mentioned as the 
 father of Violante for whom Titian had all the affec- 
 tion of a lover.* Titian had no more intimate friends- 
 in later years than Francesco and Yalerio the sons of 
 Sebastian Zuccato ; for years he drew from the same 
 female models as Palma, and he worked too in a style 
 which is more closely allied to the style of Palma 
 than it is to that of any other craftsman of the time. 
 
 It is unhappily true, that nothing is known of 
 Sebastian Zuccato, except that he was a mosaist ; but 
 he must have been a painter also, and not only that, 
 but a painter of name, for he was, at some unknown 
 period, syndic of his guild at Venice. f But of what 
 help is this in the darkness that prevails ? We can 
 conjecture that he gave the boy his first lessons, but 
 the trail which might lead to further discoveries is 
 lost. We are thus precluded by causes difficult to 
 control, from tracing the steps by which Titian 
 acquired a brilliant position in the first years of the 
 16th century ; but our view of the art exercised at 
 Yenice at the close of the preceding age is open ; and 
 this, in conjunction with indications which the litera- 
 ture of the period affords, may enable us to follow the 
 path which the hero was fortunate enough to pursue. 
 
 If we assume that Titian came down from the 
 Cadorine hills about 1488, we can imagine no better 
 
 * Boschini, Carta del Nayegar, I f Zanetti, Pittura Venez. Sec. 
 pp. 368, 369. I ed. 12mo, Ven. 1792, p. 736. 
 
Chap. III.] 
 
 THE BELLINI. 
 
 47 
 
 time for securing to the boy the education which he 
 required. Gentile Bellini had not indeed as yet 
 exhibited his Procession of the Eelic ; but that noble 
 masterpiece was probably one of the first compositions 
 of moment which met the youth's eye when he left 
 the first and most elementary school form. That 
 Gentile and Titian, in the respective positions of 
 master and pupil should not have agreed may or may 
 not be true ; but Gentile was not the less a great 
 painter. He was certainly the most serious, the most 
 scientific, and the most able artist of his day ; and no 
 Venetian before or since was more perfectly ac- 
 quainted than he with the laws of perspective and 
 composition. Giovanni Bellini, more brilliant but 
 less profound, had not as yet produced anything as 
 thoroughly modern as the Madonna of San Zaccaria, 
 but his Madonnas at the Frari, or Santa Maria of 
 Murano, would show how thoroughly he could com- 
 bine the facilities of oil with the conscientiousness of 
 tempera methods ; with what skill he united polished 
 modelling with correct outline, coupling both with 
 effective brilliancy of tone, harmonious juxtaposition 
 of tints, bold touch and breadth of contrast in light 
 and shade. Carpaccio was about to compose that 
 grand and striking series of canvases which illustrates 
 the legend of St. Ursula. Antonello was still living, 
 the greatest portrait painter of his time, the master who 
 shared with Giovanni Bellini the heart of Giorgione. 
 Cima was about to rival Giovanni as a colourist in the 
 setting of those bright altarpieces which now charm 
 us by their grave but serene solemnity. . At the Hall 
 
48 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. III. 
 
 of Great Council Giovanni Bellini was working under 
 his brother as chief, and with Lnigi Vivarini, as a 
 rival. Palma and Giorgione were younger men whose 
 mark was to be left on their country's art. 
 
 "We can only presume to suggest the relations of 
 the Bellini and their followers to Titian and his 
 practice. We may believe that Titian was first ap- 
 prenticed to an artist of obscure fame, that after the 
 usual probation he wandered successively into the 
 workshops of Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, enjoying 
 the companionship of Palma and Giorgione, and 
 possibly entering into partnership with both of them 
 in turn. "We may remember meanwhile that Yenetian 
 painting in 1488 was still in a state of transition, that 
 tempera was no longer a medium in which great 
 masters consented to work, though boys were still 
 taught to paint in it. But oil pigments were applied 
 by men who had lived for a great part of their lives 
 on the traditions of tempera. The careful processes 
 and minute habits of the old, still clung to the votaries 
 of the new system; but there was an obvious tendency 
 in the younger generation to use to the full, if not to 
 abuse, the facilities which oil painting — once acquired 
 — naturally afford. 
 
 The heart of Venice, at the close of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, was the Piazza di Eialto, where the business of 
 the day was done by citizens, patricians and foreign 
 merchants.* On the right side of the Piazza, by the 
 
 * Shyloch, " What news on the 
 Eialto ? "—Merch.of Ven. act i. sc. 3. 
 Salanio, * ' Now what news on the 
 
 Eialto ?"—Merc7i. of Ven. act iii. 
 sc. i. Here is meant not the bridge, 
 but the market-place of Eialto. 
 
Chap. III.] PIAZZA DI EIALTO. 49 
 
 venerable church of San J acopo, the privileged members 
 of the mercantile and senatorial class met at noon, to 
 talk politics and settle exchanges. On the left side of 
 the Piazza, famous for the site of the stone from which 
 sentences of outlawry were proclaimed, traders from 
 abroad were allowed to congregate.* For the con- 
 venience of both, a colonnade served as a shelter irom 
 summer sun and winter rains, and a raised map of the 
 world, as known to the geographers of the time, 
 exhibited the paths of Venetian trafficf Along the 
 roadway countless booths of drapers displayed the 
 cloths of Italian and Levantine manufacturers ; above 
 and within the colonnades were the counters of native 
 merchants, bankers, and artificers, and schools of 
 painting and music.J The close proximity of these 
 schools explains how painters like Giorgione and 
 Sebastian Luciani gained proficiency in the sister 
 arts, and mastered at once the secrets of the lute and 
 palet. It was a place necessarily familiar to all art- 
 students, and one, we may believe, not unknown to 
 Titian, whose teacher, Gentile Bellini, lived in the 
 vicinity. In Eivoalto the house of this great man 
 was situated, § a house of note it would seem, not only 
 because it was adorned with pictures and mosaics by 
 Bellini himself, but because it sheltered a collection 
 of antiques, well known to critics for containing a 
 head of Plato and a statue of Venus by Praxiteles. || 
 
 * Sansovino, Ven. desc. 363. 
 t Lorenzi, 81-82. 
 + Sansovino, 363. 
 § See Gentile Bellini's will, 
 which begins, " In noili Dei . . . 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 '1506 ms febrii die 18 Ind. X 
 E[ivoal]ti," in the Archivio No- 
 tarile at Venice. 
 
 || Compare the foregoing, and 
 Pierio Valeriano, " De Marmoreo 
 
50 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. III. 
 
 It has been said by Vasari that Yenetian craftsmen, 
 having at this period no mnsenms of antiques, were 
 constrained to study from the model after the dry and 
 timid manner of the day ; and it is doubtless true that 
 the " garden of the Medici " was not at hand to which 
 boys could be sent to draw from the round. True it 
 is also, as Vasari adds, that Titian at first applied the 
 careful and minute habits of draughtsmanship which 
 characterised the school of the Bellini.* But it is 
 * a mistake to say that the antique was unknown to 
 the Yenetians, and to affirm of Titian that he was 
 unacquainted with the art of the Greeks, or heedless 
 of the beauties of classic sculpture; for he was, on 
 the contrary, a curious admirer of ancient bas-reliefs, 
 and more than once we shall see an eager adapter of 
 the works of the pagan time. 
 
 If we venture to apply our knowledge of the status 
 of Yenetian painters in the first half of the sixteenth 
 century to illustrating that of their predecessors at 
 the turn of the previous age, we realize a vague 
 picture of the conditions under which artists formed 
 their practice. Painting was the business of some 
 great masters and of countless mediocrities. The 
 rising generation was made up of youths of various 
 means and prospects dependent on a public of unequal 
 taste. Tor men of small pecuniary means the road to 
 fortune was beset with difficulties. Some were 
 obliged to eke out their existence by decorating 
 
 Platonis capite apud Bellinos Ve- 
 netiis, & Eaffaele Zovenzonio's 
 epigram, "in Venerem Gentilis 
 
 Bellini," in anon. ed. Morelli, 8vo, 
 Bassano, 1800, pp. 193-4. 
 * Vasari, xiii. 18. 
 
Chap. III.] PAINTED PALACE FRONTS. 
 
 51 
 
 chairs and chests ; * others finished panels on specula* 
 tion, and exhibited them in the dealers' shops which 
 lined the streets connecting the Piazza of St. Mark 
 with the bridge of Eialto. In these streets, which 
 went by the general name of the u Merceria," the 
 main stream of traffic flowed ; and a favourable place 
 in a show window was coveted as a means of securing 
 commissions.*)* But the taste of the Yenetian public 
 was not as yet trained to the appreciation of subjects 
 of a domestic or homely character ; and a steady 
 demand could only be said to exist for pictures, 
 ••devout, finished, and carefully wrought."*]: For 
 the bolder sort of craftsmen who could face the 
 difficulties of wall painting, another path was open. 
 The Yenetians were fond of decorated house fronts. 
 The contract for building a house often enjoined its 
 adornment with frescos, and a large palace in a 
 conspicuous position might, if tastefully painted^ 
 secure to a young and able man a number of useful 
 patrons. Yet it seldom happened that a direct con- 
 nection united a painter to a wealthy patrician, and it 
 frequently occurred that the architect employed at a 
 low remuneration the labour of an artist, whose work 
 was highly charged to the noble owner of the 
 mansion. § 
 
 One of the earliest references to Titian profession- 
 ally connects his name with the decoration of a 
 house front. " Above the hall door, on the land side 
 
 * Eidolfi, Maraviglie, i. 321, 178. 
 322, 328. X Ibid. i. 322. 
 
 t Eidolfi, Maraviglie, ii. 177, § Ibid. ii. 321. 
 
 e 2 
 
52 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. III. 
 
 of the Morosini palace in the Eio di San Canciano, 
 there was a fresco of Hercules, said to be one of the 
 very first works undertaken by Titian at Venice."* 
 But Titian was also, at a very early period, a painter 
 of Madonnas, and in these, as we shall presently 
 observe, he unmistakeably displayed the carefulness 
 and devout feeling peculiar to the older Venetian 
 school. 
 
 There are few artists of whom we possess so many 
 private letters as Titian, yet his epistolary correspon- 
 dence gives less clue to his character than one might 
 expect, because it is usually confined to business. 
 We can only guess that he led in his youth the life of 
 an apprentice, had his working days and holidays, 
 and laboured honestly through the first in order fairly 
 to earn the second. His father was probably not rich 
 enough to give him the means of a trip home at fes- 
 tive seasons, but he may have visited Conte's cottage 
 at Cadore before his name was heard amongst the 
 higher circle of art patrons at Venice. Notwithstand- 
 ing his well-known shrewdness and sharpness, there 
 are signs of paternal affection and tenderness to his 
 children to be gathered from his correspondence ; and 
 the genuine fondness of the father pre-supposes duti- 
 ful conduct in the son.f The lost portraits of Gre- 
 gorio and Lucia Vecelli were, perhaps, painted during 
 a visit to Cadore; J so also the damaged tempera 
 
 * Sansovino, Ven. desc. 391. 
 The fresco is not now in existence. 
 
 f " Egli fu amorevolissimo 
 verso i parenti." Tizianello's 
 " Anonimo," p. 7. 
 
 J Orazione Panegirica, in Ti- 
 cozzi, p. 321 ; and Ridolfi, Mara- 
 viglie, ii. 304. The portrait of 
 Gregorio was preserved at Venice, 
 that of Lucia in the Curtoni Col- 
 
Chap. III.] DUBIOUS EAELY WORK. 
 
 53 
 
 of the Virgin and Child between St. Boch and St. 
 Sebastian in the Genova chapel at the Pieve ; bnt as 
 this is not a representative picture, inasmuch as it is 
 doubtful whether it may not be in part by Francesco 
 Vecelli, it escapes our grasp for the present, and 
 leaves us to seek abroad for works of Titian's youth. 
 In Venice, indeed, there is no lack of canvases which 
 pass under that name, but a glance at the best of 
 them — the " Passage of the Eed Sea," in the Palazzo 
 Eeale, or the " Visitation," in the academy — will 
 satisfy any critical student of the master that the 
 nomenclature is wrong.* The true test of Titian's 
 
 lection at Verona. But the latter 
 represented Titian's mother, not 
 alone, but accompanied by a 
 nephew. (Comp. Eidolfi, Marav. 
 ii. 304 ; and Campori, Raccolta di 
 Cataloghi, 8vo, Modena, 1870, 
 p. 201.) „ 
 
 * Venice, Palazzo Eeale. The 
 Passage of the Eed Sea, and its 
 companion, " Christ in limbo," 
 were not unknown to Boschini, 
 who describes them (Eicche Mi- 
 niere, 12mo, Venice, 1674, 2nd 
 ed. Sestiere di San Marco, p. 18) as 
 hanging in the ducal palace, in 
 the passage leading from the 
 " stanza del Collegio " to the 
 Doge's chapel. At this time they 
 were known as productions of the 
 " school of Titian." After their 
 removal to the Palazzo Eeale, 
 the "Christ" was assigned to 
 Giorgione, and the Passage of 
 the Eed Sea to Titian. It has 
 been shown (North It. Painting, 
 ii. 212) that the first was probably 
 executed by Pellegrino da San 
 Daniele. There is every reason 
 
 to believe that the second is by 
 the same hand. It is a small 
 canvas, with numerous diminu- 
 tive figures of bold execution, but 
 dimmed and injured by time, and 
 of a general russet tone. 
 
 Venice Academy, No. 35. The 
 Visitation, once in the Monastery 
 of Sant' Andrea at Venice, is a 
 canvas with large figures, the 
 majority of which are injured 
 beyond redemption. One of the 
 heads, indeed (St. Joseph), is alto- 
 gether new. The figures are de- 
 signed with modern boldness, but 
 the drawing is incorrect, especially 
 in the hands and feet, and the- 
 heads are feeble in every sense ; 
 the colours, too, are sharp and 
 out of focus. Considering the 
 amount of cleaning, patching, 
 and re-touching which this work 
 has undergone, it is hard to say 
 more than that it is in the 
 manner of Del Piombo, rather 
 than in that of Titian, though it 
 is feebler than the works of either.. 
 
,34 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. III. 
 
 early form is to be found in a small Madonna at the 
 Belvedere of Vienna, which throws considerable light 
 on his first steps in art. 
 
 Here we find onrselves in presence of a style which 
 takes ns back to the fifteenth centnry at Venice, with- 
 out recalling directly any one painter of the time. It 
 reminds us of Bellini, Carpaccio, and Palma Vecchio, 
 the general impression being that of an original work 
 by one whose relation to a single master is not essen- 
 tially marked. The infant Christ, standing all but 
 naked on a parapet of stone, the Virgin behind the 
 parapet holding a piece of lawn about his waist; 
 behind her a grey wall, with a view of a landscape, 
 partly interrupted by a curtain half striped silk, half 
 green satin. This description might bring back to 
 our mind numberless representations of a similar 
 kind ; but that we are more than usually struck by 
 the homely roundness of the heads, the breadth of 
 make, and fulness of shape in the Virgin and the 
 Child. The man who thought out a group like this, 
 though swayed by school traditions and convention- 
 alisms, was clearly not yet master of the rules of 
 selection. He copied with patient finish accidents 
 of texture and pattern in stuffs ; he drew and defined 
 flesh forms with a correct eye for movement; he 
 outlined and modelled with grace and polish, and 
 gave a burnish to his surfaces which betrays a fami- 
 liar habit of controlling the difficulties of technical 
 execution, but he neither sought nor found an ideal 
 type. Yet genuine feeling wells out here and there 
 in freshness of conception and timid tenderness of 
 
Chap. III.] TITIAN'S FIRST MADONNA. 
 
 55 
 
 expression ; in graceful motion and delicate subtleties, 
 such as the child's hand laid on the fingers of its 
 mother. The shape and proportions remind us of the 
 old Venetian school. The cleanness and purity of 
 contour and surface seem derived from the Bellini. 
 The burnish and pearly bloom of the whole is Pal- 
 mesque. But there is no attempt as yet to distin- 
 guish, by differences of grain and texture, the flesh, 
 the vestments, and the ground. It is evidence of the 
 steadiness which accompanies the development of 
 Titian's genius that the form of the child is the 
 prototype of that which was introduced a quarter of 
 a century later in the grand altar-piece of the Casa 
 Pesaro. Thus early, too, Titian paints a charming 
 and appropriate landscape, one which recalling neither 
 Venice nor Cadore takes us to the border country 
 between both, where the hills are not broken into 
 peaks, but sit low in a gauzy haze, overrun with 
 gorse or underwood, topped here and there with 
 farm-houses, or relieved by an elegant sapling. The 
 undertone of this landscape is a mere rubbing of 
 umber. The foreground, after the fashion of Gior- 
 gione, is enlivened by a soldier in a breast-plate 
 sitting on the sward. An equable and tempered 
 atmosphere covers the distance, but the nearer figures 
 are bright as marble, and the youthful Titian already 
 compasses an effect of light by a bold projection of 
 shadow on the curtain behind his group. Accidental 
 causes, such as a repainted sky and stonework, now 
 exaggerate the contrast between the landscape and 
 the figures, whilst they may account for the disap- 
 
56 
 
 TITIAN : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. III. 
 
 pearance of a cartello or scrip with the painter's name, 
 which authenticates an old copy of this piece in the 
 Museum of Eovigo.* 
 
 The very first steps of Titian are those of a master, 
 whose nature it is to be original ; for at the outset 
 that which is merely imitative in him, is tempered by 
 individual features. As he proceeds so he progresses ; 
 his originality is greater, and elements that may be 
 called imitative fade into the background. Timid 
 and cold at first, he soon warms to the task before 
 him. His carefulness and finish remain, but the gifts 
 of the colourist which gradually come into play, are 
 the result of a firmer and more manly grasp of the 
 causes to which are due the polish peculiar to An- 
 tonello, and the harmony attained in the works of 
 Giovanni Bellini. We cannot affect to be able to 
 distinguish at this period, the chronological sequence 
 of the impressions made upon Titian by a growing 
 insight into the mysteries of the art of the past in 
 Yenice, or a better knowledge of the technical subtle- 
 
 * Vienna Belvedere, 1st Floor, 
 Ital. School, Eoom II. No. 41, 
 wood, 2 ft. high, by 2 ft. 7 in. 
 broad. This picture belonged to 
 the collection of Archduke Leo- 
 pold Wilhelm, at Brussels, in the 
 seventeenth century. A copy of 
 it, by Teniers, is in Windsor 
 Castle. The sky and terrace wall 
 are repainted. The glazes, un- 
 equally removed from the flesh, 
 have made it spotty, and this is 
 conspicuous in the parts about 
 the Virgin's ey es . Joan Mey ssen' s 
 engraving, published at Antwerp, 
 
 bears the words, ' ' Titianus pinx " 
 on the window sill. The copy in 
 the Eovigo Museum, signed, in a 
 cartello on the wall to the left, 
 "TitianusF." is probably the same 
 canvas that, in 1845, formed part 
 of the Barbarigo Collection at 
 Venice. Compare Krafft, Hist. 
 Exit. Katalog. der K. K. Gemalde 
 Gall, zu Wien, 8vo, Wien, 1854, 
 p. 27 ; and Gian Carlo Bevilacqua's 
 Insigne Pinacoteca Barbarigo 
 della Terrazza, folio, 1845, p. 73. 
 There is a photograph of the 
 Vienna picture by Wawra. 
 
Chap. Ill] GROWTH OF TITIAN'S MANNER 
 
 57 
 
 ties of contemporary masters. It is hard to fix to 
 a particular moment the fluctuating tendency to snatch 
 something from Palma, or something from Giorgione. 
 There is evidence only of this, that Palma seems 
 constantly in Titian's eye ; though it becomes clearer 
 also at every moment, that the study of older styles 
 is steadily tempered by independent feeling, and a 
 constant reference to nature. In the rapid evolution 
 of time, varying results appear on the surface. Here 
 we find smoothness, polish and blending united to 
 richness of tone in pictures remarkable for great 
 uniformity of technical handling, there a mixture of 
 the same handling with a bolder touch and an inten- 
 tional variety of method in the production of grain. 
 But independently of this, Titian soon soars beyond 
 the limits which usually confine religious painting. 
 He brings novelty of conception into a picture con- 
 nected with some of the most conspicuous actions of 
 the Venetian state in the opening years of the century; 
 and he charms in a masterpiece, in which a tender 
 and poetic veil is thrown round a subject capable of 
 prurient and unpoetic treatment. 
 
 In purely ecclesiastical compositions, either half or 
 full length, it is easy to trace the growth of Titian's 
 power from its first beginnings to its development, at 
 the time of the Paduan journey or the later connection 
 with Ferrara. At the end of the vista in this direc- 
 tion, looms the grand Christ of " The Tribute Money, " 
 but it is hard to say in what year any one of these 
 pictures was produced, and we must be content to 
 know that they represent a current of thought often 
 
58 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. III. 
 
 interrupted, but always taken up afresh till the channel 
 is full and the object worked out. 
 
 Eeminiscent of the Virgin and Child at the Belve- 
 dere, which may be acknowledged as one of the most 
 youthful of Titian's creations, the Madonna with the 
 Child, the infant Baptist and two male saints in the 
 same collection, strikes us as a production of a more 
 mature time ; and it is clear not only that years 
 elapsed between the completion of the first and the 
 designing of the second, but that we stand a good 
 way on in the path leading up to the Christ of " The 
 Tribute Money." Before this — and if genuine — 
 evidence of a temporary approximation to Giorgione, 
 is a picture in the u Scuola di San Bocco" at Venice, 
 which represents the "Man of Sorrows." 
 
 The subject embodied in this canvas is perhaps more 
 essentially Venetian than any other. It was a favourite 
 with Antonello, who repeated it at different times 
 with realistic force, but it had been treated hitherto 
 with a view to displaying the outward sign of suffering 
 rather than the inward resignation to pain. Here 
 the Becleemer is presented as truly sorrowing; his 
 face inclined, his arms folded over each other. The 
 writhing common to the Baduans and Flemings, is 
 avoided, as being below the ideal of sixteenth century 
 art. A large form, a spacious chest, are natural ac- 
 companiments of a square and bony head, to which a 
 broad, short, nose, and a fleshy mouth give a special 
 impress ; but the type is noble and characteristic of 
 that period of Venetian painting, which closed, so to 
 speak, with Giovanni Bellini's Madonna of 1503, in 
 
Chap. III.] 
 
 ' MAN OF SOEEOWS.' 
 
 59 
 
 San Zaccaria at Venice. The only contrast which 
 shows to positive disadvantage is that of a long skinny 
 arm and emaciated hand attached to a frame of super- 
 natural scantling. "We can picture to ourselves the 
 eurious industry of an artist who first painted from 
 a corpse, and then gave life to the head by returning 
 to the study of the living model. Such a device 
 would naturally suggest itself to a youth striving 
 for mastery. The handling also indicates that the 
 painter was young and resolute, as well as patient and 
 painstaking. But whereas in the Virgin and Child of * 
 the Belvedere, the colours are applied to produce a 
 solid enamel, they are laid in here with surprising 
 spareness, varying from mere rubbings to substantial 
 strata, but never pastose, though carefully harmonized 
 by filmy glazings and delicate blending. A warm 
 and liquid general tone is given by clear but coloured 
 lights merging through cool half tints into darker 
 livids ; a surface the reverse of metallic is broken 
 by patches of livid grey in the hollows beneath the 
 eyes, varied by spots of bright cherry in the reflexes 
 of the lips, or of crimson in the wounds of the brow 
 and side ; flesh is relieved by shadow skilfully modified 
 with brown touches, where copious frizzled hair of 
 great fineness escapes from beneath the crown of 
 green thorns, and falls in masses on the shoulders. 
 Vasari notes in an early portrait by Titian, which has 
 not been preserved, this distinct manner of painting 
 subtle hair ; he praises too the finish and minuteness 
 of detail, which are also characteristic of the "Man 
 of Sorrows," and makes it in this respect hardly less 
 
60 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IIL 
 
 remarkable than the Christ of " The Tribute Money." * 
 At the time when Titian might be supposed capable 
 of attempting a work of this kind, the brethren of 
 San Eocco occupied a temporary building on the 
 site of the present "Scuola."-)- But when that 
 edifice was founded in 1517, and when later, the 
 name of Tintoretto began to overshadow every other, 
 the painter of the " Man of Sorrows " sank into such 
 complete oblivion, that his work was lost amongst the 
 " unknown," to which it is even now consigned. 
 
 Yet it was not unnatural that Titian, as a youth, 
 should have laboured for San Eocco in a style remini- 
 scent of Giorgione. He is said to have subsequently 
 composed for the same fraternity the " Christ carrying 
 his Cross," which now bears his name on the altar of 
 a side chapel in the church of San Eocco ; and this 
 remarkable picture, which was also executed before 
 the erection of the " School" in 1517, was first 
 admired for its beauty, and then worshipped for the 
 miracles it performed ; it is well-known, indeed, that 
 the offerings made before it were the source of the 
 fortune which enabled the brethren to re-build their 
 place of meeting. J Yet at a period when people 
 must have been in a condition to know the men 
 to whom celebrated masterpieces were assigned, 
 Vasari came to Venice, and hesitated whether he 
 should attribute the miraculous Christ of San Eocco 
 
 * Vasari, xiii. 20. 
 
 t Compare Zanotto (F.), Nuo- 
 vissima guida di Venezia, 12 mo, 
 Ven. 1863, p. 444, with Sansovino, 
 
 Ven. desc, pp. 287, 288. 
 
 J Sansovino, Ven. desc. 288, 
 and Vasari, xiii. 26. 
 
Chap. III.] THE « CROSS-BEARING CHRIST. 1 
 
 61 
 
 to Titian or Giorgione, and we actually find it ascribed 
 in his Lives to each of these painters in turn.* Was 
 it simply negligence on Yasari's part that he shonld 
 have committed this error, or was it that he conld not 
 really distinguish the work of each master? He 
 certainly confessed some doubt as to other pieces by 
 Titian. Concerning this of San Bocco, we may well 
 be puzzled, since his judgment is impaired by the 
 wear of years, and the fatal arts of restorers. Yet 
 the picture, even in its present bad condition, is still 
 imposing. It has lost its coloured glazings, and part 
 of the body of its flesh tints, but it preserves a grand 
 balance of light and shade, and displays the spirited 
 touch of an artist not inferior in any sense to 
 Giorgione. In one respect, and one only, we may 
 note a blemish pointing to the comparative inexperi- 
 ence of Titian. Of four figures in the canvas, two at 
 the sides are spectators, one to the right in the gloom 
 of the background, one to the left more clearly 
 brought forward. Between the two a grim execu- 
 tioner drags Christ with a cord as he bends to the 
 load of the cross, and Christ is majestically prominent 
 as he turns a noble face in concentrated light towards 
 the spectators. But matchless form and serene ex- 
 pression, such as we meet with here, hardly blind us 
 to a certain disproportion in the size of the head as 
 compared with that of the surrounding actors in the 
 scene ; and this fault is attributable not to a man 
 in his prime as Giorgione must have been, but to the 
 
 * Vasari, vii. 85, and xiii. 26. But Tizianello's " Anonimo" as- 
 cribes the picture (p. ix.) to Titian. 
 
62 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. III. 
 
 inexperience of a master forgetting in the eagerness 
 of his youth one of the rules of composition. Inde- 
 pendently of this defect, the picture is executed with 
 the care which distinguished Giorgione, with a 
 mastery and breadth, yet with a spareness of impast, 
 essentially Giorgionesque, and with a delicacy in 
 modelling and blending, which reveal great technical 
 skill united to a studious observation of nature. 
 
 But here again we are carried on, as we trace the 
 career -of a versatile painter, beyond the days of his 
 youth. Granted that he produced the pictures of 
 San Eocco, we must concede first that he finished 
 the " Christ carrying his Cross " after the " Man of 
 Sorrows ; " next, that when painting these pieces in a 
 Giorgionesque form, he was also painting other things 
 in a form not Giorgione's. But this need not 
 create surprise, for Titian's genius was so vast, and so 
 comprehensive, as to require extraordinary modes of 
 expansion; and his later works afford innumerable 
 proofs of an enviable power to execute at one time 
 pictures technically different in handling. 
 
 Bidolfi's "Maraviglie," published for the first time 
 at Yenice in 1648, contains a description of Titian's 
 "Twp Maidens at a Fountain" in the palace of 
 Prince Borghese at Borne.* It was probably recog- 
 nized in earlier days as a masterpiece, marking a 
 period in the growth of Venetian art ; yet the precise 
 date of its completion, and the title of its original 
 owner, are both unrecorded, and the patron's arms 
 
 * Kidolfi, Marav. i. 257. 
 
Chap. III.] "ARTLESS AND SATED LOVE. 
 
 63 
 
 emblazoned on the picture still remain undeciphered.* 
 The vague name of " Sacred and Profane Love," 
 which clings to this allegory, poorly expresses the 
 contrast of " Artless and Sated Love." The scene is 
 laid in a pleasure ground surrounded by landscape, 
 swathed in the balmy atmosphere of an autumnal 
 evening. A warm glow is shed over hill, dale, and 
 shore, and streaks of grey cloud alternate with bands 
 of light in a sunset sky. To the right in the distance, 
 a church on an island and a clump of cottages on a bend 
 of land, bathed by the waters of the sea ; and two 
 horsemen on a road watch their hounds coursing a 
 hare. To the left a block of buildings, and a tower 
 half illumined by a ray of sun crown the hill-side, 
 where a knight with his lance rides to meet a knot of 
 villagers. Nearer to the foreground, and at measured 
 intervals, saplings throw their branches lightly on the 
 sky, which, nearer still, is intercepted in the centre 
 of the space by a group of rich-leaved trees, rising 
 fan-like behind the marble trough of an antique 
 fountain. Enchanting lines of hill and plain, here in 
 shadow, there in light, lead us to the foreground 
 where the women sit on a lawn, watered by the stream 
 that issues from the fountain, and rich in weeds that 
 shoot forked leaves and spikes out of the grass. 
 Artless Love on one side, leans, half-sitting, on^the 
 ledge of the trough, a crystal dish at her side, symbo- 
 lizing her thoughts. Her naked figure, slightly veiled 
 
 * A shield, with a monster 
 bound down by a sash, the head 
 and forefeet those of a rampant 
 
 lion, the hinder part like the tail 
 of some fish-like animal. 
 
64 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. III. 
 
 by a length of muslin, is relieved upon a silken cloth 
 hanging across the arm, and helping to display a 
 form of faultless shape and complexion. The left 
 hand holds aloft the vase and emblematic incense of 
 love; the right, resting on the ledge, supports the 
 frame as the maiden turns, with happy earnestness, 
 to gaze at her companion. She neither knows nor 
 cares to heed that Cupid is leaning over the hinder 
 ledge of the fountain, and plashing in the water. 
 Sated Love sits to the left, her back resolutely turned 
 towards Cupid, her face determined, haughty, but 
 serene ; her charms veiled in splendid dress, her very 
 hands concealed in gloves. A more graphic revela- 
 tion of the thought embodied in the allegory can 
 scarcely be conceived; but lest the coarse sense of 
 man should fail to decipher the painter's meaning, a 
 bas-relief in the fountain wall shows a genius 
 whipping the god of love out of his sleep ; a shepherd 
 in a meadow gives his maiden the kiss of betrothal, 
 conies sport on the grass, and two butterflies flutter 
 over a flower. Again a plucked rose fades unheeded 
 by the sated one's side, and a lute lies silent under 
 her elbow. We forget, while gazing at this figure, 
 that the painter has not explained the manner of her 
 sitting ; we scarcely notice the faulty drawing of the 
 hand. She seems so grand in her lawns and silks; 
 her bosom is fringed with such delicate cambric ; her 
 waist and skirt so finely draped in satin of grey 
 reflexes ; the red girdle with its jewelled clasp, the 
 rich armlets, the bunch of roses in her gloved hand, 
 all harmonize so perfectly. Not without coquetry, 
 
Chap. III.] TITIAN AND THE ANTIQUE. 
 
 65 
 
 or taste for sparkling colour, the chestnut hair of the 
 naked maiden is twisted in a rose-coloured veil ; the 
 cloth at her loins is of that golden white which sets 
 off so well the still more golden whiteness of her skin. 
 The red silk falling from her arm, and partly waving 
 in the air, is of that crimson tone which takes such 
 wonderful carminated changes in the modulations of 
 its surface, and brings out by its breaks the more 
 uniform pearl of the flesh.* 
 
 What history has forgotten to record of Titian's 
 early associations and studies stands revealed in this 
 beautiful creation of his pencil. When he composed 
 this piece he was young indeed, but past the 
 ordeal of the schools, skilled as a composer, but not 
 less conspicuous for taste as a colourist than studious 
 of pagan art and familiar with Nature. Nature in 
 fact was always preferred by Titian before all else. 
 It may be true and would perhaps be a just reproach 
 upon his skill that knowing so much of the antique 
 as he did, he should not have tried to revive the 
 ideal peculiar to the Greeks ; but in all the changes 
 of his art, and even at the time of the beautiful 
 " Venus of Pardo," he preferred the seductive grace 
 of Nature to the more elevated but more statuesque 
 perfection of the Florentine School. He never was 
 above appropriating and applying that which he 
 found good in others, but he did so for the sake of 
 assimilation rather than for purposes of imitation, and 
 he was in this sense altogether his own master. His 
 
 * This picture is well preserved. 
 The figures are just under life- 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 size. A photograph has been taken 
 by Alinari from, the original. 
 
66 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. III. 
 
 deep acquaintance with the works of the Bellini, 
 Antonello and Carpaccio is perfectly clear to our 
 mind, equally so his knowledge of Greek sculpture, 
 but what he acquired from them he purified by con- 
 stant comparison with nature ; and he formed by this 
 means a style original in thought and new in tech- 
 nical treatment. Titian stands in no relation to any of 
 his predecessors as Eaphael to Perugino. In Eaphael 
 we always discern the pupil of one master. In his 
 grandest moments he is never so far transfigured as to 
 deny his teacher. Titian's style is the outcome of the 
 art of Venice as it rose to perfection under different 
 artists in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. "We 
 cannot say that he is ever the direct disciple of any 
 single craftsman. But in the picture of the Borghese 
 Palace as in the votive altarpiece of the bishop of 
 Paphos at Antwerp which immediately follows it, 
 the man to whom he shows most affinity is Palma 
 Vecchio, and this remark applies not only to technical 
 handling but to mould of form and drapery and even 
 to typical models of faces. Palma's earliest extant 
 picture is that of Mr. Eeiset in Paris, which bears the 
 date of 1500. It was done about the time of "Artless 
 and Sated Love/' and betrays a more experienced 
 hand; but few will be found to prefer the work of 
 Palma to that of Titian. " Artless and Sated Love " 
 is the first fruit of the period which produced the 
 bacchanal at Madrid, and the Ariadne of the National 
 Gallery ; but the types of the faces are unmistakably 
 related to those of Palma's Yiolante at Yienna, and 
 the " Bella di Tiziano" in the Sciarra Palace at 
 
Chap, in.] TITIAN AND GIORGIONE. 
 
 <37 
 
 Eome. The binding of the hair, the fashion of the 
 dress, the cenerine scales of tone in modelling are 
 Palmesque ; and in all these points of general resem- 
 blance we may trace the source of the story which 
 makes Titian in love with Palma's daughter, and the 
 tendency of modern critics to confound the works of 
 one painter with those of his more experienced con- 
 temporary.* 
 
 As a colonrist and landscape painter, Titian cannot 
 as yet be said to have reached the level of Giorgione ; 
 and "the Maidens" of the Borghese palace will not 
 bear comparison with the Madonna of Castelfranco ; 
 but the race between the rivals is already very close, 
 and we feel that Titian may run Giorgione harder 
 than he would like. One thing remains worthy of 
 special mention. It is characteristic of the Borghese 
 picture, that the scene is laid in the idyllic lowlands 
 of the Venetian provinces and not in the neighbour- 
 hood of the dolomites of Cadore ; and we might infer 
 that the Alpine land of Titian's birth had not left that 
 impress on the master's mind in early years which is 
 clearly observable in the frescoes of Padua. Yet a 
 man of Titian's feeling and fibre might hesitate to 
 give to a warm and poetic subject the inappropriate 
 foil of a nature sublime indeed and full of grandeur, 
 but ill suited to the display of beauty in an allegorical 
 undress. 
 
 But it is time to connect the form of Titian as it 
 looms before us in the distance of centuries, with the 
 
 * Let us note once more — the Palace is assigned to Titian, but 
 Bella di Tiziano at the Sciarra painted by Palma Vecchio. 
 
 f 2 
 
68 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. III. 
 
 period in which these first creations of his brnsh were 
 finished ; and as we do so we remember that the days 
 were trying ones for the name and repntation of 
 Venice, and that troubles of no common kind were 
 disturbing the peace of Italy. We saw with what 
 fatal certainty the Venetian State was losing the 
 pledges of her supremacy in the Levantine seas. Did 
 her statesmen believe that the loss of these pledges 
 could ever be retrieved ? Did they think them 
 capable of being compensated by extension of terri- 
 tory in Italy ? Could they seriously hope to wield 
 permanent command in Pisa or on the coast of Apulia 
 whilst they lay at the mercy of invasions from all 
 points of the compass by powers full of the strength 
 of a growing and compact nationality ? They must 
 have been well aware at the close of the 15th century 
 that their existence was conditional on the cunning 
 with which they might be able to contract alliances ; 
 and this is all but proved by the fact that they learnt 
 to exercise this cunning with less regard to public 
 morality than their neighbours, but with a depth of 
 astuteness, so treacherous and unfathomable at times 
 as to furnish the semblance of real power. In 1495 
 they joined the Pope, the Emperor, the King of 
 Spain, and the Dukes of Milan, Ferrara, and Bologna, 
 to foil Charles the Eighth. In 1498 they leagued 
 with France against Naples and Milan, for the purpose 
 of striking at the Turks and acquiring the frontier of 
 the Adda. Their success on land in the years that 
 followed was limited by the victories of France, which 
 at first were brilliant, but this was more than counter- 
 
Chap. III.] 
 
 BOKGIA AND PESAEO. 
 
 69 
 
 balanced by defeats abroad and at sea, which gave the 
 finishing stroke to their power in the East. What 
 interests ns here more than the gain of a fortress or 
 the loss of a fleet to Venice, is the part taken in 
 negotiations and war by persons with whom Titian 
 had relations. It has been hinted that Titian was not 
 unknown at this time to the court of Lodovico Sforza, 
 but this is not certain.* He was more surely con- 
 nected with the Pesari, who were friends of the 
 Borgias, and whose fortunes wavered with the 
 chances of the republic in its struggle against the 
 Turks. At the court of Constantinople, Venice 
 usually kept an agent ; but there were numerous 
 States besides, ready to intrigue with the Sultan if 
 they thought they could bring his fierce janizaries or 
 his dreaded galleys with advantage to themselves 
 against their neighbours. It is perhaps needless to 
 remark, that in a political age affected by no scruples, 
 it was not considered more derogatory to His Most 
 Christian Majesty to invite the aid of Mussulmen 
 against Christians, than to the Pope to point out to 
 the foe of Christendom how he might injure a 
 Christian principality. In 1494, Alfonso of Naples 
 sent to offer Bajazet Otranto and Brindisi, if he 
 would attack Scio and separate the Genoese from the 
 Prench.-j- The Florentines, in 1497, acting for them- 
 selves as well as for others, offered the Sultan 50,000 
 
 * MS. notes by E. Cicogna to 
 Tizianello's anonymous Life of 
 Titian. MS. in the Seminario at 
 Venice. 
 
 f Domenico Malipiero's An- 
 nali Veneti, part 1, p. 144, in 
 Archivio Storico, torn. vii. 8vo, 
 Fir. 1843. 
 
70 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. HI. 
 
 ducats to attack Venice.* Prior to the invasion of 
 Italy by Lonis the Twelfth, Lodovico Moro persuaded 
 Alexander the Sixth to send an ambassador to Bajazet 
 telling him that Venice was in league with France, 
 and might become the mistress of Italy ; and it was 
 owing to the diplomacy of Venice that this intrigue 
 was discovered, and Alexander was brought round to 
 the alliance of France.-]* In consequence of this 
 accord, the Borgias set about acquiring influence at 
 Venice, with the hope of finding favour for their 
 plans of private aggrandizement. It was not enough 
 that Louis the Twelfth should have given Csesar 
 Borgia the hand of a French princess with the title of 
 Duke, and the right to carve a principality out of the 
 Eomagna ; it was equally important that Venice 
 should countenance an attack on Pesaro, Faenza and 
 Eimini. There was perhaps little chance of such 
 countenance in July of 1499, when Antonio 
 Grimani was sent out with a fleet to meet the 
 Turkish squadron on the coast of Greece, and the 
 French monarch advanced to the conquest of Lom- 
 bardy ; but in August, after Grimani' s defeat near 
 Lepanto, Venice was very deeply humiliated, and it is 
 related of Louis the Twelfth, that he told Loredano 
 the Venetians were clever and wealthy, but of small 
 heart, and fearful of death, whilst the French fought 
 to conquer or die. J It was when smarting under 
 these losses and reproofs that Venice was visited by 
 
 * Domenico Malipiero's Annali 
 Veneti, part 1, p. 159. 
 
 t Ibid. 163. 
 
 % Malipiero, 183. 
 
Chap. III.] C2ESAR BORGIA AT VENICE. 
 
 71 
 
 Caesar Borgia, who was received by the Doge and 
 Senate at San Biagio Cataldo on the 11th of 
 September. His demands were Ferrara, Imola, Forli 
 Bertinoro, Pesaro, and Rimini, for the Pope ; and the 
 senate was so perplexed for an answer that it took 
 eleven days to deliberate. Then however the Doge 
 Agostino Barbarigo spoke the verdict of the sages, 
 and said the Borgias might take Pesaro if they could, 
 but Ferrara and Rimini never. Caesar was fain to be 
 content with this reply.* He attended a gorgeous 
 ceremony on the 24th of September, when the 
 Standard of Venice was given to Marchio Trevisani 
 on his appointment to supersede Antonio Grimani ; 
 and it must have been a curious spectacle to see the 
 son of a Pope married to a princess of Navarre, acting 
 as legate a latere to his father, and after high mass in 
 the robes of a cardinal, offer plenary indulgence to 
 the Venetian people to join a Crusade against the 
 Moslems. f As he left the lagoons with three hundred 
 horse for Padua the scandal mongers of the city 
 accused his servants of stealing the arras and gold 
 worked curtains, as well as the sheets and quilts in 
 their official residence, and Caesar himself was charged 
 with robbing the high altar of a Muranese Church of 
 a costly tablecloth. J Whether Caesar at this time 
 was induced to sit to Titian for his likeness cannot be 
 affirmed with certainty, but there is a tradition that 
 he did so ; and Charles the First of England is 
 known to have possessed a portrait of Caesar on one 
 
 * Malipiero, 564-565. 
 
 f Ibid. 180-181. 
 
 Ibid. 565. 
 
72 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. III. 
 
 canvas with Alexander the Sixth.* Borgia was a 
 man of too mnch cleverness and conscions of too much 
 support not to have known how to make friends in a 
 place like "Venice ; and there is every reason to 
 believe that he found numerous partisans amongst the 
 patricians of that city. "When Angelo Leonini came 
 next spring as legate from the Pope to urge anew the 
 claims of Alexander, he was fearlessly accompanied to 
 the council by the chiefs of several noble families ; 
 and with their countenance he passionately renewed 
 the demands of the Borgias.f 
 
 Marchio Trevisani had shared the fate of Antonio 
 Grimani, and lost a battle to the Turks in 1500, but 
 still Barbarigo remained unmoved. He sternly 
 refused to Leonini what he had not yielded to Caesar 
 Borgia, sent for aid to the Emperor, to Bhodes and 
 Portugal ; and at last, in April, 1501, concluded 
 a solemn league with Alexander the Sixth and 
 Ladislaus of Hungary to fight the Sultan. On the 
 8th of April, Father Eaphael, an itinerant friar and 
 popular speaker, preached the Crusade on the Piazza 
 of St. Mark before 50,000 people. He repeated the 
 
 * Amongst the pictures be- 
 longing to Charles I. at Wimble- 
 don and Greenwich, one cata- 
 logued by Bathoe (Catalogue of 
 Charles I.'s Coll., fol. London, 
 1757, p. 3) was " Pope Alexander 
 and Csesar Borgia, done by Ti- 
 tian." In the Eadnor Collection 
 at Longford Castle, No. 138 is a 
 portrait of a man to the knees, 
 his left hand in his girdle, his 
 right on a wall, on the face of 
 
 which are the words, ' 1 ano jetatis 
 svm xxxi." The treatment of 
 this picture betrays an artist of 
 the late Venetian school, whose 
 manner is related to that of the 
 Bassanos, yet it bears the name 
 of Caesar Borgia, and is assigned 
 to Titian. 
 
 f May 24, 1500. Marin Sanut 
 Diarii MS. in Cicogna, Iscr. 
 Ven., folio, Venice, 1824-53, ?i. 
 p. 16. 
 
Chap. III.] 
 
 "BAFFO" PESAEO. 
 
 73 
 
 sermon and published the Bull on the 13th, and 
 immediately after Jacopo da Pesaro, a Venetian 
 prelate, was appointed by a Papal Bull legate of 
 the Holy See, and commander of twenty Papal 
 galleys.* 
 
 The Pesari were powerful nobles at Venice at the 
 opening of the sixteenth century. Benedetto Pesaro 
 was chosen to command the Venetian fleet at the 
 fall of Modon after the death of a broken heart of 
 Marchio Trevisano.f He died in the spring of 1503 
 at Corfu, after news had reached him that Venice had 
 ceded the Morea to Bajazet the Second, and he left 
 his relative Jacopo to return home to boast of the 
 capture of Santa Maura. J Jacopo was one of those 
 patricians whose entrance into orders precluded them 
 from employment under the Venetian government. 
 He soothed his ambition by purchasing dignities 
 abroad. Born in 1460 he became titular bishop of 
 Paphos in Cyprus, from which he took the nickname 
 of " Baffb."§ He was made keeper of the Clemen- 
 tine Bull at Venice in 1530 ; and his great age, 
 
 * Marin Sanuto in Cicogna, 
 Isc. Ven. ii. 120, and Sansovino, 
 Yen. desc, p. 189. 
 
 t Sansovino, Ven. desc. Chro- 
 nicon, p. 54. 
 
 t Petri Bembi, Hist. Ven., 
 liber vi. p. 140, ed. of Bale, 
 1556. 
 
 § " Laudd (Paolo Capello's Ee- 
 lazione before the Venetian Senate 
 in 1500) li nostri prelati . . . 
 messer Jacopo da Pesaro, vescovo 
 di Baffo." Eelazioni degli Am- 
 
 basc. Veneti, by Alberi, 8vo, Flor. 
 vol. vii. p. 12. On Jacopo Pesaro's 
 tomb we find his death recorded 
 April, 1547, with the significant 
 addition, " Vixit annos plato- 
 nicos." Giovanni della Casa, in a 
 letter to Cardinal Farnese, Dec. 
 17, 1545, says: " Bapho e di eta 
 di 84 anni." See the letter in 
 Eonchini (Amadio), Lettere d'uo- 
 mini illustri, 8vo, Parma, 1853, 
 p. 142. 
 
74 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. in. 
 
 which clouded an intellect distinguished in its 
 time for acuteness, was the only cause which 
 prevented his being sent in 1545 to the Council of 
 Trent* 
 
 To persons acquainted with Venice the name of 
 Pesaro will be connected with that of Titian by the 
 splendid altarpiece of the Frari, in which the bishop 
 of Paphos is represented kneeling before the Virgin, 
 whilst an armed knight unfurls the standard of the 
 Borgia. But at a much earlier period of " Baffo's " 
 career, and probably at the very moment when the 
 favour of Alexander the Sixth enabled him to take com- 
 mand of a squadron against the Turks, he caused 
 Titian to paint his likeness in adoration before the 
 majesty of St. Peter. During the reign of Charles the 
 First of England, this picture was part of the furniture 
 of a private room in the palace of Whitehall. It 
 passed after the revolution with many other works of 
 art into Spain.f At Villa Viciosa, in San Pasquale, 
 and in the Palace of Madrid, it was seen at various 
 times by Conca and Mengs.J "William the First, king 
 of the Netherlands, presented it in 1825 to the munici- 
 pality of Antwerp. § Though soiled by travel and 
 skinned by cleaning it has survived a very thorough 
 process of repainting, which seriously affects the 
 harmony of the colours; but we may still discern 
 
 * Eonchini, Lettere, u. s., and 
 Cicogna, Isc. Ven. iii. 269. 
 t Bathoe's Catalogue, p. 96. 
 % Conca (A.), Descriz. Odepo- 
 ica della Spagna, Parma, 1793, 
 
 i. 177. Waagen, Treasures of Art 
 in Great Britain, 8vo, London, 
 1854, ii. 479—480. 
 
 § Antwerp Catalogue of 1852, 
 p. 72. 
 
Chap. III.] TITIAN'S POETEAIT OF " BAFFO. 
 
 75 
 
 beneath the scumbles of the restorer the primitive 
 beauty of the design and the clever facility of the 
 handling. " Baffo" kneels with the banner of the 
 Borgias in his hand before the throne of St. Peter. 
 His dress is that of a Dominican, but the helmet of a 
 knight lies before him, and proclaims his promotion 
 to a military command. The figure of Alexander the 
 Sixth in full pontificals, bending to recommend him to 
 the apostle, tells of the protection to which he owed 
 his appointment, and the favour of the Holy See is 
 suggested by St. Peter, who sits on a throne to the 
 left, and gives the suppliant his blessing. In the 
 distance to the right, the waters and forts of a 
 military harbour in which galleys are at anchor 
 complete the subject. On a tablet below the fore- 
 ground the following quaint inscription is to be 
 found : 
 
 EITEATTO DI VNO DI CA SA PESAEO 
 IN VENETIA CHE FV FATTO 
 GENEEALE DI S TA CHIESA 
 TITIANO F. 
 
 This remarkable work has been exhibited long 
 enough in the Museum of Antwerp to enable critics 
 to decide whether the kneeling Dominican really 
 represents Jacopo Pesaro or not, and if so, whether 
 he was portrayed before or after his expedition to the 
 Ionian Islands. It is a moot question whether the 
 inscription on the tablet is as old as the time of 
 Titian. Yet if we admit that it was written by the 
 painter himself, which seems on the face of it impro- 
 bable, we must logically believe that the panel was 
 
76 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. III. 
 
 executed some time after the event which it is in- 
 tended to record. There is no doubt that the kneel- 
 ing Dominican is, in truth, Jacopo Pesaro, because of 
 his striking likeness to the "Baffo" of the altarpiece 
 at the Frari; nor is it less clear that the painter is 
 Titian, since, in spite of abrasion and retouching, the 
 treatment is evidently the same as that of the allegory 
 in the Borghese Palace. But it is equally apparent 
 that the picture cannot be dated later than 1503 — 
 because the age of Pesaro, as he kneels before St. Peter, 
 is that of a man between forty and forty-three ; and 
 Alexander the Sixth, abhorred as he was by all classes 
 of Italians, would scarcely have been introduced into 
 any picture after his death on the 18 th of August, 
 1503. The style, too, in which the whole piece was 
 executed, though more hasty than that of the Borghese 
 allegory, just displays so much additional skill and 
 facility of hand as might be expected from the en- 
 larged experience of one or two years subsequent 
 to the production of that work, whilst it still exhibits 
 the comparative imperfection of an art which requires 
 time and leisure to ripen. The portraits, indeed, may 
 be pronounced masterly, but the form of St. Peter is 
 neither as grand nor as manly as Titian would have 
 made it a few years later ; and apart from their intrinsic 
 interest, the details of the saint's throne and its carved 
 circular plinth are such as would only occur to an 
 artist of unfinished education. The painter of " Art- 
 less and Sated Love," seeing the pleasing effect of a 
 bas-relief imitating Greek marble sculpture, would 
 easily fall into the mistake — as he does here — of ap- 
 
Chap. III.] SENATOEIAL POETEAIT AET. 
 
 77 
 
 plying the same ornament to the throne of St. Peter ; 
 but a more mature judgment would have 'told him 
 that an altar sacred to Eros and incidents arising out 
 of the passion of love were not fit for the seat of the 
 first of the apostles. Their introduction into such a 
 place shows Titian to have been an admirer of the 
 antique, but not as yet the subtle craftsman who sub- 
 sequently became so familiar with the end and pur- 
 pose for which acquaintance with classic sculpture 
 was encouraged in Tuscany. It is not certain that 
 the panel has preserved its original size, but even this 
 hardly explains why St. Peter should sit with so little 
 majesty in a narrow corner. He rests his left hand 
 on the Gospel, whilst he gives the blessing with his 
 right — a studied attitude, with studied gesture and 
 drapery to match, but the forms are reminiscent of 
 the fourteenth century, and recall Carpaccio and 
 Bellini, without revealing as much original power as 
 we find elsewhere ; and it would almost seem as if the 
 wish to preserve an old and well-known type had 
 paralyzed, to some extent, the youthful master's 
 hand. There is nothing so generally admitted by 
 critics of Venetian art as the grave and " senatorial " 
 dignity imparted to portraits by Venetian painters. 
 Here we have two forms of portrait. We have 
 Pesaro from life; the attitude, the action of the 
 hands, the raised head with its determined expression 
 of lip and eye, reproduced with surprising truth and 
 considerable fire. We also have Alexander the Sixth 
 idealized as a saint, younger than he could possibly 
 have appeared at the time of the action, and probably 
 
78 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. III. 
 
 taken from a portrait. Yet such is the skill of the 
 artist in reproducing the modulations of nature, that 
 we can scarcely believe that it was not flesh and 
 blood from which he painted. But again — as at 
 Vienna and at Eome — so here the preponderant influ- 
 ence appears to be the influence of Palma Yecchio, 
 which shows itself diversely in the form and treat- 
 ment of drapery, in the blurred grain of skin con- 
 trasted with broad touch and brushwork in stuffs, and 
 in scales of tints. Palmesque alike are the changes of 
 warm fair lights to breaks of silver grey, merging into 
 livid brown, and the careful blending of pigments of 
 fluid texture. Equally prominent and striking are 
 points of resemblance with the allegory of the Bor- 
 ghese Palace, such as the tones of whites and reds, the 
 gloves, and defective drawing in the hands. True 
 balance in harmonies, atmosphere, and grand lines of 
 landscape distance are qualities which we never look 
 for in Titian's pictures in vain.* In this way Titian, 
 step by step, creeps up to the front, and with a large 
 reserve of power behind him, inaugurates a new 
 period, and founds upon the older edifice of fifteenth- 
 century art a new style. He may not have acquired 
 
 * Antwerp Museum, No. 357, 
 wood, l ra, 45h., by l m -83. When 
 this picture was in Charles I. 's col- 
 lection, it was 4 ft. 9 in. by 5 ft. 
 11 in. It seems therefore to have 
 lost some inches of its height. The 
 head, including the beard and hair 
 of St. Peter, is much injured by 
 re-painting, and the mantle, origi- 
 
 nally yellow, is now of a russet 
 green tone. The sky has been 
 damaged by streaks of yellow 
 paint in the lighter parts. A 
 copy, almost contemporary with 
 the picture itself, may be seen on 
 canvas in the Casa Lazara at 
 Padua. 
 
Chap, in.] 
 
 PROGKESS OF TITIAN. 
 
 79 
 
 up to this point the solid perfection of the Bellini, or 
 the polish of Palma and Giorgione, but he is all but 
 free from every archaism of the previous age, and he 
 gives better promise than any painter of the time, 
 Giorgione and Palma not excepted. 
 
CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 The Fondaco de' Tedeschi, and its History. — Girolamo Tedesco and Scar- 
 pagnini. — Frescos of Titian at the Fondaco, compared with those 
 of Giorgione. — The Vecelli at Venice and Cadore. — Francesco 
 Yecelli. — Wars of the League. — Battle of Cadore. — Effects of the 
 War on Artists. — Progress of Venetian Art. — Influence of Diirer. 
 — Titian's Manner. — Madonnas at Vienna, the Louvre, and the 
 TJffizi. — Virgin and St. Bridget at Madrid. — Virgin of Burleigh 
 House. — Doges' Portraits not from Life. — Christ of the Tribute 
 Money. — Titian's visit to Padua ; he consorts with Campagnola. — 
 Cornaro Palace. — Triumph of Faith. — Frescos of the Carmine and 
 Santo at Padua. — Titian at Vicenza. — He returns to Venice. 
 
 ~No period of Titian's life has been more completely 
 neglected by Venetian historians than that which in- 
 tervenes between his apprenticeship under Zuccato 
 and the clays of his matriculation, yet it is doubtful 
 whether we know less of this period than of that 
 which immediately follows it ; and the competition of 
 Titian and Giorgione at the Fondaco de' Tedeschi, 
 though decisive as to the career of both, is still in- 
 volved in great obscurity. The Fondaco is now a 
 public office lying east of the Eialto bridge on the 
 grand canal. In its primitive form it was a dwelling 
 house reserved for the " tribunes of the island of 
 Eialto," but as far back as the opening of the thirteenth 
 century it had been turned into a " tavern" for the 
 use of German merchants.* Eecords of 1228 already 
 
 * Theodor Elze, History of the Fondaco in the "Ausland" for 
 1870, folio, Augsburg, No. 27. 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 EONDACO DE' TEDESCHI. 
 
 81 
 
 describe it as a government building kept exclusively 
 for the benefit of foreigners, the name of German 
 or "Teutonicus" covering at that time the various 
 nationalities of Germany proper, Savoy, Bohemia, 
 Hungary and Poland.* To the natives of these 
 distant countries the right of exclusive residence in 
 the Fondaco was absolutely conceded, but the right 
 was counterbalanced by equivalent restraints, and 
 Germans were not allowed to reside or to trade 
 in any place but the Fondaco.f We might fancy 
 that under such stringent rules as these, the German 
 community would be allowed to administer its own 
 concerns, but the Venetian government was far too 
 jealous of its power and too suspicious of fraud to 
 grant such a privilege ; and, prior to the sixteenth 
 century, the police of the Fondaco was in the hands 
 of three vice-domini and their subalterns, whose care 
 descended to the furnishing of cooking utensils, and 
 wine for the use of the inmates. $ There was not 
 a man in the Fondaco besides the traders who was 
 not a paid official or spy of the government^ The 
 packers, weighers, brokers, and auctioneers, were all 
 appointed by the state ; a fortiori, the notaries, clerks, 
 and servants of the vice-domini. An important 
 officer was the steward, who gave the merchant his 
 
 * Capitolare dei Visdomini del 
 Eontego dei Todeschi in Venezia, 
 ed. Dr. G. Thomas, folio, Berlin, 
 1874, pp. 137, 227. Eelix Eabri, 
 the Dominican, who left Ulm in 
 1480 for the Holy Land, was 
 lodged at Venice in the Fondaco. 
 He says (Eratr. Eelicis Eabri 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Evagatorium. 1480, ed. C. D. 
 Hassler,8vo, Stuttgardt, 1843, iii. p. 
 407), " Tabernas non habent, nisi 
 quas pro Teutonicis et Sclavis et 
 Vadienis et scortis sustinent." 
 
 f Capitolare, pp. 31, 78, 228. 
 
 t Ibid. pp. 48, 120. 
 
 § Ibid. 79—80, 231. 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 room and magazine, and took charge of the arms and 
 ammunition which he carried for defence on his 
 journey and surrendered on his arrival at Yenice.* 
 Equally important as a class were the brokers [messeti 
 or sensali), of whom there were thirty at the disposal 
 of strangers. But no person was allowed to select his 
 own broker. The -names of these officers were put 
 into a hat, and one or two were chosen out of a given 
 number by lot from the hat.*]* Between the broker and 
 the merchant there was a constant relation ; because 
 the latter was bound to do business through the former, 
 who controlled and registered as well as negotiated 
 sales. The broker always accompanied his client 
 when he bought merchandise, and the merchant was 
 precluded from buying from any but born Venetians."!: 
 The interest which this question of m rcantile 
 brokerage excites is greatly increased for the historian 
 of art by the knowledge that the broker's office, being 
 in the gift of the government, was frequently conferred 
 on painters ; but it is clear, though we have no dis- 
 tinct proof of the fact, that towards the close of the 
 fifteenth century these appointments were often either 
 sinecures or transferable. § The real holder probably 
 
 * Capit. 84, 145, 165; and Wil- 
 helm Heyd's "Das Haus der 
 Deutschen Kaufleute, in Venedig, 
 in Sybel' s Historische Zeitschrif t, ' ' 
 for 1874, 4tes Heft. 
 
 -j- Capitolare, p. 94. 
 
 X Pp. 90, 92, 98, 103, 144. 
 
 § Some allusion to the per- 
 formance of the duties of a broker 
 by proxy may be found in the 
 Capitolare of the Eondaco, under 
 
 date of the 26th of Sept. 1475, 
 Capit. p. 232. Of brokers who 
 did no business at all we have the 
 following, MCCC. die Aug. . . . 
 " da zerto tempo in qua [e] sta 
 electi Sanseri in fontego, de i 
 qual tal non ha la lengua To- 
 descha, tal son in decrepita eta 
 e tal non se exercita per non saver 
 far Sansaria, per modo zercha la 
 mita de essi sanseri non se ex- 
 
Chap. IV.] BUILDING OF THE FONDACO. 
 
 S3 
 
 farmed out the office ; and we know that Bellini and 
 Titian were both brokers in the Fondaco, though it 
 is plain that they performed none of the duties of 
 the fraternity. 
 
 The offices of the Fondaco were only separated 
 from the Eialto by the wooden bridge of that name. 
 But the Fondaco, as it now stands, is not the building 
 which existed in, the fifteenth century. An older 
 edifice, of smaller dimensions on a narrower site, was 
 burnt down with loss of life and treasure on the 
 28th of January, 1505.* Immediately after the 
 disaster great difficulty was encountered in regulating 
 the sale and purchase of German goods, but measures 
 were quickly taken by Francesco de' Garzoni, at that 
 time commissioner of the Salt-office, to rebuild the 
 Fondaco, and it was found practicable to give 
 temporary accommodation to the merchants in the 
 "Loggie" of Eialto, whilst the Yisdomini were 
 transferred to the hired palace of the Lippomano 
 family. Meanwhile new land was bought by the 
 Venetian government ;j" competition was invited for 
 models of a new edifice, and plans were sent in by 
 two artists of name, — Giorgio Spavento, then city 
 architect and "proto," and Girolamo Todesco, a 
 German, favoured for his skill as well as for his 
 
 ercita in Sanseria . . ." Capitolare, 
 p. 247. The brokers who prac- 
 tised were paid at a certain rate 
 per cent, on all they sold. — Ibid, 
 pp. 267, 268. 
 
 * Morelli's Anonimo, with an- 
 not. by E. Cicogna in the library 
 of St. Mark, contains a memo- 
 
 randum in MS. by Signor Fran- 
 cesco Lazzan, from which this 
 and other facts and dates respect- 
 ing the Fondaco are extracted. 
 
 f Leonardo Loredano to the 
 Council of Nuremberg, Dec. 6, 
 1508, in Heyd, u. s., p. 218. 
 
 g 2 
 
84 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 nationality by his countrymen. For some time it 
 was dubious which of the plans would be accepted. 
 The question was settled in June by a decree of the 
 Senate, " in Pregadi," declaring substantially that it 
 was advisable to yield to the pressing instances of 
 the merchants, who preferred the model of their 
 countryman, and so to adopt Girolamo's plan which, 
 besides being perfect in design and distribution, was 
 also most ingenious in its scheme of construction. 
 It was made an absolute condition, on the other hand, 
 that no marble and no carved or fret work should be 
 introduced into the building, and thus the authorities 
 were driven to the use of painting for adornments 
 which might otherwise have been excluded in favour 
 of architectural and sculptural decoration.* 
 
 On the 20th of June, 1505, two days after the issue 
 of this decree, Alvise Emo succeeded Garzoni at the 
 Salt-office and took the direction of the works at the 
 Fondaco. His first care was to remove Girolamo 
 Tedesco, who received an appointment in the artillery 
 at Cattaro. He then made Antonio Scarpagnini 
 general superintendent under the orders of 
 Giorgio Spavento. Three hundred ducats a month 
 were spent in one year by the Venetian government 
 in laying the foundations and bringing up the walls 
 to the first floor. The body of the edifice above 
 
 * Decree MS. of June 19, 1505, 
 in the College of Pregadi, at 
 Venice, the principal passage as 
 follows : 1 ' Tuta volta che no se 
 possi ussir piii fuori in Canal 
 grando cum li Scalini de le rive 
 
 di quello e al presente la fonda- 
 menta ... no si possi in esso 
 Fontego far cosa alcuna de mar- 
 moro, ne etiam lavoriero alcuno 
 intagliato de Straforo over altro 
 per alcun modo." 
 
Chap. IV.] COMPLETION OF THE FONDACO. 
 
 85 
 
 ground cost 600 ducats a month, all of which was 
 drawn from the Salt-office.* The roof was begun 
 on the 16th of May, 1507. Between that date and 
 1508 Giorgione, Morto da Feltre, and Titian were no 
 doubt employed on the adornment of the outer faces. 
 An altar was erected in May, 1508, in the court of 
 the Fondaco, and at that altar a mass was sung in 
 honour of the completion of the building.-]* It is on 
 record that Giorgione' s frescos were ordered to be 
 valued on the 8th of November, 1508.$ On the 18th 
 of the following February, 1509, the Germans in- 
 vited all the magnates to the palace to witness the 
 mummery of a greased pig pursued by blinded men ; 
 but it was not till August that they were allowed to 
 move into the lodgings which the palace contained. § 
 
 The Fondaco remains to this day a monument 
 of the skill of Girolamo Toclesco, and Giorgio 
 Spavento. Its form was but partially altered in the 
 present century by the substitution of embattled angles 
 for the turrets, which gave a peculiar character to the 
 corners on the grand canal. || In shape a parallelogram, 
 
 * Antonio " Tagliapietra " was 
 appointed superintendent on the 
 16th of August, 1505. From that 
 date till June 17, 1506, the 
 monthly expenditure was 300 
 ducats, after that it was 600 
 ducats. An order of the College 
 of Pregadi, dated July 29, 1506, 
 decrees the purchase of the timber 
 for the first floor. Sanuto re- 
 cords the beginning of roofing on 
 May 15, 1507. MS. Lazzari, u.s. 
 
 f Sanuto : Diaries in Lazzari 
 
 MS. 
 
 X The order of that date, and 
 the valuation made on the 11th 
 of the same month, are in Abbate 
 Cadorin's Contributions to Gua- 
 landi's Memorie risguardanti le 
 belle arti; 8vo, Bologna, 1840-5, 
 ser. iii. pp. 90, 91. 
 
 § Sanuto' s Diaries and Eecords, 
 in Lazzari, u. s. 
 
 II Selvatico (P.), Sulla archi- 
 tettura in Venezia, fol. 1847, p. 
 168. 
 
86 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 its dark and weather-beaten walls still impress ns 
 with a look of gloomy massiveness, hardly diminished 
 by the low archings of the porticos and conpled 
 windows. A large portal in the sonthern face gives 
 irregnlar access to a quadrangular cloistered court, 
 with twenty arches at the basement and forty in 
 the galleries of the upper floors. The lower area, 
 comprising twenty-six warehouses, was inhabited by 
 porters, bale-tiers, weighers, saddlers, and factors. 
 The higher stories contained two halls and eighty 
 rooms, let out to the merchants at rentals varying 
 from ten ducats a year for the first and second 
 to eight ducats for the third floor.* A fine landing- 
 place projected into the grand canal, protected by a 
 portico of five arches resting on six strong pillars. 
 To the right, under the portico, the Visdomini had 
 their offices : to the left lay the custom-house. The 
 two turrets, removed about forty years ago from the 
 corners overlooking the grand canal, gave a lightness 
 and symmetry to the building of which we may 
 deplore the loss. In one of these turrets a set of 
 bells was hung, at the sound of which the merchants 
 attending the exchange on the Piazza of Eialto, or 
 employed in balancing their books, might be seen to 
 leave their avocations to join in a common repast at 
 noon.j* The northern and smaller of the halls on the 
 first floor was used as a dining-room in winter, and 
 called Sala della Stua, from the large monumental 
 stove which warmed it after the German fashion. 
 
 * T. Elze, u. s. 
 
 t Ibid. 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 INSIDE THE FONDACO. 
 
 87 
 
 The southern hall, looking towards the Eialto bridge, 
 and known as the Sala dell' Estate or delle Pitture, 
 was a summer refectory of imposing proportions.* 
 Both halls were decorated with appropriate splendour, 
 the winter room with a gilded ceiling supported in 
 the centre by a marble column ; the summer room 
 with a panelled ceiling inclosing monochromes of 
 the , virtues and heathen deities commissioned of 
 Battista Franco in 1556. f In the former, previous to 
 the Bef ormation, the vicar and chapter of the neigh- 
 bouring church of S. Bartholomew usually said 
 prayers on the eve of Epiphany Sunday, on the eve 
 of New Year, and at Christmas. They came in 
 solemn procession, and sang the Litany before a 
 figure of the Bedeemer.J Here, too, for three nights 
 of carnival time the merchants kept open house, and 
 received with plenteous hospitality the masks who 
 streamed into the Fondaco.§ In the latter a noble 
 collection of pictures and frescos was gradually 
 formed, which made the Fondaco famous at last as a 
 gallery of masterpieces by the best artists of the six- 
 teenth century. To the left of the main entrance, 
 and in the centre of the principal wall, was the 
 Bedeemer assigned to Titian, which still hangs in 
 the Evangelical Church at Yenice.|| On the rest of 
 
 * T. Elze, u. s. 
 
 + 1556, 29 Mayo. Accordo con 
 Battista de' Eranchi pittor per 
 dipingere la sofita della Sala. Cod. 
 Svayer, No. 1190, in the library 
 of St. Mark. 
 
 X Towards the close of the cen- 
 tury this ceremony took place 
 
 before a copy of a Christ in the 
 summer dining-hall assigned to 
 Titian. T. Elze, u. s. 
 
 § Sansovino, Ven. desc. p. 450, 
 and Elze, u. s. 
 
 || This picture represents Christ, 
 of life size, seen to the waist, 
 blessing with his right, holding an 
 
88 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 the walls there were allegories by Palma, Tintoretto, 
 and other artists, and subjects on gilt leather by 
 Paolo Veronese. But the chief attraction of the 
 Fondaco at the period of its completion was the 
 pictorial decoration, completed at the state's expense, 
 by Giorgione and Titian. Of the ornaments on the 
 canal front we know little more than Vasari tells us ; 
 but Giorgione's commission was not confined to one 
 front, it probably comprised the whole building, and 
 if he painted but the western and northern faces and 
 the inner court, it was no doubt because he trans- 
 ferred a part of his task to Titian. The rapid decay 
 which awaited frescos at Yenice was quickly felt in 
 all parts of the Fondaco. The north wind or 
 " Tramontana," soon obliterated all traces of painting 
 on the side of the Eio del Fontico, and a chronicle of 
 the eighteenth century relates that in 1715 nothing 
 was left there but a portion of a frieze on an upper 
 story.* At the same period there were fragments 
 of three friezes visible, with arabesques and heads in 
 monochrome in the spandrels of the archings of the 
 
 orb of crystal in his left hand. It 
 hangs in the Evangelical Church, 
 Campo SS. Apostoli, which, pre- 
 vious to the year 1818, was known 
 as the " Scuola dell' Angelo Cus- 
 tode." The picture is on canvas, 
 M. 1-23 high, by 0-91 broad. The 
 date of its execution is given at 
 a guess as 1551 (Yenezia e le sue 
 Lagune, u. s., vol. i. pt. ii. p. 101), 
 but it is very doubtful whether 
 Titian's hand was ever employed 
 upon it, even at that late period 
 of his life. We may doubt 
 
 whether Titian would have painted 
 forms so common and so gaunt, 
 colour so artificial, and lines of 
 such scant correctness. The dra- 
 pery in particular is very badly 
 set. The resolute touch and rapid 
 handling might point to Tinto- 
 retto Schiavone or Palma Giovine, 
 but a something outlandish and 
 foreign in the treatment may be 
 due to Titian's pupil, Amberger. 
 Compare T. Elze, u, s. 
 * T. Elze, u. s. 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 TITIAN'S FEESCOS. 
 
 89 
 
 court galleries.* Titian's principal work was a 
 fresco above the portal in the southern face, of which 
 Piccino's print of 1658 gives a correct impression. 
 It represented a female seated on the edge of a stone 
 plinth in front of a stately edifice, with the sky 
 intercepted to the left by a massive wall. Her left 
 leg was bared to the knee, and her foot was raised to 
 trample on a lifeless head. In her right hand she 
 waved a sword, whilst an armed soldier in half length 
 at her feet clutched a dagger behind his back and 
 held the head with his right hand. Tradition assigns 
 to this fresco the title of " Judith;" but the same 
 figure and emblems in an early wall-painting by 
 Lorenzetti at Sienna, are distinguished by the name 
 of " Justitia." Above the group at the Fondaco a 
 nude female was introduced, parting an Eve at the 
 angle near Eialto from two males at the corner of the 
 Calle clella Bissa, one of whom was a Levantine, the 
 other a brother of the gay fraternity of the Calza. 
 A broad frieze in dead colour ran along the south 
 front, enlivening the space with arabesques, animals, 
 and fanciful objects of all sorts. The fragments of 
 this decoration which remain are now, not only few, 
 but irretrievably injured, and it may be that as these 
 lines are penned scarce a trace of them remains. We 
 revert to memories of a few years back in recording 
 thus much: — " Judith" or "Justitia," is still visible 
 above the gateway, seated, waving a sword and 
 stamping with her left foot on the head, whilst the 
 
 * T. Elze, u. s. 
 
90 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 soldier in armour looks up at her face. Above this 
 again, and beyond the area once covered by 
 the monochrome frieze, the dim contour of a naked 
 female is just apparent. Between the coupled win- 
 dows on the same front; the faded outline of two 
 standing figures remain, both of them bareheaded: 
 one, the brother of the Calza, in a striped dress with 
 red and white sleeves and hose, and a red mantle; 
 another in yellow hose, his left hand behind his back, 
 his right concealed in the folds of a red cloak. The 
 whole of these fragments are disfigured by age, wear, 
 and dust. 
 
 According to the testimony of those who were 
 favoured enough to see the frescos of Giorgione and 
 Titian in their original state, they were well worthy 
 of admiration. Zanetti's prints of the " Judith," the 
 brother of the Calza, and two female heads and torsos, 
 give but a faint idea of what the originals must have 
 been;* but a comparison of the fragments with those 
 of the western front, shows that Giorgione was 
 swayed by reminiscences of the classic as displayed 
 in antique sculpture, whilst Titian seems to have 
 broken entirely with Greek art, for the sake of 
 modern picturesqueness and a faithful representation 
 of contemporary nature. 
 
 Yasari, scandalized by this mode of decoration, 
 spared neither Giorgione nor Titian, in enumerating 
 its defects. But it is a proof of the haste with which 
 he wrote that he failed to distinguish between the 
 
 * Zanetti (A.), Varie Pitture a 
 fresco de' principali maestri Ve- 
 
 neziani a Venezia, fol. 1760, pp. 
 iv-vii. 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 TITIAN AND GIORGIONE. 
 
 91 
 
 works of the two painters, and assigned the whole 
 blame of failure to one of them. "Giorgione," he 
 says, " merely painted figures according to his fancy, 
 neglecting to illustrate a story or to represent the 
 deeds of any person celebrated in the annals of 
 ancient or modern history ; and I for one was never 
 able to fathom his meaning, nor found any one that 
 had fathomed it. Here he depicts a woman, there a 
 man in varying attitudes; here he puts in a lion's 
 head, there an angel with the semblance of Cupid 
 which no one can understand. There is, indeed, a 
 female above the gateway in Merceria, which displays 
 the form of a Judith seated with the head of a giant 
 beneath her, and wielding a drawn sword whilst she 
 talks to a German below; but I never was able to 
 interpret what the painter intended to represent, 
 unless it be a £ Germania.' "* 
 
 But later critics, and particularly Zanetti, resting 
 his opinion upon that of Sebastian Eicci and others 
 whose memory preserved the traditions of the older 
 Venetian school, brought a less prejudiced judgment 
 to bear upon the subject, and declared, we may think, 
 justly, — that both Giorgione and Titian gave proof of 
 great and remarkable skilLf " Whilst Giorgione 
 showed a fervid and original spirit and opened up 
 a new path over which he shed a light that was to 
 guide posterity, Titian exhibited in his creations a 
 grander but more equable genius, leaning at first 
 indeed on Giorgione's example, but expanding soon 
 
 * Vas. vii. pp. 84, 85. 
 
 t Zanetti, Varie Pitture a fresco, 
 I note to vi. 
 
92 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IY. 
 
 after with such force and rapidity as to place him in 
 advance of his rival, on an eminence which no later 
 craftsman was able to climb. Titian was charac- 
 terized by this, that he painted flesh in which the 
 blood appeared to mantle, whilst the art of the painter 
 was merged in the power of a creator. He imagined 
 forms of grander proportions, of more snnny impast, 
 of more harmonious hues than his competitors. With 
 incomparable skill he gave tenderness to flesh by 
 transitions of half tone and broken contrasted colours. 
 He moderated the fire of Giorgione, whose strength 
 lay in resolute action, fanciful movement, and a 
 mysterious artifice in disposing shadows contrasting 
 darkly with hot red lights, blended, strengthened, or 
 blurred so as to produce the semblance of exuberant 
 life."* 
 
 The relative position of Titian and Giorgione when 
 they painted the Fondaco, is variously described by 
 historians according to the bias of the time in which 
 they gathered their information. Yasari' s statement 
 is that Titian forsook the manner of the Bellini to 
 assume that of Giorgione when he was eighteen years 
 of age. Shortly after this he imitated Giorgione so 
 well in a portrait of one of the Barbarigos that his 
 name on the background was the only reliable clue 
 to the authorship of the picture. Under Barbarigo's 
 protection Titian subsequently received permission to 
 work at the Fondaco. f Dolce confirms Yasari, in 
 
 * Zanetti,Varie Pitture a fresco, 
 note to vi. 
 
 t Yas. xiii. 20. There is no 
 
 clue to the portrait named in the 
 text, and the suggestion made by 
 the annotators to Yasari (xiii. 20), 
 
Chap. IV.] TITIAN AND GIORGIONE. 93 
 
 saying, that he was assistant to Giorgione and painted 
 the Fondaco when he was twenty, bnt he adds that 
 after the Fondaco was completed and Giorgione' s 
 friends assigned to him frescos that had been finished 
 by Titian, the two men became estranged, and 
 Giorgione never forgave his assistant's superiority.* 
 There is a wilfnl perversion of trnth in both writers 
 as to the age of Titian, which seems to have had its 
 origin in a wish to exalt the pnpil at the expense of 
 his master. Bnt we need not infer that Titian 
 conntenanced snch a conrse, since the tradition of his 
 own family gave quite another turn to the story. It 
 is not doubtful that the anonymous writer of Titian's 
 life dedicated by Tizianello to the Countess of 
 Arundel was well acquainted with the history of the 
 Yecelli; and, according to him, Titian began very early 
 to discriminate between the manner of Bellini and the 
 more delicate and modern style of Barbarella. For 
 some time he secretly studied Giorgione's pictures, 
 and then won Giorgione's affection, who finally gave 
 him instruction in the precepts of his art. "When 
 Giorgione received the commission for the Fondaco, he 
 shared it of his own accord with Titian who was then 
 his assistant; and, so far from being hurt at the 
 superiority which his scholar displayed, he confessed 
 it and rejoiced that he had been able to afford him 
 the means of securing so enviable a position, j* This 
 
 that it was a likeness of the Doge, 
 Agostino Barbarigo, taken with 
 the Barbarigo Collection to St. 
 Petersburg in 1850, will not bear 
 examination. We shall see, in- 
 
 deed, that no portrait of Titian's 
 early time exists at St. Peters- 
 burg. 
 
 * Dolce, Dialogo, p. 64. 
 f Tizianello' s Anon., p. iv. 
 
94 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IY. 
 
 graceful statement of facts probably deserves more 
 credit than that of Dolce and Vasari ; and it appears 
 the more credible, since we know that Titian's name 
 appears in none of the public records that have 
 reference to the decoration of the Fondaco; yet we 
 need not reject entirely because of occasional inac- 
 curacies all that Vasari and Dolce relate in respect of 
 Titian and Giorgione, and we may well believe that 
 their friendship was formed when Titian was rising 
 to manhood. But the date of their common labours 
 at the Fondaco must be placed much later in the 
 sixteenth century, than that of their first acquain- 
 tance. We can thus understand how it might 
 happen that Titian should paint at a comparatively 
 early period the " Man of Sorrows," of the school of 
 San Eocco; and, further on in life, a picture like 
 " Christ carrying his Cross," in the church of San 
 Eocco. Again it may have been the influence of one 
 of the Barbarigos that induced Giorgione to share his 
 labours at the Fondaco with Titian; for Bernardo 
 Barbarigo was one of the patrician family of that 
 name who filled important offices in Yenice at the 
 opening of the sixteenth century, and he held the 
 post of commissioner of the Salt-office when the 
 Fondaco was burnt, being raised to the Council of 
 Ten when superseded by Francesco de' Garzoni.* It 
 may be argued further that the story of Titian's 
 estrangement from Giorgione hardly seems consistent 
 with traditions which assign to him the completion of 
 
 * Lorenzi, u. s., i. 128-131. 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 CADOEINES AT VENICE. 
 
 95 
 
 pictures left unfinished at Giorgione' s death ;* and it 
 is a fact worthy of consideration that so long as 
 Giorgione lived. Titian never received commissions 
 from the Yenetian State ; whilst after that event he 
 was not possessed of sufficient influence to set aside 
 Bellini, or take his old master's place, hut wandered 
 from the capital into the provinces to paint frescos at 
 Padua and Yicenza. 
 
 Long before the time when Titian's fame had 
 become dear to Venetians of every grade, the pro- 
 gress which his art was making might have been 
 watched with interest by the members of his family 
 at Cadore. Conte Yecelli might have had occasion 
 to visit his grand-nephew when he came as agent of 
 the Cadorines to Venice in 1501. Tiziano di Andrea 
 Yecelli, the painter's kinsman, a lawyer of standing, 
 who was sent as an envoy from his countrymen to 
 
 * The list of pictures described 
 as " begun by Giorgione and 
 finished by Titian," is as follows : 
 Venice, Casa M. Jeronimo Mar- 
 cello (1525), " The canvas of Venus 
 naked, asleep in a landscape, with 
 Cupid, is by Giorgione, but the 
 landscape and Cupid were finished 
 by Titian " (Anon. Morelli, p. 66). 
 Venice, Casa Gabriel Vendramin 
 (1530), " The dead Christ on the 
 sepulchre, supported by an angel, 
 is by Giorgione, and re-touched 
 by Titian " (Anon. Morelli, p. 80). 
 Noteworthy is the statement 
 (in Passavant's Eaphael, Vie et 
 (Euvres, Paris edition, ii. p. 370) 
 that Titian painted a portrait of 
 Giorgione, which was engraved 
 by Van Dalen. But on this point 
 
 some further study is required. 
 The portrait as engraved is one of 
 the finest creations of Titian. 
 The head is turned to the left ; 
 the hair is cropped short, the 
 beard black and long. The left 
 hand holds a book. The features 
 are grand in their regularity; 
 they are singularly like those of 
 the Christ of the Tribute Money. 
 Various opinions have been ex- 
 pressed as to whether the person 
 represented be Giorgione or not. 
 Some persons go so far as to 
 assign the picture from which the 
 engraving was taken to Giorgione. 
 Unhappily this picture is one 
 which no one is able at present to 
 trace. 
 
9o 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 Yenice in 1507, would naturally use the influence 
 of his position to push the fortunes of his relative.* 
 Nor is it likely on the other hand that the painter 
 himself should have neglected his Alpine home and 
 failed to revisit the valleys dear to him by the ties of 
 family and relationship. "Whilst he was spending 
 his days in strenuous labour at Venice, his brother 
 Francesco had grown up into boyhood, and dreamt 
 of repairing to the Lowlands to study the art of 
 the draughtsman. He was twelve years old, says 
 Yincenzo Yecelli, when his father determined to part 
 with him, and Titian, who was then at Cadore, took 
 him to the capital where he learnt "the drawing and 
 shading of pictures," conceived we may think by 
 the genius of his elder brother. j* At the period of 
 Tiziano Yecelli' s mission to the Doge in 1507, Italy 
 had been invaded by French armies, and Maximilian 
 of Austria was observing with concern the growing 
 strength of France, and the waning influence of the 
 
 * Ciani, ii. 67. Tiziano di An- 
 drea Vecelli was the son of Andrea 
 Vecelli, and first cousin to Gre- 
 gorio Vecelli, Titian's father. 
 
 f Most historians assume that 
 Erancesco was older than Titian, 
 and that he was sent to Venice at 
 the same time as his brother ; yet 
 there is no proof of this, but 
 rather of the contrary. Neither 
 Vasari nor Dolce mentions Eran- 
 cesco ; Tizianello's Anonimo merely 
 states that he was a painter. Vin- 
 cenzo's Paneg3 r ric (antea) states 
 that Francesco, " natus annum 
 duodecimum, cum Titiano Ve- 
 netias missus est; ubi cum per 
 
 aliquod temporis intervallum com- 
 moratus esset, ac graphidi operam 
 dedisset, quse est umbrarum, et 
 futurse picturse delineatio, cupidus 
 visendi res novas ... in militiam 
 profectus est . . . quo tempore 
 Veneti sub Verona et Vicentia 
 bellum gerebant adversus Gallos 
 et Hispanos." With respect to 
 the time when Francesco became 
 a soldier, Tizianello's Anonimo 
 says distinctly it was : " nelle 
 rivoluzioni della congiura di Cam- 
 brai." See the Anonimo, p. ii., 
 and the Panegyric in Ticozzi's 
 Pitt. Vecelli, p. 321. 
 
Chap. IV.] MAXIMILIAN INVADES ITALY. 97 
 
 Empire on Italian soil. Between him and Borne, 
 where of old the Emperors had been crowned, there 
 lay the possessions of Venice, and behind these again 
 the newly acquired conquests of Louis the Twelfth. 
 Maximilian, brooding for a time over these evils, 
 resolved at last to call a diet at Constance, to aid 
 him in supporting German rights in Italy. His more 
 immediate aim was to obtain a passage through the 
 "Venetian States, his final purpose to enforce the 
 claims of the Empire at the head of an army. To 
 this end he summoned Venice to grant a passage to 
 his troops, which he mustered partly in Tyrol, and 
 partly on the slopes of the Julian Alps. Venice 
 replied with a message equivalent to a declaration 
 of war. Unarmed, she said, the Emperor might 
 pass ; an army would certainly be resisted. As early 
 as the year 1500, Bartolommeo d'Alviano had been 
 sent by the Doge to inspect the defences of the 
 Cadorines. He found the passes fairly fortified, but 
 suggested the repair of Bottestagno in the north- 
 west, and the erection of a fort at the Chiusa of 
 Lozzo.* The insufficiency of these precautions was 
 soon tested. Assembling a corps in January, 1508, 
 at Trent, Maximilian moved on the 5th of the follow- 
 ing February to Briinneck, and prepared with 6,000 
 men to invade Cadore. Opposite to him lay the 
 strong Castle of Bottestagno, about to be reinforced by 
 detachments from Cadore, conspicuous among them, 
 no doubt, Titian's father, Gregorio, who commanded 
 
 * Ciani, ii. 157. 
 vol. i. • h 
 
98 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 the century of Pieve, at their head Barnabo of 
 Domegge, who in 1500 had accompanied Dalviano 
 on his round of inspection. Warned, on his arrival 
 at Cortina, that the enemy was at hand, Barnabo 
 neglected every precaution required of a captain in 
 his position. He fancied that in mid-winter and in 
 an Alpine country the Imperialists would follow the 
 high road from Landro and break their strength 
 against the walls of Bottestagno, but they were much 
 more enterprising than he supposed ; and, as he lay 
 quietly waiting for them, they declined the road to 
 Bottestagno, and crossing the Misurina pass to his 
 right threatened his flank at Cortina. His retreat 
 to the "Chiusa" of Yenas, opened the vale of Am- 
 pezzo to Maximilian's lieutenant, who then divided 
 his force and sent one part to the siege of Bottestagno, 
 another to force the pass of Yenas. The assault on 
 Yenas failed, but Yinigo on the hills to the north 
 having been occupied so as to turn Yenas, Barnabo 
 again retreated, part of his men withdrawing to the 
 "Chiusa" of Gardona, the rest to Pieve. Here 
 Pietro Gissi commanded the castle for the Yenetian 
 Eepublic. To a summons sent by the Imperialists 
 on the 24th of February, he gave at first a defiant 
 answer; but his courage failing before the assault, 
 he called Tiziano Yecelli, Palatini, and other chiefs 
 of the Cadorine Government to consult them as to 
 a capitulation, and in spite of their remonstrances, 
 yielded the castle without conditions. 
 
 Emboldened by his success, the Austrian com- 
 mander assembled the notables at a conference, in 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 CAPTUEE OF OADOEE. 
 
 99 
 
 which he dwelt with much cleverness upon the 
 advantages which would accrue to Cadore if it were 
 incorporated in the Tyrol. But the magnates were 
 not to be convinced. .They preferred the rule of 
 Venice to that of Maximilian ; and, seeing the useless- 
 ness of open resistance under adverse circumstances, 
 they formed themselves into a secret committee of 
 fifteen, determined to watch the course of events, 
 inform the Venetian government, and keep alive the 
 feeling of Venetian nationality. Chiefs of this move- 
 ment were Andrea Vecelli, Titian's grand-uncle, and 
 Andrea's son Tiziano Vecelli, together with Matteo 
 and Agostino Palatini and Bernardino Constantini.* 
 The latter was entrusted with the duty of opening 
 communications with the Lowlands, the former busied 
 themselves with measures to comfort the fugitive 
 Cadorines in the glens and huts to which they had 
 fled for refuge. Meanwhile the Senate at Venice had 
 been informed of Maximilian's intentions, and com- 
 missioned Dalviano on the one hand to concentrate 
 forces in advance of Belluno, on the other Girolamo 
 Savorgnano to move up the valley of the Tagliamento 
 to the upper waters of the Piave. Both commanders 
 obeyed their instructions with uncommon energy; and, 
 on the 27th of February, Savorgnano occupied Loren- 
 zago, Pelos, and Tre Ponti, whilst Dalviano came 
 up to Longarone. Had the Germans been well 
 served they would probably have attacked one or the 
 other of the Venetian Generals at some advantage, 
 
 * See Giuseppe Ciani's "Let- al Pittore Tiziano," with notes, 
 tera inedita di Tiziano Vecellio 8vo, Ceneda, 1862, pp. 7, 8. 
 
 E 2 
 
100 
 
 TITIAN : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 but they neglected to do so, thinking that Dalviano 
 would be easily worsted in attempting the pass of 
 Longarone ; and so that the presence of Savorgnano 
 north of Pieve would be of small danger. Dalviano' s 
 activity and the superior knowledge which he was 
 enabled to acquire by consultation with the country 
 people, proved how baseless these considerations were. 
 Savorgnano had not been long at Lorenzago before 
 he was met by Andrea and Tiziano Yecelli, who 
 gave him every information as to the movements of 
 Dalviano and the position of the Germans. They 
 warned Savorgnano of the danger which Dalviano 
 would incur if he attempted the Longarone pass, and 
 offered to take a message to him for the purpose of 
 concerting a combined movement ; — he to make a flank 
 march up the vale of Zoldo and the Cibiana pass, 
 Savorgnano to march down the valley of the Piave 
 from Lozzo. The two Yecelli, accompanied by Savor- 
 gnano's son, accomplished, as only mountaineers could 
 do, the difficult journey between Lorenzago and Lon- 
 garone, crossing in winter a chain of dolomites on the 
 left bank of the Piave which in summer would test 
 the endurance of a seasoned Alpine climber. At 
 Capo di Ponte near Longarone the Yecelli met Dal- 
 viano, who agreed at once to their plan, and bade 
 them return to inform Savorgnano that he would 
 begin the flank march on the 28th of February. 
 George Cornaro, brother of the Queen of Cyprus, 
 who joined Dalviano as " proveditore " after the 
 departure of the Yecelli, fully approved of the move- 
 ment ; and at the appointed time the Yenetian force, 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 BATTLE OF CADOEE. 
 
 101 
 
 4000 strong with four mountain guns and an escort 
 of Stradiot cavalry, started on the rugged path leading 
 up the sides of the Mae torrent to Forno. Prepara- 
 tions had already been made at Dalviano' s request to 
 clear the path up to the saddle overlooking Cibiana of 
 snow, but the weather was cold and a freezing mist 
 overhung the landscape. Before the vanguard en- 
 tered the hamlet of Cibiana, night had set in; yet 
 it was neither feasible nor prudent to lose by a halt 
 the benefit of surprise. Dalviano proceeded; and, 
 pressing on through the night, crossed the Boite 
 bridge and surprised the garrison of Venas : leaving 
 a detachment there, he found himself before dawn in 
 the strong position of Yalle. 
 
 The Germans in Cadore were warned of their 
 peril — though too late — by the glare of a fire kindled 
 by some imprudent Stradiots. Leaving eighty men 
 in charge of the castle, they issued out into the open 
 to engage Dalviano. But in the grey of the morning 
 this indefatigable commander had taken measures to 
 secure their defeat. He had thrown a small force 
 into Nebbiu on his left, and posted 800 men in the 
 woods of Monte Zucco on his right, with instructions 
 to take the enemy, when advancing their centre, on 
 both flanks. The Germans played into his hands 
 completely; attacked Dalviano's centre as it warily 
 drew back, and fell into the trap so headlong, that 
 the whole of their guns were taken, their army 
 routed, and those who escaped from the field were 
 massacred by the Stradiots in pursuit. 
 
 The first fruits of this victory were the recapture 
 
102 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 of Cadore, the loss of Pordenone to the Imperialists, 
 and a truce between Maximilian and Venice. "We 
 shall see how Titian in subsequent years was obliged 
 to study the stirring episodes of this campaign for the 
 sake of forming them into a picture.* The pride 
 with which the Venetians contemplated it, was alto- 
 gether justifiable ; for it showed them capable of 
 brilliant feats of arms on land. Yet it is doubtful 
 whether any other engagement of the time was more 
 fruitful of evil consequences to the Eepublic. 
 
 The part which the Vecelli had taken in the 
 campaign at Cadore was not without exhilarating 
 effect on the more distant members of the family. 
 Francesco Vecelli, whose time had been occupied at 
 Venice in the practice of a peaceful profession, was 
 altogether diverted from the study of art by the 
 thought of military renown. He gave up pencil and 
 brush to take service in the army of Venice, whilst 
 Titian, unwilling to curb a determination which he 
 felt himself unable to share, surrendered himself as 
 busily as ever to the favourite pursuit of his life. 
 The losses in money, men, and possessions, in which 
 the Venetians were soon after involved, doubtless 
 reacted most seriously on the market upon which 
 artists were wont to rely ; and during the interval 
 which elapsed between the signature of the treaty 
 of Cambrai in December, 1508, and the truce with 
 
 * For these Cadorine episodes, 
 Palatini' s Chronicle of Cadore, 
 Ciani, ii. 163-189, and MS. 
 sources of various kinds at Ca- 
 
 dore, have been consulted. But 
 there is a very picturesque sketch 
 of them in Gilbert's Cadore, u. s. 
 
Chap. IV.] VENICE AND ANTIQUE AET. 
 
 103 
 
 Maximilian in April, 1512, we fail to discover that 
 Titian obtained any order in Yenice worthy of his 
 talent or his fame. But the paralysis caused by war 
 — though it might affect the quantity and sale — 
 could not diminish the quality of the work which 
 Titian got through; and it is characteristic of this 
 period that it yielded not only Madonnas of the 
 highest finish, but the splendid portrait of a Doge in 
 the "Vatican Museum, and that marvellous example of 
 polished fashioning the " Christ" of "The Tribute 
 Money," at Dresden. 
 
 During the few years which had elapsed since the 
 opening of the century, Venice had witnessed some 
 changes in the form of her art. The study of the 
 classic, as understood by Mantegna, had very much 
 died out, though some artists might be found who 
 still favoured a style more severe than that of the 
 colourists. But the great majority of painters were 
 slowly receding from the antique, in so far as they 
 considered its high and ideal qualities more difficult 
 to attain than expert handling, brush-tricks, and har- 
 monious colour. It would be too much indeed to say 
 that the superior claims of antique art to be called 
 excellent were questioned. But it seems as if the 
 Venetians had all but surrendered the hope of 
 acquiring absolute purity of shape and outline, and 
 turned their thoughts to models of a standard less 
 lofty, in order to charm by imitating the substance 
 rather than the shape of flesh, the texture and tone 
 rather than the fold and fall of dress. So, as regards 
 Giorgione, the Venetians might note the preservation 
 
104 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 of the traditions of Greek sculpture in the attitudes of 
 figures adorning the Fondaco, or in Titian's pictures 
 they might observe the free use of antique bas-relief 
 as a surface decoration; but the display of ideal 
 classicism was not the less shallow, and visible, if at 
 all, superficially. Yet it may be conceived that the 
 novelty of creations stirring to the senses by the 
 richness of their tints, and rare as embodying with 
 a certain freedom the beautiful creations of Greek 
 carving, would naturally lead to the belief — passing 
 it might be, yet genuine — that a combination of both 
 was necessary to the production of a perfect picture ; 
 and this would account for the judgment passed upon 
 Diirer, when, at Venice in 1506, he was taunted 
 with being a good engraver but no colourist, a good 
 draughtsman but not familiar with the antique.* 
 Giovanni Bellini, who still lived, and was then 
 acknowledged as the Nestor of the schools, was 
 perhaps, of all the Yenetians, the only master who 
 combined the old purity and simplicity with a feeling 
 for colour. Giorgione, after him, had perhaps most 
 consciousness of the importance of elevating nature 
 above itself, after the fashion of the Greeks. Palma 
 and Titian were gradually preparing to substitute 
 modelling and touch for contour, and to make the 
 study of nature paramount. Eut all artists of the 
 time at Yenice, as at Florence and Eome, were struck 
 by something grand and superior in the genius of 
 Diirer; and it would be probable in itself, were it 
 
 * Campe's Eeliquien von Alb. Diirer, 12mo, Nuremberg, 1828, 
 pp. 13 and 27. 
 
Chap. IV.J 
 
 INFLUENCE OF DUEEE. 
 
 105 
 
 not almost historically proved that the great precision 
 and finish which characterised his works at this 
 period, preserved the Venetians, Palma and Titian 
 included, from that laxity of treatment which the 
 mere stndy of colonr and its technical facilities 
 engenders. Titian, as it happened, did not maintain 
 entirely the old customs of the school. His panels 
 and canvases, polished as they are, were not drawn 
 from cartoons, or begun with a predetermined out- 
 line. The design was not carried out with a point 
 or a style, but freely with a brush dipped in a brown 
 pigment diluted with water to a liquid consistency ; 
 and the lightness of heart with which the composition 
 was begun, frequently involved alterations which 
 the painter did not hesitate to make, if it appeared 
 that his second thought was better than his first. 
 But in spite of the slightness of these beginnings, 
 Titian's pictures were not put forth as finished 
 without having been filed and polished to perfection; 
 and it would be highly desirable, were it not so 
 difficult, to discover by what process he acquired the 
 delicate smoothness and gloss which are peculiarly 
 marked in this form of his art. 
 
 If it should be asked how it is possible to describe 
 the first phase of a method the secret of which must 
 necessarily be concealed under the burnish of completed 
 works, the answer is, that modern ingenuity has 
 revealed the state of the back of some of Titian's 
 pieces ; and this revelation we have in the case of a 
 well-known panel at the Belvedere at Yienna, in 
 which the Yirgin is represented with Christ and the 
 
106 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 boy Baptist between St. Joseph and St. Zacharias. 
 Here it has been possible to ascertain that the Virgin, 
 who turns her charming head to the left as she looks 
 at Christ making his playful offering of cherries, was 
 originally designed turning her head to the right and 
 looking down at what is now the boy St. John. Yet 
 it is impossible to conceive — and we see it still, though 
 the surfaces are disfigured by minute retouching 
 — a more glossy finish united to more subtle model- 
 ling, or greater purity in colours of the richest tinge 
 and most dazzling brightness. The picture is techni- 
 cally the production of an experienced craftsman. 
 The feeling which animates it is that of a young and 
 eager nature. There is as much charm in the stride 
 of the infant Christ, or his childish way of carrying a 
 bunch of cherries with both hands, as there is in the 
 graceful longing of the Baptist looking up. The 
 tenderness of expression in the gaze of the Virgin is 
 beyond measure attractive, whilst the calm of St. 
 Joseph, and the pensiveness of the turbaned Za- 
 charias, are equally well rendered. Nothing except 
 the polish of the modelling can exceed the sheen of 
 the glazed reds and blues in the Virgin's tunic and 
 mantle : the lawn round Christ's waist, the gauze of 
 the veil hanging from the Virgin's shoulder to his feet 
 are delicate to an extreme degree. The treatment, 
 still reminiscent of Palma, reveals the lasting influence 
 which that great master wielded upon Titian.*'" "We 
 
 * Vienna, Belvedere, Italian I sits behind a parapet on which 
 School, 1st Floor, Boom 2, No. 64; the infant Christ stands. In her 
 2 ft. 6 in. by 3 ft. 1 in. The Virgin ! left hand she holds a sprig of 
 
MADONNA AND SAINTS. Gallery of Vienna. 
 
Chap. IV.] VIRGIN WITH THE CHERRIES. 
 
 107 
 
 may believe that as early as the time in which this 
 picture was produced, Titian, with the help of 
 assistants, completed others more important in size or 
 in number of figures : none, however, more perfect ; 
 not even the Yirgin and Child with attendant saints, 
 St. Stephen, St. Jerome, and St. George, in the Gallery 
 of Vienna; nor the Virgin and Child, St. Stephen, 
 St. Ambrose, and St. Maurice, at the Louvre. None 
 of these, though of the same period, are executed with 
 as much care. None show the figures so well dis- 
 tributed or so admirably wrought ; or display a tone 
 so sweet in its golden richness.* If we desire any- 
 
 cherries. Behind her is an em- 
 broidered red and gold damask 
 cloth ; to the left St. Joseph, in a 
 brown coat, holds a staff ; to the 
 right St. Zacharias, in a green 
 turban, looks on. Both heads are 
 relieved on a blue sky ; that of 
 St. Joseph is much injured, being 
 mostly re-painted afresh, and the 
 hand new. The beard and other 
 parts of St. Zacharias' head are 
 also re-painted, as are likewise 
 parts of the parapet. The picture 
 was much injured, and was trans- 
 ferred to canvas— during which 
 operation the back of it became 
 distinctly visible — and was photo- 
 graphed. The panel belonged to 
 the collection of Archduke Leo- 
 pold Wilhelm as early as the 
 middle of the 17th century. The 
 copy engraved by Lefebre was in 
 private hands at Venice. See his 
 collection of Titian's and Paolo 
 Veronese's pictures executed for 
 Louis XIV. in 1682. A photo- 
 graph of the Belvedere picture 
 
 has been taken by Miethke and 
 Wawra of Vienna. An old copy 
 on canvas, in part unfinished, was 
 preserved a few years ago in the 
 house of Signor Cadorin at Venice. 
 Another copy, of smaller size and 
 inferior value, was quite lately to 
 be seen under a portico near a 
 house marked No. 4164a in the 
 Via del Busanello at Padua. A 
 fourth copy is in the Imperial 
 Palace of theHradschin at Prague. 
 A fifth, by Teniers, is in the 
 Marlborough Collection at Blen- 
 heim. 
 
 * The pictures at Vienna and 
 Paris are similar, and with some 
 slight varieties contain the same 
 figures. But the panel at Vienna 
 is the better of the two. 
 
 Vienna, Belvedere, Italian 
 School, 1st Floor, Boom 2 ; 
 Wood, 3 ft. 5 in. high, by 4 ft. 
 3 in., half-lengths. The Virgin 
 in the open air, in front of a 
 building, sits to the left, adoring 
 the infant Christ on her lap. In 
 
108 
 
 TITIAN : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 thing better or more advanced, we must follow the 
 painter's career a little further, when we again find 
 him improving in the Virgin and Child with St. 
 Anthony and the Boy Baptist at the Uffizi of 
 Florence, or in the Madonna with St. Bridget and a 
 saint in panoply, at Madrid. Both these pictures 
 display the influence exercised on Titian by Palma: — 
 the first, by its appeal to those open charms of nature 
 which Palma embodied in " Holy Conversations," 
 inscened in country nooks far away from human habi- 
 tations ; the second, by its combination of forms and 
 models, familiar not only in the religious pieces, but 
 in the portraits of Palma Yecchio. 
 
 At the Uffizi, the same thought as in the earlier 
 picture of Vienna: — The boy Baptist with his offering ; 
 
 front, to the right, St. Jerome 
 reads a large folio ; whilst at one 
 side St. Stephen, in black, carries 
 a palm, and St. George, in armonr, 
 holds the staff of his lance. We 
 note a strong contrast between 
 the small proportions of the 
 Virgin's head and the large size 
 of St. J erome's, whose grand face 
 and grey beard, stained by age, 
 are full of character. Kemark- 
 able as before, and distinctive for 
 the period of which we are now 
 treating, are the smoothness, 
 polish, and delicate blending, as 
 well as the brightness of colour, 
 in all the surfaces. But the exe- 
 cution, though it recalls Titian's 
 Palmesque time, is not quite up 
 to the master's best mark, dis- 
 playing here and there some 
 weakness in the filling up, some 
 want of force in drawing, and 
 
 some angularity in draperies. Yet 
 the emptiness which we observe 
 may be due to restoring. A large 
 rent, as from a blow of a hammer, 
 disfigures the infant Christ's head. 
 In repairing this, the face, and 
 some surrounding parts, including 
 the distant hills, were retouched, 
 glazed, and tuned afresh. This 
 picture once belonged to the Arch- 
 duke Leopold Wilhelm. It is en- 
 graved by Lisebetius, in Tenier's 
 Series of 1660, and photographed 
 by Wawra. 
 
 Louvre, No. 458, canvas, M. 
 1.08 high, by 1.32, half-lengths. 
 The same picture as the fore- 
 going, but instead of Jerome, the 
 same figure in a red cap called St. 
 Ambrose, whilst St. George here 
 is called St. Maurice. Collection 
 of Louis XIV. Photograph by 
 Braun. 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 VIRGIN WITH EOSES. 
 
 109 
 
 the infant Christ, stooping this time from His mother's 
 lap, accepting the roses, or rather having taken as much 
 as he conld cany, looking down at the bnnch which 
 the Baptist still holds up to him ; the Virgin 
 smiling at the scene, as she sits nnder the shelter of a 
 brown hanging in the corner of a landscape ; at her 
 side the white-haired and bearded St. Anthony with 
 his bell, leans on his staff, his face almost Leonardesqne 
 in type, and regularity of feature. Nothing as yet 
 approaching this work in sweetness of tone, freedom 
 of modelling or clever appeal to nature, has come from 
 Titian's hand. With all the power of blending and 
 finish which goes to form the master's relationship in 
 art with Palma, we have pigments of more solid 
 impast, a more subtle breaking of the colour into 
 half-tints, more delicate glazings, and a balance of 
 light and shade which shows increased attention to 
 combinations of tints with contrasts by adumbration. 
 The atmosphere which pervades the foreground 
 extends vaguely to a delightful corner of landscape 
 stretching far away into a wooded country. The 
 likeness of the mother to the infant, the tender age 
 of Christ as compared with John, the comely virgin 
 in a white veil of singular gauzy lightness, the white 
 locks of St. Anthony and the streaks of his beard, — all 
 this is so masterly that we wonder at the rapidity 
 with which the formal manner of the fifteenth, 
 merges into the bolder and more natural treatment of 
 the sixteenth century.* 
 
 * Florence, Uffizi, No. 633, 
 wood, half-lengths, just under 
 
 life-size. The Virgin as usual in 
 red dress and blue mantle ; John, 
 
110 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IY. 
 
 At Madrid, St. Bridget stands with a basin of 
 flowers in her hand, in front of the infant Saviour, 
 who bends ont of the Virgin's arms to seize the 
 offering, yet turns his face to his mother, as if 
 inquiring shall he take it or not. Against the sky 
 and white clond of the distance, the form of St. 
 Bridget alone is relieved. The Virgin and the saint 
 in armonr to the left stand ont in front of hangings 
 of that gorgeous green which seems peculiar in its 
 brightness to the Venetians. With ease in action and 
 movement a charming expression is combined. The 
 juicy tints and glossy handling are those of Titian's 
 Palmesque period ; and St. Bridget is the same lovely 
 girl whose features Palma painted with equal fondness 
 and skill in the panel called Violante, at the Belvedere 
 of Vienna. But it is not this likeness alone, which 
 after all may be accidental, that points to intimate 
 relations at this period between Titian and Palma : 
 it is the cast of form generally, the fair skin, the 
 rounded shape, and the luscious tone. Yet there is 
 now this difference between the two masters, that 
 Titian's art is more dignified and graceful, and more 
 natural, whilst his idea of drapery and the flow of its 
 folds is much more comprehensive than that of his 
 rival. He shows, too, much greater fertility of resource 
 
 to the left, in a skin jacket ; St. 
 Anthony, to the right, in brown. 
 Some of the freshness of this pic- 
 ture has departed. It scaled, and 
 was stippled up in the slits ; and 
 in this way the Virgin's face has 
 suffered injury. Quite lately, in- 
 
 deed, it became necessary to stop 
 the flaking of the colours. The 
 head of St. Anthony is best pre- 
 served. On the jacket of the boy 
 Baptist are the words " Ticianvs, 
 f." Photograph by Braun. 
 
Chap. IV.] VIKGIN WITH ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 Ill 
 
 in the handling of flesh than Palma, being much more 
 clever and snbtle in harmonizing light with half -tint 
 by tender and cool transitions of grey crossed with 
 red, and mnch more effective in breaking up shadow 
 with contrasting touches of livid tone, yet fusing and 
 blending all into a polished surface, fresh as of yester- 
 day, and of almost spotless purity by the use of 
 the clearest and finest glazings that it is possible to 
 imagine.* 
 
 But one example, equal to these, is to be found in 
 England : it is a charming picture at Burleigh House, 
 representing the Yirgin seated on a stone bench in 
 front of a landscape, and looking with great fondness 
 at the infant Christ, who smiles as he lies at full 
 length on her lap.f 
 
 In the panel of the Madonna with St. Bridget at 
 Madrid, the male figure in armour is supposed to 
 represent St. Hulfus, the husband of St. Bridget ; but 
 the portrait character of the head would justify us in 
 believing that the garb of a saint conceals the likeness 
 of a donor. In this form it was not unusual for 
 
 * Madrid Museum, No. 236, 
 wood, M. 0.86 high, by 1.30, 
 half-lengths. Originally in the 
 Escurial, this picture is still cata- 
 logued under the name of Gior- 
 gione. There are re-touches here 
 and there to be noticed : in the 
 neck and cheek, one hand, and 
 part of the yellow dress of St. 
 Bridget ; in the hand of the saint 
 in armour ; in the ear and neck of 
 the infant Christ. The sky has 
 lost tone from cleaning. A. re- 
 
 plica, with slight variations, is 
 No. 632 at Hampton Court, under 
 the name of " Giorgione," but 
 this replica is not by Titian, being 
 a careful yet feeble copy, of paler 
 tones than those of the original. 
 
 t Burleigh House, seat of the 
 Marquis of Exeter. Half-lengths 
 of half the life size, not free from 
 injury from cleaning. Slight re- 
 touches are observable in the head 
 of the Virgin, and in the upper 
 part of the infant Christ's frame. 
 
112 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 persons desirous of leaving memories of themselves to 
 their children to be portrayed; but portraiture as 
 traditionally carried out since the fourteenth century, 
 that is in the bust shape, remained customary, 
 and in one of these we first find Titian emulating 
 Antonello and Giovanni Bellini. We saw how the 
 Venetians, at a time of rude pictorial culture, set value 
 on the portraits of their Doges. In later centuries 
 when art became more skilled, their fondness for 
 this class of delineation increased; and it became 
 the privilege of the best masters to take sittings 
 from the highest person in the state. We shall soon 
 perceive how Titian in course of years rose to the 
 enjoyment of this privilege. At the period of which 
 we are now treating, Giovanni Bellini led in the 
 practice of his profession, and his pupil dared not to 
 aspire to paint a living Doge. But the family of a 
 deceased Doge might desire to perpetuate his likeness 
 in numerous examples, and for that purpose might 
 confide an old portrait to a young artist to copy. In 
 this way Titian came early in the sixteenth century, 
 and probably about the time of the rebuilding of the 
 Fondaco, to revive on canvas the form of Niccolo 
 Marcello, who sat upon the ducal throne between 
 1473 and 1474. To any one who looks at this 
 portrait — a profile in the Vatican Museum — it will 
 appear almost incredible that such a likeness should 
 have been possible without a model. If ever Titian's 
 name was written on any creation, it is written on 
 this ; and although much has been done, by abrasion 
 of the background and repainting of several parts, to 
 
Chap. IV..] DOGE NICOLO MAECELLO. 
 
 113 
 
 impair the value of the work, it is still a specimen of 
 the most delicate blending and easy treatment that 
 the years under notice produced. We may recognize 
 the person depicted, from a wood-carving once in pos- 
 session of Emmanuel Cicogna at Yenice. The features 
 are such as to challenge attention ; for the man, in 
 spite of his ugliness, is full of character; his chin 
 recedes, his hanging under lip is on a level with the 
 bulb of a nose of large projection, and the skin of the 
 face is drawn off into pursy wrinkles, but out of these 
 wrinkles a small lack-lustre eye is shining, and we 
 fancy the man to have been benevolent and fond of 
 dinners. Such a portrait of Leonardo Loredano, at 
 that time chief of Yenice, would probably have made 
 Titian's fortune at once ; but representing as it did a 
 Doge long since forgotten, could only raise the master 
 in the eyes of a comparatively small circle. He was 
 never more careful in modelling, more studied in 
 outline, or more successful in producing tones of 
 golden warmth ; and if much has been lost in the 
 washes of cleaners or the daubs of restorers, much on 
 the other hand has been left to preserve the charm of 
 the painter's incomparable skill.* 
 
 * Vatican Gallery, No. XXI., 
 canvas, M. 1.5 high, by 0.89, 
 from the Aldrovandi collection at 
 Bologna. The figure is life size, 
 turned to the left, and visible to 
 the waist, relieved against a grey 
 brown ground, burnt away by a 
 wash of spirits of wine. The 
 right hand is repainted, and other 
 parts, including the face, have 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 been injured by cleaning and re- 
 touching. Photograph by Alinari. 
 A modern copy of this piece be- 
 longs to Signor Gualandi, at 
 Bologna, and here, in the back 
 of the canvas, is a note stating 
 that Emmanuel Cicogna was in 
 possession of a carved profile, 
 which proved this Doge to be 
 Niccolo Mar cello. 
 
 i 
 
114 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 Under the same conditions, bnt with varieties upon 
 which we shall have to dwell, Titian probably exe- 
 cuted a likeness of Marco Barbarigo, who died at 
 Yenice in 1485, after holding the ducal chair for 
 less than a year. There hangs to this piece a 
 fragment of art history, to which we may first attend. 
 At Titian's death in 1576, his property was inherited 
 by Pomponio, the son and heir, who squandered in a 
 few years the fruits of his father's labours. In 1581, 
 Pomponio sold to Christoforo Barbarigo, a descendant 
 of the Doges, the house of Titian with all its contents 
 and appurtenances, and with the house a number of 
 pictures which had served as ornaments to the great 
 master's studio.* Amongst the heirlooms thus dis- 
 posed of, was a " Christ carrying his Cross," a 
 Magdalen, a Madonna, a Venus, and a series of 
 other works assigned to Titian. At the sale of the 
 Barbarigo collection in 1850, the most important 
 canvases passed into the hands of the Emperor of 
 Eussia, but previous to that date, a certain number 
 of them had gone by division to collaterals, and 
 amongst these the portrait of Marco Barbarigo to 
 which allusion has been made.")* The present owner 
 of this heirloom is Count Sebastian Giustiniani 
 Barbarigo of Padua, who thus claims — not without 
 justification — to possess original studies which hung 
 for years in Titian's dwelling. The likeness of Marco 
 Barbarigo — if it be by Titian — must necessarily have 
 
 * Cadorin, Dello Amore, u. s., 
 pp. 77, 98—101. 
 t Selvatico (P.), Di Alcuni Ab- 
 
 bozzi di Tiziano, 8vo, Padova, 
 1875 ; a pamphlet of fifteen pages. 
 
Chap. IV.] DOGE MARCO BARBARIGO. 
 
 115 
 
 been copied from an earlier picture, but we saw it 
 is not contrary to presumption to think that Titian 
 followed this course, which was habitual with him 
 even in the days of his greatest renown. The Doge is 
 represented in the bust shape, on a slightly primed 
 canvas of fine texture ; his profile of life size, turned 
 to the right. The ducal cap on his head, the state 
 mantle of ermine on his shoulders, he stands without 
 motion, clutching with his hand, which peeps from 
 under the mantle, the fur edge of a red vest. On 
 the dark ground at the side of the head we read : 
 "marcvs barbadicvs venetiar, dvx anno mcccclxxxv," 
 but the letters are new, and the wall on which they 
 lie is daubed with recent paint. The features of the 
 man are not to be mistaken. His face is marked by a 
 large projecting nose, tumid lips and an open eye. 
 The features, frequently repeated on medals, are 
 found in a canvas of the public palace at Yenice. 
 The flesh lights are uniform, with a warm yellow 
 brown flush shaded off to half tones with lake and red 
 earth, and contrasted here and there with umber or 
 terra verde. The pigments are thin and spare, laid 
 in at one sitting, and altogether free from rubbings or 
 glazings; and this is a form of technical execution 
 unusual in Titian, who commonly painted with a 
 brush full of matter, laying on beds of colour, which he 
 subsequently kneaded and toned and grained till they 
 were fit to receive the final glazes and modulations. 
 But there is no reason why Titian, if anxious to 
 produce a model for use in the workshop, should not 
 
 have suited his practice to the occasion, and preferred 
 
 i 2 
 
116 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 the slight and simple manner employed on this canvas, 
 to that of his finished pieces. What he might lose by 
 this, namely the richness and beauty of tint which 
 form the great attraction of pictures intended for 
 public exhibition, would naturally be compensated by 
 a sober and studied rendering of form and outline ; 
 and there is no denying that in this respect the work 
 before us is masterly, though the pigments, being thin, 
 have lost the freshness and juiciness, which we always 
 expect from Titian. We have in fact a skilful study, 
 parts of which — the hand for instance — are much in 
 Titian's style, the treatment of which is firm and 
 precise, and quite superior to anything that the 
 master's followers or imitators could have done, but 
 without the charms of tint and sweetness which his 
 delicate and subtle brush could at will produce. 
 Titian here, we must remember, would not have been 
 painting from life, but from an inanimate object ; and 
 though we know nothing of his style in this form, it 
 is not beyond the range of probability that he should, 
 under the circumstances noted, produce a canvas like 
 that of Count Giustiniani.* 
 
 But the time was now approaching, when Titian 
 was to create one of those masterpieces which mark an 
 epoch and give repute to their author ; and it is not 
 too much to say that the Christ of " The Tribute 
 Money/' which long adorned the palace of the Duke 
 
 * The picture has been lined 
 afresh, and two strips of new 
 canvas have been added to its 
 sides. The Doge's red hat has the 
 usual ornaments of pearl. The 
 
 lappet which covers the ear is 
 white, likewise the shirt collar. 
 The present size of the picture is 
 M. 0.97 high, by 1.38. 
 
CHRIST OF THE TRIBUTE MONEY. 
 
 Dresden Museum. 
 
 [Vol. L,p. 116. 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 THE TRIBUTE MONEY. 
 
 117 
 
 of Ferrara, and now hangs in the museum of Dresden, 
 is a work which challenges admiration after three cen- 
 turies and a half, with the same irresistible certainty 
 with which it challenged the admiration of Titian's 
 friends and countrymen at the period of its completion. 
 Distinct records of Titian's first connection with the 
 Duke of Ferrara are not extant, and it would be pre- 
 suming to assert, that the Christ of " The Tribute 
 Money" was finished by him at the request of Alfonso 
 d'Este ; but it is important to remember, that the 
 words : " Eender to Csesar the things that are Csesar's, 
 and to God the things that are God's," were the device 
 of Alfonso's gold coins, and it is not doubtful that the 
 picture illustrating that device passed very early into 
 the hands of the Duke. It is not easy in the mean- 
 while to feign unconcern, when we find the origin 
 of so magnificent a work concealed in the clouded 
 medium of an anecdote ; but anecdotes, which are the 
 weeds of history, sometimes have their use in so 
 far as they embody a particle of truth ; and if the 
 following, from the babbling story of Scanelli, should 
 be in the main untrue, it would still confirm what we 
 accept as true, that a great and lasting influence was 
 wielded upon artists at Venice by the talent of Diirer. 
 Scanelli, we must recollect, wrote his "Microcosmo" 
 in 1655, and published it in 1657. He was an ardent 
 admirer of Titian, and particularly desired to ascer- 
 tain under what conditions the Christ of " The Tribute 
 Money " was produced. 
 
 He consulted an artist of large practice, and from 
 him he ascertained that during a stay of some time 
 
118 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 as a youth at Venice, he had consulted an old and 
 respectable friend of Titian, who told him the follow- 
 ing story: — " Titian was visited on a certain occasion 
 by a company of German travellers, who were 
 allowed to look at the pictures which his studio con- 
 tained. On being asked what impression these works 
 conveyed, these gentlemen declared that they only 
 knew of one master capable of finishing as they 
 thought paintings ought to be finished, and that was 
 Dlirer; their impression being that Venetian com- 
 positions invariably fell below the promise which 
 they had given at their first commencement. To 
 these observations Titian smilingly replied, 1 that if 
 he had thought extreme finish to be the end and aim 
 of art, he too would have fallen into the excesses of 
 Diirer. But though long experience had taught him 
 to prefer a broad and even track to a narrow and 
 intricate path, yet he would still take occasion to 
 show that the subtlest detail might be compassed 
 without sacrifice of breadth, and so produced the 
 Christ of the Tribute Money." '* It is curious that, 
 according to Eidolfi, an envoy of Charles the Fifth 
 at the Court of Ferrara expressed his great surprise 
 that anyone should be able to compete so formidably 
 with Diirer.f But the surprise is explained, for 
 Titian on this occasion showed a transcendent power 
 of imitating nature, and displayed a capacity for 
 finish never before equalled by any of his country- 
 men. 
 
 * Scanelli (Francesco), II Mi- I sena, 1657, pp. 231-4. 
 crocosmo della Pittura, 8vo, Ce- | t Ridolfi, Maraviglie, i. 209. 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 THE TKIBUTE MONEY. 
 
 119 
 
 Looking at the human face at a certain distance, 
 we lose those details of pore and down which we know 
 to exist, but only care to realise on a closer inspection; 
 and as in nature so in Titian, the hairs or the veins 
 and sinews are delineated, though we lose them by- 
 drawing back from the picture, which is then as 
 broad and as fair as if it contained none of those 
 minutiae. Vasari reflects an opinion which holds to 
 this day, that the u head of Christ is stupendous and 
 miraculous." It was considered by all the artists of 
 his time as the most perfect and best handled of any 
 that Titian ever produced ; * but for us it has quali- 
 ties of a higher merit than those of mere treatment. 
 Simple as the subject is, the thought which it embodies 
 is very subtle. Christ turns towards the questioning 
 Pharisee, and confirms with his eye the gesture of his 
 hand, which points to the coin. His face is youthful, 
 its features and short curly beard are finely framed 
 in a profusion of flowing locks. The Pharisee to the 
 right stands in profile before Jesus, holds the coin 
 and asks the question. The contrast is sublime 
 between the majestic calm and elevation, and what 
 Quandt calls the " Godlike beauty" of Christ, and 
 the low cunning and coarse air of the Pharisee ; f 
 between the delicate chiselling of the features, the 
 soft grave eye and pure cut mouth of the Saviour, 
 and the sharp aquiline nose or the crafty glance of 
 the crop-haired malignant Hebrew. It is a pecu- 
 
 * Vas. xiii. p. 24. I admirable work, Die Kon. Ge- 
 
 t V. Quandt's Guide, or " Be- malde-gallerie zu Dresden, 8vo, 
 gleiter," quoted in W. Schaefer's | Dresden, 1859, ii. p. 285. 
 
120 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IY. 
 
 liarity which Titian has caught from Palma, and even 
 carried ont in Palma' s manner, that he contrasts 
 the fair complexion and marble smoothness of Christ's 
 skin with the rongh and weatherbeaten tan of his 
 tempter. The hand, " every finger of which"* 
 points so gracefully and naturally to the effigy of 
 Csesar on the coin, is manly in spite of its delicacy, 
 and not a whit less strong than that of the Pharisee, 
 whose joints are gnarled by work. The form of a 
 boatman in his working- day shirt, whose arm is 
 hairy in its strength and swarthy from exposure, is 
 pitted against that of the Eedeemer, whose gesture, 
 shape, and dress reflect the elevation of His life and 
 thoughts. The form of Christ was never conceived 
 by any of the Venetians of such ideal beauty as 
 this. Nor has Titian ever done better; and it is 
 quite certain that no one, Titian himself included, 
 within the compass of the North Italian Schools, 
 reproduced the human shape with more nature and 
 truth, and with greater delicacy of modelling. 
 Amidst the profusion of locks that falls to Christ's 
 shoulders there are ringlets of which we may count 
 the hairs, and some of these are so light that they 
 seem to float in air, as if ready to wave at the 
 spectator's breath. Nothing can exceed the bright- 
 ness and sheen or the transparent delicacy of the 
 colours. The drapery is admirable in shade and 
 fold, and we distinguish with ease the loose texture 
 of the bright red tunic, and that of the fine broad- 
 
 * V. Quandt, u. s. 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 THE TEIBUTE MONEY. 
 
 121 
 
 cloth which forms the blue mantle. The most 
 perfect easel-picture of which Yenice ever witnessed 
 the production, this is also the most polished work of 
 Titian.* In it he shows himself indeed the disciple 
 of Palma, the rival of Giorgione, and the jealous 
 competitor of Durer ; yet we see that he copies none 
 of these masters, but reveals the creative talent of 
 one unsurpassed in his day for skill and original 
 power. 
 
 During this busy period Titian watched with the 
 deepest interest — we may think — the fortunes of 
 Venetian diplomacy and arms ; for on the success or 
 failure of both depended the safety of his brother and 
 
 * Dresden Museum, No. 222, 
 wood, 2 ft. 8 in. high, by 2 ft,, 
 inscribed on the collar of the 
 Pharisee's shirt, " Ticianvs F." 
 According to Vas. (xiv. p. 24) the 
 panel was framed in the wood- 
 work of a door in the studio of 
 Alfonso I. of Ferrara. It subse- 
 quently came into the gallery of 
 the Duke of Modena, and passed 
 with Duke Francesco III.'s whole 
 collection in 1746 to Dresden. 
 The panel was restored at Dresden 
 by Palmaroli, and has lost some 
 of its colour, particularly about 
 the nose and chin of Christ. The 
 hair to the left of the Saviour's 
 face, the background near the face 
 to the right, are re-touched ; the 
 outlines are in part overrun, and 
 some of the shadows have been 
 strengthened with dark liquid 
 tinting. The removal of subtle 
 glazings at the transitions of the 
 hair and forehead, gives an air of 
 
 excessive pallor to the flesh. The 
 Pharisee is better preserved, but 
 some injury is also done here by 
 cleaning, and the profile contour 
 is re-touched in several places. 
 There is no original replica of this 
 masterpiece ; but numerous copies 
 exist, —one by Torre in the Dresden 
 Museum, another in the Gros- 
 venor collection in London, with 
 the signature ' ' Tisianvs [sic] F. ;" 
 others again in the Galleries of 
 the Uffizi and Parma (this doubt- 
 less the same registered in the 
 Farnese inventory of 1680, in 
 Campori's Raccolta de' Cataloghi, 
 p. 245), and in the gallery of the 
 Academy of San Luca at Rome. 
 This picture was engraved by 
 Domenico Picchinuti, M. Steinla, 
 Fr. Knolle, J. Scherz, and W. 
 Witthoft. Photograph by the 
 Photographic Co. in Berlin. A 
 fine lithograph by F. Hanfstangl. 
 
122 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 the fate of his home and relations at Cadore. He 
 was not a man of the stolid nerve of Ferramola, of 
 whom it was told that he sat out the storm of Brescia 
 without stirring from his easel. From the safe and 
 sheltered haven of Venice his thoughts would 
 naturally wander to the valleys of Pieve, where the 
 hardy mountaineers were preparing for renewed 
 attacks, or to the squadrons of Maco of Ferrara, the 
 condottiere under whose colours Francesco Vecelli 
 was riding. 
 
 Maximilian had been foiled in the spring of 1508. 
 Having lost Cadore, Pordenone, Trieste and other 
 places of importance, he had sued for peace. But 
 peace at the price of so many losses could not be but 
 hollow; and such indeed it proved to be. The 
 capture of Genoa by the French had made Venice 
 the greatest naval state in Italy; her possession of 
 Cremona westward and Eavenna southward, her 
 occupation of the Neapolitan ports, had given her 
 such preponderance in the Peninsula as almost to 
 counterbalance her weakness in the Levant ; but this 
 very preponderance was calculated to rouse the 
 jealousy of powers apt to combine, though incapable 
 of isolated action; and if the policy of Venice 
 should happen to offend all these powers at once, a 
 crushing league must necessarily be the consequence. 
 
 Hitherto Venice had been allied with France, to 
 whose friendship she owed the frontier of the Adda. 
 Maximilian, the Pope, and Spain now united to 
 deprive her of that alliance, and succeeded in 
 their effort almost beyond expectation. 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 LEAGUE OF CAMBEAI. 
 
 123 
 
 Julius the Second, who coveted Kavenna, Faenza, 
 and Cervia ; Maximilian, who desired possession of 
 Friuli, Padua, Yerona, and Yicenza ; and Ferdinand, 
 who sought to recover the ports of Apulia, found a 
 willing ear at the Court of France, where they 
 hinted that Cremona, Brescia, and Bergamo might 
 be added to the Duchy of Milan. Yenice had com- 
 mitted a fatal mistake in signing her last peace with 
 Maximilian, without sufficiently consulting Louis 
 the Twelfth. A politic regard to his own interests 
 might have suggested to that monarch that it would 
 be safer to preserve neighbourly relations with 
 Yenice than to open Italy to the Emperor; but 
 offended pride and the bait of a few cities prevailed 
 over policy, and the league of Cambrai was ratified. 
 Yenice assembled an army under Dalviano, who 
 fought and lost the battle of Ghiaradadda near 
 Treviglio on the 14th of May, 1509. At the news 
 of this defeat Cremona, Bergamo, and Brescia sur- 
 rendered. Faenza and Eimini were taken by the 
 Pope, and the seaports of the kingdom of Naples 
 yielded to King Ferdinand. Leonardo Trissino 
 occupied Padua for the Emperor on the 6th of June, 
 and Imperialist generals took possession of Yerona 
 and Yicenza. Maximilian himself moved from Trent 
 on the 8th of June, and occupied the Province of 
 Friuli, whilst one of his lieutenants, in July burnt 
 the capital, and after a fruitless effort to obtain the 
 surrender of the Castle of Pieve, sacked the whole of 
 the villages of western Cadore. 
 
 In the midst of these disasters the dawn of better 
 
124 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IY. 
 
 times appeared to the Yenetians. Treviso held out 
 against the Imperialists and successfully defended 
 her walls. Andrea Gritti surprised the Codalunga 
 gate at Padua on the 17th of July, and so resumed 
 possession of that important strategic position. 
 Maximilian, obliged to concentrate his force for a 
 siege, effected a breach, which he prepared to storm 
 on the 29th of September. But he was repulsed, and 
 retired on the following day, thus leaving the 
 Yenetians masters of the field. Either here or at 
 Yicenza, which was soon after recovered, Francesco 
 Yecelli fought and received a dangerous wound ; but 
 he also defeated a German captain in single combat, 
 and amongst the Cadorines who served in the Low- 
 lands under the Yenetian flag, he was held to have 
 behaved as a brave soldier until such time as Titian, 
 " who loved him tenderly and feared for his life, 
 persuaded him to return, and led him back by 
 degrees to the study of the arts." * A cursory review 
 of the events which followed would show how the 
 league of Cambrai was broken up ; how Ferdinand and 
 Julius the Second turned against France, and Yenice 
 ultimately regained a great part of her lost posses- 
 sions. But we need scarcely dwell upon this, which 
 pertains to the domains of general history rather than 
 illustrates the life of Titian. It is enough to note 
 the baneful effects of the war upon the prospects of 
 painters in general. The campaign which followed 
 the league of Cambrai was almost as fatal to artists 
 
 * Vincenzo Vecelli's Panegyric, u. s. 
 
Chap. IY.] 
 
 CELEBEITY OF PADUA. 
 
 125 
 
 of the Venetian school, as the siege and capture of 
 Eome in 1527 to the masters who served under Leo 
 the Tenth and Clement the Seventh. The first effect 
 was to force provincial craftsmen to seek refuge in 
 Venice, its next to narrow the field of profit in the 
 capital and drive painters away altogether. So Pelle- 
 grino left Udine; Pordenone forsook Colalto, and Morto 
 escaped from Feltre to find employment at Yenice. So 
 later Sebastian del Piombo withdrew to Eome, Lotto 
 to the Eomagna, and Titian to Padua and Yicenza. 
 
 Ever since that winter day in 1406, when policy 
 induced the Yenetian republic to strangle Francesco 
 da Carrara and his two sons in prison, Padua had 
 been subject to Yenice, and served as its intellectual 
 centre. Padua was not only celebrated for her 
 university, but envied for her literary collections, 
 museums, and galleries of antiquities. She was 
 renowned for a school of painting which extended its 
 influence from the mountains of Friuli to the gates 
 of Milan. She had seen within her walls Donatello, 
 the Bellini, and Andrea Mantegna ; but had lost her 
 supremacy when the greatest of her masters migrated 
 to Mantua and Yenice. Towards the close of the 
 fifteenth and at the opening of the sixteenth century, 
 the Paduan university, under the supervision of the 
 bishops, was still remarkable as an academical body, 
 but the absence of a court, and the gradual decay of 
 a local noblesse, had reacted upon the pictorial craft, 
 and reduced the school to a few undistinguished 
 artists. When the city was taken by the Imperialists 
 the university struck work and remained suspended 
 
126 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 for an indefinite period. After the recapture of the 
 place by Andrea Gritti, severe examples were made 
 of the nobles who had joined the standard of Maxi- 
 milian ; and a long time elapsed before the miseries 
 of fines, imprisonments, and executions were com* 
 pletely forgotten. It is therefore rather matter of 
 surprise that Padua should have had the enterprise 
 to employ artists at all than that she should have 
 been impelled to invite men who were strangers to 
 her in all but their names. From that time forward, 
 indeed, we shall observe, in consulting her annals, 
 that Padua never again became celebrated as the 
 birthplace or residence of eminent painters, but was 
 content to compete with Venice or Brescia for the 
 works of Titian, Eomanino, or Moretto. 
 
 Titian's journey to Padua admits us to a closer 
 intimacy with the master than we before enjoyed. 
 It enables us to determine with tolerable accuracy 
 how he handled fresco — as to which the fragments 
 at the Pondaco left us in doubt ; it tells when, 
 where, and how Titian set to work and who was his 
 assistant. The time and place are divulged in a 
 document from which we gather with certainty that 
 three frescoes in the brotherhood of the Santo were 
 finished and paid for on the 2nd of December, 1511.* 
 
 * 1511, adi 2 decebrio. Kice jo 
 Ticiano ducati quatro doro da la 
 fraia <t M. So Antonio da Padova 
 li quali mi conto f Antonio suo 
 fator p resto et compido pagameto 
 d li tre quadri jo ho dpicta su- 
 dita scuola, L. 24s. ... Io tician 
 
 di Cador Dplitore. This docu- 
 ment is in facsimile in Gonzati 
 (Padre Bernardo), La Basilica di 
 S. Ant. di Padova, fol., Pad. 1854, 
 vol. i. , and is printed in the same 
 volume at p. cxliii. 
 
Chap. IV.] TITIAN AND CAMPAGNOLA. 
 
 127 
 
 The assistant is mentioned by name in memoranda 
 thrown by chance npon sheets of drawings.* 
 
 Mariette has translated the following from the 
 back of a sketch by Domenico Campagnola. 
 
 " In 1511 I painted fresco in company with Titian 
 in the Scola del Carmine, and in company we entered 
 the Scola of Padna on the 24th of September of the 
 same year.f " 
 
 A memorandum as follows is on the back of a draw- 
 ing for the " Omnia Yanitas " in the Academy of 
 Diisseldorf, the handwriting clearly Titian's. 
 
 "per dinari dattia M. Domenico Campagnola p 
 suo soldo del debitto che havevo con lui io Titian 
 Yecelli per havermi aiutatto nelP opera che ho fatta 
 in la faciatta di Ca Corner in Pad. . 
 
 " To money paid to M. Domenico Campagnola in 
 payment of the debt due to him by me Titian Yecelli 
 for assistance in working at the front of Casa Corner 
 in Pad[ua]." 
 
 On the same sheet are the following entries : 
 
 " L. tanti mandatti in Cador a mio nepote 
 
 p. suo conto L. 30." 
 
 " To so many L.[ire] sent to Cadore to my 
 
 nephew's account L. 30." 
 
 * We assume and believe that 
 the drawings and memoranda in 
 question are genuine. 
 
 t Keiset(F.), Notice desDessins, 
 
 &c, au Musee Imperial du Louvre, 
 8vo, Paris, 1866, p. 206. The 
 drawing, once in the Crozat col- 
 lection, has not been traced. 
 
128 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 "IlSignor Marco Zacco mi sta debitor e 
 
 lire cento e trenta L.130." 
 
 " Signor Marco Zacco is my debtor to the 
 
 amount of one hundred and thirty lire L.130."* 
 
 It was very natural that Titian should carefully 
 balance accounts at a period of financial disturbance. 
 But his shrewd nature probably made this sort of 
 occupation very familiar to him. It was natural 
 again that he should send money to Cadore, for this 
 was a time when the Imperialists had devastated the 
 country, yet it would be presuming to affirm that 
 these memoranda are of the same date as the record 
 of the Santo and the note of Mariette. Eemarkable 
 only is the allusion to Campagnola, who persistently 
 recurs as the helpmate of Titian in all his labours at 
 Padua. "With reference to this artist there is much 
 to be learnt from Paduan annals, but in the matter 
 of his birth and death the usual darkness prevails. 
 His best claim to attention is his connection with 
 Titian, whose style as a colourist and designer of 
 landscapes, in spite of bad drawing and worse com- 
 position, he successfully imitated. There is some 
 doubt as to whether he was a Paduan or a Venetian, 
 and it is curious that we hear of him first when 
 Titian comes to Padua. But from 1511 to 1564 he 
 was entrusted with numerous commissions in that 
 city ; and there is testimony independent of that 
 
 * This drawing is on grey paper, 
 and was purchased at the close of 
 last century by Mr. Krahe, Di- 
 
 rector of the Diisseldorf Academy, 
 at Borne. 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 ALVISE CORNARO. 
 
 129 
 
 already produced to show that he painted in the 
 Cornaro Palace and in the brotherhood of the Santo.* 
 It would have been strange if a man of Alvise 
 Cornaro's enterprising character had allowed an 
 artist of Titian's eminence to visit Padua without 
 exercising his skill. Unhappily what the master 
 did for him has been lost. Cornaro was a man 
 of mature age at the time of Titian's coming. He 
 was a reformed rake who had written an essay on 
 sobriety and followed his own precepts with such 
 effect as to prepare him for the privileges of a cen- 
 tenarian. Though cut off by the fault of one of his 
 ancestors from the rank of the noblesse, he was by 
 birth a patrician. Precluded by accident from public 
 employment, yet in wealth and station surpassing 
 many of his contemporaries, he varied his leisure with 
 sober pleasures and study. He kept open house at 
 Padua, and had a special welcome for men of science, 
 letters and art ; receiving once amongst others the 
 admirable Crichton, whose versatility and breadth of 
 knowledge he seems to have emulated. Accom- 
 plished as a singer, he also wrote a comedy and a 
 treatise on architecture. A first rate sportsman, he 
 was at home on all subjects appertaining to agricul- 
 ture, draining, dykes and fortifications. Waste lands 
 were brought into cultivation by his efforts, and he 
 planned the regulation of the lagoons. Having 
 visited Eome with his favourite architect Palconetto, 
 
 * Morelli's Anon. 11 ; Ridolfi, 
 Marav. i. 118, ii. 265 ; Brandolese, 
 Pitt, di Padoya, 8vo, Padova, 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 1795; and Selvatico (P.), Guida 
 di Padova, 8vo, Pad. 1869. 
 
130 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 he proposed to divert the course of the Tiber by a 
 cutting at the Ponte Molle, thus forestalling by three 
 centuries the plans of our day.* Visitors to Padua 
 seldom fail to look at the palace which he built, and 
 which fell by inheritance to the Giustiniani family. 
 They find the name of Falconetto and the date of 
 1524 inscribed on an inner portico; but they also 
 perceive that many parts of the edifice were taken 
 down at different periods, and they are unable for 
 that reason to discover what Titian planned, Cam- 
 pagnola executed, and Cornaro paid for. 
 
 Equally unknown, though perhaps more legendary, 
 the frescoes with which Titian is said to have decorated 
 the walls of a room in his house at Padua, have also 
 perished. According to Eidolfi they were the originals 
 or repetitions of engravings for which Titian him- 
 self had drawn the blocks, and which, if we believe 
 Yasari, he published under the name of the Triumph 
 of Faith in 1508. f If they ever existed, and in any 
 way resembled these prints in rugged force and clever- 
 ness of drawing, they deserved to be classed above 
 everything that Titian left in any of the sacred edi- 
 fices of Padua. The prints themselves exhibit the 
 master as challenging the memory of Mantegna, and 
 representing a religious triumph to contrast with that 
 of CaBsar which adorned one of the Mantuan palaces. 
 They show us Christ drawn in a car by the Doctors of 
 
 * For a sketch of Alvise Cor- 
 naro, and a statement of the 
 literature concerning him, see 
 Cicogna's Isc. Ven. vi. pp. 685, 
 and following. Cornaro was born 
 
 in 1467, and died in 1565. 
 
 t Tizianello's Anon., p. ix; Ei- 
 dolfi, Marav. i. 201 ; Vasari, xiii. 
 21. The prints were published in 
 ten sheets, marked from A to J. 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 THE TEIUMPH OF FAITH. 
 
 131 
 
 the Church, preceded by Adam and Eve, their progeny, 
 and the patriarchs and sybils, and followed by the 
 whole army of martyrs and confessors. Eoughly 
 drawn, and still more ronghly cut on wood, they are 
 full of impulsive energy, and they embody life with 
 such exuberance and grandeur as justifies an ardent 
 Catholic in saying they are masterpieces worthy of a 
 Christian painter.* 
 
 Titian once complained to the envoy of Alfonzo 
 d'Este at Yenice, that Ferrara was an inconvenient 
 place to visit professionally, because it lay so far away 
 from models and artistic properties, f In truth he 
 clung passionately to certain forms of female beauty, 
 which he repeated with slight varieties in many pic- 
 tures, and he felt himself deprived — as it were — of part 
 of himself when he had not these forms to appeal to. 
 The same inconvenience would naturally strike him 
 when moving from Yenice, and leaving his disciples 
 at home. After he became famous and felt that he 
 was courted, he did not hesitate to travel with three 
 or four assistants ; but in earlier years he was probably 
 deterred from this course by fear of incurring expense. 
 A common practice of master-artists in these years 
 was to engage journeymen at the place of their 
 temporary residence; and we may thus explain the 
 companionship of Campagnola at Padua. But this 
 practice was never without serious disadvantage, 
 
 * Eio, A. F., De 1' Art Chretien, 
 nouvelle ed. 8vo, Paris, 1867; 
 torn. iv. p. 183. 
 
 t Campori (March ese Giuseppe), 
 
 Tiziano e gli Estensi " in reprint 
 from the Nuova Antologia, 8yo, 
 Flor., Nov. 1874, p. 16. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 unless the master resolved to counterbalance the 
 feebleness of his helpmate, by additional care on 
 his own part. The questions presenting themselves 
 for consideration under such circumstances might be 
 these. Was it worth while to paint conscientiously 
 in a provincial town ; was it necessary to do the best 
 for a price not the best ? It is difficult to determine 
 in what way Titian would have answered these 
 questions had they been put to him. But it is 
 perfectly certain that when he laboured at the Carmine 
 he left almost all the work to Campagnola ; and when 
 he painted at the Santo he trusted enough to that 
 artist to make the " alloy in the metal," more perhaps 
 than the brethren may have bargained for. 
 
 The Carmine injures Titian's fame for this reason, 
 because its walls are in a state of great dilapidation, 
 and its frescoes in an advanced stage of decay ; but 
 making allowance even for this, a master of his talent 
 ought to have done better. The subject represented 
 in the only wall painting assignable to him, is the 
 meeting of Joachim and Anna. We see the road 
 which the saint has just followed, winding round a 
 bluff covered with vegetation, and leading out over a 
 plain to the foot of a hill crowned by buildings. To 
 the right the servant kneels with his staff in his hand, 
 whilst Joachim strides up to Anna, who takes him to 
 her arms. Three females witness the meeting in front 
 of a palace of fine architectural proportions. There is 
 nothing abler in the picture than the landscape, the 
 figure of the servant, and the head of Joachim, who 
 smiles happily as he looks into his wife's face, but 
 
Chap. IV.] FEESCOES AT PADUA. 
 
 133 
 
 even this is hasty work unworthy of the master, whilst 
 the rest is beneath his level altogether. What dis- 
 tinguishes Campagnola in other frescoes of this series, 
 is a bold rapidity of hand, and a rough realism, which 
 betrays itself in coarseness of face and squatness of 
 shape, or defective drawing and modelling, harsh 
 colour and incomprehensible drapery. There is not 
 one of the figures in the meeting of Joachim and 
 Anna which does not exhibit some of these defects ; 
 for that of the servant, if more harmonious in tone 
 than the rest, is unfortunately curt in proportions, 
 and Joachim, though fine in head, is weighted with 
 drapery of superabundant and meaningless fold.* 
 
 Titian's contempt of the judgment of his provincial 
 contemporaries is less apparent but not less real at the 
 Santo than at the Carmine ; and we are involuntarily 
 reminded of Donatello, whose chance it was in a 
 previous age to produce at Padua some of the finest 
 creations of his chisel. Donatello confessed that he 
 
 * This fresco has always been 
 assigned to Titian (Brandolese, 
 Pitture di Padova, 190). It and 
 all its companions were injured 
 in the course of the present cen- 
 tury by an accident. The Aus- 
 trians occupied the floor above the 
 "Scuola" as a barrack. They 
 allowed the roof to fall out of 
 repair ; the rain found its way in 
 and washed the colouring matter 
 from the pictures. Being origi- 
 nally painted in haste, the work 
 threatened to disappear altogether. 
 The landscape is much faded ; the 
 mantle of St. Anna is changed 
 
 from blue to leaden grey, the 
 tunic from brown to green and 
 black. All the figures, nearly of 
 life size, are bleached and spotty. 
 The short squat forms of Cam- 
 pagnola are most conspicuous in 
 the females to the left behind St. 
 Anna — one in yellow, between 
 two in red and black respectively. 
 His vulgar realism is apparent in 
 the peasant face of St. Anna, 
 where even a mole is depicted. 
 Very poor is the drapery of St. 
 Joachim, raw in its yellow and 
 brick-red tints. 
 
134 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IY. 
 
 felt injuriously the influence of fulsome and ceaseless 
 praise, and wished he were home to get a little abuse 
 instead of losing his skill under the flatteries of his 
 friends.* It would seem as if Titian had been over- 
 praised before producing anything, for his work at 
 the Santo reveals the weariness and impatience that 
 an artist might feel who was eager to rid himself of 
 an irksome and uncongenial duty. Yet it was not 
 the subject that palled upon him. In composing the 
 designs he performed his task with a racy spirit ; 
 losing force and courage only when called upon to 
 transfer his drawings to the wall. 
 
 The first fresco of the series at the Santo is that of 
 which Titian's original sketch has been preserved. 
 It represents St. Anthony granting speech to an 
 infant that it might testify to the innocence of its 
 mother — a composition beautifully conceived, and 
 conveying with rare force the ideas of instant 
 emotion, expression and action. The child sits on 
 the hands of St. Anthony, who kneels as he raises 
 the babe to the presence of its incensed parent. 
 Masterly is the contrast between the surprise of the 
 father and the dignified calm of the mother, who 
 stands — a grand matron grandly draped — in serene 
 consciousness of her innocence at her jealous hus- 
 band's side. Eapidly and cleverly the spectators of 
 the scene are thrown on to the paper with a pen 
 and tinted in with water colour, the hands and feet 
 indicated with a few lines, all revealing the thorough 
 
 * Vas. in. 258. 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 SCUOLA DEL SANTO. 
 
 135 
 
 knowledge of the draughtsman.* With some varie- 
 ties of head-dress, the figures of the drawing are 
 transferred to the wall; but how different is the 
 contour, how imperfect are the extremities ! "We 
 follow the hurried artist or his assistant as he slurs 
 over the difficulties of his work ; handling the brush 
 with freedom and breadth indeed, but with unwel- 
 come neglect, balancing his colours with sufficient 
 skill to obtain a scale of harmony without a wave of 
 discord, but producing tones opaque in shadow, 
 sloppy in transitions, and — especially in the distance 
 — without those charms of brightness and atmosphere 
 which enchant us in Titian's oil pictures. Of great 
 attraction is the group of women to the right behind 
 the mother. Brilliant and quite Giorgionesque in 
 form a youth to the left holding in his hands the 
 hems of his white mantle, two primaries admirably 
 balanced with a secondary in the red cap, the striped 
 red and yellow hose, and the green jacket, a true 
 counterpart, as regards excellence, of the brother of 
 the Calza on the Fondaco at Yenice. Giorgionesque 
 again is the bearded man just behind St. Anthony, 
 and a younger spectator close by him pointing to the 
 Saint as he kneels and presents the child. The 
 draperies are in all respects satisfactory, but these 
 exceptional beauties scarcely compensate for more 
 prominent defects ; and we miss beyond everything 
 the sun, the vivid light and shade and the landscapes 
 which give a charm even to feeble works of Titian. 
 
 * This drawing was one of those exhibited at the Manchester 
 Exhibition. 
 
136 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 Campagnola was a celebrated and able painter in 
 his day, one of the few men indeed who worthily- 
 represented landscape as an art relying altogether 
 on itself.* Yet neither his nor Titian's skill in this 
 aspect is visible ; most of the dramatis personce are 
 seen in front of a bnilding with an arched gateway 
 guarded at one of its angles by the statue of a saint, 
 and the view to the right is only bounded by an 
 earthen bank and a few trees, f 
 
 The second of Titian's compositions is treated with 
 great freedom but with more care than its pre- 
 decessor. Its lines in groups and distance are 
 grand and harmonious. The dead youth is depicted 
 who cut off his leg because — in his passion — he had 
 kicked his mother. A woman raises the shoulders 
 of the corpse, which lies at length on the foreground, 
 whilst the mother appeals in her grief to St. Anthony. 
 Behind her, a female tells the story to her friends, 
 amongst whom a bearded man in a yellow robe is 
 prominent. St. Anthony tucks up the skirt of his 
 frock with the left hand, which is lost in the folds 
 of his sleeve ; and extending the right with appro- 
 priate gesture bids the mother be comforted. Behind 
 him a knight in steel armour has donned his 
 helmet and dropped his shield, the white face of 
 
 * One of the best things of 
 Campagnola was a series of land- 
 scapes in distemper with which 
 he covered the walls of a palace 
 at Padua, inhabited by Marco 
 Mantova. See Morelli's Anon., 
 p. 25. 
 
 f We must recollect that this 
 and other frescoes of the series has 
 suffered from damp and re-paint- 
 ing, to which we may attribute 
 in part the darker and more 
 opaque surfaces, and a certain 
 dull monotony in the whole work. 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 SCUOLA DEL SANTO. 
 
 137 
 
 which relieves the grey dress of the friar. To the 
 right are two fine forms of men, one with a shaven 
 crown, another in a red cap and a red tnnic with 
 grey sleeves. But a pecnliar feature of this fresco 
 is its background. Divided sharply by the tall 
 trunk and sparse foliage of a tree immediately be- 
 hind St. Anthony, it gives us a view of the towers 
 and embattled walls of a city bowered in trees and 
 covering a slope falling to the seashore. In the 
 fields to the right a shepherd tends his flock ; behind 
 the tower, to the left, a grand dolomite crag rises with 
 its needles and slabs into the sky, and an island dips 
 its blue and saw-shaped form into the sea. Such a 
 % scene in one of Titian's canvases would be enchant- 
 ing. The fresco gives little more than the lines, and 
 still sets us awondering at the cleverness with which 
 the nature of Cadore is combined with that of the 
 Greek or Dalmatian coast. Much art is displayed in 
 balancing one figure with the other in broad contrast 
 of light and shadow ; the movement of the faces 
 being so conceived as to throw one alternately into 
 darkness. The scales of tone are calculated as be- 
 fore, the head of a man with copious hair stooping 
 to look over the Saint's arm at the prostrate youth 
 is quite in the character of Giorgione, whilst many 
 of the others are grand in shape and expressiveness. 
 Clever from its suggestiveness is the turn of the 
 knight's head, whose glance is thrown abroad as if 
 scanning the approach of a crowd visible to no one 
 but himself. Characteristic is the superior beauty 
 of male over female form, for here the women are 
 
138 
 
 TITIAN : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 necessarily types drawn from a class of low social 
 condition.* 
 
 Of the third fresco, which has lost almost all its 
 attraction in respect of tone, we conld almost wish 
 that it had not been conceived or executed by Titian, 
 so mannered is the action, so theatrical the grouping, 
 so conventional its whole surroundings. A jealous 
 husband grimly stands over his wife, whose prostrate 
 form is at his feet, stabbed with a blow from the 
 stiletto which he still holds over her. In the dis- 
 tance St. Anthony pardons the repentant murderer, 
 and assures him that his partner has been restored to 
 life. The two groups are separated by a shapeless 
 mound of earth, which looks more like the shifting 
 scene of a theatre than anything that a votary of 
 nature like Titian ever painted.f 
 
 Sir Joshua Eeynolds has said that whatever Titian 
 touched, however naturally mean and habitually 
 familiar, by a kind of magic he invested with 
 grandeur and importance.^ Nothing can be more 
 
 * This fresco is engraved, but 
 reversed, in Lefebre's series, called 
 " Opera Selectiora," 1682. 
 
 f In all these frescoes the figures 
 are of life size. The whole series 
 was "restored" in autumn of 
 1748 by a Paduan artist named 
 Francesco Zanoni, who, before 
 undertaking the work, reported 
 that the frescoes had already been 
 repaired by painting over cracks 
 and blisters with oil colour. He 
 was ordered to remove the dust 
 and as much of the oil paint as 
 
 he could. Since then water has 
 percolated behind several frescoes 
 from an opening in the roof, and 
 two of them, the dead youth with 
 his cut leg, and the murderer of 
 his wife, have been greatly in- 
 jured; the latter especially being 
 in such a state as almost to sug- 
 gest fears for its existence. Com- 
 pare Gonzati, Basilica, I., cxliv. 
 and Selvatico, Guida di Padova, 
 1869, p. 31. 
 X Xlth Discourse. 
 
Chap. IV.] 
 
 TITIAN AND DEL SAETO. 
 
 139 
 
 true, yet Titian seldom imported so little magic into 
 any work as into these pictures at Padua, and we retire 
 from their contemplation questioning his power to 
 cope as a wall painter with Giorgione, and inquiring 
 whether it be true, as his flatterers said, that he 
 carried off the palm at the Fondaco de' Tedeschi. ~No 
 doubt the frescoes at Padua are the creations of a master 
 and a colourist, yet the same master did many times 
 better in oil, and unless we suppose that the walls of 
 the Santo are so changed as to have lost all trace of 
 their original beauty, we must believe either that 
 Titian trusted too much to his assistants, or that he 
 disliked fresco as a craft altogether. That he should 
 prefer easel painting to every other form of pictorial 
 labour, Ave might fully expect from a genuine disciple 
 of the Yenetian school. That he did prefer it there 
 seems to be no manner of doubt, and thus we come to 
 the conclusion familiar to the student of the comparative 
 history of Italian art, that Yenice in the person of her 
 greatest craftsman was so far below Florence that she 
 could not produce a fresco painter equal to Andrea 
 del Sarto, whilst Florence on the other hand never 
 produced a colourist equal to Titian. With the 
 solitary exception of Pordenone there is not a single 
 artist of the Yenetian States whose skill in fresco is 
 above the average. But no one would think of com- 
 paring even Pordenone with del Sarto ; whilst if we 
 pit one masterpiece against the other, del Sarto's 
 " Dispute of the Trinity" at the Pitti against the 
 " St. Mark " which Titian, after his return to Yenice, 
 completed in San Spirito, we shall perceive that the 
 
140 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IV. 
 
 Florentine was bnt a master of sleight-of-hand, the 
 Venetian a real magician. 
 
 Yet no one conld have forecast the future condition of 
 Venetian art if events had taken a different turn from 
 that which history has recorded. In Venice fresco 
 was accepted as a temporary decoration. Its use in 
 the Venetian provinces was more common in propor- 
 tion as its chance of lasting was greater. Had it 
 been Titian's fate to wander on the mainland from 
 church to church and paint never-ending aisles and 
 choirs in emulation of Pordenone, he would have 
 overcome his dislike and mastered his inexperience. 
 But it was otherwise determined. On his return to 
 Venice, after finishing his labours at Padua, he 
 stopped at Vicenza, whither there is every reason to 
 believe he was accompanied by Domenico Campa- 
 gnola,* and there he produced a fresco of the " Judg- 
 ment of Solomon," which did not survive the 
 century.*]* He then settled down to his old practice 
 in the capital, and though it is reported that his first 
 duty on arriving was the decoration of the front of a 
 palace belonging to the Grimani family, J he aban- 
 
 * Boschini, in the Gioielli pitt. 
 di Vicenza, 12mo, Vicenza, 1676, 
 notes fragments of fresco on the 
 front of the Palace of the Podesta, 
 of which it was doubtful whether 
 they were by Titian or Campa- 
 gnola (pp. 34-5). He also notes a 
 fresco by Campagnola (p. 74) 
 under a portico near Santa Corona 
 of Vicenza. But Campagnola also 
 came to Venice, and there are still 
 
 two canvases by him in San Mi- 
 chele of Murano. 
 
 f Vas. xiii. 22, 45. Eidolfi, 
 Marav. i. 201, 298. The fresco 
 was in the loggia in which the 
 courts of j ustice sat. It was taken 
 down by Palladio when the loggia 
 was rebuilt, and Malvasia notes 
 the scandal which the loss of 
 Titian's fresco caused. 
 
 % Vasari (xiii. 22) speaks too 
 
Chap. IV.] EETUEN TO VENICE. 
 
 141 
 
 doned wall painting that he might give his time 
 exclusively to canvases and panels. 
 
 vaguely of the " Grimani family" 
 to enable us to discover what 
 branch of it he refers to. There 
 are no remains of frescoes on any 
 private palace in Venice. But 
 perhaps Vasari meant to allude to 
 the portico of the Grimani Palace 
 at St. Ermagora. where, Eidolfi 
 says (Marav. i. 200), Titian painted 
 
 trophies and two figures of virtues ; 
 and see as to this, History of 
 North Ital. Painting, ii. pp. 140, 
 where these frescoes are described 
 as works of Giorgione. Consult 
 also Maier, A., Delia Imitazione 
 pitt., 8vo, Ven. 1818, pp. 292, and 
 following. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Titian's Eeturn to Venice after the Peace. — Condition of the City and 
 Status of the Painter at this Time. — St. Mark : an Altar-piece 
 at the Salute. — Culture of Letters ; the Aldine Club and Titian. 
 — Bembo causes Titian to be asked to Koine. — Navagero prevents 
 him. — Titian applies for Official Employment. — His Quarrel with 
 Bellini and his Paction. — The Hall of Public Council. — Workshop 
 at San Samuele. — Negotiations with the Council of Ten. — The 
 Sanseria and its Duties. — Titian's first Canvas in the Hall of 
 Council. — Ferrara. — Alfonzo d'Este and his Treatment of Eaphael 
 and Titian. — The first Bacchanal. — Eelations to Ariosto and first 
 visit to Perrara. — Correspondence with Alfonzo, and Alfonzo's 
 visit to Venice. 
 
 The quiet of Titian's stay at Padua was disturbed 
 at its close by news of disasters in Cadore. About 
 the middle of October, 1511, the Emperor's lieu- 
 tenant, Begendorff, seized the passes of the Alps, 
 took Bottestagno and summoned Pieve to surrender. 
 After burning several villages which had weathered 
 earlier storms, he sat down before the castle of Pieve, 
 which stood out a bombardment and on the 7th of 
 December surrendered. It is not without emotion that 
 we read even now the message sent on the 21st of 
 December by Cadorine envoys to Yenice. The Doge 
 was informed that the men of Cadore had met in 
 the ruins of the castle, haviDg no place in the town 
 to which they could retire for cover. They were 
 determined to rebuild the castle, and desirous of 
 being favoured with a captain or proveditorc, more 
 
Chap. V.] 
 
 PEACE EESTOEED. 
 
 143 
 
 experienced and intrepid than the last ; bnt in the 
 meanwhile they begged to say that they were living 
 in hnts and caverns and suffering from want of the 
 commonest necessaries of life.* 
 
 Titian's return to Venice probably coincided with 
 the truce which temporarily put an end to hostilities 
 with Maximilian in April, 1512. Though her 
 finances were much exhausted and her possessions 
 sensibly curtailed, Venice might still look with some 
 sort of equanimity on the distant battle fields, upon 
 which the French, the Germans, the Spaniards, and 
 the Swiss, contended. The capital at least enjoyed 
 immunity from the presence of those enemies who 
 wasted and destroyed the fairest cities of the main- 
 land without effecting any permanent conquests, and 
 her supremacy on the Adriatic being practically 
 unchallenged at the time, Venice might console her- 
 self with the pursuit of commerce which was the 
 mainstay of her treasury, and — with the salt-pans — 
 her chief source of profit. That a better tone and 
 more hopeful prospects gave heart to the Doge 
 Loredano and his council is apparent from the 
 splendour of the procession which was then instituted 
 for the first time, the procession or " Andata" in 
 which the Doge and Senators after meeting in San 
 Marco, proceeded in state to Santa Marina to give 
 thanks to Heaven for the recovery of Padua. Every 
 year for centuries this ceremony was performed on 
 the 17th of July, giving a measure by its importance 
 
 * Ciani, w. $., ii. pp. 223-4. 
 
144 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. V. 
 
 and solemnity of the value which the Kepublic 
 attached to her supremacy on the Venetian Main.* 
 We can fancy that there was a tendency in every 
 person and every corporation to return thanks to the 
 Almighty both directly and through the intercession 
 of St. Mark for the rescue of the State from the 
 dangers of the league of Cambrai, and there can be 
 little doubt that we owe to some such feeling as this 
 the picture of St. Mark enthroned amidst saints, 
 which Titian now completed for the canons of San 
 Spirito in Isola. At a much later period, when 
 Sansovino became famous in the north, and the 
 canons employed him to rebuild their church, Titian 
 also painted the descent of the Holy Spirit, and the 
 ceiling pieces which represented the death of Abel, 
 the sacrifice of Abraham, and David's contest with 
 Goliath. But these pictures are wide as the years 
 asunder which elapsed between 1512 and 1541. 
 The whole series taken to the church of the Salute 
 after the suppression of San Spirito in 1656 is still 
 to be seen in something like its original state, and 
 we mark with interest, though without surprise, how 
 closely Titian still followed the precepts of Palma 
 and Giorgione before he acquired the sublime art 
 that gave his works a grand character of originality 
 in the later period of his pictorial career. ^ 
 
 * Sansovino, Ven. descr. 504; 
 Cicogna, Isc. Ven. i. 333. 
 
 t Compare Yas. xiii. 22 ; Bos- 
 chini, Le Eic. Min., 12mo, Ven. 
 1674 ; Sest. di D. Duro, pp. 25-6 ; 
 Eidolfi, Marav. i. 198; and Za- 
 
 netti, Pit. Ven., p. 143. It is also 
 to be borne in mind that the 
 church of San Spirito is not the 
 same as that of Spirito Santo, 
 where Titian also painted an altar- 
 piece. (Sansoy. Ven. desc, p. 272.) 
 
Chap. V.] 
 
 ST. MARK AT THE SALUTE. 
 
 145 
 
 As a master ambitious of leading in his profession, 
 Titian's position was now materially improved ; partly 
 by the growing incapacity of Giovanni Bellini to 
 compass the duty entrusted to his hands, partly by 
 the decline of Carpaccio's power and the withdrawal 
 of Sebastian Luciani, but mainly by the death of 
 Giorgione, to whose practice he succeeded almost 
 without a contest. It is evidence of the depth and 
 extent of the influence which Giorgione wielded upon 
 his more fortunate competitor that Titian remained 
 even now under the charm of his style ; and it was 
 noticed by Yasari, as it might be noticed in our day by 
 any one seriously studying the masterpieces of those 
 times, that the St. Mark of the Salute is Giorgion- 
 esque enough in treatment to be taken for a work of 
 Giorgione.* In so far as St. Mark was the patron 
 saint of Venice we might, in 1512, have anticipated 
 such an embodiment of him as would express an 
 humble but earnest hope that all might yet go well 
 with the Eepublic. Titian's St. Mark is quite above 
 such thoughts. He sits majestic and defiant, looking 
 out upon the world as if the book of laws, on which 
 he rests his hand, should be dictated to the universe. 
 Martyrdom and violent death as suggested by St. Sebas- 
 tian, plague as symbolized by St. Eoch, are ills that 
 have been overcome, and St. Cosmo or St. Damian, who 
 stand in converse to the left, are merely there to 
 record the fact, f We heard Yasari' s reproach : 6 ' Titian 
 
 * Yasari, xiii. 22. 
 t The plague raged at Venice 
 during the whole year 1510, and 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 carried off no less than 20,000 
 persons. Sansovino, Cronico ad 
 ann. 
 
146 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. Y. 
 
 scorns the Antique " ! But St. Mark at the Salute 
 is in direct contradiction of this. The regal chair, 
 the classic shaft, are both antique; and the saint him- 
 self is like a Eoman Emperor, forming, with the more 
 realistic figures in the foreground, a contrast the 
 more remarkable as it is more unexpected. We may 
 compare the composition with Giorgione's Madonna 
 of Castelfranco, and note how traditional regularity- 
 is exchanged for accidental picturesqueness. The 
 carpet no longer hangs with careful flatness from a 
 rectangular plinth. It falls with modulated droop 
 from the rounded shaft, displays in light and shade 
 its stripes of red and green, and yields a variegated 
 effect of surface. St. Sebastian's loins are not tightly 
 bound in a hip-cloth ; but a copious mass of white is 
 twisted in a single knot, leaving a corner to trail upon 
 the chessboard ground. The air, so mild and so 
 beautifully modulated in sky and cloud that it seems 
 endowed with a mysterious inner motion, is admir- 
 ably toned to meet the deep shadows cast over the 
 high pillars to the right ; and the broad flow of light 
 which falls upon St. Sebastian, is taken on to the 
 floor to rise again in a radiant current, up the form 
 of St. Damian to the breast of St. Mark. The two 
 groups in front are solidly parted by a large expanse 
 of shadow that falls upon the floor and lies — a bed 
 of gloom — on the plinth of the shaft. Dress is made 
 to second the projection of the under form in a 
 manner seldom surpassed at Venice. The red tunic 
 lies on the broad chest of St. Mark, the blue mantle 
 stands out on the knees relieved by the deep ultra- 
 
Chap. V.] ST. MAEK AT THE SALUTE. 
 
 147 
 
 marine of the less prominent folds. It would seem 
 as if Titian had learnt by heart the maxims of 
 "monumental drapery" laid down by Fra Bartolom- 
 meo in the full tide of his manhood; and who knows 
 but he had met and heard this sublime master as he 
 lingered at Venice in 1508. From the Frate he 
 might also have learnt those subtle varieties of move- 
 ment and gesture which distinguish St. Sebastian and 
 St. Koch : the first, young, handsome as a woman, the 
 life blood all in him, in spite of his wounds, the 
 limbs and torso nature itself even in their dispropor- 
 tions ; the second, graceful in the melancholy bend of 
 the head or gesture of the hand pointing at the 
 plague boil; — the lines varied in both yet harmonized 
 to a perfect chord. Let us conceive all this height- 
 ened in effect by a scale of colours as mellow in 
 tone as they are polished in surface, and we have a 
 picture second in delicacy only to the Bacchanal of 
 Ferrara, reminiscent still of Giorgione in richness, 
 or of Palma in softness, yet verging upon that 
 perfection which soon made Titian so greatly superior 
 to both.* If at Venice in the earlier days Vecelli 
 
 * It is hardly doubtful that 
 this beautiful panel, now in the 
 Sacristy of the Salute at Venice, 
 was in a much more appropriate 
 light and better seen at San 
 Spirito in Isola, for which it was 
 executed, than it is at present. 
 The panel is arched at top; the 
 figures are under life size. The 
 face of St. Mark is of a type 
 which Titian, unconsciously 
 perhaps, inclined to repeat with 
 
 varieties. We see it in modified 
 forms in the St. Peter at Ant- 
 werp, or at the Frari (Pesaro 
 altarpiece). St. Cosmo, with the 
 vase, looks up to St. Mark in an 
 attitude recalling Fra Bartolom- 
 meo. The picture is one which 
 must have affected Van Dyck ; it 
 is more freely handled than the 
 earlier " Christ " of " The Tribute 
 Money," yet almost as careful; 
 and the study expended on hands 
 l 2 
 
148 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. Y. 
 
 had had but few isolated examples of classic art to 
 look at; now that he had been at Padua and visited 
 the Paduan country he had had occasion to feast his 
 eyes on the numerous master-pieces by which Man- 
 tegna's spirit had been spell-bound. But he saw more 
 than these; he studied imposing creations of Dona- 
 tello and Mantegna, the two masters whose genius 
 transformed the Yenetian school. 'Nor is it too much 
 to believe that he learnt a lesson at the Eremitani 
 which he never forgot; if we consider that the St. 
 Mark of the Salute though far away as yet from the 
 bold system of fore-shortening displayed in the later 
 ceiling pieces of San Spirito already embodies principles 
 of linear perspective, and appears as much more bold 
 in its application of those principles as it is more bold 
 in the treatment of flesh or balanced light and shade. 
 
 It is no wonder now, that Titian should have felt 
 ambitious of a higher position at Venice, no wonder 
 that the public to which his works appealed had 
 become larger. It was not only that his talents were 
 recognized in a wider sphere, but that circumstances 
 tended to fit the Yenetian public for a better appre- 
 ciation of the sublime and beautiful in literature and 
 art. Pew but those acquainted with the history of 
 printing and letters are aware of the great activity 
 which prevailed at Yenice, before and after the league 
 
 and feet is very good in its re- 
 sults. Unhappily, we have to 
 note some retouching, ex. gr., on 
 the back of the neck of St. Cosmo ; 
 the toes of the right, and the 
 ankle of the left foot of St. Se- 
 
 bastian. The violet stockings of 
 St. Roch are turned into black 
 stains. There is an engraving of 
 this piece by Gr. Wagner, and a 
 photograph by Naya of Venice. 
 
Chap. V.] 
 
 VENETIAN PEINTEES. 
 
 149 
 
 of Cambrai. Safe — as a haven — from the invasions of 
 enemies, Yenice had long been recognized as an 
 admirable centre in which to carry on printing opera- 
 tions. Early in the fifteenth century, the presses of 
 J ohn of Speyer had been set np. In the short space of 
 thirty years they were succeeded by those of Janson 
 and Andrea of Asola, into whose business Aldus 
 Manutius entered as a partner.* Under the vigorous 
 management of this active and learned man, Yenice 
 acquired a literature, not national indeed, since a na- 
 tional literature is not to be created in half a century, 
 but classical in so far as it revived the classics of 
 Italy and of Greece, without ignoring such efforts as 
 contemporary men of letters could make. It is sur- 
 prising to observe how rapidly volumes of every sort 
 were issued from the Aldine presses within the first 
 eight years that elapsed after 1502.-)* The principal 
 aim of Aldus was to promote the circulation of Greek 
 books, for which he cast new types ; but he took all 
 literature within his purview ; and beginning with a 
 Greek grammar and Aristotle's Organon, followed 
 them up with Bembo's Excursion to Etna and Bene- 
 detti's diary of the Caroline war. We then mark 
 the publication in close proximity as to date 
 of the licentious and pedantic Hypnerotomachia 
 Poliphili and the letters of St. Catherine of Sienna ; 
 
 * Consult for this and other 
 particulars with reference to Aldus 
 Manutius and the Aldine Aca- 
 demy, Mr. Ambroise Eirmin 
 Didot's admirable work, Aide 
 Manuce et l'Hellenisme a Venise. 
 
 8vo, Paris, 1875. See also Cicogna, 
 Isc. Ven. vi. 173, and following. 
 
 t This is the date of a privilege 
 granted to Aldus by the Doge, 
 given in full in Didot's Aide 
 Manuce, p. 479. 
 
150 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. V. 
 
 the sonnets of Petrarch and the polyglot Pentateuch, 
 Thucydides and Dante, Demosthenes' speeches, and 
 Bembo's Asolani. There was something in this for 
 every reader and every taste ; much to suit a period 
 of loose morals but of free inquiry — a period which 
 may be presumed to have been less dangerous and 
 less harmful to mankind than the later one when 
 morals were not better, but vice wore a cloak, whilst 
 the mind was fettered by a censorship and the Inquisi- 
 tion. Such a state of activity as that described in the 
 foregoing sentences required a combination of forces 
 of the rarest kind. It obliged Aldus to gather about 
 him almost all the literary men of the age, and led 
 him to found the Aldine Academy, which enrolled 
 amongst its members not only Venetians such as 
 Sabellico, Pietro Bembo, Andrea Navagero, Sanuto 
 and Eamusius, but strangers like Linacre and 
 Erasmus, and joint representatives of literature and 
 art like Fra Giocondo. 
 
 The language of converse in this club was Greek,* 
 not only for the sake of the classic tone, but out of 
 compliment to the Cretan Muslims and his compeers, 
 who flying from the terrors of Ottoman rule, came 
 over to settle in Venice or Padua, or out of a necessity 
 for cultivating the only tongue known to compositors 
 exclusively Greek. Here we may believe all questions 
 were discussed that swayed the public opinion of the 
 time, and we cannot doubt that those appertaining to 
 art had their share ; nor can we hesitate to think that 
 
 * Didot's Aide Manuce, p. 438. 
 
Chap. V.] TITIAN AND THE ALDINES. 
 
 151 
 
 where Fra Giocondo sat, who was so long believed to 
 have planned the Fondaco de' Tedeschi, there also the 
 name of Titian and his contemporaries was heard.'* 
 But there is no reason for doubting that the Aldines 
 were in distinct connection with the artists of their 
 day. Professionally, Aldus was in occasional contact 
 with Giulio Campagnola the master, it was thought, 
 of Domenico, who worked for a time under Titian at 
 Padua and Vicenza.-j* Socially he must have been 
 acquainted with the Bellini and their pupils. But if 
 not Aldus, certainly Bembo and Kavagero, 
 
 " Ambo florentes retatibus, Aones ambo, 
 Et cantare pares et respondere parati," 
 
 were well informed as to the progress of the artistic 
 world around them. 
 
 Of Bembo's visits to the Bellini we have some 
 historical account : J his knowledge of Titian is equally 
 certain, though not so copiously illustrated. Like 
 Navagero he was a man of letters before he turned to 
 politics; for he not only published his iEtna and 
 Asolani with Aldus, but he edited some of the Aldine 
 classics. Navagero was a poet, a speaker, and an 
 author, before he was employed in the diplomatic 
 service of his country, but at the time of which we 
 
 * Morelli, in his notes to the j Will, at full length in Didot's 
 Anonimo Zen. (p. 241), cites the I Aide, u. s., 487. See also Mo- 
 following distich from a rnanu- I relli's Anon., p. 11. 
 script ascribed to Pietro Conta- j J See Bembo's letters in Gaye, 
 rini (1517) : Carteggio Inedito, 8vo, Pirenze, 
 
 " Teutonicum mirare forum, spectabile j 1834, ii. 76; and Darco Pitture 
 
 fama, 
 
 Nuper Jucundi nobile fratris opus. " 
 f The fact is stated in Aldus' 
 
 di Mantova, folio, Mantova, 1857, 
 ii. 60, 61. 
 
152 
 
 TITIAN : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. Y. 
 
 are treating, lie was not exclusively occupied with 
 literary labour. It was not enough for his ambition 
 to have collated Pindar, Cicero, Quintilian and Lu- 
 cretius, he was also the orator who read before the 
 Doge and Senate a speech in praise of Catherine 
 Cornaro, and was to read in 1515 an oration to the 
 memory of Bartholomew D'Alviano. Towards the 
 close of 1512, or at the opening of 1513, Bembo was 
 in Borne, JSTavagero at Yenice, the first courting 
 favour with the Medici, the second trusting to Yenice 
 for promotion. Suddenly Julius the Second died. 
 The conclave met in March, and Bembo was made 
 secretary with Sadolet to Giovanni de' Medici, now 
 raised to the pontifical chair, under the name of Leo 
 the Tenth.* Matters which occurred a few days sub- 
 sequent to this event, prove that Bembo and ISTavagero 
 were both even then aware of the promise of Titian's 
 fame. They show that however much the Humanists 
 or Hellenists might consider themselves above artists 
 generally, there was still a point of palpable contact 
 and feeling between them; or at any rate that the 
 former were alive to the lustre which painters of 
 high capacity might shed on an intelligent patron or 
 a wise state. It is certain that Bembo proposed to 
 Titian to accept service under Leo the Tenth, equally 
 certain that Navagero dissuaded him from taking that 
 step.f It is, we may fear, impossible to determine 
 whether Bembo's scheme originated in his own mind 
 or was suggested by some observations of the Pope. 
 
 * Bembi (Petri), Opera, supra. I f Vas. xiii. 27 ; Dolce Dialogo, 
 lib. xii. p. 519. | 67. 
 
Chap. V.] 
 
 TITIAN AND THE SIGNOBS. 
 
 153 
 
 Giovanni de' Medici, once an exile at Venice, had 
 probably lived too long at Borne to know anything of 
 Yecelli.* Ent supposing this to be so, he would still 
 be accessible to the proposal which Eembo now made 
 to him. Navagero on the other hand would probably 
 have pondered over the well-known fact , that Gio- 
 vanni Eellini could not be expected to live long, and 
 that after his death, there would be no master of any 
 account left to take charge of the duties of painting 
 Doges' likenesses, or finishing the canvases which still 
 awaited completion in the Hall of Great Council. 
 The details are unhappily lost, but the facts remain. 
 We know that Eembo's offer was made. Its refusal 
 — at the instigation of Navagero — is strongly confirmed 
 by the wording of the following petition presented 
 by Titian, and read on the 31st of May, 1513, before 
 the council of ten. 
 
 " I, Titian of Cadore, having studied painting from 
 childhood upwards, and desirous of fame rather than 
 profit, wish to serve the Doge and Signori, rather than 
 his Highness the Pope and other Signori, who in past 
 days, and even now, have urgently asked to employ 
 me : I am therefore anxious, if it should appear 
 feasible, to paint in the Hall of Council, beginning, 
 if it please their sublimity, with the canvas of the 
 battle on the side towards the Piazza, which is so 
 difficult that no one as yet has had courage to attempt 
 
 * Giovanni de' Medici is men- 
 tioned as an influential cardinal 
 at Eome in the "Relations of 
 
 Paolo Capello in 1500 and 1510." 
 Eelazioni, u. s., vol. iii. pp. 5 & 23. 
 
154 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 [Chap. V. 
 
 it. I should be willing to accept for my labour any 
 reward that might be thought proper, but being 
 studious only of honour and wishing for a moderate 
 competence, I beg to ask for the first broker's patent 
 for life that shall be vacant in the Fontego di 
 Tedeschi, irrespective of all promised reversions of 
 such patent, and on the same conditions, or with the 
 same charges and exemptions as are conceded to 
 Missier Juan Belin, viz. : two youths as assistants, to 
 be paid by the Salt office, and all colours and neces- 
 saries : in return for which I promise to do the work 
 above-named with such speed and excellence as will 
 satisfy the Signori, to whom I beg to be humbly 
 recommended." 
 
 The chiefs of the Council on the day in question, 
 were Girolamo Contarini, Michael de Lezze, and 
 Giovanni Yenier. They moved and carried a resolu- 
 tion " accepting Titian's offer with all the conditions 
 attached to it." Supplementing this on the 8th of 
 June, a further resolution was engrossed by order of 
 Pietro Leoni, Girolamo Priuli, and Andrea Magno 
 requiring the "proveditori al Sal" to prepare neces- 
 saries for Titian in the manner customary till then 
 with respect to Bellini, and pay his two " youths " at 
 the rate of four ducats a month on proof being given 
 that they had actually set hand to the work entrusted 
 to them.* 
 
 And now there began a quarrel between the 
 
 * The records are in Lorenzi, pp. 157-8. 
 
 # 
 
Chap. V.] TITIAN VEESTTS BELLINI. 
 
 155 
 
 owners of old and — it might be thought — vested, rights 
 in the Hall of Great Council, and one artist in whom the 
 guildsmen of Venice already recognized a formidable, 
 if not quite an invincible rival — a quarrel of which, 
 at this distance of time we cannot follow the windings, 
 but which reveals itself to us in all its breadth in the 
 fierce and heavy blows that fell upon each side 
 alternately. Like a petard bursting unawares and 
 hoisting every one within its reach, these decrees of 
 the council of ten shed consternation amongst the 
 painters of the Ducal Palace. For upwards of thirty- 
 three years — we have to recollect — Giovanni Bellini 
 had been employed by the Venetian state. During 
 that time, he and his brother, with occasional competi- 
 tion from Vivarini, Carpaccio, and others, had completed 
 two canvases in the western and six or seven canvases 
 in the northern wall of the Hall of Great Council. 
 The spaces along the south wall had not been changed 
 since the days of Gentile cla Fabriano, Pisanello, and 
 Guariento, whose vast fresco of the Coronation still 
 covered the eastern face above the ducal throne. For 
 a long time Giovanni Bellini had had a broker's 
 patent in the Fondaco, with considerable privileges, 
 and no one had ever been placed in a position to rival 
 him since the days of Luigi Vivarini. Even after it 
 had been found requisite in 1507, to press the com- 
 pletion of Vivarini's unfinished canvas, and compose 
 pictures for two vacant spaces in addition, Carpaccio 
 had been adjudged competent to paint one of these 
 canvases, with the assistance of Girolamo and Vittor 
 di Matteo ; but Giovanni Bellini had been specially 
 
156 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. V. 
 
 directed to superintend their work,* and so remained 
 the acknowledged chief of all the Venetian painters. 
 To a man in such a position, however much his power 
 might be impaired by age, the promotion of Titian as 
 a rival, must have been an offence and a blow, and we 
 shall soon perceive that, old as he was, Bellini was not 
 disposed to allow his new competitor to supersede him 
 without a struggle. 
 
 As early as June, Sanuto writes, Titian had been 
 appointed to work in the Hall of Great Council on the 
 same conditions as the Bellini and Carpaccio.f Per- 
 mission had been given to him to set up a workshop 
 at San Samuele, where buildings formerly owned by 
 the Duke of Milan were in the hands of the State. 
 Here Bartolommeo Bon the town architect had had 
 his dwelling, J here Titian lodged and kept his assis- 
 tants, Antonio Buxei, and Lodovico di Giovanni. § 
 Here too he had made the sketch, or "model" as it 
 was then called, of the picture which was to hang in 
 the Hall of Great Council. Situated at the bend of 
 the Grand Canal, due west from the Piazza of San 
 Marco, the workshop was equidistant from the 
 Doge's Palace and the bridge of Eialto, being easily 
 accessible by the Canal Grande, and so situated that 
 
 * Lorenzi, p. 142. 
 
 f Sanuto, Diario, vol. xvi. p. 287, 
 June 31 (?), 1513, extracted by 
 Cicogna, MS. annot. to Morelli's 
 Anonimo, u. s. See also Ciani 
 Storia, parte ii. p. 299. 
 
 X Lorenzi, p. 187. 
 
 § Lodovico di Giovanni, or Di 
 
 Zuane, had been Giovanni Bel- 
 lini's assistant at the Council Hall 
 in 1508. His salary was then 
 two ducats a month (Lorenzi, 
 142, 145-6). In 1509 there was a 
 complaint against him that he 
 had left his work without leave, 
 and he was superseded. Ib. 150. 
 
Chap. V.] TITIAN OFFICIAL PAIN TEE. 
 
 157 
 
 a gondola might row the artist to the mole or a barge 
 take him up with his baggage and land him in the 
 mouth of the Po.* For some time it would seem 
 nothing came of Bellini's opposition. Titian's assist- 
 ants drew their monthly pay from the Salt office, and 
 Titian himself began the " picture " at the Hall of 
 Great Council, but he had not had time to proceed 
 much further when his enemies closed upon him. 
 On the 24th of March, 1514, the council of ten 
 revoked its decree of the previous May, and formally 
 declared that Titian was not to receive his broker's 
 patent on the first vacancy, but must wait his turn, 
 and that in the meantime his journeymen should be 
 struck off the pay list of the Salt office.-]* Giovanni 
 Bellini who had previously exhibited his Madonna 
 of San Giovanni Crisostomo and practically shown 
 the greatness of his artistic power, no doubt felt his 
 pride satisfied by this victory ; for though we know 
 not the mode of his proceeding, it is plain that he had 
 succeeded for the time in ousting his opponent ; and 
 he remained for the nonce the great master and 
 presiding genius of Yenetian painting. But Titian, 
 if beaten and repulsed, had also compassed something 
 towards acquiring a new position. The salary of 
 his journeymen had been disallowed; his prospects 
 of a broker's patent had become more distant than 
 before; but he had neither been deprived of his 
 right to the patent nor of the lease of his workshop, 
 and we shall find that he never ceased to reside at 
 
 * See postea. t The records are in Lorenzi, pp. 159, 160. 
 
158 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. V. 
 
 San Samuele, until he was induced sixteen years later 
 to hire a house in a more open and salubrious 
 locality.* Meanwhile it would have been too much 
 to expect that the feud between two such men as 
 now stood facing each other on the pictorial arena 
 should cease. Before the year expired Titian again 
 petitioned the council. He attributed the sudden 
 burst of disfavour to which he succumbed to two 
 causes, — the dread of his fellow painters lest they 
 should find in him a successful competitor and the 
 net of intrigues which had been spun by these same 
 painters to force him away from his labours. Had he 
 been allowed to proceed he urged that he would already 
 have finished the work assigned to him, but this had 
 been prevented by the withdrawal of the reversion of 
 the next broker's patent ; and he should have starved 
 if he had had to wait for his turn on the list of 
 candidates. His proposal now was — (November 28th, 
 1514), that as he could not expect to obtain the first 
 vacant broker's patent he should be appointed to 
 that which must needs be free on the death of Gio- 
 vanni Bellini, and then he hoped the Salt office 
 would pay his two assistants and furnish him with 
 colours as before. By a majority of one in a council 
 of thirteen a resolution was passed annulling the 
 previous order of the capita; by nine to four the 
 new offer was accepted; instructions were issued to 
 the Salt office to give effect to the decree ; and notice 
 was sent to the "Visdomini al Eondaco" that a new 
 
 * The site of the workshop of Titian at San Samuele is not to be 
 found ; but see postea. 
 
Chap. V.] 
 
 TITIAN'S WOEKSHOP. 
 
 159 
 
 grant had been made to Titian.* At the same time 
 the provisors were requested to take care that the 
 " reducto " or workshop occupied by Titian " in the 
 house of the late Duke of Milan at San Samuele 
 should be put into repair, because it now let in the 
 rain, and it might be that the models of the picture 
 intended for the Hall of Great. Conncil wonld be 
 spoiled, by which the labours of the painter would 
 be unnecessarily protracted." f 
 
 As it is likely that Bellini and Titian had their 
 partisans even in the council chamber of the Doge, 
 it is not unnecessary to note that the capita on the 
 day of the issue of Titian's last patent were Fran- 
 cesco de' Garzoni, Francesco Foscari and Marino 
 Giorgi; and Garzoni, it is important to remember, 
 was the same patrician under whose charge the 
 Fondaco de' Tedeschi had been rebuilt in 1506. Yet 
 it was of little moment as it seemed that one faction 
 of artists should gain a victory over the other, or that 
 Titian should have had the right to work in the 
 same Hall as Bellini. The quarrel between the two 
 
 * The records as engrossed for 
 the Venetian archives are in 
 Lorenzi, u. s., pp. 160, 161. The 
 patent addressed to Titian is dated 
 Nov. 29, 1514, and was in 1864 in 
 possession of Alessandro Vecellio, 
 of Cadore, a descendant of Titian. 
 It differs little from the records 
 except in the conclusion, which is 
 as follows: " Quare volumus et 
 vobis Vicedominis Fontici nostri 
 Theutonicorum tam prsesentibus 
 quam futuris auctoritate prefati 
 consilii mandamus, quod cum 
 
 casus evenerit concessionem hanc 
 nostram ipsi Titiano observare et 
 observari facere inviolabiliter de- 
 beatis in quantum ad vos spectat 
 juxta mentem ipsius consilii, 
 faciende hos nostros patentes in 
 actibus omcie vestri registrare. 
 Dat. in N ro Due. Pal t0 , die 29 
 Novembris, MDXIIII." 
 
 f Lorenzi, p. 161. With a wise 
 economy the Council forbids the 
 expenditure of more than five or 
 six ducats on the repairs of 
 Titian's workshop. 
 
160 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. V. 
 
 masters protracted rather than accelerated the labours 
 of both, and the council was driven at last to take 
 official cognizance of the matter by sending Francesco 
 Valier fresh from the Salt office to report on the 
 accounts of the painters and examine into their 
 doings. The picture which Francesco Yalier was 
 induced to give of the position in which he found 
 affairs was well calculated, if it were fair, to frighten 
 the " sages." He said, in a minute presented and 
 read to the council on the 29th of December, 1515, 
 that as much money had been spent on the canvases 
 of the Hall of Great Council as would have completed 
 the whole palace, which, he added, was equivalent to 
 saying that three times as many works might have 
 been bought as had actually been produced. The 
 painters besides had grants and offices, the accounts 
 of which were never revised. In his opinion the 
 council of Pregadi should be asked to audit these 
 accounts and calculate what had been spent in 
 canvases, colours, and salaries, in order to a revision 
 of the whole matter. At a sitting of the " sages 
 of the council and Terra firma " (Pregadi) which was 
 held on the 30th of December, it was stated that 
 according to Yalier's report two canvases, of which 
 the sketching alone was done, had already cost more 
 than 700 ducats ; and it was all the more necessary 
 to provide against such waste, as there were masters 
 at Yenice willing to paint each canvas afresh for 
 250 ducats. Eesolutions were accordingly carried 
 ordering the dismissal of all the artists in the hall, 
 authorizing the Provisor of the Salt office to select 
 
Chap. V.] 
 
 TITIAN A BKOKER. 
 
 161 
 
 the best artist and make a bargain with him for each 
 piece, and appointing the three " Sages of the king- 
 dom of Cyprus " to audit accounts. 
 
 The prime mover in all this is clearly Titian, but it 
 is doubtful whether he gave authority to any one to 
 limit the price of a canvas to 250 ducats. He now 
 tendered his services in a new form proposing to finish 
 one picture for 400 ducats payable on delivery, subject 
 to an advance of four ducats a month for one assis- 
 tant, three ounces of blue, ten ducats' worth of colours 
 and the reversion of Giovanni Bellini's patent at 
 the Fondaco. He pointed out that the Signori would 
 thus obtain the work which had once been entrusted 
 to Perugino at a contract price of 800 ducats for 
 half that sum.| The college of Pregadi met on the 
 18th of January, 1516, to deliberate upon this offer, 
 and accepted it in all particulars except one. It 
 gave Titian the reversion of the broker's patent, the 
 colours and the salary of his assistant with 300 
 ducats as the final price of a picture, and although 
 subsequent resolutions passed the council in Decem- 
 ber postponing the grant of Bellini's patent, it is 
 clear from records of a later date that Titian entered 
 before the close of 1516 into all the privileges and 
 immunities previously enjoyed by his predecessor. $ 
 
 * Sitting of Dec. 30, 1515, in 
 Lorenzi, p. 165. 
 
 + Titian's offer in Lorenzi (p. 
 165), and in Gave (ii. 143), but 
 the latter is erroneously dated in 
 1515. 
 
 X The grant to Titian of the 
 conditions above stated is com- 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 prised in a resolution of January 
 18, "in Collegio " (Lorenzi, p. 
 166). On the 5th of the following 
 December, six days after Gio- 
 vanni Bellini's death, we find the 
 following in the journals of the 
 Council of Ten (Lorenzi, 166-7) : 
 "1516, DieV.Decembris, In Con- 
 st 
 
162 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. Y. 
 
 The duties imposed on a painter holding a broker's 
 patent in the Fondaco de' Tedeschi were intimately 
 connected with the dignity of the Doge, and in part 
 complementary of that dignity ; for if on the* one 
 hand the painter was bound to fulfil certain con- 
 ditions implied by his patent, the Doge was also 
 bound to promote certain customs involving the ser- 
 
 silio X. Capita, che atente le 
 rason et cause hora dechiarites ia 
 per autorita di questo conseio 
 preso che non obstante la con- 
 cession fatta al Titian de Cadore 
 deputato a depenzer nel Mazor 
 Conseio de la Sansaria in Eontego 
 di Todeschi da po la morte de 
 Zuan Bellin. Quelli che hanno 
 havuto expectative per avanti da 
 lui de tal sansarie habiano le san- 
 sarie sue suo loco et tempore ; et 
 il dicto Tician similiter habia la 
 sua sansaria al suo tempo, vide- 
 licet dopo le altre expectative 
 existente perfin el zorno de la 
 concession a lui fatta adi ultimo 
 del mese de mazo 1513 cum el 
 dicto conseio, cum i modi et con- 
 dition fo deliberado ultimamente 
 a bossoli et ballote nel Collegio 
 nostro. De parte 10, De non 4, 
 Non sincere 1. 
 
 That this resolution did not de- 
 prive him of his patent, because 
 probably there were vacancies 
 enough, is clear from the follow- 
 ing, which though of a much 
 later date, settles the point raised 
 in this place: " MDXXXVII, 
 Die xxiii Junii, Ser Leonardus 
 Emo. Sap. Consilii, Ser Philipus 
 Capello sap. Terrse firmce. Eino 
 dal 1513 a ultimo del Mese di 
 
 Maggio fu concesso a Ticiano de 
 Cadore Pictor una expectativa di 
 una sansaria nel Fontego de i 
 Todeschi la prima vacante et da 
 poi del 1516 a 5 di Decembre fu 
 dechiarito che senza spettar la 
 vacantia di essa dovesse entrar 
 in quella che haveva Zuan Bellin 
 pictor cum conditione che fusse 
 obligato depinger el teler de la 
 bataglia terrestre nella sala del 
 nostro maggior conseglio verso la 
 Piaza sopra el canal grande, il 
 qual Ticiano doppo la morte di 
 Zuan Bellino entro in possesso de 
 oitta sansaria gia sono circa anni 
 vinti cum tirar le utilita di quella 
 che possono esser de ducati 100 
 allanno oltra li ducati 18 in 20 
 della tansa annual che li sono sta 
 lassati, etessendo ben conveniente 
 che non havendo lavorato non 
 debba havere detta utilita, pero : 
 Landera parte che il ditto Tician 
 de Cadore pictor sia per auctorita 
 di questo conseglio obligato et as- 
 tretto ad restituir alia Signoria 
 nostra tuti li danari che lha ha- 
 vuto della predetta sansaria per il 
 tempo chel non ha lavorato sopra 
 el teller predetto nella sala, come 
 e ben ragionevole. De parte 102, 
 De non 38, non sincere 37 (Lo- 
 renzi, p. 219). 
 
Chap. V.] PRIVILEGES OF A BROKER 
 
 163 
 
 vices of the painter. " It is a custom of this city," 
 says Sansovino, "that the Prince when in office should 
 do three things : procure his own likeness of life size 
 to be placed in a certain lunette beneath the ceiling 
 of the Hall of Great Council, and for this Titian had 
 a salary ; obtain a picture of himself kneeling before 
 the Madonna with an attendance of Saints, for 
 the college or Pregadi, and furnish a shield with his 
 arms to be placed on board the Bucentaur."* The 
 broker's patent produced 100 ducats a year, and 
 entitled the holder of it to an annual exemption 
 from taxes valued at eighteen to twenty ducats, f 
 The Doge's portrait was paid at the rate of twenty- 
 five ducats.J 
 
 The privilege to which Titian aspired and that 
 which Bellini held before him was thus in the nature 
 of a retaining fee making the recipient liable for the 
 production of a portrait at rare and uncertain in- 
 tervals. It was an annuity for life, and as such 
 highly prized, but it was revocable at will, and this 
 might lead us to suppose that the holder would do 
 his best to keep the Council of Ten in good humour 
 by anticipating its wishes or performing with speed 
 and regularity such commissions as it might think 
 fit to give. But in Titian's case the very reverse 
 
 * Sansovino, Cose Notabile, 
 p. 47. 
 
 f See the resolution of the 
 Council of June 23, 1537, antea, 
 which corrects Vasari, Kidolfi, and 
 Tizianello's Anonimo. The latter 
 states Titian's income from this 
 source at 200 scudi (p. v.), Vasari 
 
 at 300 scudi (xiii., pp. 22, 23), 
 Eidolfi at 400 scudi (Marav. i. 
 214). 
 
 % Vasari (xiii. 23) gives the 
 rate of payment erroneously at 
 eight scudi. The sum in the text 
 is that registered in the accounts 
 of the Salt Office. Seepostea. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. Y. 
 
 of all this occurred. He painted the portraits and 
 votive pictures of the Doges with tolerable regu- 
 larity; but complaints that he neglected his work 
 at the Hall of Great Council were heard during the 
 whole of his life time. We saw that he offered in 
 1513 to compose a subject for that hall ; that he 
 began it, left it and was still promising to proceed 
 with it in January, 1516. The theme which he 
 proposed to treat and the place for which it was in- 
 tended are known. He said in 1513 that his wish 
 was to paint the " Battle " in the Hall of Great 
 Council.* Sharp monitions reminded him in 1518, 
 1522 and 1537 that he was still under obligation 
 to complete that work.*|" The same records clearly 
 point out the place where this canvas was to hang, 
 namely the place once conceded to Perugino, 
 " fourth from the door on the right-hand side over- 
 looking the Grand Canal. "J It was the worst for 
 its light in the hall, being on the south wall between 
 two windows, and dark in proportion to the brilliancy 
 of the light flowing in from the openings on both 
 sides. It was in truth so unfavourable that Titian 
 for years found no heart to finish it ; and we may 
 indeed assume that he postponed its completion till 
 he had painted another canvas on the opposite wall 
 of which Venetian records give no account, but 
 which historians have described as an unfinished 
 
 * Becord of May 31, 1513, 
 antea, p. 153. 
 
 t Records of June 23, 1537, 
 antea, p. 162, of July 3, 1518, and 
 
 Aug. 11, 1522, postea. 
 
 t Eecord of Jan. 18, 1516, 
 antea, p. 162. 
 
Chap. V.] COUNCIL HALL, VENICE. 
 
 165 
 
 composition by Giovanni Bellini to which Titian 
 made extensive changes before he brought it to 
 perfection. There is nnhappily no evidence to guide 
 us as to the date of this work, bnt if Yasari's opinion 
 be accepted as correct, it was executed after the 
 death of Giovanni Bellini and before the canvas of 
 the " Battle." It was exhibited in fact at a period 
 far ahead of that to which we must presently revert ; 
 but as it perished in the fire of 1577, and this 
 allusion to it suggests a description of the hall in 
 which the best pictures of the Venetian school were 
 displayed, we may devote a moment's time to it. 
 
 The Hall of Great Council, 175 feet long by 84 
 feet broad, lay in that part of the Ducal Palace which 
 faced the Grand Canal, and occupied the same posi- 
 tion as the present library, which indeed is neither 
 more nor less than the Hall of Great Council as 
 rebuilt on the old lines after 157 7. f From the five 
 windows looking out on the canal the view extended 
 to San Giorgio and the Giudecca. Four windows 
 on the parallel side opened on the court of the palace. 
 Two large ones overlooked the Piazzetta ; and a 
 stranger standing with his back to these would have 
 seen at the opposite end of the hall three things 
 worthy of attention. He would have seen that in 
 
 * Vasari, xiii. 22, 28 ; but see 
 also Eidolfi Maraviglie (i. 202-3), 
 who states that this canvas had 
 been left unfinished by Giorgione ; 
 and compare Sansovino, Delle 
 Cose Notabile della Citta di Ve- 
 netia, u. s., p. 35. 
 
 f It may be proper to state- 
 again that the hall faces east and' 
 west ; the side occupied by the^ 
 ducal throne facing east, that 
 overlooking the Grand CanaL 
 facing south. 
 
ICG 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. V. 
 
 the angle to the right, a large door led into the hall ; 
 in the lunette of which St. Paul the Hermit was 
 depicted sharing a loaf with his brother Hermit 
 Anthony. Above this door, and covering the whole 
 of the space now filled by Tintoretto's Paradise, he 
 might study the colossal fresco of Guariento repre- 
 senting Christ crowning the Yirgin Mary on a raised 
 throne in front of a cathedral vaguely imitating the 
 basilica of St. Mark ; at the flanks of this throne the 
 " hierarchies ' 7 of prophets on benches and attended 
 by angels, and monumental niches containing the 
 angel and the Yirgin annuntiate. To the raised clais 
 beneath this fresco,* — he would finally remark — 
 there was an ascent of five steps leading up to the 
 ducal throne flanked by the stalls of the members 
 of the council, the sides of the dais being protected 
 by wings of considerable breadth panelled and parted 
 by columns. Along the remaining walls double 
 rows of seats were placed, interrupted only where 
 one window in the face overlooking the Grand Canal 
 fell low to the floor, or three doors opened out in the 
 parallel face to the Hall of Scrutiny, the Quarantia 
 Civile and an inner room. Between the two windows 
 opening on the Piazzetta stood the statue of St. Mark. 
 On ceremonial days nine rows of benches running 
 down the hall were occupied by the different orders 
 privileged to attend the ballots. When Gentile 
 
 * It is a proof of the con- 
 servative feeling of the authorities 
 that the Coronation by Guariento 
 was restored by one Cevola in 
 1024, and no attempt was then 
 
 made to substitute a modern 
 work for it, though it was injured 
 by cracks and fallen plaster ; see 
 the Eecords in Lorenzi, p. 180. 
 
Chap. V.] PICTUKES OF THE COUNCIL HALL. 
 
 167 
 
 Bellini first began his labours lie naturally chose 
 the very best spot that he could find for his picture 
 of the Pope granting the taper. He stretched his 
 canvas for that subject in the corner nearest to the 
 Piazzetta and St. Mark, whilst Giovanni Bellini 
 placed the recognition of Pope Alexander at the 
 Carita in the corner of the same face nearer the 
 Grand Canal. The two frescoes ivere thus parted by 
 the two windows between which the patron saint of 
 Venice stood. Twelve spaces on the wall overlooking 
 the court were those upon which Vivarini, the Bellini 
 and their disciples were instructed to work, and of 
 these, as was before observed, all but two were finished 
 when Giovanni Bellini died. That which Titian is 
 said to have completed was the seventh of the series 
 numbered from the direction of the Piazzetta, and 
 intended to illustrate that portion of the Alexandrine 
 legend which tells how Barbarossa was accompanied 
 by his son Otho to St. Mark, where peace having 
 been signed, Alexander the Third, in token of 
 supremacy, set his foot on the Emperor's neck. 
 There is reason to believe that this canvas was taken 
 in hand about 1522, because, according to contem- 
 porary accounts it contained portraits of Yenetian 
 senators of whom two at least were promoted after 
 that date. There were indeed likenesses to which 
 this would not apply such as that of Pietro Bembo, 
 Jacopo Sannazaro, Andrea Navagero, Giorgio Cor- 
 naro, Antonio Trono, Paolo Capello, Gasparo Cou- 
 tarini, Marco Dandolo, Era Giocondo, Agostino 
 Beazzano, Marco Musurus, and Ariosto, men who 
 
168 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. V. 
 
 were most of them familiar to Titian, either directly 
 as patrons or as members of the Aldine clnb. But 
 the rest would be acquaintances of a later period, 
 such as Marco Grimaniinthe dress of a "procurator" 
 whose election took place in 1522, and whose death 
 occurred in 1523, and Domenico Trevisani in similar 
 dress whose election preceded his appointment to the 
 command of a fleet against the Turks at Ehodes in 
 1522.* No later than August 1522 Titian was 
 warned by the Council of Ten that he would lose 
 the Sensaria if he did not resume the canvas of the 
 " Eattle ; " but as it is notorious that this threat re- 
 mained inoperative, and that he did not then complete 
 the "Battle," it is not improbable that he did some- 
 thing to mollify the senate, and that Bellini's picture 
 was then altered and finished, f 
 
 The readiness with which the "Venetian Senate 
 accepted Titian's services in 1513, may well have 
 been caused by a wish to prevent so clever a painter 
 from accepting an invitation to Eome. The harsh 
 manner in which his dismissal was effected some 
 months later, though excused by the penury of the 
 treasury, may really have been due to the jealousy of 
 
 * Compare Sansovino, Ven. 
 Desc. p. 334, and the Cronico 
 Veneto, appended to his work at 
 pp. 56-7. 
 
 t That he was at work in the 
 Hall of Great Council in the 
 autumn of 1522, we have from 
 himself, in a letter addressed by 
 Tebaldi to the Duke of Ferrara, 
 but it is not stated upon what 
 
 subject he was then working. 
 See Campori, Tiziano e gli Estensi,. 
 p. 16. Sansovino, in Delle Cose 
 Notabile della Citta di Venetia, 
 written in 1586, says (p. 35), 
 ' ' Titian painted two pictures in 
 the Hall of Great Council, one of 
 the Pope setting his foot on the 
 neck of Barbarossa, the other of 
 a fight which was done later." 
 
Chap. V.] 
 
 FEBKARA AND MANTUA. 
 
 169 
 
 Bellini and his friends. If this was the real motive, 
 Titian was soon revenged. He was first promoted to 
 the duties which Bellini had hitherto monopolized. 
 Shortly after, he obtained a permanent footing at the 
 court of Ferrara, to which in earlier days Giovanni 
 Bellini had been exclusively invited. 
 
 Ferrara and Mantua, the two riverine States on 
 the lower course of the Po, had long been governed 
 by separate dynasties which grew in strength and 
 repute under the power of Yenice. Ferrara being 
 altogether within the circle of Venetian influence, had 
 been tamed, clipped, and kept down with persistent 
 policy by the chiefs of the republic. The natural 
 impulse of a vassal to shake off dependence had often 
 driven the Dukes into war ; and there was much in 
 their relations to the suzerain State to gall and wound 
 their pride ; for Yenice governed an entire quarter of 
 Ferrara by officers of her own; — she forbade the 
 manufacturing and gathering of salt, though salt was 
 the natural produce of the Commacchian marshes; 
 and she monopolized the navigation of the Adriatic 
 and Po, though Ferrara commanded the mouths of the 
 one, and had access by nature to the shores of the 
 other. Yet so long as Italy was left to fight her own 
 quarrels without foreign interference, the Dukes of 
 Ferrara remained in close subjection, and in spite of 
 occasional outbreaks which caused them to incur even 
 territorial losses, they grew rich with little trouble to 
 themselves, and displayed their wealth in luxurious 
 expenditure. ]STo history of Italian art would be 
 complete which did not record the literary and 
 
170 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. Y. 
 
 artistic activity that prevailed in the reign of Lionel, 
 Borso, and Ercole of Este. The names of ilhistrions 
 painters are instantly recalled to onr mind when these 
 Dukes are mentioned. Vittore Pisano, Piero della 
 Erancesca and Eoger van cler Weyden, are celebrated 
 strangers who exercised their skill at Eerrara. Bono, 
 Galasso, Cossa and Tnra, are native masters whose 
 talents popularized a style combining the hardness of 
 the Paduans with the strength of Durer. But 
 Eerrara though it had a court, shared the fate of all 
 dependent States. It was not favoured with the 
 generous flow of life which makes great cities like 
 Elorence and Yenice creative centres. It had a 
 culture of its own, but a culture artificial and exotic ; 
 and this explains the temporary presence within its 
 Avails of Pisano and Piero della Erancesca in the 
 fifteenth and Bellini and Titian in the sixteenth 
 centuries. 
 
 Ercole of Eerrara courted the alliance of Erance in 
 the reign of Charles the Eighth, and narrowly escaped 
 the consequences of Erench defeat. At his death in 
 1505, he left his eldest son Alfonso heir to a fortune 
 in ready money — and master of a city in which noble 
 palaces and enchanting suburban residences were 
 protected from hostile attack by a cunning system of 
 fortification. Alfonso's youth had been spent in a 
 princely manner. He had seen much of the world, 
 without neglecting his studies; — had often accom- 
 panied his father to Yenice to share the politic 
 homage of the Senate, and witness the gilded state of 
 the Bucentaur sweeping up the Grand Canal to land 
 
€hap. V.] 
 
 ALFONSO D'ESTE. 
 
 171 
 
 its freight of Dukes and Senators at the palace of 
 Eerrara. On a journey to Florence and Eome in 
 1492, he was accompanied by Ercole di Giulio 
 Grandi, a painter whose style reminds us that Eerrara 
 owed some of her artistic expansion to the school of 
 Bologna; in 1491 he had been to the French court 
 at Eyons. His marriage to Lucretia Eorgia in 1503, 
 enlarged the dominions of his father though it gave 
 him a wife for whom he did not care. He had not 
 been long at the head of the State before his life was 
 threatened by a conspiracy of his brothers, but he 
 weathered that storm with ease, and plunged with 
 surprising energy into the complicated politics of the 
 time. The treaty of Cambrai was to have given him 
 the left bank of the Po which his ancestors had lost, 
 and he took possession of it in 1509, but before the 
 year was out Venice had captured Commacchio and 
 dictated a peace which restored the status quo ante 
 helium, leaving the Duke an easy prey to Julius the 
 Second, who proved a worse enemy than the republic. 
 Notwithstanding the protection of Erance, Alfonso 
 was gradually stripped of as much land south of the 
 Po as he had hoped to gain north of it ; and during 
 the wars which were waged from 1510 to 1512, he 
 was well nigh ruined by loss of money, of men, and 
 of territory. Fortune, however, seemed for a moment 
 to tire of ill-treating him, for at Leo the Tenth's coro- 
 nation he carried the banner of the Church. But 
 Leo meditated the annexation of Eerrara, and but for 
 Alfonso's escape would probably have effected it. 
 Eerrara was saved by the treaty of Blois which 
 
172 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 [Chap. Ti 
 
 united Venice and Trance in 1513, and naturally 
 included the Duke in the alliance. During the lull ? 
 Alfonso, in spite of his losses, was able to turn his 
 attention to matters of art, and being of a temper 
 much akin to that of Julius the Second, and ambitious- 
 of employing better men than the residents at 
 Ferrara, he sent for painters of celebrity to assist him 
 in the prosecution of his plans. Paul Jove ha& 
 sketched with a partial hand the figure of Alfonso,, 
 whom he describes as having pawned his plate and 
 jewels for money, and eaten his dinner off dishes of 
 his own forming.* "We may prefer to believe that 
 the pottery which came upon his table was turned 
 and baked by artists engaged by Ercole the First, j" 
 and that his taste in this was guided by the taste of 
 his father, with whom in respect of art he had much 
 in common. Ercole tried very hard to obtain the 
 model of a horse upon which Lionardo da Yinci 
 proposed to place the statue of Francesco Sforza. He 
 wanted an effigy of himself upon that celebrated 
 animal.J Alfonso made a determined but equally 
 unsuccessful attempt to buy from Francesco Melzi,, 
 the drawings and manuscripts of Lionardo da Vinci. § 
 More fortunate in a similar effort at Bologna, he had 
 the grim satisfaction of taking the head of Julius the- 
 
 * See Paul Jove's Life of 
 Alfonso I. of Este. 
 
 f See Notizie della manifattura 
 estense della Maiolica, &c, del 
 Marchese Gius. Campori, ol., 
 Modena, 1864, p. 10. 
 
 J Compare Marchese Campori's 
 
 Nuovi Documenti per la vita di. 
 L. da Vinci, in " Atti e Mernorie 
 delle E. E. Deputazioni di Storia. 
 patria per le provincie Modenese," 
 vol. iii. Ease. L, fol., Mod. 1866„ 
 p. 46. 
 
 § Ibid. p. 50. 
 
Chap. V.] 
 
 CASTELLO OF EEREAEA. 
 
 173 
 
 Second, if not in the flesh at least in bronze,* and 
 when Michaelangelo was presented to him in 1529, 
 he might, if so inclined, have shown the scnlptor 
 the only fragment that remained of his best and 
 greatest work, the colossal statue which had been 
 battered and broken on the square of San Petronio by 
 the rabble of Bologna. During his visits to Venice he 
 was charmed by the works of Bellini and Titian. At 
 Borne he met Eaphael from whom he obtained a 
 promise of a picture, whilst Pellegrino da Udine who 
 wandered to Ferrara, shared for a time the patronage 
 extended to Giovanni and Battista Dossi. As early 
 as 1506 Alfonso began to enlarge and embellish the 
 castello which still rears its gloomy walls out of the 
 slimy waters of a stagnant moat. On one side were 
 the bright apartments called " alabaster chambers " 
 from the whiteness of the material with which they 
 were adorned, f on the other the dungeons in which 
 Alfonso immured his brothers ; near the chambers, 
 the studio decorated either before or after 1514 by 
 Dosso.J In this studio it was Alfonso's ambition to 
 bring together the masterpieces of the greatest artists 
 of his time; and we shall presently see that by 
 threats and coaxing he succeeded in securing part at 
 least of what he desired. He first invited Bellini to 
 
 * Vas. xii. 188. 
 
 t Antonio Lombardo, the son 
 of Pietro Lombardo, of Venice, 
 and decorator of the Chambers, 
 appears in the Ferrarese accounts 
 from 1505 to 1515 as a sculptor 
 and former ; see Campori (Mar- 
 
 chese G.) in Cittadella, Docu- 
 menti ed Illustrazioni, 8vo, Fer- 
 rara, 1868, p. 191 ; and the same 
 author's Tiziano e gli Estensi, 
 u. s., 2 ; and Lorenzi, u. s., 137. 
 X Vasari, xiii. 33. 
 
174 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. V, 
 
 Ferrara where lie painted a Bacchanal, he then took 
 Titian into his service, and he ended by worrying 
 Eaphael so mnch that his agents fonnd some diffi- 
 culty at last in forcing their way into the painter's 
 presence. The Duke's enterprise, his enthusiasm, 
 generosity and irascibility, are all illustrated in his 
 treatment of these masters, and we hardly know 
 which to admire most, the coolness with which 
 Eaphael and Titian whet the Duke's appetite with 
 promises and mortify it with delays, or the cunning 
 with which Alfonso establishes a pictorial see-saw, 
 and turns his shafts alternately against Venice and 
 Borne in the hope of attaining his object. 
 
 It was the habit of Titian to paint pictures for the 
 places they were intended to fill, and in this he fol- 
 lowed the traditions of all the schools. Sketching 
 and laying in the subjects so far as he was able in his 
 workshop at home, he took the canvas to the spot in 
 which it was to hang, and finished it there.* Gio- 
 vanni Bellini, who probably did the same thing, took 
 the "Bacchanal," now preserved at Alnwick, to 
 Ferrara, and spent some days in completing it. In 
 the Duke's accounts we find an entry dated November 
 14th, 1514, crediting him with eighty-five ducats, and 
 stating that the work was completed " instante domino 
 nostro" that is in the very presence of Alfonso. - ]* 
 
 * Abundant proof of this will 
 be given in the course of this 
 narrative. 
 
 t The record at full length in 
 Marquis Campori's Tiziano e gli 
 Estensi, p. 2, does not enable us 
 
 positively to state that the picture 
 for which eighty-five ducats was 
 paid in 1514 was the Bacchanal 
 at Alnwick ; but we know of no 
 other picture that Bellini did for 
 Ferrara in that year. 
 
Chap. V.] 
 
 BELLINI AT EEEEAEA. 
 
 175 
 
 Yet Yasari relates that it was unfinished when 
 Bellini returned to Yenice, and remained at Ferrara 
 to be perfected by Titian, and we distinctly recognize 
 his hand in the background of the " Bacchanal" at 
 Alnwick.* There is great difficulty in believing that 
 Bellini left a picture of such merit incomplete. It is 
 more than probable that some foolish meddler injured 
 the surface by tampering with it ; and this is all the 
 more likely, as a similar accident occurred to one of 
 Titian's own pieces, which was so damaged by a per- 
 nicious varnish that he was .obliged to repaint it.f 
 But, whatever the cause may have been, Titian, in 
 the end, laid hands on one of Bellini's canvases, and 
 brought it to perfection, whilst Bellini was still living, 
 and striving with all his might to trip up and impede 
 his young and enterprising rival. But the " Bac- 
 chanal" of Alnwick is not interesting for the sole 
 reason that it bridges, so to speak, the two arts of the 
 fifteenth and sixteenth centuries at Yenice ; it is 
 interesting, also, as showing that Titian was now 
 familiar with the landscape of Caclore as only an 
 artist can be who goes out with his sketchbook in his 
 hand, and carries his studies home. Between the 
 trees which fringe the glade in which Bellini set his 
 bacchanalian festival, the rock of Cadore rises in a 
 steep and rugged mass ; the castle of Pieve rears its 
 towers on the crest, which falls more precipitously 
 than in nature to the torrent of the Piave ; and we 
 feel that if the foliage would but let us, we should 
 
 * Vas. xiii. 23. 
 
 t Tiziano e gli Estensi, p. 9. 
 
176 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. Y. 
 
 see — as from Eevis — the town of Pieve on the saddle 
 to the left, the peaks of Antelao above the town, and 
 beneath the castle crag the straggling honses of Sotto 
 Castello. 
 
 Historians have written of the relations of Titian 
 to Alfonso of Ferrara in the most flattering way ; 
 Vasari says that Alfonso "requited the painter's 
 services largely, and paid him well." * Serlio, that 
 Titian owed his position in life entirely to Alfonso, t 
 whilst Eidolfi relates as an anecdote, that the Duke 
 often took Titian with him from Venice to Ferrara on 
 board his own Bucentaur.J But it is proper to 
 remember that Titian's position in early years was 
 not so prominent as it became at the court of the 
 Gonzagas or of Charles the Fifth ; and though we 
 find Alfonso offering to take the painter to Eome,§ 
 there is little trace in his letters of that familiarity 
 which Eidolfi's anecdote suggests. Nor is it quite 
 sure that Ariosto, who is described as Titian's friend, || 
 was more than a condescending admirer of that skill 
 which he valued equally in all artists of his time.^| 
 
 * Vasari, xiii. 24. 
 
 f Serlio, Architettura Mar- 
 colini's Edition, without date, 
 lib. iv., goes so far as to say 
 that Alfonso made Titian a 
 knight. 
 
 X Eidolfi, Marav. i. 209. 
 
 § See postea. 
 
 || Vasari, xiii. p. 25. 
 
 ^| The lines, as follows, are in 
 the 33rd canto of the 2nd edition 
 of the Orlando Furioso : — 
 
 " E quei che furo a nostri dl, o son ora 
 Leonardo, Andrea Mantegna, Gian 
 Bellino, 
 
 Duo Dossi, e quel ch'a par sculpe e 
 colora 
 
 Michel, piu che mortal, Angel divino ; 
 
 Bastiano, Raffael, Tizian ch'onora 
 Non men cador, che quei Venezia e 
 
 Urbino." 
 
 In a letter to the Marquess of 
 Mantua, bearing date the 14th of 
 July, 1512, Ariosto excuses him- 
 
Chap. V.] 
 
 TITIAN AND ARIOSTO. 
 
 177 
 
 In the second edition of Orlando Furioso, which was 
 published in 1532, the poet devoted some lines of 
 praise to the painters and sculptors of the sixteenth 
 century, and described Titian as " the honour of 
 Cadore." But it did not occur to him to make this 
 point in the first issue of his poem, which appeared 
 in 1516. Nor is there any proof in the poet's corres- 
 pondence that Titian ever crossed the threshold even 
 of that late dwelling upon which Ariosto wrote : — 
 
 " Parva, sed apta mihi, sed nulli obnoxia, sed non 
 Sordida, parta meo sed tamen sere domus." * 
 
 But if it should appear that Titian had not at this 
 time the familiar intimacy with Alfonso and Ariosto 
 which some princes and poets have had with great 
 artists, there is no doubt that he was nattered by 
 the Duke's eagerness to become possessed of his 
 works, and was willing to do him service even in 
 small things ; and it is not improbable that Ariosto, 
 whose portrait he painted, was the suggestive genius 
 to whom we owe the subjects which were composed 
 for Alfonso's studio. 
 
 self from sending his Orlando, 
 because the MS. is in such a state 
 of confusion, wanting filing and 
 finishing, and covered with 
 erasures and corrections, that no 
 one can read it but himself. See 
 Letteri di Alcuni Illustri Italian i, 
 by Canon W. Braghirolli, 8vo, 
 Milan, p. 15. At a late period 
 Aretino is made to inveigh 
 against Ariosto for naming Titian 
 vol. r. 
 
 in one sentence with the Dossi. 
 See Dolce Dialogo, p. 7. 
 
 * This dwelling, Strada Mira- 
 sole, No. 1208, near the church 
 of the Cappuccini, Ariosto hardly 
 owned before 1528, and there is 
 no exact knowledge of the place 
 where he resided previous to that 
 date. See Indice Manuale delle 
 cose . . . di Ferrara, 12mo, Ferr., 
 1844, p. 103. 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. V. 
 
 As to the time when Titian first became acquainted 
 with Ferrara, we saw that no certainty was to be ac- 
 quired. The "Christ" of "The Tribute Money" which 
 filled a panel in the studio, the portrait of Alfonso 
 which subsequently passed into the hands of Charles 
 the Fifth, and numerous pictures of which the very 
 existence is now a mystery, were done at uncertain 
 dates during a period of years of which we know the 
 close but cannot trace the beginning. The first 
 recorded journey of the painter to Ferrara was made 
 in February, 1516, when he lodged with two assis- 
 tants in the Castello of Ferrara. " Salad, salt-meat, 
 oil, chestnuts, oranges, tallow candles, and cheese, 
 and five measures of wine," are the rations which he 
 received weekly from the loth of February till the 
 22nd of March.* Who shall say whether Titian, at 
 this moment, was finishing or repairing Bellini's 
 bacchanal, or composing a bacchanal of his own? 
 A letter addressed to the Duke a week later shows 
 on what terms he stood with his patron : — 
 
 TITIAN TO THE DUKE OF EEEEAEA. 
 
 " Your Excellency, — 
 
 " I went without delay to the well of which 
 Y. E. had written, and made a sketch of it, from 
 which Y. E. will see how the matter stands ; but I 
 wish that sketch not to go alone, so send another 
 with it of a well after the fashion of this country. 
 
 * "A M° Tuciano depintore 
 alozato in castelo boche 3 per suo 
 ordinario de la setimana presente 
 
 principiando ozi (13 Eeb.) . . . " 
 Campori, Tiziano e gli Estensi, 
 p. 4. 
 
Chap. V.] COEEESPONDENCE WITH FEEEAEA. 
 
 179 
 
 Should these drawings appear to have been done in 
 a manner not agreeable to the greatness of your 
 illustrious Signoria, or in accordance with my humble 
 desire to serye Y. E., I hope to be excused; and that 
 Y. E. will ascribe , the cause to an earnest longing 
 that the work should be done rapidly. I am entirely 
 at command should the drawings be considered un- 
 satisfactory, and am ready to furnish others ; because, 
 haying giyen myself body and soul to Y. E., there 
 is no pleasure I esteem so great as to be worthy of 
 serving when and where Y. E. may think me fitted to 
 do so. I have not forgotten the bath which Y. 111. 
 Signoria ordered of me, and I am working at it daily, 
 so that, should its despatch be desirable and the time 
 be made known to me, I shall send it ; begging mean- 
 while to be humbly recommended to the good graces. 
 
 " I am Y. I. S. 
 
 " Servant, 
 
 " TlTIANO. 
 
 " To my most Illustrious Signor the Signor Duke of Ferrara.* 
 " From Venice, Feb. 19, 1517." 
 
 The tone of friendship is not to be found in this 
 letter ; but it merely reflects that form of subservience 
 which distinguished Venice from other cities of the 
 peninsula. Eaphael and Michael Angelo wrote to 
 princes in a more independent style; but they were 
 not Yenetians, and it is not in Florence nor at Eome 
 but at Venice that the " majesty" of kings was first 
 discovered. 
 
 * From the original in Marquis Campori's Tiziano e gli Estensi, p. 5. 
 
 n 2 
 
180 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. Y. 
 
 But here we see Titian painting, not a bacchanal, 
 hut " a hath," of which we know no more now than 
 of so many other works of which Titian's letters 
 speak. The truth is Alfonso, in respect of the studio, 
 was not thinking of Titian so much as of Eaphael, 
 or Pellegrino da Udine. Costabili, Bishop of Adria, 
 his agent at Borne, was daily knocking at BaphaeFs 
 door to remind him that he had promised the Duke a 
 picture, and every letter reported that Baphael was 
 mindful of his promise. Costabili had proposed the 
 triumph of Bacchus as a subject which Alfonso would 
 like; but Baphael had sent one of his disciples to 
 Yenice for the purchase of colours, and discovered 
 that the same subject had been offered to Pellegrino 
 da Udine. He would paint some other theme, he said; 
 and meanwhile sent a present to the Duke, of a 
 cartoon, the original of the " Oath of Leo the Third," 
 recently completed in the Hall of Torre Borgia.* 
 The whole of 1517 was spent in negotiations of this 
 kind, — Titian corresponding regularly with Ferrara, 
 receiving small sums of money, for which he pur- 
 chased antiques; but, as far as records tell, painting 
 no pictures for the Duke.f 
 
 Meanwhile the Bishop of Adria, whilst still press- 
 ing Baphael, whose promises and protestations fill 
 the Boman correspondence with Eerrara in March 
 and April, 1518, probably induced the Duke to be- 
 
 * The documents as to Ea- 
 phael' s dealings with Ferrara are 
 in Marchese Campori's Notizie 
 inedite di Eafaello da Urbino, 
 
 fol., Modena, 1863, p. 6—9. 
 
 f Campori's Tiziano e gli Es- 
 tensi, p. 6. 
 
Chap. V.] PICTUEES FOE FEEEAEA. 
 
 181 
 
 lieve that his hopes of a picture from Eome would 
 scarcely be realized.* Alfonso therefore turned his 
 attention to Titian, with whom his agent in Venice, 
 Jacopo Tebaldo, opened a new negotiation; the ques- 
 tion at first being as to a design which Titian was to 
 furnish, -j- then as to a subject suggested from Ferrara, 
 of which Ariosto was probably the author. J But, of 
 this the following letters written by Titian and Tebaldo, 
 give an account too good to be omitted. 
 
 TITIAN TO THE DUKE OF FEEEAEA. 
 
 " To the Most Illustrious and Excellent Lord, 
 my Lord Duke of Ferrara. 
 
 "Most Illustrious Lord and My Lord, 
 
 " I received the other day, with due rever- 
 ence your Lordship's letter, together with the canvas 
 and framing. Having read and noted the contents, I 
 considered them so pretty and ingenious as to require no 
 improvement of any kind; and the more I thought over 
 it the more I became convinced that the greatness of art 
 amongst the ancients was due to the assistance they 
 received from great princes content to leave to the 
 painters the credit and renown derived from their own 
 ingenuity in bespeaking pictures. Can I therefore 
 doubt that, if God enables me to satisfy in any part the 
 wishes of Your Lordship, I shall have all credit for my 
 labour? Yet I shall, after all have done no more than 
 give shape to that which received its spirit — the most 
 
 * Campori's Notizie ined. di 
 Eafaello, p. 9. 
 
 • t Feb. 25 and March 2 (?), 1518, 
 in Campori's Tiziano e gli Es- 
 
 tensi, p. 6. 
 
 X Campori, Tiziano e gli Es- 
 tensi, p. 6. 
 
182 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. V. 
 
 essential part — from Your Excellency. But let this 
 pass. ... I am sure that Your Illustrious Signoria 
 could not have thought of a subject more grateful 
 or more after my own heart than this one; and I 
 purpose to devote to it all my care and industry, in 
 order that it may be brought to successful completion. 
 
 What Your Lordship says, indeed, as to next St. 
 
 as the date beyond which that completion should not 
 be postponed, seems to me to involve too short an 
 interval ; the work, if it should be good and attractive, 
 requires both more leisure and more study. Still, I 
 mean to do my best to finish it at the appointed 
 time; so that, should any thing remain to be done, that 
 little will be so infinitesimal as to excuse me from 
 asking for delay. I add no more than that I beg to 
 be most humbly recommended. 
 
 "Your Most Illustrious Signoria' s Servant, 
 
 [Signature gone.] 
 
 " Prom Venice, April 1, 1518." 
 
 That this courtier-like letter refers to one of the 
 bacchanals, seems to admit of the less doubt as it is 
 supplemented by the following from Tebaldo, recording 
 the place in the studio which the picture was to fill. 
 
 JACOPO TEBALDI TO THE DUKE OF EEEEAEA. 
 
 " Most Illustrious and Excellent Lord, 
 
 "I had no sooner read your Excellency's 
 orders of the 20th instant as regards the subject 
 bespoken of M. Titian, than I gave him detailed 
 instructions, handing him the paper containing the 
 
Chap. V.] 
 
 TITIAN AND EAPHAEL. 
 
 183 
 
 sketch of a figure and complementary notes for his 
 guidance. He told me he remembered that there 
 were three pictures in the fazata (wall facing the 
 light ?) in Your Excellency's Studio ; and that your 
 Excellency had arranged that this one should be 
 hung on the same fazata. He wishes to know 
 whether the new canvas is to be in the middle of 
 the others, or at one side, either towards the chapel 
 or towards the Castello ; and he promised to begin 
 work this morning, proceeding without interruption 
 to the close ; and he begs to be recommended ; — as 
 likewise does — 
 
 " Your Excellency's most humble servant, 
 " Jacomo Delli Thebaldi.* 
 
 " From Venice, April 22, 1518." 
 
 Some weeks after the despatch of this letter, 
 Alfonso came to Venice, "and probably gave per- 
 sonal instructions to Titian ; " f yet months again 
 elapsed before anything was done to satisfy his 
 wishes. Neither Eaphael nor Titian were to be had 
 "for love or for money ; " and now Alfonso's temper 
 left him. He wrote in September to his agent 
 Paulucci at Eome : "Go to Eaphael and tell him 
 that it is now three years since he began to lure us 
 with promises ; declare to him that this is not proper 
 treatment for such as I am, and that if he does not 
 do his duty he will soon find out the mistake 
 he has made. Let him beware not to provoke our 
 
 * Campori, Tiziano e gli Estensi, p. 7. f Ibid. p. 8. 
 
184 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. V. 
 
 anger when we feel for him nothing bnt friendship ; 
 let him know what he may expect from performance, 
 what he has to fear from neglect."* 
 
 To Titian in a much more rude and peremptory- 
 tone : " We thought," he writes to Tebaldi, on the 
 29th of September 1519, "that Titian, the painter, 
 would some day finish our picture ; but he seems to 
 take no account of us whatever. We therefore in- 
 struct you to tell him instantly, that we are surprised 
 that he should not have finished our picture ; that he 
 must finish it under all circumstances or incur our 
 great displeasure ; and he may be made to feel that 
 he is doing an ill turn to one who can resent it. We 
 are determined that he shall complete the work he 
 promised : if he does not, we shall see to his doing 
 it, and you are to advise us instantly of his resolu- 
 tion." t 
 
 Yet, when Alfonso wrote this, Titian had composed 
 and exhibited the Assunta at the Frari. Flattering 
 commissions had been sent to him from the provinces ; 
 and Lautrec, lieutenant of the King of France, had 
 given him an order for a picture, with the consent 
 of the Venetian senate. J As time rolled on, Alfonso 
 found it advisable, though late, to change his tone 
 with Titian — but this is anticipating ; and we must 
 return to Ferrara to examine what Titian had been 
 doing there and at what pictures he had been working. 
 
 * Campori, Notizie Inedite di 
 E. da Urbino, p. 27. 
 
 t Campori, Tiziano e gli Es- 
 tensi, p. 8. 
 
 J Lautrec's picture is not to be 
 
 traced. The payment for it was 
 made in 1522. (See Lorenzi, p. 
 175.) It may be one of those 
 now in the Louvre. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Lucretia Borgia and Laura Dianti. — Did Titian Paint these Portraits ? 
 Likeness of Alfonso d' Este. — Ferrarese Pictures. — Worship of 
 Venus at Madrid.— So-called Portraits of Ariosto. — Poetry of 
 Titian's Art. — The Three Ages. — Eiposo. — Noli me Tangere. — 
 The Assunta at Venice. — Titian's Technical Treatment of Pig- 
 ments. — His Style. — Annunciation at Treviso. — Quarrel of Titian 
 with the Signoria. — Visit to Ferrara. — Bacchanal of Madrid. — 
 Better Eelations with Alfonso. — Pottery. — Madonna of Ancona. 
 — Alfonso and Titian's St. Sebastian. 
 
 It is natural to think that the very first request 
 which the Duke of Ferrara would make to a master 
 like Titian would be to paint a likeness of his wife ; 
 yet, to the question whether Titian ever produced 
 a portrait of Lucretia Borgia, history will be found 
 to have given a very dubious answer. "When 
 Lucretia was sent, in 1503, by her father to Ferrara, 
 she was already well known throughout Italy as the 
 beautiful widow of several husbands ; and there were 
 tales whispered of her which might have made a 
 hardened ruffler of those days shudder. But during 
 her stay at Ferrara, where she lived for years in 
 comparative quiet, Lucretia was held to have led a 
 life of fair repute; and poets and statesmen were 
 unanimous in praising her virtue and the gifts of 
 her mind. That a princess so celebrated should not 
 have sat to Titian is almost inconceivable ; yet no 
 portrait of her, either by Titian or by Dosso, has been 
 
186 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. YL 
 
 preserved ; and all that we know is, that portraits 
 purporting to be hers, were engraved by the 
 cleverest artists of a later age. But, with respect 
 even to this, the question arises whether the pictures 
 — lost to us in their original shape though pre- 
 served by engraving — were really counterfeits of 
 Lucretia Borgia. So far as Titian is concerned, 
 Bidolfi affirms that the Duke of Eerrara requested 
 him to delineate the features of his Duchess ; whom 
 he represented in a picture, afterwards engraved by 
 Sadeler, as a woman of majestic port, with veils and 
 gems, a black velvet bodice, and looped sleeves, 
 resting her hand on the shoulder of an Ethiopian 
 page.*'' A glance at the print, which is a very fine 
 specimen of Sadeler' s art, reveals that the lady who 
 sat to Titian can hardly have been under the rank 
 of a princess ; since none but a princess, in those days, 
 could indulge in the luxury of an Ethiopian page ; 
 and the gemmed passion-flower and silken ribband 
 adorning her turbaned head, or the looped silk-gown 
 and scarf of striped gauze which set off her person, 
 are not less rich and elegant than the dress which 
 gives distinction to Isabel of Este or the Duchess of 
 CJrbino. Still, we may admit that arguments such 
 as these would not in themselves be convincing, 
 unless they happened to be stronger than those 
 brought forward in rebutment ; and it is to be borne 
 in mind, that historians who note the completion of 
 a portrait of the Duchess of Eerrara by Titian do 
 not once mention the name of Lucretia Borgia ; and 
 
 * Eidolfi, Marav. i. 209. 
 
Chap. VI.] POETRAIT OF LUCEETIA BOKGIA. 187 
 
 they may, as far as we can tell, have been alluding 
 to Laura Dianti, supposed by many to be Alfonso 
 d' Este's second wife. "Without going so far as this, 
 Marquis Campori, a judge of absolute competence 
 in respect of Ferrarese art and history, supposes that 
 Sadeler's print represents a Sultaness such as Titian 
 is known to have painted,"" but certainly not Lucretia, 
 whose features on extant medals are of a different 
 cast. If we should venture to disagree with so good 
 an authority it might be to urge how improbable it is 
 that Sadeler's plate should represent a Sultaness ; since 
 the person represented bears no trace of oriental blood, 
 and the canvas on which she was portrayed was pre- 
 served in Italy and passed at the close of the seven- 
 teenth century into the collection of Queen Christine, f 
 As regards the features, there is no doubt some 
 force in the objection that they are not like those 
 engraven on the medals. But the profile of Lucretia 
 in the two medallions struck in 1503 and 1505 is 
 that of quite a young woman, J whereas the full face 
 
 * Vasari, xiii. 43 ; Campori, 
 Tiziano e gli Estensi, p. 33. 
 
 f That the original of Sadeler's 
 print is the same picture as that 
 catalogued in Queen Christine's 
 collection will be clear to any one 
 who can compare both. The 
 entry in the catalogue is as 
 follows: "A portrait of a lady 
 clad in blue, with a yellow veil 
 over the shoulder, showing part 
 of the white chemise at the bosom 
 and wrist, holding up her skirt 
 with the right hand, resting her 
 left on the shoulder of a little 
 
 Moor, who looks up at her. 
 Canvas, by Titian, 4§ palms high, 
 and 3| broad." Campori, Racolta 
 de' Cataloghi, p. 342. 
 
 X The two medals have the 
 same profile of Lucretia, one with 
 Alfonso's head on the obverse, 
 and a legend showing that Lu- 
 cretia was not then the reigning 
 duchess ; another with a figure of 
 Cupid blindfolded and bound to 
 an apple tree, on the boughs of 
 which there hangs a stringless 
 bow, a broken quiver and arrows. 
 A very fine example of the latter 
 
188 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 of Sadeler's print is that of a matron ; and the simple 
 lines of the youthful face in the former might, in the 
 course of years, have been altered to the full shape 
 of the latter with its rounded nose, broad cheek and 
 firm-set mouth. Under any circumstances it would 
 be difficult to compare the medal profile of a lady of 
 twenty with an engraved full face of the same lady 
 at thirty-five. But in Italy, where years tell so 
 markedly on female form, such a comparison would 
 be more difficult than any where else ; and thus we 
 may believe it possible that Eidolfi was rightly in- 
 formed when he identified Sadeler's engraving as 
 representing the Duchess of Ferrara.* It may be 
 said, however, that, if Titian had had Lucretia for a 
 sitter, there would be some trace of the fact in local 
 
 is in the Berlin Museum. It was 
 engraved by Dr. Friedlander, and 
 the print will be found in E. 
 Gregorovius' Lucrezia Borgia, 
 8vo, Stuttgardt, 1874. 
 
 * There is a portrait engraved 
 (as appears from a monogram) 
 after an original by Dosso, which 
 we cannot trace. This represents 
 a lady with a feather fan hanging 
 from her waist. On a pedestal 
 to the right a marble Cupid pre- 
 sents her with an apple. She 
 stretches out her right hand to 
 pluck a lemon from a bush on the 
 left. On the pedestal we read: 
 
 LVCRETIA BORGIA iETATIS SViE 
 
 an ,xl a.c.n. mdxx; above it D 
 and a cross-bone, the monogram 
 of Dosso. It is to be remembered 
 that Lucretia never attained to 
 the age of forty, and died in 1519, 
 which makes the whole of the 
 
 above unauthentic. 
 
 It has been suggested that the 
 dame in the "Horoscope," now 
 No. 2389 in the Dresden Museum, 
 is Lucretia Borgia. But this 
 suggestion, which we owe to 
 Messrs. A. Baschet and Eeuillet 
 cle Conches (Les femmes blondes 
 par deux Venitiens, 8vo, 1865, 
 p. 5), is only based on the fact 
 that the eagle, cognizance of the 
 Estes', is in a corner of the picture. 
 
 Another picture connected with 
 Lucretia' s name is No. 224 in the 
 Dresden Museum. Here a man, 
 his wife, and a child, kneel before 
 the Virgin Mary, and the female 
 is called Lucretia Borgia. But 
 this picture, though assigned to 
 Titian, is by one of his pupils, 
 perhaps Orazio or Marco Vecelli. 
 It was certainly executed after 
 the death of Alfonso of Este. 
 
Chap. VI.] POKTRAIT OF ALFONSO D'ESTE. 
 
 189 
 
 annals ; and it is curious that no such traces exist. 
 Yet, with respect to this, we must always bear in mind 
 that the name of Borgia came to be of evil omen in 
 Italy after the death of Alexander the Sixth; that 
 the Ferrarese would have an interest in forgetting 
 Lucretia and keeping silence as to the means by 
 which they came to claim Modena and Eeggio. The 
 brightness which surrounded the wife of Alfonso of 
 Este in her life time was effectually quenched at her 
 death ; and in history, as well as in poetic or dramatic 
 legend, she only survived as a monster. This being 
 so, and the Borgias being systematically cried 
 down, there would be a natural tendency to turn the 
 portraits of the duchess to the wall ; and when they 
 were turned round again to the light their name 
 would naturally be forgotten. And this alone, we 
 may think, might account for the fact that Lucretia' s 
 semblance disappeared whilst that of her husband was 
 preserved. 
 
 The likeness of Alfonso is still extant, and we shall 
 shortly see how intimately its removal to Madrid was 
 connected with Titian's relations to Ferrara and the 
 Court of the Emperor Charles the Fifth. 
 
 Judging of Alfonso by this picture, he was a 
 sanguine, hot-blooded man, of hasty but energetic 
 temper ; his age at the time he was portrayed being 
 under forty. Not a grey hair is to be seen in the 
 shock of black curly locks, or the twisted points of the 
 moustache, or the chestnut mass of the well trimmed 
 beard. A broad forehead, with the hair in a peak 
 down the centre of it; a clear open eye under an 
 
190 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 arched brow ; a nose of short proportions, but neatly 
 cut ; a noble attitude and handsome dress make up 
 an attractive figure. The left hand resting naturally 
 on the hilt of the sword ; the right, partly concealed in 
 lace, fondles the silken back of a dog. A dark coat 
 S**^* edged with gold patterns, a rosary about the neck, a 
 
 * g reen scarf, inscribed at the waist "Ticianu," com- 
 
 plete the picture, which is relieved upon a dark ashen 
 ground. Though changed in the course of centuries 
 by abrasion, restoring, and stippling, this portrait is 
 still evidence of Titian's extraordinary power and dex- 
 terity, displaying in the soberest of scales a freshness 
 and richness of surface which not only strike us as 
 unsurpassed in its time, but also impress us with the 
 belief that Titian alone was capable of producing them. 
 There is evidence in the style and technical handling 
 that the period to which this panel may be assigned 
 is that which immediately precedes the " Bacchanal'' 
 of Madrid — evidence which receives confirmation 
 from the apparent age of the person delineated.* 
 " Three hundred scudi," says Dolce, "were given by 
 Alfonso for this piece, which Michaelangelo, in 1529, 
 greatly admired f the same sum may have been 
 paid for the portrait of the Duchess, to which no 
 date can be assigned. After a short space of time, 
 Titian was entrusted with a very different commission. 
 Lucretia Borgia died in 1519 : Alfonso declared his 
 
 * This picture, No. 452 in the 
 Madrid Museum, is on panel, 
 M. 1*25 h., by 0\)9. As to a copy- 
 made before the original was 
 
 taken to Spain, see postea. 
 
 f Dolce, Dialogo, u. s., p. 17. 
 Vasari, xii. 210. 
 
Chap. VI.] 
 
 THE WOESHIP OF VENUS. 
 
 191 
 
 affection for Laura Dianti, and modern criticism sup- 
 poses that Titian painted the pair in a single picture. 
 
 Besides portraits, Titian executed for Alfonso of 
 Eerrara both religious and mythological subjects ; and, 
 of these, the earliest in point of time is the "Venus 
 Worship " which adorned the walls of the Duke's 
 studio, and now hangs in the Museum of Madrid. 
 The goddess stands — a marble statue on a marble 
 pedestal — a shell in her right hand, and holding up 
 the cestus with her left ; at her feet two nymphs, one 
 of whom is a handsome girl with loose tresses in a 
 tunic of pure ultramarine, pointing to a tablet in- 
 scribed " Munus ; " whilst the second, in bare arms, 
 white sleeves, and a red tunic, is seated on a bank 
 presenting a mirror. A stream at the base of the 
 pedestal waters the edge of an undulating ground 
 upon which winged cupids swarm, plucking the 
 apples sacred to Venus from the branches of grand 
 orchard trees, climbing boughs like boys, dropping 
 down from them like thrushes, loading baskets, 
 throwing and catching, tumbling, fighting, and 
 dancing, with such zest and glee as only little, lusty, 
 healthy boys, that have spirits, health — and wings — 
 can do. In the very middle of the foreground, near 
 a basket of fruit, close to the variegated dresses which 
 the boys have thrown off, a rosy child raises his arms 
 to catch the apple that has not yet left the hands of 
 his companion ; and does not see that, behind the play- 
 mate, a little marplot is shooting an arrow at him. In 
 rear of this group, Eros is also kissing an apple, 
 two little Loves are embracing each other ; and, 
 
192 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 behind these again, a troop of eager children chase 
 a tired hare, whilst their bows and arrows hang un- 
 heeded on the branches. This pretty scene charms 
 ns by simplicity of incident and innocence of thought. 
 The forms are lovely ; they move beneath our glance, 
 vanish, and return again with infantine activity. The 
 eye is allowed to plunge into a landscape of beautiful 
 undulation and generous vegetation. A calm air 
 seems to refresh the objects it surrounds. A mild 
 harmonious light is balanced with such consummate art 
 in shades of the finest and most delicate harmonies, that 
 the colours are brought into a generous chord of rich- 
 ness. Behind a group of merry beings dancing round 
 and round in the middle distance, a bush of a strong 
 green tint is seen, relieved upon a meadow lit up by 
 the sun ; in rear of which the top of a steeple cuts 
 sharp on hills of Alpine formation. A little to the 
 left are the old orchard trees, with strong and 
 healthy trunks and boughs, abundant leafage, and 
 splendid fruit; between the trunks a house, more 
 distant trees, and the clear blue of the sky dappled 
 with a whitish cloud. 
 
 "You see," says Philostratus, "the Cupids are 
 gathering apples, and you might be surprised at their 
 numbers, but that they are the offspring of the 
 nymphs and govern all that is mortal, and their mul- 
 titude is proportioned to the varied desires of man- 
 kind. . . . The garden is pleasantly laid out with 
 walks ; a tender sward invites to rest ; but the golden 
 apples show their red and yellow faces in the branches, 
 and stir the appetites of the little ones. They hang 
 
Chap. VI.] 
 
 EEOS AND THE APPLES. 
 
 193 
 
 tlieir golden arrows and quivers on the boughs, and 
 rove in swarms about the place. Their variegated 
 clothes are laid upon the ground ; they want no 
 garlands, for their heads are decked with abundant 
 hair. Blue, gold, or coloured are their wings, the 
 hum of which is like music. The baskets in which 
 they throw the apples are of cornelian, emerald, or 
 pearl, the handiwork, no doubt, of Hepheestos. 
 Ladders they need not, for they fly into the very 
 heart of the fruit; they dance and run, or rest, or 
 sleep, or sate themselves with apples. Here are four 
 of the loveliest of them. One throws an apple to the 
 other ; a third shoots his arrow ; but there is no 
 wickedness in him, for the breast is bared to the 
 shaft. The riddle which the painter gives us here to 
 solve doubtless expresses love and longing. The 
 little ones who play with the apples suggest the first 
 of these sensations — the child who kisses an apple 
 throws it to his companion, who catches it with both 
 hands, and will doubtless kiss it and throw it back. 
 But the archers send their arrows deep into their 
 hearts, and so I say, the first are playing with love 
 that is dawning, the second symbolizes its eternal 
 duration. But what are these whose doings are 
 watched by spectators ? One, you observe, has been 
 caught from behind unawares, and his adversary 
 winds his legs about him as if to stop his breath ; he 
 resists and wrings the other's fingers. This the boy 
 can scarcely bear, so bites his opponent's ear. The 
 ring calls out foul play, and pelts the culprit with 
 apples. But stop, here is a hare who shall not escape 
 
 VOL. I. O 
 
194 
 
 TITIAN : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 us. Let us help the Cupids to seize him. He was 
 eatiug apples uuder the trees, and they have hunted 
 and frightened him, some by clapping of hands, some 
 by screeching, others by the flutter of their clothes — 
 all are after him and loud in pursuit ; but he sprang 
 aside, and though he was fast by the leg for an 
 instant, he wriggled away again ; and now the little 
 hunters laugh and tumble over each other, neglecting 
 even their bows and arrows the while, because they 
 wish to present the hare, the sweetest of all sacrifices, 
 alive to Aphrodite. But here is Yenus herself. 
 What say you, has she anything to do with apples ? 
 Mark the hollow bank from which the rill is flowing 
 to water the trees with its transparent waters. There 
 stands Aphrodite, whom the Nymphs have formed 
 because she made them mothers of the Cupids ; and 
 the silver mirror and golden clasps and sandals are no 
 vain present — but, as the inscription tells, a gift of 
 the Nymphs to Yenus ; and the Cupids sacrifice their 
 apples to her, and pray she may keep the garden 
 lovely as ever." * 
 
 The commentators of Philostratus have quarrelled 
 over the question whether the subject which he 
 describes was taken from a picture or from fancy, 
 and one of them has made a charming sketch of the 
 transformation by means of which the Angel of the 
 Yenetian Eenaissance becomes the Eros of Titian, 
 and then wanders back, without change of shape, into 
 the realms of Titian's paradise.*]* There is no denying 
 
 * Qikoo-TpaTov JLIkovcdv, Lib. I. 
 
 Vi. "Ep(CT€S. 
 
 t Herman Grimm's "Engel 
 und Liebesgotter," in the 35th 
 
Chap. VI.] 
 
 ANGELS AND CUPIDS. 
 
 195 
 
 it; the flying Cupids which give such lightness to 
 Titian's canvas also appeal to our memory as the first 
 display of those delicious messengers of heaven who 
 people the sky of the Assunta, or flutter above the 
 throne in the Madonna di Casa Pesaro. With the 
 force and harmony which are peculiar to Titian, we 
 have here his earlier and smoother finish, a careful 
 modelling and clean outline. A dominant warm tone 
 pervades alike the cooler greys and greens and the 
 brighter shades of bright-coloured stuffs. We can 
 well imagine the story to be true, that when Domc- 
 nichino heard of the transfer of this picture to Spain 
 the tears started to his eyes. Poussin too, and Van 
 Dyck would miss it as well as Eubens, who copied it, 
 and Albano might regret the originals of so many of 
 his adaptations.* 
 
 There is no allusion to this picture in any of the 
 correspondence preserved at Moclena or Ferrara, nor 
 is it mentioned in any of the contemporary accounts 
 that are handed down to us. But it was probably 
 the earliest of the three canvases furnished by Titian 
 for the Duke's studio, because it is handled with more 
 
 vol. of the Preussischen Jahr- 
 biicher. But Vasari had already 
 noted Giorgione's " Angelo a 
 guisa di Cupido." Life of Gior- 
 gione, vii. 84. 
 
 * This picture, now No. 451 in 
 the Museum of Madrid, is on can- 
 vas, M. 1*72 1l, by 1*75. It bears 
 the Escurial mark, " N. 102, Di 
 Ticianus," on the piece of white 
 cloth in the centre of the fore- 
 ground. The surface on the 
 
 whole is well preserved, though 
 we should note some re-touching 
 in the sky, some stippling in the 
 form of the girl holding the 
 mirror- We shall see presently 
 how it came from Ferrara to 
 Spain. An etching of it was 
 made in Eome in 1636, which 
 gives the composition reversed. 
 It is by Geo. Andrea Podesta, of 
 Genoa. 
 
196 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap, VI. 
 
 of the youthful care and less of the riper freedom 
 which are conspicuous in the " Bacchanal" of Madrid, 
 or the " Bacchus " of the National Gallery, both of 
 which were finished after 1519. But supposing it to 
 have been executed — as we may think it was — before 
 1518, it was preceded by many other pieces of which 
 it is necessary to take account, and by none more 
 important than the portrait of Lodovico Ariosto. Of 
 this poet's acquaintance with Titian there is no more 
 doubt than there is of Ariosto having sat to the 
 master for his likeness. It is of their intimacy that 
 we require proof, for though each of them is said 
 to have been godfather to the other's children, there 
 is no evidence to support the statement.* When the 
 guildsmen of Venice proposed to do honour to the 
 remains of Titian in 1577 they planned a ceremony as 
 grand and imposing as that performed by the Floren- 
 tines at the burial of Michael Angelo, and amongst 
 the pictures with which they proposed to decorate 
 the catafalk, one was to represent Alfonso of Ferrara 
 with attendant pages listening to the poet reading, 
 whilst Titian sat painting at his easel. j* When 
 Titian first made the Duke of Ferrara' s acquaintance, 
 Ariosto was in the service of Cardinal Hypolitus, 
 which he did not resign till 1517. Yet it might be 
 that even as the servant of Hypolitus the poet would 
 occasionally be the Duke's companion, and it is quite 
 credible that Alfonso should have patronised the poet 
 and the painter in the manner suggested. But an 
 
 * Ticozzi, Vite dei pittore Ve- I f Eidolfi, Marav. i. 279. 
 celli, p. 42. I 
 
Chap. VI.] 
 
 HOMER AND APELLES. 
 
 197 
 
 incident of this kind handed down by tradition ^soon 
 expanded into a portentous myth, and it became 
 the fashion to believe that the painter-poet " and 
 the "poet-painter" entered into an intellectual part- 
 nership in which " Homer " was made to consult 
 " Apelles " as to the form of his poem, and " Apelles" 
 in return transferred the features of " Homer " to 
 canvas.* Those who like may credit the story. As 
 to the portraits which Titian executed of Ariosto they 
 were two in number at least. One was inherited by 
 Ariosto's son, Virginio, who took it to Padua in 1554.f 
 The other was merely a drawing for the woodcut 
 annexed to an edition of the Orlando published in 
 1532. What became of the first it is impossible to 
 say ; but we may note that as far back as the middle 
 of the seventeenth century there were two painted 
 likenesses of Ariosto assigned to Titian : one in the 
 Eenier collection at Venice, which Eidolfi described 
 in 1646, another which belonged to Don Alphonso 
 Lopez, Privy Councillor to the King of Spain, whose 
 collection at Amsterdam was sold and dispersed in 
 London in the reign of Charles the First, J and it is 
 probable that the second of these is that preserved at 
 Lord Darnley's seat of Cobham Hall. In this grand 
 picture we acknowledge the finest creation of Titian 
 
 * Eidolfi, Marav. i. 209-10. 
 Ticozzi, Vite, p. 42. 
 
 f Baruffaldi's Ariosto, p. 251. 
 
 X Don Alphonso had a fine col- 
 lection, including Titian's Flora, 
 now at the TJffizi, and Eaphael's 
 portrait of Balthazar Castig- 
 
 lione. See Sandrart's Prints; 
 Miindler's Analyse Critique, 8vo, 
 Paris, 1850, pp. 182-3; and the 
 late M. Villot's notice of Ra- 
 phael's Castiglione in the Louvre 
 Catalogue of 1866. See also 
 postea. 
 
198 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 in that period of his career, which showed itself 
 pregnant with the influence of Palma and Giorgione. 
 Nothing can exceed the richness of its tones, the 
 brightness of its tints, or the nice blending of its 
 modelling, the subtlety of its gradations or the 
 radiance of its light. The person represented, a man 
 of dignified air, displays at once an elevated serenity 
 and a clever sprightliness, and one sees that the 
 painter, whilst imitating natnre, was aiming at an 
 ideal to be attained, if not by those arts of selec- 
 tion which was familiar to the Greeks, at least by 
 a force and delicacy of colonr equally excellent. The 
 poet — if it be Ariosto — is seen passing at a slow 
 walk, the upper part of his form being visible above 
 a parapet, his body in profile, whilst the head and eyes 
 are turned to front the spectator. It is a figure of 
 noble port, with a face of fine features handsomely 
 set off by a dark spare beard and long chestnut hair, 
 divided in the middle. A plaited shirt leaves the 
 throat and neck exposed, losing itself in the breadth of 
 a dark doublet, the sleeves of which are of quilted 
 blue satin, standing out with gorgeous effect, as the 
 right arm which it covers is raised to rest the hand 
 against the chest.* It is difficult to convey in words 
 
 * The portrait at Cobham Hall, 
 seat of Earl Darnley, a half- 
 length on grey-green ground, is 
 painted on canvas, and is 2 ft. 
 1^ in. broad, by 2 ft. 9 in. high, 
 inscribed on the brown toned 
 parapet beneath the figure, ' ' Ti- 
 tianvs F." It has no pedigree, 
 yet may, as above stated, be the 
 
 same which we find noticed as 
 belonging, in Charles I/s time, 
 to the Lopez Collection (Claude 
 Vignon to F. Langlois, in Bot- 
 tari, Eaccolta di Lettere, Milan, 
 ed. 1822, vol. iv. p. 446) ; and this 
 in its turn may have been Titian's 
 portrait of Ariosto, which accord- 
 ing to Baruffaldi (Life of Ariosto), 
 
Chap. VI.] 
 
 PORTRAITS OF ARIOSTO. 
 
 199 
 
 the conspicuous purity of the bloom in this piece 
 which as much excels earlier efforts of portraiture as 
 the bacchanals surpass the similar efforts of a previous 
 age. Looking back at the masterpieces admired as 
 perfect of this kind at the opening of the century, 
 looking back, we may say, at Antonello's " Con- 
 dottiere" in the Louvre, or Bellini's "Loredano" at 
 the National Gallery, we recollect that they left upon 
 us the impress of an absolute perfection, the feeling 
 that art has gone so far it can scarce go further. 
 But Titian appears, and art takes a step in advance, 
 and we feel that there may be some further perfection 
 of which as yet we do not dream. 
 
 We said, this portrait " passes" for the likeness 
 of Ariosto. It sometimes happens that different 
 persons take different views of the same features; 
 and Titian himself may have obtained various im- 
 pressions of Ariosto's features at divers periods, 
 and, d fortiori, other painters to whom the poet sat 
 might delineate the face in a form varying from that 
 of Titian. These reflections are suggested by the 
 fact that a portrait assigned to Titian, and described 
 as Ariosto, is preserved in the National Gallery, which 
 
 was sent from Ferrara to Vir- 
 ginio Ariosto at Padua in 1554, 
 and was since lost. The Cobhaui 
 Hall portrait cannot be that 
 which Ridolfi describes in the 
 Renier collection (Maraviglie, i. 
 210), the dress being different. 
 But, fine as it is, the Cobham Hall 
 picture is not in perfect preserva- 
 tion. The beard is extensively 
 
 re-touched, and some injury has 
 been done by time and wear. 
 There is an engraving of the 
 Lopez Ariosto which exactly 
 coincides with the picture at 
 Cobham Hall. It is inscribed, 
 " Joachimus Sandrart del. et 
 excud. Amsterd. E Titiani pro- 
 totypo in sedibus Alph. Lopez." 
 
200 
 
 TITIAN : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 differs greatly from that of Cobham Hall, whilst a 
 profile engraved in the latest edition of the Orlando, 
 to which Ariosto himself made corrections, shows 
 little resemblance with either. Of the portrait at the 
 National Gallery it may be said that a more engaging 
 or attractive one it would be difficult at a first glance 
 to find. The attitude is one of thought, one hand 
 plays with a rosary, the other (the right) holds a 
 pair of gloves. An open but rather sensual face, 
 hair falling in rich masses on the neck, a shirt 
 plaited into a doublet, and sleeves of red wadded 
 silk damask, varied by a striped fore-sleeve displayed 
 outside of a pelisse of brown fur. All this produces 
 a grand effect. The laurel bush in the background 
 fitly suggests the presence of the " Poet Laureate." 
 Yet if this be the bard his face is more feminine, 
 his form less grandiose than that of his namesake 
 at Cobham Hall. But here we may detect on closer 
 examination a certain class of deficiencies to which 
 Titian has not as yet accustomed us. The finish 
 or blending of the flesh is deceptive. It will not 
 bear close inspection, and the drawing proves to be 
 loose and faulty. The colour, though rich and bright, 
 is too smooth and too uniform, where ■ — as in the trees 
 — it is not too sharp and cold, the tone is too rosy 
 and tame, the modelling too feeble for the great and 
 incomparable master.* Two men — artists both, and 
 
 * The portrait of Ariosto, No. 
 636 in the National Gallery, was 
 once a panel, but is now on 
 canvas, 2 ft. 8| in. high, by 2 ft. 
 wide. It answers the description 
 
 given by Kidolfi. of the "Ariosto " 
 in the Kenier collection exactly ; 
 belonged to the Tomline and 
 Baucousin collections, and was 
 not in the Kenier collection at its 
 
Chap. VI.] POETEAITS OF AEIOSTO. 
 
 201 
 
 artists of skill, might very fairly be suggested as the 
 painters of this picture, Pellegrino da San Daniele 
 or Dosso Dossi. But any one declaring for the latter 
 would be affirming, what as yet is far from being 
 proved in a definite sense, that Dossi at some period 
 of his practice was thoroughly Venetian in feeling 
 and in technical treatment, whereas in the majority 
 of his works he oscillates between the Lombard and 
 the Mantuan in a manner too decided to remain 
 unobserved. 
 
 It is curious in the meanwhile, and deserves to be 
 taken into consideration, that when Ariosto's likeness 
 is in question the arch-type acknowledged in Italy 
 is that of Cobham Hall, of which we have testimony 
 in the portraits of the Yicenza gallery of the Tosi 
 collection at Brescia, and of the Manfrini-Barker 
 and Munro collections in England, all of which, 
 strangely enough, are assigned to Giorgione,* and 
 
 sale in 1666. It has suffered 
 from re-painting, especially in 
 the neck and neighbouring parts. 
 (Compare Eidolfi, Marav. i. 210 ; 
 and Campori, Eaccolta di Cata- 
 loghi, p. 442.) 
 
 * The " Manfrini- Ariosto " passed 
 into the Barker collection in 185", 
 and was afterwards sold. It was 
 held to be original by Waagen 
 (Treasures of Art in Great Britain, 
 8vo, Lond. 1854, iii. 19), and 
 by Burckhardt (Cicerone, 12mo, 
 Leipzig, 1855, p. 967 a,) but is 
 justly restored to its true place, 
 that of a bad and late copy, by 
 Miindler (Beitrage zu Burck- 
 hardt's Cicerone, 8vo, Leipzig, 
 
 1870, p. 61). Another copy of the 
 "Cobham Hall Ariosto," but with 
 varieties, is No. 25 in the Gallery 
 of Vicenza; but here the hand 
 rests on a book lying on a pa- 
 rapet. The picture is by a late 
 Venetian, and is injured by re- 
 storing. The head, copied from 
 the " Cobham Hall Ariosto," is in 
 the Tosi collection at Brescia, and 
 quite modern. A fourth "Ariosto " 
 passed with the collection of Mr. 
 Munro into the hands of Mrs. 
 Butler Johnstone in London. 
 
 There was a portrait of Ariosto 
 in the collection of Cardinal Ales- 
 sandro d'Este at Ferrara in 1624. 
 (Campori, Eacc. di Catal. p. 69.) 
 
202 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 yet it cannot be denied that there is more affinity 
 between the " Ariosto " of the National Gallery and 
 that engraved in the Furioso than there is between 
 this engraving and the portrait of Cobham Hall; 
 and it only remains to notice that the plate in the 
 Fnrioso represents Ariosto in profile, and is a wood- 
 cnt of the best type — eqnally masterly in the display 
 of the features and clever in the composition and 
 design of its ornamental framework. But whereas 
 at Cobham Hall we have an open face, and at the 
 National Gallery a sensual one, here the features 
 are those of a shrewd and penetrating statesman 
 whose brow is strongly marked, and whose eyelid 
 projects like the eaves of an Italian house. The eye 
 is near to the nose, and this nose shoots out to some 
 length, and looks extraordinarily wise as it commands 
 a face cast into very malleable fleshy planes, adorned 
 with a ringlet beard, and hair that has left a bush 
 of single locks on the forehead before retiring to 
 produce an eloquent baldness on the scalp.* When 
 Titian made this drawing Ariosto was verging upon 
 
 * The face is turned to the 
 right in this print, which is signed 
 in the ornament with the name 
 of E., or Francesco de Nanto, a 
 Savoyard, whose prints are very- 
 rare. (See Panizzi in G. Melzi's 
 Bibliografia deiromanzi, &c, 8vo, 
 Milan, 1837, pp. 117, 118.) Ti- 
 tian's drawing of this profile is 
 proved in a letter from Verdizotti 
 to Orazio Ariosti, dated Eeb. 27, 
 1588, in which the former encloses 
 the print to the latter, saying it 
 was drawn by Titian and printed 
 
 from his drawing. The letter is 
 in the library of Ferrara, and 
 part printed in the above work, 
 and in Baruffaldi's Ariosto, p. 251. 
 We may note also that the profile 
 in this print exactly corresponds 
 to the profile in all the medals 
 struck in Ariosto's honour, and 
 to the profile engraved by .ZEneas 
 Vico. Mr. Panizzi reprinted De 
 Nanto' s profile of Ariosto as a 
 frontispiece to his edition of the 
 Orlando in 1834. 
 
Chap. VI] POETHY OF TITIAN'S ART. 
 
 203 
 
 sixty, and a very different person in appearance from 
 the yonng and charming poet who pleased Isabella 
 d'Este when he first recited the chants of the 
 Furioso.* Bnt even in this form and at this age 
 his portrait was popular, and we see it reproduced 
 on a small scale as alleged by Titian, in the gallery 
 of the Belvedere at Vienna.-)* 
 
 If Titian was not a poet in the sense attributed 
 to him by those who disfigure his relation to Ariosto 
 by ill-judged flattery ; if we cannot imagine him the 
 adviser of Ariosto in matters upon which Ariosto 
 would probably have disdained to consult him, we 
 shall not deny that he was gifted with the poetic 
 fibre. There is not a line in Titian's landscapes 
 that does not prove him an inborn poet in the 
 subtlest sense that the word conveys — not a detail 
 in an allegory like " Sated Love" that does not 
 prove the poetry of his thought. Perhaps he was 
 only the "muto poeta" of whom Tasso sings, but 
 though mute still capable of expressing the sublime 
 with his pencil. The humanists might find it neces- 
 sary to suggest such subjects as the " Bacchanal " or 
 the " Bacchus and Ariadne." An allegory like 
 
 * This occurred as early as 
 1507. See the letter of Feb. 3 of 
 that year, addressed to Cardinal 
 Hypolitus, in Tiraboschi's Storia 
 della letteratura, 8vo, Milan, 1824, 
 vii. p. 1815. 
 
 f The portrait at the Belve- 
 dere is a small bust profile, 
 turned to the left, of a man in a 
 brown pelisse lined with fur. The 
 
 face, without being very like, is 
 clearly taken from the print of 
 1 532, but the painter is not Titian. 
 Judging of it by the treatment, 
 the picture was painted by Teniers 
 for the Archduke Leopold Wil- 
 liam, with whose collection it was 
 transferred to Vienna. The size 
 of the panel is only 10 inches 
 high by 8 inches wide. 
 
204 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 that of the " Three Ages " which Titian now painted 
 would naturally spring from his own. inner con- 
 sciousness ; and even those who should venture to 
 deny that his mind could give birth to such an 
 allegory would be obliged to admit that he depicted 
 it with the utmost delicacy of poetic feeling, nor is 
 there any excuse for thinking that Titian here had 
 promptings from the Laureate of Ferrara, since the 
 picture was painted at Venice for a private gentle- 
 man at Faenza in whose house it remained during a 
 part of the sixteenth century; and it was not till 
 the seventeenth that its fame increased so as to 
 make it welcome first in the gallery of a queen, 
 and last in the collection of an English peer. Lord 
 Ellesmere's " Three Ages" is an idyll equally simple 
 in form and in colour. A beautiful girl sits near her 
 lover " and the holy feeling of youthful innocence 
 and affection is charmingly expressed in both."* At 
 the foot of a tree the lover — a shepherd in scantiest 
 attire — rests in front of his maid on the sward, 
 leaning one arm on her shoulder, as she, facing him 
 and crowned with flowers, looks into his eyes and 
 directs his awkward hand to the stops of the reed 
 pipes. We strike again the key-note of " Artless 
 love," yet with what an incomparable sweetness of 
 tone. But the tale is merely half told. The middle 
 ground to the right shows us Cupid at the side of a 
 tree stump stepping on to the forms of two sleeping 
 children, whilst in the distance of a quiet landscape, 
 
 Waagen, Treasures, ii. 31. 
 
Chap, VI.] 
 
 THE THREE AGES. 
 
 205 
 
 an old man philosophically contemplates two sknlls 
 on the ground . The qualities of this picture are : 
 breadth of tint, spareness of pigment, and little or 
 no touch, much transparence and a balanced dis- 
 tribution of warm shadow and modelled light exclud- 
 ing sharp contrasts of all kinds. There are vibrations 
 in it of a very tender harmony, much akin to that 
 of a touching melody in music. In the eyes of most 
 critics of a past age this was Giorgionesque art, and 
 in so far as we acknowledge Giorgione to be the 
 master who first perfected the portrait idyll, this 
 cannot be denied ; bat the Giorgionesque feeling is 
 still more conspicuous when we consider that the 
 youth's head, with its rich accompaniment of locks, 
 is cast in a mould of which Giorgione was fond, 
 though we may doubt whether Giorgione would 
 have been so polished and yet so bright or so fully 
 imbued with the rules of high art as Titian here 
 shows himself to be. A close observation of Nature 
 may be detected which suggests a study as deep and 
 profound as that attributed to Donatello. To the 
 children as to the lovers the forms appropriate to 
 their age are given ; and the whole subject is treated 
 with such harmony of means as to create in its way 
 the impression of absolute perfection.* With this, as 
 
 * In the distance behind the 
 old man a shepherd tends his 
 flock in a plain bounded by water 
 and hills, whilst to the right, on 
 a rising ground, a house stands 
 near some trees. The picture, 
 half as long as it is broad, i.e. as 
 
 3^ to 6, and somewhat blanched 
 by time, but otherwise in good 
 preservation, is painted on canvas 
 with figures under life size. Va- 
 sari (xiii. 25), who saw it at 
 Faenza, in the house of Giovanni 
 di Castel Bolognese, says it was 
 
206 
 
 TITIAN : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 with the " Bacchanals," a subsequent age of painters 
 displayed a rare and unflagging sympathy ; and we 
 possess in Eome alone two copies of it, whilst 
 England and Germany boast one apiece.* 
 
 There is nothing more alluring to the student who 
 laboriously tracks the works of Titian than the 
 opportunity which his study affords of coming 
 suddenly upon one of those contrasts that so strik- 
 ingly illustrate the master's versatility. After 
 wandering amidst orchards, and admiring the sunny 
 island in which Eros disports himself ; after lingering 
 in the calm noon of the paradise, in which the "Three 
 Ages" are set, he turns to admire the charms of his 
 "Virgin's Eest, near Bethlehem," which adorns our 
 National Gallery. Here he beholds a delightful 
 group of Scripture figures reposing in the corner of 
 
 painted for that person's brother- 
 in-law. It subsequently came 
 into the hands of the Cardinal of 
 Augsburg (Sandrart, Acad. Nob. 
 Artespict. fol. Nur. 1 683, p. 165), and 
 subsequently into those of Queen 
 Christine (Campori, Eaccolta de' 
 Cataloghi, p. 344), thence into the 
 Orleans collection, from which it 
 was purchased for the Bridge- 
 water, now Ellesmere, collection 
 in London. Giovanni di Castel 
 Bolognese, we learn from Are- 
 tino's Cortigiana, p. 90 (Quattro 
 comedie del divino P. Aretino, 
 8vo, Yen. 1588), lived for a time 
 at Venice, and was a patron of 
 Luigi Anichini. 
 
 * The copy in the Doria Palace 
 is much injured, but clearly by an 
 imitator or a copyist. Another 
 
 in the Borghese Palace is ascribed 
 by some to Giorgione, by others 
 to Sassoferrato. Yet another, 
 once in the Manfrini collection 
 at Venice, and subsequently in 
 the gallery of Mr. Barker, passed 
 into the hands of the Earl of 
 Dudley, and bears the name of 
 Giorgione. But the sharp tones 
 and hasty execution might sug- 
 gest the hand of P. Lanzani, or a 
 follower of the Dossi. Whether 
 any one of the above is the pic- 
 ture described by Martinioni (see 
 his ed. of Sansovino's Yen. Descr., 
 p. 377) and Campori (Eacc. de' 
 Catal. , p. 443), in the Eenier col- 
 lection at Yenice in the seven- 
 teenth century, it is impossible to 
 say. 
 
Chap. VI.] 
 
 THE EIPOSO. 
 
 207 
 
 a broad sweep of country, where cloud nature seems 
 to have been caught and fixed in a moment of grand 
 display. The view stretches over a wide expanse of 
 plain, rolling back to a chain of hills, upon which 
 light and shade are magically playing. "The billowy 
 ranges " are thrown into prominence, " now smiling 
 in sunshine, now frowning in shadow,"* a gleam 
 here and there " touching into brightness a cottage or 
 a castle." f The hour is late, the sun low, as it 
 pierces the grey strips of mist, and sheds its slanting 
 rays on a far-off peak. Near the margin of a lake 
 cattle are lowing ; sheep are nibbling the stubble ; 
 and a startled shepherd looks up to see the angel on 
 the red edge of a cloud, announcing the coming of 
 the Saviour. A knoll to the left is partly covered 
 with tufts of trees, and here, in a quiet nook, the 
 Virgin sits and takes a bunch of flowers from the 
 little Baptist, whilst St. Catherine, radiant with joy, 
 looks at the infant Christ on its mother's lap. It has 
 been said that Titian was not a religious painter, and 
 he certainly sometimes deserves the charge ; yet here 
 we are transported into a scene almost heavenly in 
 the fullness of its pathos and loveliness, and there is 
 true solemnity and religious grandeur in the tender 
 feeling which enlivens a group in keeping, yet in 
 contrast, with a landscape of delicious lines, whose 
 enamelled greys so delicately harmonize with the 
 rich blues, yellows, and crimsons of the dresses in 
 the figures. We can fancy such a scene touching the 
 heart of Alfonso of Este, nor should we be surprised 
 
 * Gilbert's Cadore, p. 36. 
 
 t Ibid. 
 
208 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 to learn that this masterpiece was one of those which 
 tempted Charles the Fifth and ronsed the cupidity of 
 his secretary, Covos. Like the portrait of Alfonso it 
 was, perhaps, matter of negotiation in the later years 
 of Alfonso's reign, and certainly — though an early 
 work and full of the polish which Titian's early work 
 displayed — it came no doubt sooner into the Escurial 
 than the " Bacchanals " of the ducal studio.* 
 
 Equally significant as a revelation of the poetry 
 which lay hid in the breast of the master, the " Noli 
 Me Tangere " of the National Gallery, also leads us 
 back to the days of Titian's youthful striving. If in 
 the "Three Ages" we conceive the landscape attuned 
 to the figures, here we see the figures thrown with 
 sparkling lightness upon a beautiful vista of undulat- 
 ing country. The scene is laid in a dip of hills near 
 the shore of a bay, the distant unrippled surface of 
 which is tinged with the deep pure blue of an 
 evening sky, scantily flaked with cloud. On a hill 
 to the right is a clump of farm buildings, from which 
 a road descends. Here a dog follows his master, 
 whilst a shepherd to the left — 
 
 " ranges the valley free." 
 
 * This picture on canvas, 3 ft. 
 3^ in. high, by 4 ft. 7^ in. wide, is 
 numbered 635, and signed Tician, 
 and bears the Escurial mark, No. 
 78, Di Titi°. It came into the 
 Coesvelt collection, belonged in 
 1720 to the Duke of Noailies in 
 Paris, and passed into the Bau- 
 cousin collections before it was 
 purchased for the National Gal- 
 lery in 1860. We may note some 
 
 coarse drawing in the foot of the 
 Baptist, some abrasion in the 
 yellow dress of St. Catherine, and 
 in the Virgin's head. A copy by 
 Pietro da Cortona is No. 57 in the 
 Gallery of the Capitol at Eome. 
 The original was engraved by 
 Audran. (Compare Mariette's 
 Annotations to the Abecedario of 
 Orlandi.) 
 
Chap. VI.] 
 
 NOLI ME TANGEEE. 
 
 209 
 
 In the bends of the ground the bushes are toned to 
 the dnsk of the gloaming. In strong relief npon the 
 sky an oak sapling throws ont its boughs and jagged 
 leafage, the trunk rising from a brown tinged knoll, 
 clothed with verdant grasses, in the foreground of 
 which Christ appears to the Magdalen. There may 
 be some affectedness in the form of the Saviour, who 
 stands slightly covered with a hip -cloth and gathering 
 with his left the folds of his blue mantle, whilst 
 he grasps the hoe with his right. But his shape 
 is fair, and the flesh is surprisingly modelled 
 in silver tones broken with tender greys. We 
 may feel disappointed by sketchy extremities and 
 neglected drawing; but there is rare beauty in the 
 mild and regular features, which are lighted with 
 compassion as Christ looks down and utters the 
 words. The Magdalen seems to have trailed up 
 to Christ on her knees, and raises her hand to 
 touch him as she rests her left with the ointment- 
 pot on the ground, her attitude full of longing 
 as she stretches forwards and gazes with half-open 
 lips. One cannot look without transport on the 
 mysterious calm of this beautiful scene, which 
 Titian has painted with such loving care yet with 
 such clever freedom. The picture is like a leaf out 
 of Titian's journal, which tells us how he left his 
 house on the canals and wandered into the country 
 beyond the lagoons, and lingered in the fresh sweet 
 landscape at eventide and took nature captive on a 
 calm day at summer's end. It is the perfection of 
 that poetic scenery which, in early years, attracted 
 
 VOL. I. P 
 
210 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 him and grew into a background to " Artless and 
 Sated Love." * 
 
 Yet neither the " Noli me Tangere," nor the " Three 
 Ages," nor any of the minor works of this time, were 
 those upon which Titian was expending the full flow 
 of energy of which he was possessed. The truly 
 noble creation which absorbed his thoughts and taxed 
 his powers, was the "Assumption of the Virgin" at 
 the Frari, the great and splendid altar-piece which 
 laid the foundation of his fame at Venice, and gave 
 him the first rank amongst the artists of his country. 
 There is nothing more striking, if we look back at the 
 masterpieces of Titian's pencil, than the perfect accord 
 which exists between the subject and his treatment 
 of it. The "Worship of Venus," in the bright and 
 varied scale of its tones, and the brilliant play of its 
 lights, is a conception of a gleeful and mirthsome 
 stamp. The "Three Ages," in the depth and calm 
 of its allegorical meaning, appears beautifully sus- 
 tained by a melodious unity of colour and a tempered 
 atmosphere. We shall now observe a supernatural 
 subject treated in a preternatural way; with effects 
 of colour and of shadow suited in an eminent degree 
 to the incident set forth for delineation, and with a 
 
 * The " Noli me Tangere," on 
 canvas, 3 ft. 6^ in. high, by 2 ft. 
 11£ in. wide, No. 270 in the Na- 
 tional Gallery, was in the Muselli 
 collection at Verona before 1646. 
 (Eidolfi, Marav. i. 258.) " It was 
 afterwards in the Orleans col- 
 lection, whence it passed into the 
 possession of Mr. Champernowne : 
 
 at his sale in 1820 it was pur- 
 chased by Mr. Rogers, who be- 
 queathed it in 1855 to the National 
 Gallery." (Nat. Gal. Catalogue, 
 by R. N. Wornum, Esq.) En- 
 gravings of this picture exist, one 
 by N. Tardieu, another by W. 
 Ensom. 
 
THE ASSUMFTION OF THE VIRGIN. 
 Fhaki, Venice. 
 
 To face p. 211, Vol. 1. 
 
Chap. VI.] 
 
 THE ASSUNTA. 
 
 211 
 
 form of arrangement calculated exclusively for the 
 place of the picture's exhibition. When Donatello 
 was required to compose a statue of the Evangelist 
 John for a niche in the tower of Orsanmichele, he was 
 constrained to execute the work on the level floor of 
 his workshop ; but being a man of too much experience 
 to neglect the subtler rules of his profession, he allowed 
 for the height of the pedestal on which the statue was 
 to stand. On showing the figure, he was taunted with 
 its disproportions, and threatened with a refusal of it 
 unless it should be amended. This he promised to do, 
 but merely raised his statue to its level, and secured a 
 most nattering approval. The " Ascent of the Virgin," 
 now in the Academy of Arts at "Venice, is unfortu- 
 nately seen under the same disadvantages as Donatello's 
 " St. J ohn," before it was elevated to its proper position. 
 Neither the place nor the light is that for which 
 Titian intended it ; and the contrast between the radi- 
 ance of the sky and the darkness round the tomb is 
 lost on the one hand, whilst coarseness of outline and 
 foreshortening — unseen in the gloom of a church — are 
 forced unfairly into view. Yet few pictures impress 
 us more even now with the master's power. "When 
 Sir Joshua Eeynolds visited the Frari at Venice, in 
 1752, the " Assunta " was above the high altar, 
 where Salviati's composition of the same subject is 
 now displayed. He says "he saw it near, it was 
 most terribly dark but nobly painted."* As early as 
 
 * C. E. Leslie, and Tom Tay- I Eeynolds, 8vo, London, 1865, i. 
 lor's Life and Times of Sir Joshua | p. 75. 
 
 p 2 
 
212 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 1516, Titian had been charged with the composition 
 of this colossal picture, for which Father Germano the 
 guardian of the Franciscan convent of Santa Maria de' 
 Frari, had ordered a magnificent marble frame. But he 
 was long in finishing it, and the public was only ad- 
 mitted to see it for the first time on the 20th of March, 
 1518. It was on a day of high festival that this event 
 occurred; St. Bernardino's Day, on which peculiar 
 honour was done to the great preaching saint of the 
 Franciscans, and all public offices were by order of the 
 Senate closed.* There was a rumour abroad, that the 
 Friars did not approve of the piece ; that Titian had 
 threatened to keep it for himself, and had only been 
 pacified by an apology from Father Germano himself .f 
 The crowd which thronged the church was probably for 
 this reason greater than usual. With the crowd there 
 went Marino Sanuto, the annalist of Venice, and the 
 Imperial envoy Adorno, the first of whom recorded the 
 event in his diary, whilst the second offered to take 
 the panel off the Friar's hands.J We may believe it 
 stood the test of exhibition better than the fathers 
 expected. They kept their prize, and Titian's fame 
 was greatly increased. An obvious peculiarity of the 
 
 * " Anno 1518 adi 20 Marzo fo 
 S. Bernardin . . . et jeri fu messa 
 la palla grande de 1' altar de S. 
 Maria dei Frati minori suso di- 
 pinta per Tuciano, et prima li fu 
 facto atorno una opera grande di 
 marmo a spese di Marco Zerman, 
 che e guardian adesso. Marino 
 Sanuto, vol. xxv., Diarij, MS., 
 p. 333. This passage was com- 
 
 municated to us by the kindness 
 of Mr. Eawdon Brown. It is 
 printed in Ciani's Lettera inedita 
 di Tiziano Vecellio al pittore Ti- 
 ziano, u. s., p. 14. 
 
 t Eidolfi, Marav. i. 212; and 
 Soravia, Chiese di Venezia, ii. 
 p. 28. 
 
 t Ibid. 
 
Chap. VI.] 
 
 THE ASSUNTA. 
 
 213 
 
 " Assunta," is the prominence given to the figures of 
 the apostles in the foreground, in spite of which the 
 focal centre of the composition is successfully thrown 
 back to a more distant point within the picture. It is 
 common to observe in photographs, that near objects, 
 and particularly objects in close proximity to the 
 camera, acquire a certain indistinctness which leads the 
 spectator's eye into the space beyond, where it rests on 
 objects more minutely defined. The pictorial eye of 
 Titian taught him to treat his subject as photographs 
 treat nature. He made his foreground broad and unde- 
 fined ; the figures on it supernaturally large ; the sward 
 a blur of colour, with a few forms of weeds to indicate 
 its character, the details lost in wide sweeps of shade and 
 a cunning generalization of masses. The choirs of 
 angels supporting the clouds on which the Virgin 
 rests — the Virgin herself — are thrown back, yet the 
 parts are visible in more detail. "Whilst further still, 
 but with a proportional faintness, the Eternal hovers 
 amongst seraphs above the scene. During the 
 frequent visits which Father Germano paid to Titian 
 when engaged on this picture at the Frari, it always 
 occurred to him to remark that the apostles were too 
 large ; Titian invariably replied, that the large size of 
 these figures was a necessary feature in a picture 
 intended for the decoration of a vast and imposing 
 church.* But Titian in giving this answer was 
 conscious of its insufficiency, for he took care to 
 neutralize the guardian's objections by suitable 
 
 * Eidolfi, Maraviglie, i. 212. 
 
214 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 artifices of treatment. There is nothing, in fact, 
 so remarkable in this enchanting picture as the con- 
 trast between the apparent simplicity of the results, 
 and the science with which these results are brought 
 about. 
 
 Focal concentration is attained by perspective 
 science, applied alike to lines and to atmosphere, at 
 the same time that a deep and studied intention is 
 discoverable in the subtle distribution of radiance and 
 gloom. What a superficial observer might note at 
 once would be the true semblance of nature. A more 
 minute inquirer would admire the clever art with 
 which cohesion is given to a multiplicity of objects, 
 moving in a marvellous intertress of light and shade 
 and tinting, fitfully illumined or darkened by the 
 flitting clouds that float in a bright but changing 
 sky. In the same gleeful way as we saw the cupids 
 playing in an orchard sacred to Yenus we now glance 
 at angels in a higher and more spiritual region. The 
 talent of the master seems to rise with the elevation 
 of his subject; a more serene and purer joy animates 
 the forms of his cherubs and seraphs, and something 
 indescribable strikes us in the joyful innocence of the 
 heavenly company whose winged units crowd toge- 
 ther singing, playing, wondering and praying, some 
 in light, some in half light, others in gloom, with a 
 spirit of life moving them that is quite delightful to 
 the mind and to the eye. Like the bees about their 
 queen this swarm of angels rises with the beauteous 
 apparition of the Yirgin, whose noble face is trans- 
 figured with gladness, whose step is momentarily 
 
Chap. VI.] 
 
 THE ASSUNTA. 
 
 215 
 
 arrested as slie ascends on the clouds, and with, 
 upturned face and outstretched arms longs for the 
 heaven out of which the Eternal looks down. To 
 this central point in the picture Titian invites us by- 
 all the arts of which he is a master. The gorgeous 
 blue and red of Mary's tunic and mantle stand out 
 brilliant on the silvery aether vaulted into a dome 
 supported by countless cherubs. The ministry of the 
 angels about her is varied and eager. One raises the 
 corner of the mantle, some play the tabor, others hold 
 the pipes, or sing in choir, whilst others again are 
 sunk in wonderment, or point at the Yirgin's majesty; 
 and the rest fade into the sky behind as the sound of 
 bells fades sweetly upon the ear of the passing 
 traveller. The very semblance of a living arch is 
 suggested by the horizontal lie of the angels hovering 
 over the Eternal's form, and the head of a cherub 
 between these forming the key-stone as it were of the 
 pictorial edifice. All but the head and arms of the 
 Eternal is lost in the halo of brightness towards 
 which the Yirgin is ascending. He looks down with 
 serene welcome in his face, an angel on one side 
 ready with a crown of leaves ; an archangel, swathed 
 in drapery, on the other, eagerly asking leave to 
 deposit on the Yirgin's brow the golden cincture in 
 his hands. The apostles we observed are in shade. 
 An awfully inspired unanimity directs their thoughts 
 and eyes from the tomb round which they linger to 
 the circle of clouds beautifully supported in its 
 upward passage by the floating shapes of the angels # 
 St. Peter, seated and fronting the spectator, looks up 
 
216 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 with his hands joined in prayer. To the right St. 
 Andrew stands with his back towards ns and his 
 arms outstretched. To the left St. John steps forward 
 with one hand on his breast. At the corner St. Panl 
 and St. James are prominent, whilst the rest of the 
 apostles are thrown into varied attitudes about the 
 tomb. The forms of all are darkly relieved upon a 
 sky as pure and as blue as if it were aloft above us 
 instead of near the horizon. And how is this gloom 
 attained ? By means suggesting themselves to Titian 
 as he worked on the very altar of the Frari. There, 
 in the darkness of the church he toned and tempered 
 the picture down to its station with colours which 
 appear of a dull or neutral shade, or such as might be 
 used by a painter at work with lamps, yet when seen 
 in their place no doubt producing effects as true and 
 transparent as we could wish. We stand in wonder 
 before these proofs of Titian's technical skill. "We 
 contemplate with surprise the power which enabled 
 him to concentrate on one canvas the experience of 
 half a century of oil-painting, and produce something 
 so thoroughly natural as to seem nature itself; a 
 nature, too, not in its every-day dress, but in the 
 festive garb which it dons when the sun is shining 
 and light clouds are breaking the sheen with mellow 
 passing shadows. We ask ourselves, is it chance or 
 calculation that produces the result ? and we answer, it 
 can only be thought and subtle analysis ; for how else 
 could that sublimated art be attained which vies in 
 its peculiar fashion with the ideal of plastic form 
 acquired by the Greeks and Michaelangelo — that 
 
Chap. VI.] 
 
 THE ASSUNTA. 
 
 217 
 
 something which in the person of Titian makes 
 Venice unique amongst Italian cities, and raises him 
 to a rank as high as that held by Eaphael and Buona- 
 rotti. But it is not the tone or the natural reality of 
 the groups of apostles in the "Assunta" which make 
 up their charm exclusively. There is nothing in the 
 works of the greatest contemporaries of Titian that 
 gives more clear testimony of a superior power in 
 imparting force and impulse to human beings than 
 these groups. We look in vain for a word to express 
 all those sensations of fear, devotion, and reverent 
 wonder which we read in the attitude, the motion, and 
 gesture of these apostles, and yet, judged by the 
 antique standard, there is hardly one of the figures 
 that would stand the test of minute examination. St. 
 Andrew, whose colossal form occupies the centre of 
 the foreground, would, if stripped of his naming red 
 robe, be a monster whose legs are attached, one knows 
 not how or where, to the torso. St. Peter, of whom 
 we cannot tell how or upon what he is sitting, might 
 be very severely criticized as to the drawing and 
 foreshortening of the legs, and especially of the right 
 knee and foot. The same remarks might apply even 
 to the Virgin, whose movement might be pronounced 
 unnatural and theatrical. But all these imperfections 
 are concealed beneath the fascinating prominence of 
 colour and balanced light and shade, and it may well 
 be repeated that on the altar of the Frari the whole 
 of them would necessarily be unseen. That this is so 
 we have abundant proof in the fact, that where an 
 easel canvas was to be produced such as the Ariadne 
 
218 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 of the National Gallery, no such blemishes as we 
 note on a close inspection of the " Assunta" are visible, 
 and the comparative freedom of the altar-piece is to be 
 explained, not by assuming a bolder and more neglect- 
 ful practice in the master, but by bearing in mind 
 the place and destination of the picture. Sir Joshua 
 Eeynolds very justly observes: " Titian by a few 
 strokes knew how to mark the general image and 
 character of whatever objects he attempted. His 
 great care was to preserve the masses of light and 
 shade, and to give by opposition the idea of 
 that solidity which is inseparable from natural 
 objects."" We should add that Titian's strokes 
 were freer and bolder or more laboured and care- 
 ful according as the subject was to be seen in the 
 twilight of a church or the clear atmosphere of a 
 drawing room. 
 
 As to Titian's methods in painting, theories have 
 been started in our day as numerous as the painters 
 who copy Titian's works ; and it might appear pre- 
 suming at first sight to attempt to elucidate a point 
 upon which all artists disagree. Yet, in the face of a 
 masterpiece of such importance as the " Assunta," it 
 is hardly possible to pass the question by without 
 an effort to solve it. 
 
 Palma Giovine has left us the following sketch, 
 which, though it refers to a late period of Titian's 
 career, is still interesting and instructive : " Titian," 
 he says, u prepared his pictures with a solid stratum 
 
 * Sir Joshua Eeynolds' 11th Discourse. 
 
Chap. VI.] TITIAN'S TECHNICAL METHODS. 
 
 219 
 
 of pigment, which served as a bed or fundament upon 
 which to return frequently. Some of these prepara- 
 tions were made with resolute strokes of a brush 
 heavily laden with colour, the half tints struck in 
 with pure red earth, the lights with white, modelled 
 into relief by touches of the same brush dipped into 
 red, black, and yellow. In this way he would give 
 the promise of a figure in four strokes. After laying 
 this foundation he would turn the picture to the wall, 
 and leave it there perhaps for months, turning it 
 round again after a time to look at it carefully, and scan 
 the parts as he would the face of his greatest enemy. 
 If at this time any portion of it should appear to him 
 to have been defective, he would set to work to 
 correct it, applying remedies as a surgeon might 
 apply them, cutting off excrescences here, superabun- 
 dant flesh there, redressing an arm, adjusting or 
 setting a limb, regardless of the pain which it might 
 cause. In this way he would reduce the whole to a 
 certain symmetry, put it aside, and return again a 
 third or more times, till the first quintessence had 
 been covered over with its padding of flesh. It was 
 contrary to his habit to finish at one painting, and he 
 used to say that a poet who imjxrovises cannot hope 
 to form pure verses. But of i condiments ' in the 
 shape of last retouches he was particularly fond. 
 Now and then he would model the light into half tint 
 with a rub of his finger; or with a touch of his thumb 
 he would dab a spot of dark pigment into some corner to 
 strengthen it ; or throw in a reddish stroke — a tear of 
 blood, so to speak — to break the parts superficially. 
 
220 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 In fact, when finishing, he painted much more with 
 his fingers than with his brush." * 
 
 The sleight-of-hand thus attributed to Titian, by 
 one who is known to have been his pupil, was not so 
 completely developed in 1518 as it was thirty years 
 later. Yet the origin of it may be traced in the 
 " Assunta." At this period it sometimes happened that 
 in attempting to set a limb, Titian performed but a 
 clumsy operation. Still it is clear that when he pro- 
 duced his great masterpiece, he was in the enjoyment 
 of vast technical power, and had effectually spoiled 
 nature of some of her magic of effects. Leonardo's 
 rule that true painting ought always to yield more 
 pleasure the longer we look at it, was one which 
 Titian followed. "We may observe that the first 
 process is that which Palma describes. Sweeping 
 brush strokes in a clear scale of tone, and judicious 
 blending of these into each other, are the foundation 
 of the system. Each time the work was resumed the 
 surface became more coloured ; but the highest lights 
 were not put in till very late, and when this was 
 done the pigments were laid on very broadly, and 
 only broken in lights by solid contrasting reds or 
 greys, or in darks by livids and browns. The whole 
 was then worked into fusion — attuned one might 
 say — by thin transparent glazes on the one hand, or 
 clouded scumbles on the other. If necessary the con- 
 tours were then strengthened and the picture finished. 
 Close inspection will reveal surprising abruptnesses 
 
 * Palma Giovine, in Boschini's Preface to the Ricche Miniere. 
 
Chap. VI.] 
 
 WOEKS AT TKEVTSO. 
 
 221 
 
 of contrast between broad and tint-like surface 
 and solid touches. The smirched scumble is often 
 visible, and when seen too near offends the eye. But 
 the result, as a whole, is a rich sonorous harmony.* 
 
 Amongst the pictures which Titian may have begun 
 and turned to the wall in the manner described by 
 Palma Giovine, one deserves to be remembered. 
 During the wars of the league of Cambrai, Treviso 
 suffered great distress and misery from siege and 
 blockade ; but previous to the peace of 1517 its 
 prosperity began to revive, and with its prosperity 
 the old fondness for monumental decoration. Two 
 of her ecclesiastical magnates, the Bishop Rossi and 
 his vicar, the Canon Malchiostro, distinguished them- 
 selves as the leaders of this revival, and the latter 
 especially became widely known for his bold and 
 simultaneous patronage of two great artists. Porde- 
 none, the best fresco painter of the Venetian pro- 
 
 * The " Assunta," No. 24, in 
 the Venice Academy, is on panel, 
 M. 6.90 high, by 3.60 wide, and 
 is signed on the side of the 
 Virgin's tomb, Ticianv F. It is 
 said to have become very dark 
 from the effects of time and the 
 smoke of candles before it was 
 removed, on Cicognara's requi- 
 sition, to the Academy (Zanotto, 
 Pinacoteca dell' Acc. Ven. fol., 
 Ven. 1834). In the sixteenth cen- 
 tury it was already so dimmed 
 b3 r various causes that Vasari 
 said of it: "Being painted on 
 canvas (!) and ill-kept, it can 
 scarcely be seen " (xiii. 25). In 
 the process of cleaning, which 
 
 was applied at different times by 
 the painters Baldassini (1817), 
 Florian, and Querena, some of 
 the final glazes and touches were 
 removed. With the exception of 
 a few re-touches, the upper part is 
 fairly preserved. The lower is dis- 
 figured by extensive re-paintings, 
 and amongst others the dress of St. 
 Peter (orange) is altogether new. 
 Dolce's statement (Dialogo, p. 64) 
 that the picture was executed 
 when the master was " gio- 
 vanetto," is disproved by Sanuto, 
 whose diary helps us to show that 
 Titian at the time was forty years 
 of age. There is a fine photo- 
 graph of this piece by Naya. 
 
222 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 vinces, and Titian, the finest colourist of Northern 
 Italy, were both in his employ ; and the picture to 
 which our attention is now directed was ordered for 
 the altar of a chapel in San ISFiccolo of Treviso, which 
 Porclenone adorned in part with frescoes in 1519 ; 
 but the commission for the piece was probably given 
 earlier, because, if judged by the test of treatment, it 
 belongs more nearly to the period of smooth and 
 careful workmanship, illustrated by the "St. Mark" 
 of the Salute than to the period of more picturesque 
 boldness marked by the "Assunta." We may there- 
 fore suppose that the altar-piece was exhibited in 
 1519, it was designed before that date, laid by, 
 resumed, and at last completed with a portrait of 
 Malchiostro in the background, which seems to be the 
 most modern portion of the work. An anecdote is 
 told of Titian's fondness for a picture by Previtali, in 
 Santa Maria del Mesco at Ceneda, which represents 
 the Annunciation, and it was his habit to wander 
 into the church to see it as he passed through Ceneda 
 to Cadore.* The subject may have pleased him 
 when composed by others ; he was nearly forty when 
 it fell to his task to compose it himself, and it must 
 be owned his conception of the theme differed widely 
 from that of Previtali. He lays the scene of Gabriel's 
 appearance in the portico of a palace, the archings of 
 which are open to a landscape of mountain and sky 
 quite oriental in its splendour. Out of the blue 
 heaven a dazzling sheet of rays darts down between 
 
 * Ridolfi, Maraviglie, i. 184. 
 
Chap. VI.] THE ANNUNCIATION. 
 
 223 
 
 the clouds to alight in the foreground of the picture 
 on the tremulous form of the Yirgin, whose left hand 
 has dropped a book before being pressed to the 
 bosom; but whose right instinctively clutches the 
 mantle that would otherwise fall to the ground. Half 
 stooping, half kneeling is the attitude of Mary, who 
 looks " troubled" indeed, but not unaffected as she 
 hears the angel's words. Gabriel, to the right, runs 
 in with out-stretched wings, pointing upwards with 
 his forefinger, and carrying the lily of purity. In the 
 distance, between the two figures, Malchiostro kneels 
 by the plinth of a pillar in the shadow of the colon- 
 nade, the floor of which is broken into white and red 
 squares. The feeling that Titian's heart and soul 
 were not in this form of subject is almost irresistible, 
 yet we admire the skill with which he gives promi- 
 nence to the contrast between the eager speed of the 
 angel and the motionless surprise of the Virgin ; nor 
 is it possible not to feel the enchantment which he 
 creates by a landscape of exuberant vegetation and 
 colour, by light of magnetic brightness in the sky, and 
 dress tints raised in tone against the clouds and 
 ground in an artful and perfectly harmonious manner. 
 If to this we add the charm of youth and beauty in 
 the figures, the adventitious splendour of palatial 
 architecture in marble walls skirted with bas-reliefs, we 
 see that there was enough to satisfy the taste of the 
 prelate for whom the panel was painted.* It was 
 
 * This picture is on panel, with 
 figures of life size. It has been 
 injured by the warping of the 
 
 wood, which shows several lon- 
 gitudinal splits, happily above 
 the heads of the figures, by 
 
224 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 no serious undertaking, even in those days, for a 
 painter to travel from "Venice to Treviso. A gondola 
 to Mestre, a few hours' ride further west, and the 
 journey was at an end. We cannot wonder that no 
 record of such a trip was kept. It may be that the 
 altar-piece was delivered when Titian was selected to 
 value the frescoes of Pordenone on the front of a palace 
 built at Treviso by a gentleman of the name of 
 Eavagnino. That gentleman had been asked to pay 
 fifty ducats for Pordenone' s labour, and protested that 
 the work was not worth the money. Titian, who 
 went ex o fficio to tax it, convinced Eavagnino that he 
 had been well served for a small charge, and this 
 alone would prove that the relations of two artists, 
 who were at a future date to live in enmity, were 
 not at this time of a hostile character.* 
 
 Titian in the meanwhile was becoming a public 
 man at Venice in every sense of the word. The 
 
 cleaning and re-painting. The 
 Virgin, in white veil, red tunic, 
 and blue mantle, is disfigured to 
 some extent by retouches on the 
 right hand, right eye and cheek. 
 The figure of Malchiostro, besides 
 being stippled up in several 
 places, is re-painted in the fore- 
 head; and the feet of the angel 
 are much damaged by new colour. 
 On the skirting behind, and to 
 the left of the Virgin, the arms of 
 Malchiostro are affixed, with the 
 letters B. M. beneath them. 
 
 * Bidolfi, Marav. i. 147 & 229, 
 notes these facts. He also states 
 that Titian painted a resurrection 
 
 on the wall of the Duomo, above 
 the school of the Sacramento; 
 and there are traces now of a 
 Christ rising from the tomb with 
 a banner in his hand, between 
 two windows of a house facing 
 the cathedral. Beneath this figure 
 there are remains of two of the 
 guards, and at the sides corroded 
 outlines of two figures of saints. 
 The state of this fragment is such 
 as to make any opinion as to the 
 authorship venturesome ; yet the 
 fresco might, as far as one can 
 see, be assigned to Pennacchi, or 
 other moderns, with as much 
 reason as to Titian. 
 
Chap. VI.] TITIAN AND THE SALT OFFICE. 
 
 225 
 
 praises of the crowds which visited the Frari, the 
 frequent visits of Tebaldi, the coming of the Duke 
 of Ferrara to Venice and his conferences with the 
 painter, were all calculated to remind the Signoria 
 that Titian had long been painter laureate of the 
 State, without yielding any service in return. At 
 the Hall of Great Council it appeared that nothing 
 had been done for years; and there was no symp- 
 tom of any intention on the master's part to prose- 
 cute his labours. Out of a period of protracted 
 lethargy, the Signoria now rose suddenly into a 
 state of menacing wakefulness. On the 3rd of July 
 1518 Titian was called to the Salt Office, and there 
 curtly informed: — "that unless he began at once 
 or within a week to work at the canvas in the Hall 
 of Great Council which had been neglected for so 
 many years, and unless he should proceed to labour 
 at it continuously till its completion, 'their mag- 
 nificences ' would cause it to be painted and finished 
 at Titian's expense."* Awful as the threat appeared, 
 it failed to move the painter in any way. He had 
 orders for great altar-pieces at Ancona and Brescia, 
 commissions from the Duke of Ferrara, and more to 
 do perhaps of which we have now no cognizance, 
 yet he hurried himself for no one, trudging on 
 leisurely without turning a hair or allowing him- 
 self to be moved by entreaties or threats. We saw 
 how the Duke of Ferrara was lashing himself into 
 fury in September, 1519, expressing his surprise at 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Lorenzi, u. s., p. 171. 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 Titian's neglect, and declaring his intention to resort 
 to compulsory means.* Titian treated this display 
 of anger with great coolness, went off on a trip to 
 Padua, and only returned in October to say that 
 when the Duke's subject was sufficiently advanced, 
 he would take it with him to its destination and 
 finish it there. On the 22nd of October, he shipped 
 on board of a bark which for the moderate sum of 
 four lire took him up the Po to Ferrara.f 
 
 Titian's correspondence in 1518 has shown him 
 accepting a commission for a picture of which Duke 
 Alfonso gave him the incidents. The tenor of this 
 correspondence, as well as Titian's delight at the 
 picturesqueness of the theme suggested to his pencil, 
 and the allusions of Tebaldi to a sketch "for a single 
 figure," leave no doubt on the mind that the canvas 
 about to be finished at Ferrara was the " Bacchanal" 
 of Madrid, in which Bacchantes and their partners cele- 
 brate an orgy. A sleeping female in the foreground 
 and a motto in the French language were probably 
 matter of special instruction from Alfonso. It was 
 not long since the upper classes of Italian society had 
 been made acquainted with the poetry of Ovid and 
 Catullus, but they showed the greatest eagerness to 
 enjoy delineations of its more picturesque scenes. Yet 
 in most instances the painters expanded and enlarged 
 the legends of the poets, and it seems likely that wall- 
 paintings and bas-reliefs of which many still exist 
 in our day were taken as auxiliary aids to qriicken 
 
 * Antea, p. 184. I f Eecords in Campori's Ti- 
 
 j ziano e gli Estensi, pp. 8 & 9. 
 
Chap. VI.] 
 
 AEIADNE IN NAXOS. 
 
 227 
 
 the fancy of artists. In the rnins of Pompeii we 
 observe Ariadne asleep on the shore of a rocky and 
 treeless island, whilst Theseus rows away in his 
 galley. In a bas-relief of the Vatican her recumbent 
 form is admired by Bacchus, whose chariot is drawn 
 by a female Centaur. The figure in the foreground of 
 the " Bacchanal " is not in the spirit of the Pompeian 
 wall paintings, which neither Titian nor his contem- 
 poraries had a chance of seeing, but the attitude and 
 the position of the arms might support the idea that 
 Ariosto or Alfonso had seen a classic " masterpiece," 
 and obtained a sketch of it from Eome. It is curious 
 that the same form, with slight varieties, should recur 
 in the feast of tha gods at Alnwick and in Titian's 
 " Bacchanal but we still enquire whether it was the 
 intention of Alfonso to represent Ariadne subsequent 
 to her first discovery by Bacchus in Naxos, or to 
 depict a Bacchante in the form given by classic art 
 to Ariadne herself. "We may believe it possible that 
 the intention was to represent the daughter of Minos 
 as the partner of the son of Semele and Jupiter. 
 
 Yet we look in vain for Bacchus as an actor in the 
 scene ; and fail even to find him, unless we recognize 
 him in one of two spectators of the orgy who lean 
 against a tree on the left-hand side of the picture. 
 Silenus alone is distinctly traceable as he lies on a 
 distant hill to the right, slumbering heavily, with his 
 hands on a vase. Ariadne reposes on the foreground 
 to the right, insensible from the fumes of wine ; and 
 the company of Menads sport about her as the galley 
 of Theseus sails away in the distance. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 " Chi boit et ne reboit ne cais qua boir soit."* 
 
 This old version of "Fill the bumper fair" is the 
 motto set to music before a couple in the centre of the 
 canvas.")* The Falernian juice runs in streams, fills 
 chargers of crystal and stone, gives lightness to 
 one, prostration to the other ; and the fruits of the 
 vine hang ripening from the trees that overshadow 
 the landscape. It is a gorgeously coloured scene, 
 loaded with a perfumed air intoxicating to the spec- 
 tator. Ariadne's form is but the more conspicuous 
 for the sprig of vine round her hips. She lies uncon- 
 scious on the sward, her bosom exposed, her head 
 thrown back and at rest on one of her arms. The 
 muslin sheet upon which she is lying is half twisted 
 about the left elbow, and the hand still clutches a 
 cup. Drastic as an emblem of drunkenness is the 
 indescribable action of the boy at Ariadne's side, 
 whose head, crowned with leaves, is bent downwards 
 as he holds aloft the fold of his tunic. To the left 
 the votaries of Bacchus linger at a rill, which wells 
 out at the foot of a group of trees. One totters off 
 with a vase on his shoulder" another sits drinking 
 from a jug ; a third stoops to draw the sparkling 
 liquid ; whilst a fourth — leaning forward, and with 
 outstretched body — pours the fluid into a glass held 
 by a recumbent Bacchante. This matchless shape, 
 
 * " Who drinks not over and over again, knows not -what 
 drinking is." 
 t 
 
Chap. VI.] 
 
 THE BACCHANAL. 
 
 229 
 
 with the female at her side and the man at her feet, 
 forms the centre of the principal group in the picture. 
 Whilst her left arm is raised, and her hand is held 
 straight by the drawer behind her, she rests her right 
 elbow on the ground, and with her face towards the 
 girl who embraces her, invites her to drink or to sing ; 
 for in her hand she holds the flute, and before them 
 is the song, and the cups in front are overturned, and 
 the dish contains but the half of a fowl. The white 
 muslin tunic, the ruby-red bodice and skirt set off 
 a bosom and face of great charm, recalling those 
 earlier types of loveliness which gave rise to the 
 legend of Titian's fondness for Violante. And even 
 here we are not free from the echo of this legend. In 
 the fair one's bosom we see the violet or pansy which 
 adorns the throat of Palma's beauty at the Belvedere, 
 and though Titian is now at the age at which 
 Venetian patricians entered the Senate,* Eidolfi 
 discerns the painter's mistress in the semblance of this 
 charming Menad ; and it is not to be denied that the 
 features are those which Titian and Palma both im- 
 mortalized, though we may well believe that for both 
 the type was but an ideal to which they clung as that 
 of eternal youth in its choicest and most attractive 
 shape. But Titian was not more desirous here of 
 enticing the spectator by select form, or engaging 
 features, and harmony of tone, than by compact 
 grouping and a cunning wave of lines ; and his 
 power to realize instant impulse or action in very 
 daring movement, is as consummate in its way as the 
 
 * Namely, forty years old. 
 
230 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 subtlety with which he severs the lines by contrasts of 
 broad shadow and breaks of sparkling light. We 
 may note as evidence of his cleverness in connecting 
 his dramatis persona?, that whilst the figure of the 
 man pouring out the wine unites the drinking female 
 in the foreground to the men behind her, a youth at 
 her feet connects her with another and a still more 
 picturesque group to the right ; his head is turned to 
 the dancers near him, but he grasps the Bacchante's 
 ankles as if to force her to a share in the dance. It is 
 a boisterous band that winds in the middle distance, 
 changing hands in a serpentine meander to the sound 
 of hidden music. The maddest of the party runs 
 past in wild career ; another holds a crystal jug on 
 high, whilst a Bacchante grasps his hand, her white 
 tunic streaming in the air and exposing her limbs. 
 She returns the grasp of a man with a garland of 
 leaves, presenting his back and clad in a red silk 
 shirt. Behind this gliding spiral of dancers a tree of 
 sparse foliage rears its boughs upon the sky, and 
 supports the motionless form of a peahen, throwing 
 into distance on the one hand the hill on which 
 Silenus lies, on the other the distant mountains — 
 Cadorine Dolomites — edging the sea on which the 
 galley is sailing. In the middle of the distance a 
 man reposes in company of his dog, and a broad mass 
 of leafage spreads fan-like over the left side of the 
 picture, leaving glimpses of sky to be seen through 
 the partings of the trunks.* 
 
 * This picture, on canvas, M. 
 1 75 h. by 1.93, is No. 450 in the 
 
 Madrid Museum, and has the 
 same history as the " Worship of 
 
Chap. VI.] TITIAN AND ALFONSO. 
 
 231 
 
 Alfonso d'Este had not been more than four 
 months a widower, when Titian took this gay picture 
 to Ferrara. Lucretia Borgia was no longer there to 
 condemn or approve. But in her stead there reigned 
 a humbler yet perhaps more beautiful woman, who 
 kept her hold of Alfonso's fickle heart from that day 
 till he died. The Duke's behaviour to his dependents 
 became milder and less abrupt; and with Titian 
 especially his relations came to be smoother and plea- 
 santer. He no longer wrote so haughtily of "the 
 painter," nor issued such threats of compulsion as he 
 had used before, but instead of these, kind words, and 
 at the worst " exhortations," issued from his lips and 
 his pen. He seemed to have more leisure too to give 
 to art and matters connected with art, less eagerness 
 for the intricacies of policy. His familiar correspon- 
 dence at this time gives us a good insight into the 
 daily current of Titian's life. Towards the close of 
 
 Venus" and the "Bacchus and 
 Ariadne" of the National Gal- 
 lery, of which a word later. On 
 the edging of the white tunic of 
 " Violante," the Escurial mark, 
 "Ticianvs F. No. 103" (Ma- 
 drazo's Catalogue, 1872, reads 
 101). Several figures are injured 
 to some extent by flaying and 
 retouching. Ex. gr. Ariadne, a 
 long mending of the surface on 
 the breast and parts about the 
 knee and ankle, besides a bit of 
 white drapery; the dancer in a 
 red shirt, head and other parts ; 
 the dancing Bacchante, bits of 
 the face; "Violante," shoulder, 
 arms, and hands ; woman at 
 
 Violante's side, shoulders and 
 arm ; dancer with the crystal jug, 
 the hands ; man stooping to draw 
 wine, and man pouring wine, 
 more or less retouched in every 
 part ; the drinker to the left, face 
 and arm ; the sky is deprived of 
 its patina, and altered by occa- 
 sional stippling. A copy of this 
 bacchanal was made by Varottari, 
 which now hangs in the gallery 
 of Bergamo. We note also a copy 
 of the same picture assigned to 
 Varottari in the Barbarigo col- 
 lection, dispersed in 1850. Photo- 
 graph of the Madrid original by 
 J. Laurent. 
 
232 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 the reign of Ercole the First, an attempt had been made 
 to introduce the manufacture of pottery into Ferrara, 
 under the superintendence of Faventine masters. The 
 wars of the League soon led to the decay of the craft, 
 which remained in abeyance till 1520. In that year 
 Alfonso determined to replenish his store, and deputed 
 Titian to inquire at Venice whether the Muranese 
 furnaces were capable of furnishing Majolica as well 
 as specimens of glass. Titian took the matter up 
 with great energy, and as early as the 28th of 
 January was able to report through Tebaldi that he 
 had prepared the design of a vase which had been 
 successfully burnt ; and further, that on the 5th and 
 11th of February, after a visit to the furnaces made 
 by Tebaldi and himself, contracts had been signed for 
 vases and cups, which in due time would be painted, 
 baked, and despatched to Alfonso's satisfaction. In 
 the meanwhile, it became a part of the Duke's 
 ambition to found a manufacture of Majolica ware in 
 his own capital, and he applied to Titian for assistance 
 in carrying out this scheme. Titian engaged a com- 
 petent man to proceed to Ferrara, likewise an ex- 
 perienced master to gild the frames of his pictures in 
 the palace of the Duke ; and in this way the wishes 
 of the patron were quickly attended to, though con- 
 clusive proof was afforded of the scarcity of skilled 
 workmen in a rich and populous mainland city.* The 
 Duke again had heard that a strange animal called a 
 " gazelle" had been seen in the palace of Giovanni 
 
 * Campori, Notizie dellaMani- I u. s., p. 11, and Campori, Tiziano 
 fattura Estense della Maiolica, | e gli Estensi, u. s., p. 9. 
 
Chap. VI.] TITIAN AT FEKEARA. 
 
 233 
 
 Cornaro, and lie wrote to Tebaldi in May to ask 
 Titian to send him a portrait of it. Tebaldi wrote 
 back almost by return of messenger to say that he had 
 been with Titian to the Cornaro palace, where he was 
 told that the gazelle was dead and its carcase thrown 
 away, but that Giovanni Bellini had once made a 
 sketch of the beast, which Titian was willing to 
 enlarge and to copy.* About this time an incom- 
 petent person employed in the palace of Eerrara had 
 the misfortune to exercise his ingenuity upon one of 
 Titian's compositions. The varnish which he was 
 directed to apply corroded the coloured surfaces so 
 completely, that Tebaldi was requested to inform 
 Titian that his presence at Ferrara would be necessary 
 to repair the damage. Titian accordingly proceeded 
 to the court, where he was again induced to make 
 promise of new pictures, though he was already so 
 completely taken up with older ones as to be unable 
 to attend to any other. | 
 
 The works upon which he was busy — upon which 
 indeed he must have concentrated more than usual 
 attention — were the composite altar-piece executed 
 for the papal legate at Brescia, considered at the 
 time one of the most successful creations of the 
 master's middle period, and an Adoration of the 
 Virgin completed for San Francesco of Ancona at 
 the request of Luigi of Eagusa of the Venetian 
 family of the Gozzi. 
 
 Though less important as a work of art than 
 the Brescian panels, and beneath such masterpieces 
 
 * Tiziano e gli Estensi, p. 10. f Ibid. pp. 9-10. 
 
234 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 as the Madonnas of San Mccolo de' Frari, or Casa 
 Pesaro, the Virgin of Ancona deserves to be studied 
 as embodying some of the charming playfulness 
 which formed the attraction of Correggio's glories 
 and stirred the duller fibre of Moretto. The picture 
 is but half the size of the Assunta; but still over 
 ten feet high, and painted on panel with a judicious 
 contrast of tinting and touch and without any of 
 the accidental variety which Titian produced later 
 by the use of coarse canvases. To the left St. 
 Francis stands erect with the cross in his right, and 
 the left on his breast, his body fronting the spec- 
 tator, his face turned in profile and thrown upwards 
 to gaze at the heavens. To the right St. Blaise in 
 episcopals, pointing heavenwards compels the attention 
 of the patron on whose shoulder he lays his left hand; 
 — in the background between both a view of the 
 lagoon with Venice in the distance. A bank of 
 clouds floating in the sky supports the Virgin and 
 Child ; and as Gabriel in purest white kneels to lift 
 the hem of Mary's mantle, the infant Christ, whose 
 foot is in his hand, scrambles as infants do, whose 
 walk is tottering, to catch the hem of his mother's 
 bodice and turn to give a blessing. Half support- 
 ing him under the arm-pit, the Virgin sits and looks 
 down with kindly beneficence at the kneeling patron, 
 whilst in the folds of the clouds on the right and 
 half in the shadow of its circling vapour, a couple 
 of playful cherubs stand, one of whom glances 
 longingly at the Madonna, whilst the other archly 
 pries into the group below — both holding wreaths 
 
Chap. VI.] ALTAEPIECE OF ANCONA. 
 
 235 
 
 of flowers in their hands. In contrast with the light 
 of this gronp which stands ont against the sky, the 
 figures in the foreground are worked up into relief 
 by deep tones and shadows cutting on the clearer 
 tint of the landscape. There is some splendid model- 
 ling in the head of the kneeling patron, whose 
 features are beginning to age and whose hair is 
 sprinkled with grey. Grand mastery is shown in 
 the breadth of touch which here characterizes Titian's 
 art. Nature itself is conveyed to the sense of the 
 spectator by the prayerful attitude and glance. 
 St. Blaise in an impulsive action suggests a deep 
 and worshipping admiration of the vision to which 
 he points with his right hand. The eye wanders 
 naturally from the foreground, with its bold large 
 vegetation, over alternate bands of light and shadow- — 
 as if the undulating country was striped with gloom 
 by passing clouds when the sun falls low in the 
 heavens, yet still shows its disk above the horizon; 
 — the atmosphere and all that it bathes warm in its 
 glow, yet beginning to darkle as evening sets in.* 
 
 The altar-piece of Brescia, begun at the same time 
 as that of Ancona, but built up of several panels, 
 occupied more of Titian's time, and caused a good 
 deal of heart burning between him and the Duke 
 
 * Since the text was written, 
 this altar-piece has been removed 
 from San Francesco to an altar in 
 San Domenico of Ancona. It is 
 on panel, arched at the top, 10 ft. 
 5i in. high, by 6 ft. 8| in. wide, 
 inscribed on a cartello in the 
 middle of the foreground : 
 
 " Aloyxius Gotius Ragusinus 
 fecit fieri 
 
 M.DXX. 
 
 Titianus Cadorinus pinsit." 
 
 The colours are hardened down 
 and somewhat dulled by age. 
 
236 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 of Ferrara. At the very time when Alfonso was 
 addressing letters of violent remonstrance to the 
 painter for his delays in delivering the " Bacchanal," 
 Tebaldi had discovered that the cause of the delay 
 was a commission from the papal legate Altohello 
 Averoldo, with whom Titian had already had a long 
 and difficult negotiation.* At a subsequent period 
 similar delays were found to have arisen from the 
 very same cause. During his last visit to Ferrara 
 Titian had promised to paint the " Bacchus and 
 Ariadne" for the Duke's studio, yet after his return 
 had omitted to take the canvas in hand. On the 
 17th of November, 1520, Alfonso was induced to 
 write to his agent Tebaldi to remind Titian of his 
 promise, and as this letter very clearly illustrates a 
 change of tone in the Duke's communications to 
 the painter, it deserves to be quoted. 
 
 " Messer Jacomo. Make it your business to speak 
 with Titian and remind him that he made promises 
 when leaving Ferrara which he has not thought fit 
 as yet to keep. Amongst other things he said he 
 would paint a canvas which we expect to receive, 
 and as we do not deserve that he should fail in his 
 duty, exhort him to proceed so that we shall not 
 have cause to be angry with him, and let means be 
 found to obtain our canvas immediately." f 
 
 Titian excused himself on the ground that he had 
 neither canvas nor framework nor measures, protest- 
 ing that he had had the very best intentions, but 
 thought his Excellency no longer cared for the work, 
 
 * Campori, Tiziano e gli Estensi, p. 8. 
 
 t Ibid., p. 10. 
 
Chap. VI.] THE DYING ST. SEBASTIAN. 
 
 237 
 
 adding that if the materials were sent him at once, 
 he would try to deliver the picture on the next 
 Ascension day. But Tebaldi, ill convinced of the 
 truth of these excuses, and knowing that Titian 
 had already finished a figure of St. Sebastian for 
 the papal legate, which had been the talk of Venice 
 for several days, jestingly taunted the painter with 
 the remark that his reasons for idleness were as 
 artful as his pencils, and told him plainly that it 
 was his belief, he -no longer prized the service of 
 Ferrara since he had touched the money of the 
 priests. Titian replied : " To please the Duke he 
 would coin base money, and nothing would induce 
 him to fail in his duty to the prince." Upon this 
 Tebaldi asked him seriously whether it were true 
 that he had painted a St. Sebastian as handsomely 
 as people said, whereupon Titian replied that it was 
 so, that he had done that figure with all the skill 
 of which he was master, and he thought it was about 
 the best thing he had ever laid hand to, and yet, he 
 continued, the whole altar-piece would bring him but 
 200 ducats, whilst the St. Sebastian alone was worth 
 that sum, and nothing in the world that he could do 
 for priests or for friars would induce him to neglect 
 his Excellency, for whom he was willing to work 
 night and day. After taking leave Tebaldi became 
 curious to see the St. Sebastian of which he had 
 heard so much, and having ascertained that a day 
 had been fixed by the artist to exhibit it to his 
 friends, he joined the party and heard Titian declare 
 that he had never done anything better. This in- 
 
238 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 duced Tebaldi to think that he might persuade the 
 master to part with his treasure to the Duke. He 
 therefore waited till the company dispersed, and 
 asked Titian whether it was not labour lost to give 
 such a picture to priests and send it to Brescia — 
 when the Duke of Ferrara was there to take it off 
 his hands. Titian at first was indignant. He did 
 not know how he could be supposed " capable of 
 such a theft. " Tebaldi, unabashed, replied he would 
 show him the way to do it, and suggested that a 
 replica should be painted for the Legate, with some 
 alterations.* Titian, however, refused to listen to 
 the plan, and Tebaldi left the house without ac- 
 complishing his purpose. But the temptations of 
 men high in station and influence are sometimes too 
 much for virtuous resolves. Titian, whose first im- 
 pulse had been honest, was not proof against the 
 renewed importunities of his patron. Tebaldi had 
 written to Alfonso describing the St. Sebastian and 
 suggesting secrecy, lest " the priests " should hear of 
 the matter and carry off the panel from Titian's work- 
 shop. The Duke encouraged his agent to secure the 
 prize within his reach, and Titian succumbed to the 
 vulgar bait of sixty ducats in ready money. Both 
 parties had ample reason to regret their share in 
 this transaction. Alfonso recoiled at the last moment 
 from the risk of making an enemy of the Legate. 
 Titian was mortified to think that he had yielded 
 to temptation without any corresponding profit. 
 
 * Tebaldi to Alfonso, Dec. 1, 1520, in Campori's Tiziano e gli 
 Estensi, p. 11. 
 
Chap. VI.] THE DYING ST. SEBASTIAN. 
 
 239 
 
 Before Christmas, Tebaldi received a letter from 
 the Duke, with orders to communicate the contents 
 to Titian. 
 
 " Let him know," says Alfonso, " that we have 
 thought over the matter of the St. Sebastian, and re- 
 solved that we shall not do this injury to the Eeverend 
 the Legate. Let him think on the other hand of 
 serving us well in the work which he has on hand for 
 us, as we do not mean to burthen him with more for 
 the present, and we have to remind him of the head 
 which he began at our bidding before he left Fer- 
 rara."* A canvas and a present of twenty-five scudi 
 preceded the despatch of this letter, and from a reply 
 subsequently made by Tebaldi, we ascertain that 
 " the head" was a half length on panel which Titian 
 had promised to enlarge so as to include " an elbow 
 and a part of a left hand." j* We thus perceive that 
 Titian was under agreement to finish several pictures 
 for the Duke of Ferrara, whilst preparing an altar- 
 piece for the Legate. But this was not the whole 
 of the weight which rested on his shoulders. The 
 Yenetian government was still in expectation of the 
 canvas of " The Battle ; " and Jacomo da Pesaro, the 
 painter's old friend and patron, was pressing for an 
 altar-piece upon which several advances had been made 
 in 151 9 .J We might expect under these circum- 
 stances to learn that Titian took the earliest oppor- 
 
 * Alfonso to Tebaldi, from 
 Eerrara, Dec. 23, 1520, in Cam- 
 pori, Tiziano e gli Estensi, p. 12. 
 
 f Ibid. 
 
 % See Appendix. Compare also 
 Selvatico, Guida di Yenezia, 8vo, 
 Yen., p. 181. 
 
240 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 tunity at his command to rid himself of his burden, or 
 at least satisfy some of the older demands before he 
 entered upon new engagements. But nothing of 
 the kind occurred. Not the representations of 
 Alfonso, not the claims of the government of 
 " Baffo," or Averoldo, were sufficient to bind him. 
 He longed for the air of the hills, and he went off 
 it would seem in 1521 to Conegliano to paint the 
 front of the Scuola di Santa Maria Nuova, for which 
 he was remunerated with the freehold of a house." 5 " 
 In the midst of these occupations the Doge who had 
 governed Yenice for twenty years died (June 22), 
 and on the 6th of July, 1521, Antonio Grimani was 
 elected successor to Leonardo Loredano. 
 
 * On the back of a drawing in 
 the collection of the Diisseldorf 
 Academy, we find the following 
 lines: "Del 1521 fui chiamato a 
 Conigliano dalla scola de Santa 
 Maria Nova p dipingeli a fresco 
 la facciata di detta scola, et per 
 premio de le mie fattiche mi fu 
 allogatta una casa posta in contra 
 dell Arfosso la qual casa era di 
 razion di ditta scola, qual casa 
 deve esser liberamente di me 
 Titian di Vecelli di Cadore, de 
 miei eredi p sempre et in per- 
 petuo come apar dal istrum. 
 
 " Et detta Cassa l'ho tutta di- 
 pinta dentro e fuori de mia 
 
 The drawing, on dark blue grey- 
 paper, represents a saint with 
 staff and book in the right hand, 
 and the left hand on the breast ; 
 the head, with long hair and 
 beard, in profile to the right. 
 Professor Krahe purchased the 
 drawing at Eome at the close of 
 last century ; it was originally in 
 the collection of Carlo Maratta. 
 It may be said in reference to the 
 genuineness of the writing on the 
 sheet, that the name of the 
 painter is spelled Titianus, which 
 at this period is unusual. Yet if 
 the writing be a forgery, it is a 
 very clever one, for the hand is 
 exactly that of Titian. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Antonio Grimani, his life; he becomes Doge. — Portraits of him by 
 Titian. — The " Eesurrection " at Brescia. — The "St. Sebastian" 
 and Portrait of Bishop Averoldo. — Titian begins the "Bacchus 
 and Ariadne."— Alfonso d' Este asks him to Ferrara and Ptome. — 
 Attempt to purchase the " St. Sebastian." — Remonstrance of the 
 Council of Ten at Titian's neglect. — He loses and recovers the 
 Broker's Patent. — Titian takes the "Bacchus and Ariadne" to 
 Ferrara. — Description of the Picture. — "What became of the "Bac- 
 chanals." — Laura Dianti and Alfonso. — Flora at the Ufhzi. — 
 "Venus" of Darmstadt and Companion Pieces. — "Yenus Ana- 
 dyomene." 
 
 Antonio Grimani, elected Doge at the age of eighty- 
 seven, was the first prince of Yenice whose likeness 
 Titian, in his official capacity, was called upon to 
 paint.* There was never perhaps a sitter whose face 
 bore a more distinct character, or more surely dis- 
 played the marks of a long and cunning fight with 
 fortune. Before the age at which Yenetian patricians 
 claimed a seat in the senate Grimani had visited 
 every market in the Mediterranean and acquired 
 enormous wealth. At Eome in 1493 he gave his son 
 Domenico 25,000 ducats to buy a cardinal's hat. His 
 own claim to office was recognised at Yenice in 1494, 
 whenhe was elected a " procurator," and captain-general 
 
 * Vasari says (xiii. 27) : " Ei- 
 trasse [Titian] di naturale il 
 principe Grimani ed il Loredano." 
 Eidolfi (Marav. i. 213) says the 
 same thing, but if this be true as 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 to Loredano, we find no trace of 
 the fact in the public accounts, 
 and there is no portrait of Lore- 
 dano by Titian in existence. 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 of the fleet. In this capacity he served with distinc- 
 tion against the Turks. Though loath to accept a second 
 command, he was again elected a captain-general in 
 1499, and reluctantly assumed the dangerous honour. 
 In August, the Turkish and Venetian squadrons lay 
 watching each other near the coast of Greece. The 
 Turks, with 260 ships, were covering the Sultan's 
 forces investing Lepanto; the Yenetians, with 200 
 sails, waiting for an opening to attack the Turks. Un- 
 fortunately jealousies divided Grimani from his subor- 
 dinate Andrea Loredano, who had left Corfu without 
 orders ; yet received an ovation on joining the fleet. 
 According to some authorities, the captain-general 
 allowed Andrea to engage, and then withheld his sup- 
 port ; according to others, Grimani was paralyzed by 
 the disobedience of his subordinates. The Yenetians 
 were beaten, Lepanto fell ; and a Turkish squadron 
 sailed victoriously into the Gulf of Patras. When 
 the news of this defeat reached Yenice the people 
 burst into a paroxysm of fury, and mobs paraded the 
 streets cursing Grimani as the "ruin of Christianity." 
 Marchio Trevisani was solemnly appointed to super- 
 sede him ; and orders were despatched to send the 
 luckless admiral in fetters home. In the meanwhile 
 Grimani's command had expired, and word came from 
 Corfu that he was sailing for the Lido in the admiral's 
 ship. At Parenzo he was met by one of his sons, 
 Yincenzo, who informed him that a decree had been 
 issued by the Senate, requiring him to surrender his 
 galley and return home in a transport. Fearing lest 
 neglect of this order — though unintentional — might 
 
Chap. VII.] 
 
 ANTONIO GRIM ANT. 
 
 243 
 
 cost Antonio his life, Vincenzo put his father into 
 irons with his own hands, and took him in a pilot- 
 boat to "Venice, where he arrived at sunset on the 2nd 
 of November, escorted to the Eiva by the captains of 
 the port castles. Domenico, the cardinal, in his rochet 
 came out to meet the prisoner, but the mob which 
 filled the quays threatened to stone the admiral ; and 
 the wretched occupant of the pilot-boat was only 
 saved from death by hiding under the thwarts of its 
 bow. At six o'clock Antonio Grimani, in a jacket 
 and short red hose, bare-legged and fettered, was 
 landed by torchlight in presence of the Avogadori 
 and chiefs of the Ten and taken to gaol, where 
 Vincenzo and Domenico were allowed to watch him as 
 he lay shivering with fever in a cell with a grated 
 window. For months Grimani endured confinement. 
 He was tried in summer, and despatched in autumn 
 to an island prison near Cherson in the Black Sea. In 
 1502 he escaped to Eome, where he lived with his 
 son the Cardinal for several years. The part which 
 he took in reconciling Venice with the Papal See after 
 the League of Cambrai entitled, him to a pardon, and 
 on the 26th of July, 1509, he appeared publicly in 
 the College of Pregadi. In 1510 he was re-elected 
 Procurator of St. Mark, de supra; and in 1521 he 
 beat all his adversaries for the Dogeship.* Three or 
 four times within the short period of one year ten 
 months and two days, Titian painted Grimani' s 
 portrait as Doge; once — we may think — for the 
 
 * Compare Malipiero, Annali, 
 i. 163—198; Marin Sanuto's 
 Diarii, iv. 124; Cicogna Iscriz., 
 
 Veil., i. 170, and vi. 123; andSan- 
 soyino, Cronicon, p. 55. 
 
244 
 
 TITIAN : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 workshop, once for the Ducal Palace, twice for the 
 private collections of the Grimani family. Three of 
 these portraits exist, one in the house of Count Gius- 
 tiniani at Padua, another in possession of Mr. de 
 Eosenberg at Vienna, a third in the Morosini-Gatters- 
 burg collection at Yenice. One needs to be guarded 
 in speaking of pictures which have suffered injury from 
 time and neglect, and in this class the " Grimani" 
 of Count Sebastian Giustiniani must necessarily be 
 placed, but the portrait is easy of identification, and 
 could not be mistaken for that of any other Doge. 
 Antonio Grimani stands at an opening, in the cap and 
 ermine of office, his head slightly turned to the right, 
 his right hand with a ring on the forefinger on a parapet 
 before him. A brown curtain partly conceals with its 
 repainted folds the repainted ground of a dark room. 
 Prom the remains of a picture, which appears once to 
 have been beautiful, it is clear that the likeness was 
 originally executed with great freedom and vigour, and 
 — though rapidly — still completely finished, but un- 
 happily the canvas is so damaged by scaling and re- 
 touching of flesh and daubing of subordinate parts, 
 that caution is imposed on the critic, who can say no 
 more than that there is reason to believe this was one 
 of the heirlooms of Titian's house, transferred by 
 Pomponio Yecelli to the Barbarigos, and as such, 
 having claims to be considered a work of the master.* 
 
 * See antea, p. 114. The canvas pigment. On the face of the 
 
 is M. 1.17 h. by 1.0. Almost the parapet, beneath the Doge's hand, 
 
 whole of the cheek to the left of are the modern words : Antonivs. 
 
 the nose, and all the fingers of Grimanvs Venetian, dvx. The 
 
 the hand, have lost their original figure of Grimani is of life size. 
 
Chap. VII.] PORTRAIT OF GRIMANI. 
 
 245 
 
 In the Eosenberg example Titian is not content to 
 reproduce the form, he goes deeper and creates some- 
 thing that reminds us of the spirit, the life, and the 
 misfortunes, of his sitter. The Doge is near a table 
 relieved against the dark ground of a wall in part 
 concealed by the festoons of a red hanging. His 
 shorn crown is covered with the ducal hat, and a broad 
 mantle of ermine swathes his large and bony frame. 
 The table itself is enlivened by the kaleidoscopic 
 colours of a Turkish cloth, on which a lemon and a 
 letter are thrown, showing off the Doge's gloved hand 
 just issuing from beneath the fur and grasping a 
 white pocket handkerchief with something of the 
 subtle strength and clutch of a panther. The gaunt 
 head with its grand and toothless jaw seems worn by 
 every sort of care, yet still prepared to defy them all. 
 The nose is short but thin, and the nostril dilates as 
 the lipless mouth spans itself into a single line ; and 
 the coal black eye glances sharply from out of 
 wrinkled flesh and a hoary brow. Turned to the 
 right the eye follows the direction of the face looking 
 out into distance, as if to scan that fatal battle of 
 Sapienza which produced to him dishonour, fetters, 
 and exile. Old beyond the time when man is per- 
 mitted to appear lithe and erect, Grimani reminds 
 us of those moss-grown trees that look as if they had 
 resisted and might still resist the storms of centuries. 
 
 There can be no reason to doubt 
 that this portrait is the same as 
 that noted in the Barbarigo col- 
 lection by Ridolfi (Marav. i. 262) ; 
 and it is to be remembered that 
 Ridolfi says that this, and the 
 
 portraits of Paul III., Philip II., 
 Francis I., and the Doges An- 
 tonio Grimani and Andrea Gritti 
 were preserved in Titian' s house 
 till he died. 
 
246 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 His form is erect and tough ; his look piercing, his 
 expression a mixture of strength and cunning. The 
 sap is running low beneath the scanty covering of 
 flesh on his brow, but there is life in the channels yet — 
 life in the firm set of the mouth, life in the glance ; 
 and Titian displays this life, its subtlety and power, 
 with incomparable skill, disdaining tricks of brush, 
 throwing a golden light over the face, giving the 
 strained and shrivelled skin its place and value by 
 delicate shades of half-tone and shadow modelled with 
 substantial pigments into planes as if nature had been 
 taken cleverly, instinctively, and at a glance, to be 
 reproduced on canvas. In the Morosini replica the 
 qualities are the same. It may be that Mr. de Eosen- 
 berg's was injured and retouched. It looks less warm 
 and sunny than its counterpart, but the figure in the 
 latter seems older and might have been painted later.* 
 In what respect either of them differed from that which 
 Titian executed for the Hall of Great Council it is not 
 in the power of anyone now to say. "We only know that 
 he received twenty-five ducats for it on the 3rd of June 
 1523, and that the money was paid to him by order of 
 the " capita," out of the treasury of the Salt Office, j" 
 
 * Mr. de Kosenberg's portrait 
 of Antonio Grimani, of life size to 
 the knees, and on canvas, was an 
 heirloom in the Grimani Palace 
 at Venice till 1873, though sold 
 by Countess Berchtold as early as 
 1871. It is injured by tinting, 
 re-touching, and bad varnishes. 
 The hand is particularly damaged. 
 The letter on the table is re- 
 painted in white. The replica in 
 
 Casa Morosini-Gattersburg ex- 
 hibits some slight varieties. The 
 hand is bare, and holds a pair of 
 gloves, and there is no red hang- 
 ing in the background. 
 
 t The record is in Lorenzi, p. 
 176. The picture perished by 
 fire. Besides these likenesses of 
 Grimani as Doge, there were 
 others assigned to Titian, which 
 represented him as ' ' Admiral in 
 
Chap. VII.] ALTARPIECE OF BKESCIA. 
 
 247 
 
 Grimani's life as a doge had been so short that 
 Titian was not able to paint the votive picture usually 
 considered as the prince's due. Many years elapsed 
 before this mishap was repaired, and it- was not till 
 Francesco Venier ascended the Ducal throne in 1555 
 that justice was done in this respect; but then the 
 memory of Grimani's services outweighed that of his 
 offences, and Titian was fain to represent him as a 
 martyr whose sufferings deserved to be symbolized 
 with the cup and the cross. 
 
 Meanwhile the altar-piece of the legate Averoldo 
 had been completed and delivered in 1522 to its 
 owner ; and there the Venetian public observed for 
 the first time classicism imitated from the antique 
 combined with the realism which charmed Bassano 
 and Paolo Yeronese. In due time this grand work 
 was carried to Brescia and placed on the high altar of 
 St. Nazaro e Celso, where it long remained an object 
 of study to the artists of the Brescian school. Whether 
 the form which the altar-piece assumed was suited to 
 the genius of Titian may be doubted, for Titian was 
 always at his best before a large single canvas upon 
 which he could group his figures at will, and we have 
 to judge him subject to this important consideration ; 
 but, given the theme and a framing of panels united 
 to form one composition, it was difficult to proceed 
 otherwise than Titian here proceeded. The " Eesur- 
 rection " as a pictorial subject cannot be treated with 
 
 Apulia" (1498), and as procurator 
 after the repair of the Campanile 
 of St. Mark (1510); and these 
 portraits, according to Cicogna 
 
 (Isc. Ven., i. 362), belonged in 
 this century to Count Ignazio 
 Bevilacqua of Verona. 
 
24 S 
 
 TITIAN : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 the same freedom as the " Ascension " or the " Trans- 
 figuration." It will not bear horizontal expansion 
 for the introduction of extraneous figures, and neces- 
 sarily requires height rather than breadth. Titian, 
 for this reason, made the central picture of the "Be- 
 surrection " higher than the lateral panels representing 
 St. Sebastian and Averoldo with his patron saints, 
 and he overtopped both the latter with half-lengths of 
 the Angel and Yirgin Annuntiate. Thus the central 
 figure of the altar-piece is Christ on the clouds rising 
 from the sepulchre, with the banner in his hand, the 
 marble tomb out of which he came lying half con- 
 cealed beneath a grass-grown crag, in front of which a 
 soldier looks up in surprise, whilst a second, with his 
 back to the spectator, awakes and clutches as he rises 
 the stump of an ivy-bush. At some distance below 
 the height the Maries wander in a landscape illumined 
 by a lurid red sky, in which heavy clouds are driven 
 by gusts of wind that bend the branches of a tree, 
 shake out the folds of the Kedeemer's hip-cloth, and 
 belly out the standard of the cross. To the left St. 
 Nazarus looks up, whilst St. Celsus, in steel armour, 
 turns to show the ascending Eedeemer to the kneeling 
 Averoldo ; and to the right St. Eoch, comforted by an 
 angel, in a landscape in front of which St. Sebastian is 
 bound to a tree, his right arm fastened at the elbow 
 above the head, his left on a level with the hip, his 
 breast wounded with one arrow, and the writhing 
 frame only rested momentarily by means of the right 
 foot, which is raised to the edge of a broken pillar. 
 It is easy to fancy that some of these panels might 
 
Chap. VII.] ALTAKPIECE OF BRESCIA. 
 
 249 
 
 be viewed by Titian's contemporaries without any 
 feeling of novelty or surprise. They might admire 
 indeed the realism of design and colour in the " Re- 
 surrection," the concentrated richness of tone and the 
 force of the drawing in the Christ, but the scene in 
 its component parts would have little that was new or 
 striking to them; whilst they might feel a certain 
 repugnance for a mode of delineation undoubtedly 
 giving to the holiest of impersonations the muscular 
 development of an athlete, the attitude, the air, and 
 theatrical movement of an actor. But every other 
 fault would doubtless be compensated in their eyes by 
 the beauty of the annuntiate angel, the grandeur of 
 the portrait of Averoldo, and the skilful adaptation of 
 the plastic modelling of the Greeks to the form of 
 St. Sebastian. 
 
 As a display of harmonious colours with bands of 
 light streaking predominant shadow, the figure of 
 the annuntiate angel might alone account for certain 
 permanent effects in the pictures of Moretto and 
 Savoldo. It represents a young, handsome, joyous, 
 and regular profile, the richness of whose nature is 
 shown in full flesh and luxuriant locks ; a shape 
 instinct with life and motion, admirably drawn, and 
 painted with consummate art, the whole being grace- 
 ful, — in its outline, in its features, and dress, but 
 more than all in the elasticity of its action as it shows 
 with both hands the waving scroll on which the words 
 are written: "Ave Gratia plena." The cross light 
 which illuminates a mere strip of the contours and 
 dress throws the face and the blue tunic into a richly 
 
250 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. "VII. 
 
 coloured shadow full of subtle variety, giving to 
 planes and foreshortenings a delicate gradation, and 
 marking with sufficient force the accidental changes 
 in the tones of drapery, so that the whole becomes a 
 marvel of grace and lightness thrown off with har- 
 monious depth against the clear aether of a light sky. 
 It is not too much to say that this emanation of 
 Yenetian art in its highest development shows us 
 something akin to the elevation which usually resides 
 in work of the classic time, and recalls that spirit 
 which displays itself in Eaphael's " Liberation of 
 St. Peter" at the Vatican. At a later time Titian 
 became more openly and more daringly naturalistic ; 
 — he was never more winning. The skill with which 
 the pigments are handled, the richness, the depth, 
 and transparence of the colours are unsurpassed. 
 
 With less sparkle, but full of mild serenity, the 
 opposite figure of the Yirgin is a charming profile, in 
 which reverence and calm are ably contrasted with 
 the open joyousness of the annuntiate angel. For 
 portrait character and texture — black silk pitted against 
 steel armour, — the panel in which Averoldo and his 
 patron saints are represented is admirable. 
 
 Titian flattered himself that the martyred St. Sebas- 
 tian was the best thing he had ever done. The public 
 flattered Titian by sharing his opinion ; and numerous 
 replicas or copies show how deep and lasting this 
 impression was ; yet we shall probably not be wrong 
 in thinking that the daring of the painter and the 
 novelty of his attempt to transform an antique statue 
 into a Christian Saint was at the bottom of this 
 
Chap. VII.] ST. SEBASTIAN— BRESCIA. 
 
 251 
 
 admiration. In its earliest form this figure of 
 St. Sebastian was fastened to a pillar and not to a tree. 
 "The body," Tebaldi writes to the Duke of Ferrara, 
 " is bound with one arm high up, the other low down, 
 to a column ; the whole frame writhes in such a way 
 as to display almost all of the back. In all parts 
 of the person there is evidence of suffering, and all 
 from one arrow that sticks in the middle of the body. 
 I am no judge, because I do not understand drawing, 
 but looking at the limbs and muscles the figure seems 
 to me to be as natural as a corpse." * 
 
 We may admit the grandeur of Titian's style, his 
 skill in foreshortening, and his quickness in repro- 
 ducing muscle in a state of momentary tension ; but 
 whatever merit may be conceded in this respect, want 
 of originality in action and lack of nature in move- 
 ment are not the less defects that might have been 
 avoided. We are not only reminded of the Medicean 
 Faun, but we feel the presence of the model strung up 
 by the elbows into an artificial posture. The strain 
 betrayed in the cramp of the toes on the edge of the 
 column, and the muscular contraction of the leg on the 
 ground, are in direct contrast with the flexible droop 
 of a wounded and sinking form which we expect to 
 see on this occasion. Successful or not the figure still 
 indicates a step in the direction which was so decidedly 
 taken in later years by Titian. It foreshadows the 
 daring tricks of position which are played with such 
 cleverness in the ceilings of the Salute. But we may 
 find full compensation even for this in the successful 
 
 * Tebaldi to Alfonso, in Campori, Tiz. e gli Estensi, p. 11 
 
252 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 art with which light is concentrated ; and it is 
 characteristic that though most of the flesh surfaces 
 are thrown into the comparatively dark shade of half 
 tone and reflexes, yet the brightness and warmth of 
 the whole is such as to produce a brilliant relief 
 against the pure clear sky of the background.* When 
 Tebaldi suggested a repetition of the subject with 
 varieties, he touched a chord that readily vibrated in 
 the frame of Titian. The master and his scholars were 
 not slow to observe the current of public taste. They 
 made replicas in sufficient numbers to supply the 
 demand, and one of these replicas still exists in the 
 collection of Lord Elcho.f In some later copies, two 
 
 * This altar-piece was recently 
 removed from its place on the 
 high altar, and hnng in a bad 
 light between the windows of the 
 choir. The figures are all life 
 size, and were subjected to re- 
 storing in 1819 by Girolamo 
 Eomani (see P. Brognoli's Nuova 
 Guida di Brescia, 8vo, Brescia, 
 1826, pp. 133, 277). The " Kesur- 
 rection" is most injured of all the 
 panels, being painted over or re- 
 touched in the figures as well as 
 in the sky, so that the " Christ" 
 has become very hard and dark, 
 and the foreground very black. In 
 other panels, ex gr., in that of 
 Averoldo and his patron saints, 
 and the Virgin annuntiate, bleach- 
 ing has altered some of the co- 
 loured surfaces. The " St. Sebas- 
 tian " is best preserved. On the 
 circular base of the column 
 we read, " ticianvs faciebat, 
 mdxxii." Ridolfi notes (Mara- 
 viglie, i. 344), and Chizzola (Pit- 
 
 ture di Brescia, 8vo, Brescia, 
 1760, p. 58) confirms, that there 
 were shutters to the altar-piece, 
 and that these shutters were 
 adorned with figures of angels 
 playing instruments, and the 
 patron saints of the church, 
 Nazaro and Celso, bearing the 
 palms of martyrs, the whole by 
 Moretto. There are line engrav- 
 ings of all the panels in the col- 
 lected work of Alessandro Sala. 
 
 t Lord Elcho's replica on can- 
 vas is a little smaller than the 
 original at Brescia. It is not, as 
 erroneously stated by Waagen 
 (Treasures, ii. 83), the picture 
 which was once in Charles I.'a 
 collection. A smaller repetition 
 of the figure, on canvas (26 inches 
 high), also belongs to Lord Elcho, 
 and is catalogued as Titian's 
 original sketch. But here the 
 left arm is straight, the angel and 
 St. Koch are omitted, and the 
 distance is a mountainous land 
 
Chap. VII.] TITIAN ASKED TO FEEEAEA. 
 
 253 
 
 archers were substituted for the angel attending 
 St. Eoch ; and in this form the composition was 
 preserved to us by a late disciple of the school after 
 the original, painted in 1530, had been lost in the 
 dispersion of the collection of Charles the First.* 
 
 Towards the close of December, 1521, Alfonso of 
 Este became yery weary of abusing Titian by proxy ; 
 and, wishing above all things, to secure the " Bacchus 
 and Ariadne," for which he had sent the canvas 
 and framing, he gave the painter an invitation to 
 visit Ferrara at Christmas. Titian, who was in- 
 structed to bring his work with him and finish it on 
 
 scape ; and it is probable that the 
 so-called sketch is a free copy by 
 a later painter. A copy — life size 
 on canvas — of the original, under 
 the name of Moretto, is exhibited 
 in the Tosi collection at Brescia. 
 It is damaged by cleaning and 
 re-touching, and may be by a 
 follower of Moretto. A copy of 
 this again, No. 589, in the Licht- 
 enstein Gallery at Vienna (can- 
 vas, M. 1.71 high by 0.70), is 
 probably identical with that which 
 some years ago belonged to Abate 
 Fenaroli at Brescia. (See Guida 
 di Brescia, 1866, p. 105.) 
 
 * The " St. Sebastian" of Charles 
 I.'s collection was sent to Mantua 
 in 1530. See B. Agnello to Ja- 
 como Calandra, Warder of Mantua, 
 Venice, August 6, 1530, postea. 
 The following entry in Bathoe's 
 Catalogue of the Collection of 
 Charles I. (p. 90), gives a descrip- 
 tion of the picture: "In Adam 
 and Eve, Stair's Eoom. Done by 
 Titian. Item. The picture of St. 
 
 Sebastian sideling, his right arm 
 tied upwards to a pillar and the 
 left arm downwards, being shot 
 with an arrow in his breast ar. d 
 in his shoulder, and in the calf of 
 his leg, an entire figure so big as 
 life ; and in a landskip by it two 
 little archers a-shooting, and afar 
 off in the sky appearing a little 
 angel. 6 ft. 3 in., by 3 ft. 6 in." 
 It is obvious that this picture, 
 which is mentioned by Eidolfi 
 (Marav., i. 256), is not that in 
 possession of Lord Elcho. A copy 
 of it, apparently by Pietro Eosa, 
 is (on canvas) in the Lecchi col- 
 lection at Brescia. Here the 
 saint (of life size) is bound to a 
 pillar, his right foot on a square 
 stone. There is an arrow in 
 his breast and another in his 
 shoulder. In a landscape of trees, 
 interspersed with cottages, the 
 two archers are seen. The sur- 
 faces are much injured by abra- 
 sion and re-painting. 
 
254 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 the spot, was not in a condition to accept the honour, 
 being, as he said, overwhelmed with orders. He 
 accordingly sent a refusal. Tebaldi, not to be beaten, 
 imagined a stratagem to effect his master's purpose. 
 He reminded Titian of his wish — long since expressed 
 — to visit Eome, and Alfonso's promise to take him 
 there, and then said he was sure Alfonso would go to 
 Eome to do homage to the new Pope, Leo the Tenth 
 being dead and the papal chair being vacant since 
 December the 1st, and if Titian were then at Ferrara 
 the Duke would ask him to join his party ; whereas 
 if he stayed at Venice the Duke would certainly not 
 send for him expressly. This statement apparently 
 flattered the painter, who promised to let Tebaldi 
 know when he should start for Ferrara. In the 
 interval the Duke wrote (Dec. 26), to approve his 
 agent's conduct, and told him that had he possessed 
 the spirit of prophecy, he could not have said anything 
 more true than that the Duke intended to visit Eome. 
 " So soon," he added, "as the new pope is created, 
 we shall go and throw ourselves at the feet of his 
 Holiness, so that Titian, if he means to come, had 
 better do so quickly, as we should like to have him 
 with us, and he must despatch our picture quickly, as 
 there can be no question of his doing any work on 
 this journey." But Titian was not to be caught even 
 with this bait, or else he had other powerful reasons 
 for attending to business. He left Venice at Christ- 
 mas, perhaps for Brescia, and was not home again till 
 the 3rd of January, when Tebaldi found him ill of a 
 fever, and "reduced in body by irregular living." 
 
Chap. VII.] TITIAN ASKED TO FEEEAEA. 
 
 255 
 
 Titian made light of his sickness, attributing it to 
 other causes than those invented by Tebaldi, and 
 affected still to think he would like the trip to Borne ; 
 but he could not be brought to fix a day for leaving 
 Venice ; he merely promised that he would sail in a 
 burchio* for Ferrara so soon as he heard the result 
 of the conclave ; and neither he nor Alfonso were 
 destined to see the walls of the Vatican at this period. 
 A fresh attempt to compass the artist's journey to 
 Ferrara failed decisively on the 17th of June, when 
 Titian declared that he could not take a picture home 
 in which several parts were not made out according to 
 his fancy. Tebaldi's renewal of the attempt imme- 
 diately after only emboldened Titian to ask the Duke 
 a favour. His friend Mccolo de' Martini, he said, was 
 fond of shooting, and wished to have a day's sport occa- 
 sionally on the northern banks of the Po. The Duke 
 might well grant his friend this favour, and in return 
 Titian would paint on the Duke's canvas the two very 
 best figures that he had ever done. But Tebaldi knew 
 his master too well even to mention the matter to him, 
 and he treated Titian's proposal as mere banter, warning 
 him to think seriously of visiting Ferrara. Titian, for 
 his part, added one more to the numerous promises 
 which he had never intended to keep. 
 
 In August, the Duke was angry, and Tebaldi as 
 usual translated his master's anger into threats. He 
 went to the painter's workshop and stared at the 
 
 * BurcJiio, a large barge with a 
 cabin, used in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury for inland navigation. Ve- 
 
 nezia e le sue lagune, 4to, Von 
 1847, L i. p. 223. 
 
256 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 blank spaces on the canvas. The car was there, 
 drawn by animals, and two figures were completed, but 
 the rest, including a landscape, was not even com- 
 menced, though Titian said it might be finished in 
 a fortnight. After some chaffering, during which 
 Titian expressed concern at having fallen into the 
 patron's displeasure, it was arranged that the canvas 
 should be taken to Ferrara in October, and Tebaldi 
 upon this was proposing to go, when Titian suggested 
 that he should under present circumstances give him 
 a safe-conduct to travel with, as a document of this kind 
 would be necessary for his safety. This Tebaldi 
 seems to have thought rather flattering to Alfonso, 
 for he wrote to the Duke that it showed Vecelli's fear 
 of his displeasure, and then he added a string of 
 Titian's usual asseverations that he would not accept 
 commissions for any one, not even from "Dommenedio," 
 till he had finished the Duke's canvas; in spite of 
 which October was half spent before the artist even 
 looked at the Duke's canvas, and the Duke began to 
 rave and Tebaldi to storm as before.* 
 
 The reasons which Titian now gave for his pro- 
 crastination were doubtless based on some sort of 
 foundation, but they were not the true ones, to which 
 he merely hinted in a superficial way. He complained 
 that he had been asked to alter two female figures, 
 which he was willing to finish within the month, but 
 as to going to Ferrara he could not undertake the 
 journey because he had more conveniences of models 
 
 * For the facts in the text, see Campori's Tiziano e gli Estensi, 
 pp. 13—16. 
 
Chap. VII.] TITIAN AND THE SIGNOKIA. 257 
 
 male and female, at Venice than elsewhere; and 
 besides he was conscious of not having neglected his 
 patron in any way, having divided his day between 
 the Duke and the Signoria, painting for the latter at 
 the Hall of Great Council in the morning, for the 
 former at home in the evening. The truth was that 
 after Titian had finished the portrait of the Doge 
 Grimani, some persons had called the prince's attention 
 to the larger and more important duties for which the 
 master was responsible, and it had been discovered 
 that Titian had not done any work in the Doge's 
 Palace for years. This neglect had been made a 
 subject of fresh remonstrance by the Council of Ten, 
 and a resolution had been passed on the 11th of 
 August, 1522, calling on the painter to complete the 
 canvas " fourth from the door in the Hall of Great 
 Council," before the 30th of the following June, 
 under pain of losing the broker's patent and all 
 the advances made by the Salt Office. A messenger 
 of the Council had been sent to Titian's house with a 
 copy of this resolution, and had delivered it into his 
 own hands, and Titian was bound under the circum- 
 stances to obey. We saw he then painted either a 
 portion of the battle of Cadore, or the canvas at the 
 opposite side of the Hall, of which the subject was 
 given in a previous chapter; but it is altogether 
 uncertain whether the wholesome dread of authority 
 which kept him to his easel in October was in any 
 way lasting, for in the margin of the resolution of 
 Aug. 11th, and under date July 20, 1523, we find an 
 entry stating that Titian was then only doing the 
 vol. r. s 
 
258 TITIAN : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 work required of him ; and it is clear that the autho- 
 rities were not inclined to hold to the wording of their 
 sentence, but glad that the painter should have been 
 induced under any circumstances to devote some 
 hours to them.* 
 
 On the 5th of December, 1522, Titian again ex- 
 pressed his intention to visit Ferrara, and there is 
 some allusion in the letters of Tebaldi to his master, 
 to a figure of a lady which Titian had finished and 
 might be induced to take with him. It was not, 
 however, till January 1523, that the artist found his 
 way to the banks of the Po, and certain items in the 
 Ferrarese accounts enable us to trace his movements 
 accurately. 
 
 Item. January 30, to a " navicellaio " for carriage 
 of a picture from Yenice to Ferrara, sent by Maestro 
 Titiano to H. Illust. Highness. 
 
 Item to a "facchino " to carry the same on his 
 shoulders from Francolino to Ferrara. 
 
 Item, to a carter who carried from Francolino to 
 Ferrara the forziere (trunk) of "Maestro Tutiano." 
 
 Travellers or parcels, it would seem, were shipped 
 in Titian's time in barges which sailed to the mouths 
 of the Po. From the estuary upwards there were 
 towing paths, along which the barges were drawn by 
 horses, f Francolino on the right bank was the port 
 of Ferrara. 
 
 Payments entered in the Ferrarese accounts of this 
 
 * The records are in Lorenzi, 
 u. a., p. 175. 
 
 f B. Cellini's Autobiography, 
 Bianchi's ed., 8vo, Eirenze, 1852, 
 p. 167. 
 
BACCHUS AND ARIADNE. 
 In the National Gallery. 
 
 {To face p. 259, Vol. I. 
 
Chap. VII.] 
 
 TITIAN AT MANTUA. 
 
 259 
 
 time show that the host of the Castello inn at Ferrara 
 was then boarding Titian's servants. His charge on 
 the 7th of February is for twenty -four meals furnished 
 to these menials, from which we might gather that 
 the painter was at the time on a visit to the Duke ; 
 but it is more likely that Titian sent his baggage and 
 assistants up the Po, whilst his own itinerary led him 
 to Mantua. For at Mantua he was the guest of 
 Federico Gonzaga till the 3rd of February ; and from 
 thence he proceeded to the court of the Estcs, to 
 which he took letters from the Marquis.* 
 
 Here, we can have no doubt, Titian finished and 
 exhibited the last of his " bacchanals," the " Bacchus 
 and Ariadne " of the National Gallery. Here we may 
 think he completed the picture which goes by the 
 name of "Alfonso and Laura Dianti; " here, too, we 
 should fancy, one of those representations of Yenus, of 
 which we still possess a wreck in the Museum of 
 Darmstadt. 
 
 Like the " Yenus Worship," the subject of which 
 is taken from Philostratus, the "Bacchus and 
 Ariadne " is derived from one of the classic poets ; 
 and Eidolfi has already pointed to Catullus as the 
 source from which Titian's inspiration was derived. 
 Modern writers have exercised their ingenuity in the 
 attempt to show that Titian was a poet, but they fail 
 to prove that he was acquainted with the Latin 
 tongue. Yet Titian certainly possessed an edition of 
 Catullus, which was preserved for centuries, and bore 
 an inscription in Titian's hand, " Liber mihi Titiani 
 
 * See postea, and compare Campori, Tiziano e gli Estensi, pp. 16, 17. 
 
 s 2 
 
200 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 et amicorum ceeterorumque."* His picture of Ariadne 
 is a faithful transcript of the poem. Ariadne, near 
 the shore of Naxos, turns her back to the spectator, 
 her lawn tunic loosely enwrapped in an azure peplum, 
 round which a red scarf is gracefully entwined, her 
 limbs and feet and shoulders bare. Suddenly she 
 raises her head and throws up one arm ; she clutches 
 her dress and presses her step, as she thinks to flee 
 the presence of Bacchus, whose chariot drawn by 
 leopards stops on the sward. Bacchus himself, mad 
 with eagerness, leaps from his car, followed by 
 Menads and Satyrs : 
 
 " At parte ex alia florens volitabat Iacchus, 
 Cum thiaso Satyrorum, et Nysigenis Silenis, 
 Te queerens, Ariadna, tuoque incensus amore."f 
 
 A young faun gaily marches near the wheel of the 
 God's chariot, trailing after him the head of the steer 
 and smiling at the bark of a dog. Behind him a satyr 
 entwines himself with serpents, another girdled with 
 vine carries the steer's leg and a thyrsus, and a third 
 bears a vase on his shoulders : 
 
 " Horum pars tecta quatiebant cuspide thyrsos; 
 Pars e divolso jactabant membra juvenco ; 
 Pars sese tortis serpentibus incingebant." J 
 
 In rear of these again two Menads with tambourine 
 and cymbals, and a Satyr blowing a horn : 
 
 * Eidolfi, Marav. i. 205 ; Lo- 
 mazzo, Trattato, 4to, Milan, 1585, 
 p. 393 ; Morelli's MS. notes to 
 Tizianello's Anonimo. Titian's 
 Catullus was Alexander Guarini's 
 
 edition of 1521. 
 
 t Catulli Carminum, Liber 
 lxiv. Epith. Pel. et Thetidos, 
 vv. 252-1. 
 
 $ Ibid. w. 257-9. 
 
Chap. VII.] BACCHUS AND ABIADNE. 
 
 261 
 
 " Plangebant alise proceris tympana palmis, 
 Aut tereti tenues tinnitus sere ciebant, 
 Multi raucisonos efflabant cornua bombos." * 
 
 And away under the trees Silenus sits helpless, sup- 
 ported on an ass. The boisterous procession issues 
 out of a grove forming the right half of the picture, 
 whilst between Bacchus and Ariadne to the left a 
 grand reach of shore is seen, a steep promontory with 
 a town on its summit, bathes its sides in the deep 
 blue of the ^Egean, on which the galley of Theseus is 
 sailing away, and high up above Ariadne's head, in a 
 sky bespangled with silver clouds, the crown of stars 
 is shining : 
 
 " Ex Ariadneis aurea temporibus 
 Eixa corona . . ."f 
 
 This is one of the pictures which once seen can 
 never be forgotten, and it is telling for the vivid 
 nature of the impression which it made on Yasari that 
 it quite effaced the memory of Bellini's Bacchanal, 
 so that when called upon to describe the panel at 
 Alnwick he involuntarily described that of the 
 National Gallery.-]* The study of the classic, which 
 carried the master beyond the limits of the possible in 
 the " St. Sebastian" at Brescia, is made conducive here 
 to a new perfection, and we now observe that some- 
 thing of the spirit of the antique permeates the frame 
 of an artist who only cares at times to remind us of 
 its outward aspect. We can no more deny that the 
 
 * Catulli Carminum, Liber 
 lxiv. Epith. Pel. et Thetidos, 
 vv. 262-4. 
 
 t Catulli Carm., Lib. lxvi. 
 Coma Berenices, vv. 60-1. 
 % Vasari, xiii. 23. 
 
2G2 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 Bacchus is an ideal of the Greek time — with flesh 
 and "blood to indicate that he lives — than that Ariadne 
 is an inspired type of the classic age, as full of grace 
 as it is possible for any artist to compass. Centuries 
 have robbed the canvas of its freshness, and restorers 
 have done their best to remove its brightest surfaces ; 
 yet no one who looks at it even now can fail to 
 acknowledge the magic of its enchantment. Eich 
 harmony of drapery tints and soft modelling, depth of 
 shade and warm flesh — all combine to produce a 
 highly coloured glow ; yet in the midst of this glow 
 the form of Ariadne seems incomparably fair. Nature 
 was never reproduced more kindly or with greater 
 exuberance than it is in every part of this picture. 
 What subtlety there is in the concentration of light 
 on Ariadne, which alone gives a focus to the composi- 
 tion! What splendour in the contrasts of colour — 
 what wealth and diversity of scale in air and vegeta- 
 tion; how infinite is the space — how varied yet 
 mellow the gradations of light and shade ! There is 
 not a single composition by Titian up to this time in 
 which the scene and the dramatis persons are more 
 completely in unison; and, looking at these groves 
 and cliffs and seas, or prying into the rich vegetation 
 of the foreground, we are startled beyond measure to 
 think that they were worked out piecemeal, that the 
 figures were put in first and the landscape last. ~Nor 
 is it without curiosity that we inquire where Titian got 
 that landscape, where he studied that foreground ; and 
 we are forced to conclude that he forsook the work- 
 shop on the Grand Canal, where there certainly was no 
 
Chap. VII.] BACCHUS AND AEIADNE. 
 
 2G3 
 
 vegetation, even in the sixteenth century, and went 
 to Ferrara, and there reproduced with " botanical 
 fidelity " the iris, the wild rose and columbine which 
 so exquisitely adorn the very edge of the ground on 
 which the Satyrs tread. * But more surprising than 
 all, Titian out of this dream of Catullus produces a 
 picture which we find no difficulty in accepting as an 
 absolute reality. In the warm air of Naxos it seems 
 natural that leopards should be gentle beasts of 
 draught. In the horns and hairy legs of a youthful 
 faun we discover nothing that is monstrous, and that 
 snakes should harmlessly twine round the legs and 
 arms of Satyrs appears to be no miracle. Here, too, 
 drunkenness ceases to be repulsive, and nymphs are 
 beings of true flesh and blood, whose place in the 
 creation it is to dance in undress through the groves, 
 and clash the cymbal or shake the tambourine. It is 
 in this power to transform a scene, the elements of 
 which are altogether fanciful, into something that 
 strikes us as reality, that we acknowledge Titian's 
 genius to consist. Far beyond any of his contem- 
 poraries, he possessed the art of giving to his figures 
 that impetuous movement which is the result of 
 instant volition. The headlong progress of the bacchic 
 troop, the dancing gait of the infant faun, the step of 
 the nymph throwing up the cymbal, the writhing of 
 the satyrs, are all displays of motion, though perhaps 
 of motion not as instant as Titian realizes when he 
 makes the vine-crowned Bacchus with his fluttering 
 
 * See the preface to the second edition of Buskin's Modern 
 Painters, p. xxviii. 
 
264 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 drapery spring madly from his car, and Ariadne pre- 
 cipitate her step towards the shore. Cause, effect, and 
 the rapid reactions of both, are all represented or sug- 
 gested with the concomitant charm of graceful motion 
 in forms of preternatural beauty as to shape and 
 colour.* 
 
 So long as the Estes owned Ferrara they clung 
 with natural fondness to the treasures of Alfonso's 
 Camerino ; their indolence or want of dexterity 
 allowed the legate, Cardinal Aldobrandini, in 1598 to 
 remove them. Clement the Eighth, it will be re- 
 membered, had successfully vindicated the claim 
 of the Church to Ferrara. Cesar, Duke of Modena, 
 had surrendered the state on condition of keeping his 
 property and movables ; but the legate secretly 
 removed the pictures from the Castello, and refused 
 afterwards to give them up. At Eome Yarottari made 
 the tasteful copies which are now preserved in the 
 gallery of Bergamo. f The ""Worship of Yenus " 
 and the " Bacchanal " were transferred to the Ludo- 
 visi Palace, where they remained till the Cardinal 
 
 * This beautiful picture, on 
 canvas, 5 ft. 9 in. high, by 6 ft. 
 3 in. wide, has been etched (re- 
 versed) by Gio. Andrea Podesta of 
 Genoa, at Eome, in 1636 ; and by 
 J. Juster in 1691 ; and engraved 
 in Jones' National Gallery. It 
 was in the Barberini and Aldo- 
 brandini collections at Eome, and 
 was purchased from the latter for 
 Mr. Buchanan in 1806. In 1826 
 it was bought of Mr. Hamlet for 
 the National Gallery (No. 35). 
 On the vase to the left 4 ' Ticianus 
 
 P." See Eidolfi, Marav. i. 257, 
 and Scanelli's Microcosmo, p. 220. 
 
 t See Campori, Tiziano e gli 
 Estensi, p. 28 ; and Frizzi's Me- 
 morie per la Storia di Ferrara. 
 Varottari's copies are so faithful 
 that he imitates even the sig- 
 natures. Compare also Boschini 
 (Navegar, p. 173), who says Va- 
 rottari made his copies at Eome. 
 They were for a time heirlooms in 
 the house of the Varottari at 
 Venice. 
 
Chap. VII.] BACCHUS AND AEIADNE. 
 
 265 
 
 of that name sent them to Count Monterey, the 
 Spanish viceroy at Naples, as a present for the King 
 of Spain * In July, 1638, Sir Arthur Hopton, British 
 envoy at Madrid, thought it worth while to address a 
 despatch to Lord Cottington, telling him that Mon- 
 terey in person had brought the " Bacanalian of 
 Titian " to the King.f The " Bacchus and Ariadne " 
 remained at Eome much longer than its companions, 
 and passed through several collections before it was 
 taken to England in 1806. Bub ens " translated 
 into Flemish" the " "Worship of Yenus" and the 
 " Bacchanal,' 7 and both his canvases were part of the 
 spoil of Bernadotte, who took them from Madrid to 
 Sweden. J Two copies of the " Bacchus and Ariadne " 
 were made by Poussin ; and artists of a later time 
 followed each other in transposing to canvas a part or 
 the whole of these celebrated masterpieces. § 
 
 * Boschini, Navegar Pitt°, pp. 
 169, and fife. 
 
 f Hopton to Cottington, Ma- 
 Arid, ^TJ, 1638, in Sainsbury's 
 original unpublished papers, illus- 
 trative of the Life of Sir P. P. 
 Kubens, 8vo, London, 1859, p. 353. 
 
 X These copies are now in the 
 Hall of the Court of Justice in 
 the royal palace of Stockholm. 
 They were registered in the in- 
 ventory of Eubens, after his 
 death, 1640, as follows : " Apiece 
 of Venus, w th many Cupidds, 
 taken out of Philostratus "— " A 
 piece of Bacchanalls, with shep- 
 pards and sheepherdessesdancinge 
 and drunck ; out of Philostratus, 
 upon cloth" (Sainsbury Papers, 
 u. s., p. 238). 
 
 § One of these copies by Poussin 
 is at Alnwick Castle, another in 
 the gallery of the Academy of 
 San Luca at Eome. The copy of 
 the Bacchanal at Madrid, in the 
 Guicciardini Palace at Florence, 
 is modern, and looks like the 
 work of Sebastiano Eicci, or An- 
 drea Celesti. Another copy, of 
 smaller size, and of northern im- 
 press, is in the Scarpa collection 
 at La Motta in Friuli. A frag- 
 ment — the dancing satyr with the- 
 leg of the steer, the satyr with 
 the serpents, the Menad play- 
 iDg cymbals, and the infant 
 faun — is No. 110, under Titian's 
 name, at the Pitti Palace in 
 Florence. It is a feeble copy by 
 a late disciple of the school of 
 
266 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. YII. 
 
 Historians are not agreed as to whether Laura 
 Dianti, whose likeness Titian painted, was the wife or 
 the mistress of Alfonso of Este ;* yet a record exists 
 which seems to prove that Tomaso and Agostino Mosti, 
 both well known writers at Ferrara, confessed to have 
 been present at the Duke's marriage. j* In her life 
 time Laura was known as " the most illustrious 
 Signora Laura Eustochio Estense ; w and when she 
 died and was buried in Sant' Agostino of Ferrara, 
 Alfonso the Second and Cardinal Luigi of Este accom- 
 panied her son Don Alfonso to the funeral. J Yasari 
 tells us it was " a stupendous portrait " that Titian 
 painted of the Signora Laura " who was afterwards 
 the Duke's wife."§ It has not been suggested, though 
 it may be, that this masterpiece was the " portrait of a 
 lady with an Ethiopian page " noticed in earlier pages 
 in connection with Lucretia Borgia. The fashion of 
 late years has been to identify Laura d'Este with the 
 picture of a girl at her toilet attended by a man 
 holding two mirrors, in the Louvre. In confirmation 
 of this it has been said that the man in the back- 
 ground is Alfonso of Este, and there is no doubt that 
 the round forehead with the cropped hair in a peak 
 down its centre, the short and finely chiselled nose, 
 and the cut beard, are very like similar features in 
 
 Bologna. Albano copied and adap- 
 ted the "Triumph of Bacchus" 
 and the ' ' Worship of Venus," add- 
 ing figures of his own to both com- 
 positions. His canvases are cata- 
 logued in the collection of Queen 
 Christine (compare Campori, Eac- 
 colta de' Cataloghi, p. 345). 
 
 * See Muratori and Gregoro- 
 vius, Lucrezia Borgia, u. s., p. 325. 
 
 f Notizie relative a Ferrara da 
 L. N. Citadella, 8vo, Per., 1864, 
 pp. 170-1. 
 
 J Ibid. The burial took place 
 June 28, 1573. 
 
 § Vasari, xiii. p. 25. 
 
Chap. VII.] ALFONSO AND LAUEA. 
 
 267 
 
 Alfonso's portrait at Madrid ;* yet this much, if 
 accepted as correct, would not prove beyond question 
 that the lady to whom Alfonso is holding the mirrors 
 is Laura Dianti ; and we may fairly doubt whether a 
 girl, beautiful indeed but simple in attire, could be the 
 mistress of a duke like Alfonso. It is known, how- 
 ever, that Laura was the daughter of a citizen of 
 modest station, and it may be that Titian was called 
 on to portray this citizen's daughter when as yet she 
 had not risen from the humbleness of her original 
 2)osition. It is certainly striking that the shape 
 which Titian has painted should not only be beautiful, 
 but of extreme simplicity in its attire, added to which 
 a generous breadth of form, ruddy health and firm 
 flesh, indicate a nature altogether foreign to the air of 
 courts. It is true this innocent-looking maid has 
 already learnt the arts familiar to ladies of that age. 
 Her hair has been washed, plaited, and bleached to a 
 ruddy tone by lotions and exposure to the sun, and 
 has thus acquired that artificial golden tinge which 
 we look for in vain in the Yenice of our day ; the 
 wave is in it which plaiting gives, and an ointment is 
 ready on the table to smooth and perfume it. But 
 these innocent arts might be known to the daughter 
 of a citizen as well as to the mate of a prince ;f and 
 there is nothing in them to diminish the impression 
 of simplicity which the picture otherwise conveys. 
 
 * Compare Ticozzi, u. s., p. 58. 
 
 t See Cesaro Vecellio, Degli 
 habiti Anticlii, &c, Ven. 1590, 
 p. 145, where there is a drawing 
 
 of a woman with her hair exposed 
 to the sun outside of a large straw 
 hat. A description is appended 
 of the way to make hair auburn. 
 
268 
 
 TITIAN : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 The girl is represented standing behind a table or 
 slab of stone dressing her hair, whilst a man in the 
 gloom behind her holds with his left hand a ronnd 
 mirror, the reflection of which he catches with a 
 sqnare mirror in his right. Into the second of these 
 the girl gently bends her head to look, eagerly 
 watched by her lover as she twists a long skein of 
 wavy golden hair. Over the white and finely plaited 
 linen that loosely covers her bosom, a short green 
 bodice is carelessly thrown ; and a skirt of the same 
 stuff is gathered to the waist by a sash of similar 
 colour. A broad white sleeve hangs in a rich festoon 
 from the right shoulder, exposing the whole of a 
 grand and fleshy arm ; whilst a bright blue scarf 
 winds round the left wrist and leaves nothing but the 
 hand to be seen as it rests on the ointment vase. The 
 left side of the girl's head is already dressed, she is 
 finishing the right side, and a delightful archness and 
 simplicity beams in the eyes as they turn to catch the 
 semblance in the mirror. The coal-black eye and 
 brow contrast with the ruddy hair ; the chiselled nose 
 projects in delicate line from a face of rounded yet 
 pure contour, and the lips, of a cherry redness which 
 Titian alone makes natural, are cut with surprising 
 fineness. The light is concentrated with unusual 
 force upon the face and bust of the girl, whilst the 
 form and features of the man are lost in darkness. 
 We pass with surprising rapidity from the most 
 delicate silvery gradations of sunlit flesh and drapery, 
 to the mysterious depths of an almost unfathomable 
 gloom, and we stand before a modelled balance of 
 
Chap. VII.] ALFONSO AND LAURA. 
 
 269 
 
 light and shade that recalls da Yinci, entranced by a 
 chord of tonic harmony as sweet and as thrilling as 
 was ever struck by any artist of the Yenetian school.* 
 How this depth of shade and Simmering of reflections 
 in darkness, how this breadth of light were attained, 
 is a secret which defies ns the more as it defied the 
 closest observers of Titian's own time. How he 
 worked the strong pasta of his pigments or modified 
 them with countless varieties of rubbings, subject to a 
 final general glazing, it is hard to say ; but he had 
 now succeeded in producing that combination of 
 colour and fairness which we notice in all the pictures 
 of this time, — a combination equally conspicuous in 
 the " Bacchus and Ariadne," the " Madonna with 
 the Babbit," and those grander but later marvels of 
 
 * The earliest reference to this 
 picture is in Bathoe's catalogue 
 of Charles I.'s collection: "No. 
 16, Titian and his mistress, by 
 himself, appraised at and sold for 
 £100." Jabach bought it, and 
 afterwards sold it to Louis XIV. 
 It is now No. 471 in the Louvre, 
 on canvas, m. 0.96 h. by 0.76. 
 If there be anything in the picture 
 less commendable than the rest, 
 it is the rendering of the right 
 arm, which, together with the 
 drapery about it, seems not quite 
 to fit to the shoulder, but this 
 defect is scarcely visible in the 
 midst of the beauties which 
 abound in every part. A fine 
 contrast is that of the red damask 
 dress of the man with the cold 
 dark background. A replica, seen 
 by Ticozzi in the house of Count 
 
 Leopold Cicognara, was sold to 
 " Milord Stuart" in 1816 (Ticozzi, 
 Vecelli, p. 59). Doubts arose as 
 to its genuineness, and it was 
 sent to the Academy at Eome, 
 which certified that 1 ' it might be 
 a Giorgione, but could not be a 
 Titian," upon which "Lord 
 Stuart " claimed repayment of his 
 money (Cicogna, MS. Notes to 
 Morelli, u. s.). A replica, perhaps 
 the same as the above, is regis- 
 tered under the name of Por- 
 denone in the catalogue of Queen 
 Christine's collection (Campori, 
 Eaccolta de' Cataloghi, p. 359). 
 The Louvre picture was engraved 
 by Forster and H. Dancken, in 
 Eilhol and Landon's works. A 
 fine photograph by the Photo- 
 graphic Society. 
 
270 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 technical execution, the " Entombment " of the Louvre 
 and the " Virgin and Saints " of the "Vatican. Tradi- 
 tions of an early time did not, as we saw, connect this 
 picture with Alfonso of Ferrara ; on the contrary, 
 when it passed into the collection of Charles the First of 
 England, it was known as " Titian and his Mistress ; J> 
 and strange to say, though a likeness is not to be 
 traced between the man in the background and Titian, 
 the name still clings, as names will strangely do, to the 
 canvas which displays, if not his figure, at least his 
 art in its grandest form. What distinguishes the 
 canvas at the Louvre from others in which Titian has 
 depicted with a certain freedom the charms of women, 
 is the semblance of chasteness and candour in the 
 persons whom he delineated. "When he chose he 
 could easily create a more complex impression ; as he 
 does in the "Flora" of the IJffizi, a figure which 
 presents form of similar scantling with a mould of 
 head and movement not essentially different. But 
 here instead of vivid colour and powerful effect of 
 light and shade, Ave have all light, all softness, and a 
 suffusion which is not without dazzling brightness 
 though it is without strong contrasts. Here in fact 
 Titian evidently desires to suggest another phase of 
 life — not the maiden, but the woman — with the roses 
 which she has plucked, the woman whose skin is fair 
 but blanched by art, whose shape is softened by 
 seclusion, a woman of delicate whiteness, seductive 
 and lightly clad. Tradition again suggests Titian's 
 mistress ; and Sandrart embodied this tradition when 
 he wrote in the seventeenth century : 
 
Chap. VII.] 
 
 TITIAN'S FLORA. 
 
 271 
 
 ' ' Vere viret tellus placido perfusa liquore 
 A Zephyro et blando turgida flore viget 
 Flora modo veris, Titiani pectus amore 
 Implet, et huic similes illaqueare parat." * 
 
 But what did Sandrart know of Titian's private 
 life, what cause had he to lower the "Mora" to the rank 
 of a Phryne, or was she certainly one of those ladies 
 of light fame who survived to be copied by Eubens 
 under the name of a courtezan ? f The lover of art 
 may now say it is a matter of very little consequence. 
 The "Flora," if nothing more, is a lovely ideal which 
 ranges far above the realms to which her earthly lot 
 would seem to bind her. There is nothing in this 
 ethereal Mora to shock the sensitive eye. She is not 
 yet dressed, but her hair is looped up with a silken cord 
 so as to shape the most charming puffs above the ears, 
 falling in short and plaited waves to the bosom, 
 leaving bare the whole of the face, the neck, and 
 throat. ]STo one here holds the mirrors, yet the head 
 is bent and the eyes are turned as if some one stood 
 by to catch the glance, and stretch a hand for the 
 flowers ; for whilst with her left Mora strives by an 
 intricate and momentary play of the fingers, to keep 
 fast the muslin that falls from her shoulder, and the 
 damask that slips from her form, with the other she 
 presents a handful of roses, jessamines, and violets, to 
 an unseen lover. Sensual no doubt is the air and 
 movement of this syren ; yet to this sensualism 
 
 * This is a copy of verses be- 
 neath Sandrart's print of the 
 "Flora." 
 
 f In Eubens' inventory of 1640, 
 we find an entry of ' ' fower pic- 
 
 tures of Venetian courtesans," 
 after Titian. See Sainsbury 
 Papers illustrative of Sir P. P. 
 Eubens, p. 238. 
 
272 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 Titian has added proportions and features of surprising 
 loveliness, reminding ns in their purity of some of the 
 choicest antiques ; and there is so much resemblance 
 of movement and type between her and the girl with 
 the mirrors, that we are tempted to think that the 
 first is in some way the sequel and development of the 
 second till we remember that the same mould of face 
 is characteristic of " artless love" and the Menads of the 
 Madrid "Bacchanal;" and we recollect that the art 
 displayed in the " Flora " is of an earlier phase which 
 still reveals the influence of Palma. The clear light 
 scale in the " Flora" shows a masterly adaptation of 
 the system effectively tried in the " Three Ages;" 
 appropriate to which is the thin disposal of pigments, 
 the broad plane of tinting, and the delicate shade of 
 all but imperceptible half-tones. The white dress, 
 though muslin-fine and gathered into minute folds, 
 is beyond measure graceful in fall, and contrasts in 
 texture as well as harmonizes in colour with the 
 stiffer and more cornered stuff of the rose-tingecl 
 cloth which shows such fine damask reflexes on the 
 left arm.* 
 
 * This picture, No. 626 at the 
 Uffizi, was first exhibited at 
 Elorence in 1793, when it was 
 taken out of the Duke's " Garda- 
 roba" (see Uffizi Catalogue of 
 1869). Its history is obscure ; we 
 only know that it was engraved 
 (in reverse) in the 17th century 
 by Sandrart, when in possession 
 of Don Alphonzo Lopez, the 
 Spanish Grand at Amsterdam, 
 who also owned the ' ' Ariosto " of 
 Cobham Hall. The same picture, 
 
 or a copy of it — we cannot now 
 tell which — belonged at one time 
 to the national collection in 
 Vienna, and is engraved under the 
 name of Palma Vecchio, in A. J. 
 Prenner's Theatrum Artis Pic- 
 torise, of 1728. The canvas at the 
 Uffizi, with its life-size figure 
 seen to the hip, on a light cool 
 ground, is ill preserved. The 
 left breast and other parts, more 
 or less, are disfigured by re- 
 painting ; and the flesh generally 
 
Chap. VII.] VENUS OF DAEMSTADT. 
 
 273 
 
 The delineation of nude forms per se, and particu- 
 larly of nude female forms, was not a thing from which 
 the taste of the Venetian public recoiled; it was 
 rather the natural consequence of a spreading ac- 
 quaintance with the Latin poets which characterized 
 the period, a growing interest in the models of 
 antiquity, which when they were not to be had as 
 originals, were usually sought for in casts ; and last, 
 not least, the gay morality of the Venetian community 
 at large. Tebaldi, who so closely watched Titian that 
 there was not a canvas in his workshop with which 
 he was not familiar, asked the painter in 1523 if 
 he would take with him to Ferrara a certain female 
 figure which he had recently executed. Titian replied 
 that he meant not to do so unless the Duke expressly 
 showed a desire to see it.* Prom such casual and 
 scattered allusions as that, we might alone surmise 
 that pictures representing women were not necessarily 
 portraits, or at least, not portraits of individuals dear 
 in any sense to those who bought them, and it 
 might be that in this way subjects like the " Flora," or 
 the " Venus " of Darmstadt, might pass into the hands 
 of a Duke of Ferrara or a Marquis of Mantua. Besides 
 these princes there were men enough at Venice whose 
 wealth allowed them to indulge a taste of this kind, 
 but they were doubtless few, and it should be possible, 
 one might think, to point out every person for whom 
 such pieces were executed, and yet the " Venus " of 
 
 is cold from abrasion, unequal 
 removal of delicate glazings, and 
 consequent Joss of harmony. 
 There is a good photograph (from 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 an engraving) by Braun of 
 Dornach. 
 
 * Campori,Tiziano e gliEstensi, 
 p. 16. 
 
 T 
 
274 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 Darmstadt and its numerous replicas are a proof of 
 the contrary ; we know as little of its original pur- 
 chaser as of the first owner of the " Venus of the Shell," 
 tbe "Venus" of Madrid, or the "Venus" of Pardo; and 
 all that the tests at our command enable us to affirm is 
 that the "Venus" of Darmstadt and the "Venus" of 
 Lord Ellesmere must haye been painted at the time of 
 which we are now treating. As to the former, it may 
 be objected that the beauties peculiar to Titian's 
 pictures are no longer visible, since the harmony of 
 colour and the charms of a technical execution always 
 admirable, have passed away under immoderate re- 
 paints. Enough however remains to warrant the 
 opinion that Titian in this canvas completed a model 
 of which it was open to himself, his disciples and 
 copyists, to make innumerable imitations. He painted 
 a young woman on cushions, naked, and asleep, a red 
 cloth on which she lies partly covering the ground 
 and partly hanging from a neighbouring oak. She 
 sleeps with one arm under her head like the "Venus" 
 of Pardo, in a landscape of which the counterpart is to 
 be found in the "Noli me tangere" of the National 
 Gallery ; the roses strewed on her couch fading in the 
 tepid air, whilst a couple are seated courting in the 
 distance. There is nothing to be said of the figure in 
 its present state except that it is a reproduction of a 
 nature perfect in shape, young and most graceful in line. 
 The copies which were made of it show the surprising 
 popularity of the subject, and it is curious to observe 
 that most of these copies found their way to England, 
 one being in the mansion of the Duke of Wellington 
 
Chap. VII.] 
 
 VENUS OF DAEMSTADT. 
 
 275 
 
 in London, another in Dudley House, a third in the 
 Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge, whilst varieties 
 with Amor at the feet of Yenus pricking her hand 
 with a dart,* are to be found at Dulwich and 
 Dresden, f Last, not least, the " Yenus of the Shell," 
 which now adorns the Ellesmere collection, seems the 
 
 i 
 
 * This subject, ascribed to Titian, 
 was in the gallery of Queen 
 Christine. (See the Catalogue in 
 Campori's Eaccolta, u. s., pp. 340 
 -1). 
 
 f The Darmstadt Venus, No. 
 520 in the Grand Ducal Museum 
 of Darmstadt, — on canvas, m. 
 1.30 h. by 1.66 br. — is so injured, 
 that the catalogue does not 
 venture to assign it to Titian, and 
 yet there are parts in it, inde- 
 pendent of the lines and land- 
 scape, which are most graceful, 
 that display the hand of Titian, 
 ex. gr. } a portion of the bosom, 
 and particularly the right breast, 
 and that portion of the back- 
 ground which comprises a road 
 winding down from a hill covered 
 with farm-buildings. The rest 
 of the picture is irretrievably 
 damaged, particularly the head, 
 which is grey, and the hand, 
 which is deformed, the red couch, 
 the landscape and sky. Of the 
 copies and replicas of this picture, 
 the following notes may be of 
 interest : 
 
 London. Duke of Wellington, 
 Apsley House. Eeplica of the 
 above under Titian's name, by 
 a Venetian of Titian's School, — on 
 canvas. 
 
 London. Dudley House. Can- 
 vas copy of smaller size than the 
 
 foregoing, ascribed to Titian. In 
 the foreground to the left a little 
 dog ; a picture of the Bolognese 
 School. 
 
 Cambridge. Pitzwilliam Mu- 
 seum, No. 38. Copy of the 
 Darmstadt Venus, with the dog 
 in addition. A canvas ascribed 
 to Padovanino, and quite in his 
 style. 
 
 Dulwich Gallery. The same 
 Venus as above on a white cloth 
 in front of a red curtain, in a 
 court enclosed to the left by a 
 terrace-balustrade, beyond which, 
 a landscape is seen. A winged 
 Cupid pricks the hand of Venus 
 with a dart. Here the hand is 
 not that of Titian, but of a disciple 
 of the Schools of Bassano and 
 Tintoretto. 
 
 Dresden Gallery, No. 236. Can- 
 vas, 3 ft. 9£ by 6 ft. U. The 
 Venus as before, but lying on a 
 white sheet before a red curtain 
 in a landscape. The Cupid was 
 so injured that it was painted 
 over. This specimen is assigned 
 dubiously to Sassoferrato. 
 
 The same picture, with varieties 
 in the landscape, and a different 
 position of the Venus in the land- 
 scape, formed part of the Tassis 
 Collection at Venice in the seven- 
 teenth century, and was engraved 
 in 1682 by Lefebre. 
 
 t 2 
 
276 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VII. 
 
 final effort of this period to combine the form of the 
 antique with the realism of the moderns. There was 
 indeed the less reason for neglecting the lessons of 
 classic art in this instance, as the subject was one 
 which did not involve any afterthought, and it was 
 not necessary to immortalize any of those frail ladies 
 who held Yenetian patricians enthralled. Venus 
 Anadyomene rising — new-born but full grown — from 
 the sea, and wringing her hair, might have suggested 
 one of those ideals which were conceived in past ages 
 by the genius of Phidias and Apelles. But Titian, 
 even with this theme to work upon, could not imagine 
 anything sufficiently elevated to compare with the 
 antique, and he produced at best one of those creations 
 which recall Greek art in its externals without im- 
 pressing us with a sublime purity. Venus is seen 
 standing in the sea, undraped, — a shell floating on 
 the ripples of the water which covers her knees. Her 
 right arm is raised to hold the long hair of which she 
 combs the tresses with her left, and her face is turned 
 full towards the spectator, at whom she looks with a 
 piercing glance that seems to shoot irresistibly from 
 the round of an eye-ball hardly concealed in any part 
 by its long silken lash. The grace of the movement 
 is true but alluring, the face a perfect oval, but both 
 belong to a being more conscious than innocent. 
 There is more fulness and more exuberance of flesh in 
 this than in earlier representations of a similar kind 
 by Titian ; but there is also more subtlety in render- 
 ing modulations, more delicacy in varying gradations, 
 a broader touch, and more substantial impast. Yet 
 
Chap. VII.] 
 
 YENUS ANADYOMENE. 
 
 277 
 
 Titian never gave more perfect rounding with so little 
 shadow ; the whole shape contrasts in silver grey with 
 the brighter hues of the hair, the water, and the sky, 
 and the features are those of a new model which takes 
 the place of the " Violante" and " Flora," and serves 
 to represent alternately the Goddess of Love, and the 
 Magdalen of Scripture. Pliny tells us that when 
 Augustus took the "Yenus Anadyomene" of Apellesto 
 the temple of Coesar, it was injured and submitted for 
 repair to the painters of Eome, not one of whom was 
 found able to restore it. Attempts have been made at 
 various periods to give its original lustre to the " Venus" 
 of Titian, but the result has been to damage and not 
 to improve, and some of the delicacies of the model- 
 ling have been carried off ruthlessly by the sponge of 
 the cleaner.* 
 
 * The " Venus Anadyomene," 
 now No. 19 in the Ellesmere 
 Collection, is on canvas, the figure 
 under life size. From the collec- 
 tion of Queen Christine, where we 
 first find it (Campori, Eaccolta, 
 u. s., 341), it passed into the 
 
 Orleans Collection, and was sold 
 in 1800 for £800 to the Duke of 
 Bridgewater. (Compare Waagen, 
 Treasures, ii. 31 and 497). The 
 figure is turned to the left, the 
 face to the right. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Gonzagas. — Their first acquaintance with Titian. — Titian at 
 Mantua, and his first picture for the Marquess Federico. — The 
 Entombment. — Portraits of Jacopo Soranzp and A. Capello. — 
 Madonna of San Niccolo de' Frari. — Accession of Doge Gritti ; 
 fresco of St. Christopher. — Titian and Paris Bordone. — The 
 Baptism of Christ. — Frescos in the Doge's Chapel at Yenice. — 
 Portraits of Gritti. — Titian and Sansovino. — Journey to Ferrara. 
 — Tommaso Mosti. — Promotion of Titian's father. — Annunciation 
 at San Eocco. — Madonna di Casa Pesaro. — Influence of Titian on 
 Paolo Veronese. 
 
 In 1523 the circle of Titian's practice was en- 
 larged; and the Marquess of Mantua was added to 
 the list of his patrons. Such an addition at such 
 a moment might be considered natural when we re- 
 member that Federico Gonzaga the Second was the 
 son of Isabella d' Este, and nephew to Titian's 
 staunchest ally Alfonso of Ferrara. Many years 
 before this period, when Federico was but a child, 
 Titian witnessed a dramatic episode in which the 
 fortunes of the Gonzagas were deeply involved. The 
 war of the League of Cambrai had broken out and 
 Francesco Marquess of Mantua, captive to a band 
 of Stradiots near Verona, was sent by Andrea Gritti 
 to the capital, where he was lodged in the palace of 
 St. Mark.* Special preparations had been made to 
 
 * August 10, 1509. He was 
 imprisoned in that part of the 
 p&l&ce called "le Torreselle." 
 
 Sanuto, Diario IX., in Cicogna, 
 Iscr. Ven., vi. 244. 
 
Chap. VIII.] THE GONZAGAS. 
 
 279 
 
 give strength to certain apartments in the palace, 
 and one of the most interesting records of the time 
 is Pietro Lombardo's acconnt for securing the rooms 
 in which the distinguished captive was confined.* 
 After his release Francesco shewed that wonderful 
 capacity to trim which struck the historian Mario 
 Equicola, who was able to boast that in the space of 
 nine years, from 1510 to 1519, the Mantuan territory 
 was never visited by a hostile force nor disgraced by 
 the uninvited presence of a foreign flag.f But twice 
 in the lapse of those years the powers jealous of 
 Ferrara and Mantua tried to seize the person of 
 Francesco's heir, that they might have a hostage for 
 the good conduct of the Mantuan ruler. In each 
 instance the "Venetian republic and Julius the Second 
 were foiled, but Federico as a boy felt the perils 
 of his position, and cultivated the arts of intrigue 
 by which these perils might be averted. When at 
 the age of eighteen he inherited his father's estate 
 he too had learnt to trim, and we see him, though 
 a declared friend of France at his accession, seeking 
 investiture from Charles the Fifth as suzerain, and 
 acquiring the good graces of the republic, his nearest 
 and most dangerous neighbour. It was probably 
 during a visit to Yenice in January and February 
 1520, that Federico first made acquaintance with 
 the works if not with the person of Titian. During 
 his stay there he was initiated in all the mysteries 
 of the Venetian Carnival, and solemnly elected a 
 
 * Lorenzi, u. s., p. 150. I di Mantova, 8vo, Mant., 2nd ed. 
 
 t Mario Equicola, Dell' Istoria I of 1610, p. 267. 
 
280 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 member of the company of the Calza.* To this 
 company or club it was usual that princes should 
 be invited. Its members were the flower of the 
 Venetian patriciate, who subscribed money and spent 
 it on comedies and shows. They were licensed to 
 transgress the sumptuary laws of the republic and 
 wear the particoloured dress which Titian, at an 
 early period of his career, depicted on the walls of 
 the Fondaco.f As a member of this gay society, 
 Federico Gonzaga might in 1520 have made the 
 personal acquaintance of the painter with whom his 
 uncle's envoy Tebalcli was intimate ; but the Marquess 
 was probably too young at the time to think much 
 of art, and though he probably saw the master's 
 works, he failed to notice the master himself. It 
 was not till 1523 that his attention was really called 
 to Titian, but then he took the most active means 
 to attract him to his court, and the success of his 
 endeavours is proved by the following letter. 
 
 GIAMBATTISTA MALATESTA TO THE MARQUIS 
 PEDERICO GONZAGA. 
 
 " The bearer of these presents is Maestro Ticiano, 
 most excellent in art, but modest and gentle withal. 
 He leaves many works of importance in suspense 
 to go and kiss the hand of your Excellency, who 
 deigned to ask me to seek him out. I therefore 
 refrain from saying more in his favour. 
 
 "From Venice, the 25th of January, 1523."$ 
 
 * See Marin Sanuto in Cicogna., I t Sansovino, Ven. desc, p. 406. 
 Iscr. Venet. vi., 268. | t The original is in Appendix. 
 
Chap. VIII.] TITIAN AND GONZAGA. 281 
 
 We may assume that Titian soon satisfied his new 
 patron of his skill, for Federico from this time till 
 his death, treated the painter with great distinction ; 
 and we find him despatching Titian from Mantua to 
 Ferrara with the following letter : 
 
 FEDERICO GONZAGA TO ALFONSO D'ESTE. 
 
 " Most Illustrious and best Lord Uncle, — Having 
 asked Titian, the bearer of these presents, to execute 
 certain work for me, he declared himself unable to 
 serve me at present, because of a promise to do 
 certain things for your Excellency which require 
 time. For this reason I send him to attend your 
 Excellency. But I beg he may be sent back at once 
 to expedite the work I have on hand for him, which 
 will take but a few days. As soon as he shall have 
 done he can return to the service of your Excellency, 
 and in this your Excellency will do me a singular 
 pleasure to whom I stand greatly recommended. 
 
 " Servus et Nepos 
 " Federicus Marchio. Mantua. 
 
 " S.R.E. Capit. gnalis. 
 " Mantua, 3rd February, 1523." 
 
 The work to which Titian was thus pressingly 
 invited was a portrait, to obtain which Federico 
 spared neither flattery nor presents ; f and the follow- 
 ing letter from Braghino Croce of Correggio, a chamber- 
 
 * Translated from, the original 
 in Campori, Tiziano e gli Estensi, 
 p. 17. 
 
 t No clue is given here as to 
 
 the person portrayed. Federico' & 
 own likeness, we shall see, he 
 ordered later. 
 
282 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 lain and special envoy of the Marquess at Yenice, 
 tells how he strove to gratify the painter. 
 
 BKAGHINO TO THE MAEQUIS FEDEEICO GONZAGA. 
 
 "I gave the doublet to Mro. Tuciano in the 
 presence of several high personages, and he is very 
 grateful. He thinks of nothing bnt your Excellency's 
 service, to which he will readily devote even his life 
 blood, and he kisses many times your Excellency's 
 hand. As to the portrait, which is very fine, he says 
 he shall try to give it a handsome framing and then 
 send it home. 
 
 " From Venice, the 11th of August, 1523." 
 
 The two agents of the Marquis quarrelled, it would 
 seem, for the favour of sending the picture to Mantua, 
 but Malatesta was the fortunate one, whose zeal was 
 rewarded with the following laconic note : 
 
 FEDEEICO GONZAGA TO GIAMBATTISTA MALATESTA, 
 AT VENICE. 
 
 " We have received the picture sent by Maestro 
 Tutiano, which pleased us very much. 
 
 "From Mantua, the loth of August, 1523." * 
 
 We may ascribe to a period subsequent to this 
 correspondence one of the finest performances that 
 issued from Titian's hands before he finally lost the 
 impress of Palmesque art; and this is the "Entomb- 
 
 * For the originals of the above, I on the 14th of August, 1523, see 
 and a letter written by Braghino | the Appendix. 
 
Chap. YIIL] 
 
 THE ENTOMBMENT. 
 
 283 
 
 ment," which passed in the seventeenth century, 
 from the Palace of the Gonzagas into the collection 
 of Charles the First, and which since the clays of 
 Lonis the Fourteenth has been an ornament of the 
 French State Gallery. 
 
 The " Entombment/' though incomparably below 
 Eaphael's version of the same theme in respect of 
 balanced distribution and complexity of line, is still 
 for Titian a representative piece. It would be true 
 to say that none of the figures perform all that they 
 seem to promise, and that there is more of symbolism 
 than of absolute reality in the action of every one 
 of them; and yet the impression produced by the 
 picture as a whole is probably much greater than 
 that which we receive on looking at the Borghese 
 altar-piece ; and this arises no doubt from a surprising 
 variety in type and expression, a subtle display of 
 light surfaces upon a ground studded with diverse 
 shades of gloom, and a richness of colouring which 
 throws over the whole canvas a mysterious weirdness. 
 Two men bending over the corpse of the Eedeemer 
 are supposed to bear the awful weight of His frame ; 
 St. John Evangelist behind merely holds up the arm ; 
 but these three figures alone , form the pyramid of 
 the composition, and the group of the Yirgin and 
 Magdalen on the left is but a splendid bit of fioritara. 
 The body of Christ is suspended in a cloth, one corner 
 of which is held at the hip by Mcodemus, the other 
 tightly grasped at the knee by Joseph of Arimathea. 
 Mcodemus, in a blood-reel tunic of complex texture, 
 with a green lining and brown sleeves, shows his 
 
284 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 back to the spectator as lie strides and bends to his 
 load, whilst Joseph, in a deep-green coat and his 
 shirt sleeve rolled up, kneels with one leg on a stone 
 and sways the body in the direction of the tomb. The 
 Evangelist in rear between both, follows their move- 
 ment and looks np as he raises the Saviour's wrist. 
 To the left the Yirgin, in a blue mantle, wrings her 
 hands and partly rests on the supporting arm of the 
 Magdalen, whose yellow dress and loosened hair 
 flutter in the breeze. Taken singly, each of these 
 figures is moving in a quick momentary way. The 
 form of Christ is perfectly symmetrical, of great 
 strength and preternatural size, the head majestically 
 enframed in flowing locks and copious beard, the limbs 
 and feet beautifully moulded and admirably drawn, 
 the whole shape, if not ideal and " godlike," still a 
 wonderfully supple and choice representation of select 
 nature. The bearers finely display the raw muscle 
 of strength in movement that looks spontaneous and 
 true, whilst the action is cleverly promoted by earnest 
 and telling expression ; and yet in all this exhibition 
 of contrasted inertness, motion and strain, there is 
 much that is merely show. The effort of Mcodemus 
 and Joseph is unreal, for the cere-cloth which they 
 hold bears no trace of tension, and experience tells 
 us that two men in these positions would hardly lift 
 the manly load between them. But in spite of these 
 incongruities and imperfections, which indeed defy 
 detection unless we free ourselves from the charm 
 that enwraps us, the scene looks real ; and the faults 
 are neutralized by modulations of darkness and gleams 
 
Chap. VIII.] THE ENTOMBMENT. 
 
 285 
 
 of light cropping up here and there with a startling 
 vividness peculiar to Titian, or by tones of a pene- 
 trant force and richness which stir fibres that would 
 remain inevitably motionless before pictures of the 
 Tuscan school. Both light and shade and colour are 
 made subservient to the concentration of focal effect. 
 Whilst the form of Nicodemus throws the head and 
 frame of the Eedeemer into darkness, the whole of 
 the legs and parts about the hips shine brightly in 
 the ray which strikes simultaneously on the dazzling 
 white of the cere-cloth and illumines the bearded profile 
 of Joseph, the fine cut features of John, and the faces 
 of the Maries, casting a lurid glare that fitfully flits 
 from a break in the wind-beaten heavens. The 
 same gleam sets the clouds in the distant sky into 
 red edges, and sheds a depth as of night on the tree- 
 tufted knoll to the right, in a recess of which the 
 sepulchre is yawning. The " Entombment " closes 
 a period which opened with the " Christ" of "The 
 Tribute Money." It still reminds us of Giorgione in 
 the picturesque form and outblown hair of the Evan- 
 gelist. It still recalls Palma Yecchio in a certain 
 moulding of face and limbs, in shallow depressions 
 of stuff in drapery, and in contrasts that bring before 
 us varieties of weather-beaten flesh in males, and 
 pearly skin in women. As regards colour, effect and 
 elevation of proportion, it is far ahead of anything 
 that either Palma or Giorgione ever produced, whilst 
 as regards expression and the rendering of passion 
 no painter of the Yenetian School can now compare 
 with Titian. Not to speak of the calm repose of the 
 
286 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 Saviour, or the busy intentness of Joseph, there is 
 a wildncss of anguish in the Magdalen, a depth of 
 agonized grief in the Virgin, and a tumult of feeling 
 in the Evangelist which stir the soul, and for tech- 
 nical handling who shall say that Titian was ever 
 surpassed, when he notes how subtly the livid faces 
 are blenched by grief, and lighted with the sun's 
 glare or pitted in tone against the glow of ruddy hair. 
 Everywhere a grand facility and surprising versatility 
 in touch. Here a surface worked out with liquid 
 tint modelled into thin softness of film, there great 
 body of pigment with spare saturation, and occasional 
 charge of solid colour, an intertress of delicate and 
 studied blending, heightened by golden reflexes. 
 But whilst the master still reminds us of his earlier 
 companions in the field which he now occupies with- 
 out a rival, he reveals to us also the sources from 
 which his disciples in the Yenetian School were in- 
 spired. Of Palma and Giorgione there is a remini- 
 scence which tells of that which has passed and gone, 
 whilst certain forms like that of the bending Mco- 
 demus or Joseph foreshadow the coming of Paul 
 Veronese and Giacomo Bassano ; and it is well thus 
 early to note the spring at which these great provin- 
 cials drew, because it is the fashion to urge that 
 Titian took from them at a later period what — it is 
 clear — they merely took from him. 
 
 The " Entombment," "a Mantua piece in the first 
 privy lodging at Whitehall," was sold to Jabach after 
 the death of Charles the Eirst for £120. It had been 
 a favourite, we cannot doubt, of Van Dyck, whose 
 
Chap. VIII.] 
 
 PORTKAIT OF SOEANZO. 
 
 287 
 
 style was greatly influenced by it. A clever Yenetian 
 — perhaps a disciple in Titian's own workshop, made 
 an exact copy of it, which, till lately, was preserved 
 in the Manfrini Collection.* 
 
 Amongst the sitters to whom Titian occasionally 
 gave an hour at this period, Jacopo di Francesco 
 Soranzo should be numbered; he was a patrician of 
 fortune at a period of national penury, and thought it 
 worth while in 1522 to pay 14,000 ducats for the 
 office of procurator. Titian, who was commissioned to 
 paint his portrait for the Procuratie, performed hi& 
 task with a light and skilful hand, and the face, with 
 its lean shape and piercing eye, its grey hair and 
 white beard, still stands out with a certain noblesse 
 against the dark ground of a damasked * silk pelisse. 
 But unhappily the canvas was removed from its place, 
 and transferred to the Academy, where it underwent 
 one of those radical processes of restoring which too 
 often obliterate the traces of the master hand.f 
 
 * The canvas of the " Entomb- 
 ment ' ' is registered in an inventory 
 of the Mantuan Palace in 1627. 
 (Darco, Delle Arti di Mantova, 
 ii. 160.) It is now No. 465 at the 
 Louvre, and is noted in Bathoe's 
 Catalogue as 4 ft. 4 in. high, by 
 7 ft. long ; in Villot's Catalogue 
 as m. 1.48 by 2.05. The text has 
 failed to notice the crown of 
 thorns at the foot of the stone on 
 which Joseph of Arimathea is 
 kneeling, and the clever bunches 
 of weeds near it. The legs of the 
 three men are bare, their feet in 
 sail dais. The whole is fairly pre- 
 served. Engravings are nu- 
 
 merous by G. Kousselet, Cha- 
 peron, Masson, Johs. de Marc, 
 Filhol, and Landon. Photograph 
 by Braun. See Bathoe's Cata- 
 logue, p. 96, and the Catalogue 
 of the Louvre. The Manfrini 
 copy, which was lately sold, was 
 on canvas, and of the same size 
 as the original. 
 
 + This canvas is now No. 319 
 in the Venice Academy, its size is 
 m. 1 .03 h. by 0.89. The whofe of 
 the upper part of the background, 
 and both hands, are new, the rest 
 much injured. On a patch of 
 canvas at top the old inscription, 
 " Jacobvs Svperantio, mdxxii." 
 
288 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 During the days when Titian threw off this and 
 other trifles, he was busy, with two of the grandest of 
 the works of his middle period, the " Madonna" of San 
 Mccolo de' Frari, and the " Madonna" of CasaPesaro; 
 and it is of no small interest to note that though the 
 latter was completed earlier than its companion, the 
 Madonna di San Mccolo gives evidence in some of its 
 parts of a later handling. At the period of its first 
 exhibition in 1523, public attention was strongly 
 directed to it, and Marin Sanuto went purposely to 
 see it in the little church of San Niccolo, then within 
 the cloisters of Santa Maria de' Frari.* In the ponti- 
 ficate of Clement the Fourteenth, it was removed to 
 Eome, where Yolpato the engraver, and Hamilton the 
 painter, induced the Pope to purchase it. For some 
 time it hung in the Quirinal, but was subsequently 
 taken to the Yatican Gallery, where some* artistic 
 Yandal reduced it from an arched panel to a square.*)* 
 
 has been renewed with the 
 cyphers mdxiiii. But compare 
 Cicogna, Iscr. Ven., ii. 58, and 
 iv. 630, and Zanotto's Pinacoteca 
 dell' Accad. Venet., folio, Ven. 
 1834, in which the portrait is en- 
 graved. 
 
 In the Academy of Venice 
 another portrait is numbered 465, 
 and described as representing the 
 procurator Antonio Capello, by 
 Titian. It hung originally in the 
 Procuratie. But here again the 
 canvas has been patched. The 
 inscription, Antonivs Capello, 
 mdxxiiii, is new, and the figure, 
 a half-length, bearded, and in a 
 red silk robe, is injured by re- 
 
 painting to such an extent that it 
 looks more like the work of D. 
 Mazza than of Titian. 
 
 * Sanuto's Diary, 1523, as 
 extracted by Cicogna in MS. notes 
 to Tizianello's Anon., u. s. 
 
 f See Galerie des tableaux 
 situee au troisieme etage des 
 Loges Vaticanes, Eome, 1866, 
 p. 39. It is evidence of North- 
 cote's slight feeling for compo- 
 sition that he considered "the 
 upper and lower parts of the 
 altar-piece as nearly void of con- 
 nection as if they were two dif- 
 ferent pictures." (Northcote's Life 
 of Titian, 8vo, London, 1830, 
 vol. i. p. 72.) 
 
Chap. VIII.] MADONNA DI SAN NICCOLO. 
 
 289 
 
 In the pages of Vasari and Dolce we find a reflex of 
 Venetian opinion in respect of it. The friars who 
 had first intended to give their commission to Paris 
 Bordone, changed their mind and entrusted it to 
 Titian, who exerted himself to produce a masterpiece.* 
 Titian himself considered it so good that he drew the 
 composition on wood with his own hands,*]* and Por- 
 denone is reported to have said that it was not 
 painting but flesh itself.J Various parts struck dif- 
 ferent people at the same time as perfect. Dolce 
 thought that the gold brocade of St. Nicholas showed 
 roughness and reflexions, and woof and weft, like 
 nature ; he considered the St. Sebastian to have the 
 semblance of life.§ Vasari, in a characteristic descrip- 
 tion, displayed the inward struggles of a man whose 
 heart told him to praise, whilst his education urged 
 him to reprove. The nude Sebastian, he said, looked 
 like true flesh, and was held to be fine though it 
 was taken from life, without displaying any arti- 
 fice of selection, and showed nothing more than an 
 accurate presentment of nature. || Eidolfi remarked 
 that St. Nicholas was drawn from the antique Lao- 
 coon, All admired the realism, some the classicism, 
 none the colour. Simple in the highest degree, the 
 composition must have been perfect in symmetry 
 before the arching was removed in which the dove 
 was seen shedding its rays on the head of the 
 
 * Vasari, xiii. p. 47. 
 
 t Tizianello's Anon., p. ix., and 
 Vasari, xiii. p. 26. The print is 
 by Andrea Andreani, but there is 
 also an engraving from the picture 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 by Lefebre. 
 t Dolce, Dialogo, p. 66. 
 § Ibid. 
 
 || Vas. xiii. 26. 
 
 Eidolfi, Maraviglie, i. p. 224. 
 
 u 
 
290 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. YIH. 
 
 Madonna. Beneath it the Virgin is placed on a 
 dome of clond intercepting the bine sky, two angels 
 at her side carrying wreaths, the boy Christ on her lap 
 with a wreath also ; Mother and Child bending over 
 and looking downward at a gronp of six saints 
 standing in the cnrve of a roofless temple. To the 
 right St. Sebastian bonncl to the pillar, stnck with 
 arrows, bnt of serene and meditative aspect, his body 
 in full light, his face in half shade ; to the left St. 
 Nicholas in episcopals, with book and crozier, looking 
 np ; between the two, and slightly thrown back, St. 
 Peter carrying the keys, St. Francis and St. Anthony 
 of Padua; and, behind St. Nicholas to the left, St. 
 Catherine as a martyr. Above, all silver and light ; 
 below, a dusky wall, against which the nude flesh of 
 Sebastian contrasts with the brown frocks of the 
 Franciscans, the yellow mantle of Peter, the brocades 
 of Nicholas, and the crimson dress of Catherine. 
 Eidolfi is right. The face of St. Nicholas with its 
 upturned foreshortening reflects the lineaments of the 
 Laocoon, of which a model had been made in these 
 days by Sansovino for Cardinal Domenico Grimani, 
 and a cast of which was kept in Titian's atelier.* 
 Pordenone is right, Sebastian is like flesh itself. 
 What we now see is not to all appearance pigment, 
 but something living and flexible, the substance of 
 which would apparently yield to the touch — a model, 
 as Yasari suggests, in whose limbs and torso no refine- 
 
 * Zanetti (Pitt. Venet., p. 148) 
 states .that he studied from this 
 cast. But compare also Te- 
 
 manza's Life of Sansovino, 4to, 
 Yen. 1778, p. 6. 
 
Chap. VIII.] MADONNA DI SAN NICCOLO. 
 
 291 
 
 ment can be discerned, bnt whose frame is rendered 
 with matchless skill and mastery. Dolce is correct, 
 for the dress of St. Nicholas is a marvellous example 
 of technical imitation; but beyond all this there is 
 colour; and with it a semblance of the reality 
 throughout, that stamps the master as unique in the 
 annals of Italian art. Pordenone we should think 
 would admire not the flesh only, but the large and 
 majestic forms, the powerful action and manly expres- 
 sion, for in these he himself excelled; he would 
 admire also, since he tried to acquire it, that wonder- 
 ful clearness of cloud and sky, that playfulness of 
 angels, that grace in the momentary action of Virgin 
 and Child, which reminds us of Correggio, whose 
 charming sprightliness and humour in glories of this 
 kind was displayed in its purest form in the churches 
 of Parma. Above all he would envy Titian's exu- 
 berant richness of tone, his incomparable ease in 
 handling, and his skill in reproducing nude form. 
 Titian indeed not only challenges admiration for all 
 these qualities, he also challenges comparison in 
 another sense. We look back almost involuntarily 
 from the Virgin in glory at Ancona, to the Virgin 
 in glory of San Mccold, from the St. Sebastian of 
 the Salute or of Brescia to that of the Vatican. 
 Titian attains to as much clearness and rounding as 
 Correggio without falling into any of his conventional 
 affectations. He transcends Allegri in the purity and 
 brightness of his colours. His St. Sebastian is 
 neither as young nor as handsome as that of the 
 Salute, nor as classical as that of Brescia; but the 
 
 u 2 
 
292 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 form if less minutely studied, or less carefully 
 finished is more broadly real, more perfectly toned, 
 and more imposing as a modelled imitation of nature. 
 Technically, there is no mean progress to register 
 since the days of the Assunta ; and richness of palette 
 in tints or impast is only equalled by the subtlety 
 of blending which presents colour in such magic 
 perfection, such forcible contrasts and such ringing 
 harmony as to affect the eye like a reality and baffle 
 analysis. Here we may believe the system described 
 by Palma Giovine was fully applied ; and it would be 
 hard to tell how often the panel was covered up and put 
 aside before the beds of pigment of which we see the 
 thickness through the crevasses was brought to the 
 wonderful kneaded surface which we now discern.* 
 The death of Antonio Grimani, and the accession 
 
 * This panel, numbered XIX in 
 the Vatican Gallery, was taken 
 thither from the Quirinal in the 
 time of Pius VII. It measures 
 m. 3.98 high, by 2.63. On a 
 tablet affixed to the ruin above 
 St. Anthony's head we read " ti- 
 tiants faciebat." The mutila- 
 tion of the top is said to have 
 been carried out for the purpose 
 of getting a pendant to Raphael's 
 Transfiguration. A vain search 
 was made quite lately for the 
 upper arching. A new panelling 
 now keeps together the eleven 
 boards of which the table is 
 formed ; but some damaging hori- 
 zontal splits are still visible. In 
 some places the colour was altered 
 by time and smoke, and the whole 
 
 background of the ruin is more 
 or less in a bad state; the sha- 
 dows and semitones are modified 
 throughout, the glazings in se- 
 veral parts removed, and deep 
 cracks filled' up with paint. Alto- 
 gether new are the foot of St. 
 Francis and a piece of St. Se- 
 bastian's right leg below the knee. 
 When Sir Joshua Eeynolds saw 
 the picture in San Niccold at 
 Venice in 1752, it was so dark 
 that nothing was seen but the 
 body of St. Sebastian, who looked 
 as if he had lost his head. See 
 Sir Joshua's Diary, in Leslie and 
 Taylor's work, i. 76. The pic- 
 ture is photographed after the 
 original by Alinari. 
 
Chap. VIII.] 
 
 DOGE GEITTI. 
 
 293 
 
 of Andrea Gritti to the dogeship on the 20th of May, 
 1523, imposed new dnties upon Titian, and in some 
 respect improved his position at Venice. Gritti came 
 to the ducal throne after a long and active life of 
 diplomacy and arms. He was sixty-eight years old, 
 and a man whose least advantages were derived from a 
 handsome face and a commanding form. Detained 
 and confined at Constantinople during the great 
 Turkish war, he negotiated from his cell the peace of 
 Venice with Eajazet the Second. A prisoner of the 
 French after the recapture of Brescia by Gaston de 
 Foix, he exchanged the status of a captive for that 
 of an ambassador, and produced the treaty of Blois 
 which gave new preponderance to French councils at 
 Venice. At Marignano and Novarra he shared the 
 varying fortunes of Francis the First and his generals, 
 and acquired that fondness for the French which gave 
 him the reputation of a partisan of France. But a 
 thorough Venetian in subtlety, he concealed his 
 partiality, and when it appeared that a Spanish and 
 German alliance was inevitable, he signed the capitu- 
 lation of July, 1523, with Charles the Fifth, which cost 
 the republic 200,000 ducats, preparatory to preventing 
 the Venetian army from taking part in the battle of 
 Pavia. After the release of Francis the First, he 
 turned quickly round again and joined the enemies of 
 Charles the Fifth. One of the earliest incidents 
 connected with his tenure of power has been in- 
 geniously connected with his partial leaning to France 
 on the one hand, and his nascent approval of Titian's 
 skill as a painter on the other. At the foot of a stair 
 
294 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VDX 
 
 in the Palace of St. Mark, leading from the Doge's 
 private apartments to the Senate Hall, a large fresco 
 by Titian represents St. Christopher wading with the 
 infant Christ on his shonlder in the shallows of the 
 lagoons, the distance being a view of Venice with the 
 Campanile and the cnpolas of St. Mark rising above 
 the horizon. In date of September 1523 Gnicciardini 
 " records the arrival of the French army near Milan, 
 and its encampment at San Cristofano, within a mile 
 of the city between the Ticino and the Eoman gate ; "* 
 and it is supposed that intelligence of this movement 
 having reached the Doge, he commanded Titian to 
 celebrate the event by painting this fresco. Being a 
 Gallican, Gritti wonld thns gratify his favonrite incli- 
 nation without offending the imperialists who might 
 have taken offence if St. Louis had been preferred 
 to St. Charles. f It might be also that Gritti was 
 aware of the Marquis of Pescara's known desire and 
 expressed intention of diverting the waters of the 
 lagoons in order to capture and extinguish the 
 republic, and that he intended to suggest that a saint 
 might wade through the waters to the Lido, but a 
 mortal never.J Whatever may be true of these 
 hypotheses, it is hardly doubtful that the fresco of St. 
 Christopher was painted at this time, and being a 
 solitary example of an art which the master had not 
 
 * Guicciardini's History, vol. 
 iii. p. 404. 
 
 t Eor this ingenious theory 
 ■we are indebted to Mr. Eawdon 
 Brown, who truly observes (in 
 a private communication), " Man- 
 ner, locality, and chronology, as 
 
 likewise the doge's politics (which 
 are alluded to by the English 
 ambassador Pace, A.D. 1523), all 
 favour my hypothesis." 
 
 X See for Pescara's plan, Ci- 
 cogna, Iscr. Ven. vi. 184. 
 
Chap. VIIL] FEESCO OF ST. CHRISTOPHEK. 
 
 295 
 
 practised for several years it invites attention. It is 
 clear at once to the most unpractised eye, that how- 
 ever great the master may be in oils, he is out of his 
 element in fresco. He disappoints us, not because he 
 is a worse draughtsman or a less careful executant 
 than at Padua, but because he still lacks the fresh- 
 ness, the transparency, and the colour which charm 
 us in his pictures; and this we may believe arises 
 solely from want of familiarity with tools and 
 materials, and a want of knack which makes his 
 shadows opaque and dark, his lights discordant and 
 streaky. There is no denying a certain grandeur in 
 the composition, and certain qualities in the treat- 
 ment. The saint is made to support himself under the 
 weight of his load with a long and heavy pole, and 
 he seems surprised as he looks up to the Divine Infant, 
 who sits astride of his neck and grasps his dress with 
 the left hand, whilst he points with the right to 
 heaven. The figure suggests extraordinary physical 
 strength and size. The Child sits very prettily in his 
 white shirt, and looks very arch as the breeze which 
 curls the water of the lagoon blows out sail-like his 
 little tunic. 
 
 There is a grand fall in the folds of the Saint's red 
 and green drapery, which flaps in the wind that 
 banks up the clouds above the horizon ; and the old 
 Titianesque feeling is displayed in the clever opposi- 
 tion of tinted flesh and stuffs to balmy air and pearly 
 skies. The forms truly bear the impress of that 
 period in Titian's art which produced the Madonna of 
 San Niccolo de' Frari, and culminated in the composi- 
 
296 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 tion of Peter Martyr ; but it would almost appear as 
 if the unusual medium in which he worked had to 
 some extent paralyzed the spirit of the Master; or 
 the element of colour fails to play its usual part, and 
 leaves unveiled the common realism of a fisherman 
 poling his way — as if in a punt — against the strength 
 of a driving current. There is something short and 
 massive in a shape of which the various parts are 
 brought into curves of exaggerated swell, and the 
 joints and articulations, though correctly drawn, are 
 made to project obtrusively, the sense of instant 
 volition being lost in the strain which a model might 
 keep up for any part of an hour without excessive 
 exertion.* But with all its faults, this fresco is the 
 work of a master — of a master too, whose influence 
 produced great talents in the sequel. It was one of 
 the works which Paul Yeronese — we should think — 
 first looked at, one which Paris Bordone, and Lotto, 
 probably studied; and it is not improbable that we 
 may thus ascribe to this period the connection which 
 united these artists in the relative positions of master 
 and disciple. 
 
 We have seen Titian at Padua and Yicenza en- 
 gaged in works which he shared with Campagnola. 
 Later still he painted at the Hall of Great Council 
 
 * To see this fresco one must 
 enter the door above which it is 
 placed, ascend the steps, and turn 
 from the landing to look back at 
 it. There is no direct light on the 
 wall, and Titian shows his mastery 
 in producing an effect suited to 
 the semi-obscurity of the place. 
 
 The figure of St. Christopher is- 
 larger than life, the flesh lights of 
 a warm brown, worked up with 
 hatchings, lighter in light, dark 
 in shadow, broken here and there 
 by cold touches. Consult Bidolfi, 
 Marav. i., 216. There is a photo- 
 graph of the fresco by Naya. 
 
Chap. VIII.] 
 
 PAEIS BOEDONE. 
 
 297 
 
 with Lodovico di Giovanni and Antonio Buxei. From 
 that time forward the names of his assistants were 
 overshadowed by his own. But Paris Bordone was 
 very soon to take an important place in Yenetian 
 art, and he was now very probably beginning to 
 assert his right to be counted among the rising 
 generation of Yenetian artists. Born in 1500 at 
 Treviso, Paris came early to be formed by Titian at 
 Venice, and he soon showed a decided tendency to 
 realism. But whereas in Titian realism acquired no 
 obtrusive importance, it soon expanded in Bordone to 
 disagreeable proportions, and although he succeeded 
 very cleverly in a masterpiece like the fisherman 
 presenting the Doge's ring, he much more frequently 
 fell into a technical imitation of accidental peculiari- 
 ties in stuff, or coarse voluptuous naturalism in male 
 and female nudes to please any but an imrefined taste. 
 When he first left the school he produced pictures 
 that were often taken for Titian's, and one of these, 
 a portrait of Giovanni Earn, witnessing the ceremony 
 of John baptizing Christ, is still preserved in the 
 gallery of the Capitol at Eome. But here he recalls 
 Titian chiefly in a landscape, and in the clever 
 handling of a portrait profile ; whilst in other pieces 
 he distinctly imitates Titian ; and in the Madonna with 
 Saints of Sant' Agostino at Crema, he takes almost 
 bodily into the picture the St. Christopher of the 
 public palace.* 
 
 * The Baptism, No. 124 in the 
 gallery of the Capitol, is clearly 
 that which the Anonimo (Morelli, 
 p. 79) thus describes under date 
 
 of 1531 in the gallery of Zuanne 
 Earn: " Tavola of St. John 
 baptising Christ in Jordan, who 
 stands up to the knees in the river, 
 
298 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VHI. 
 
 About the time when Titian painted this fresco, he 
 was probably under orders to adorn with subjects the 
 Doge's chapel at the head of the Giant's staircase in 
 the public palace.* Though dedicated to St. Nicholas 
 and called by his name, this chapel had originally 
 been furnished with frescos representing incidents 
 from the legend of Pope Alexander; but after a 
 thorough renovation in 1505-6, it had been left 
 without pictorial adornments.! In May, 1524, the 
 necessity for further repairs became apparent, and 
 Andrea Gritti resolved to decorate the whole of the 
 
 with a fine landscape, and M. 
 Zuanne Earn portrayed to the 
 waist, his back to the spectator, 
 by Titian." If Titian had any- 
 thing to do with this picture, he 
 did no more than order its execu- 
 tion by a disciple in his workshop, 
 and that disciple was Paris Bor- 
 done. The Baptist to the left 
 kneels on the steep bank of 
 Jordan, resting his left hand on a 
 tree-stump, and pouring the water 
 with his right on the Saviour's 
 head. Behind the group are 
 trees. The sun sheds rays over 
 distant hill and bush and farm- 
 stead, and five cherubs' heads are 
 seen in the sky. In the middle 
 ground a small figure in an atti- 
 tude of terror, and two vultures, 
 one of which feeds on a dead kid. 
 In the corner to the right, 
 Zuanne Earn shows his head and 
 shoulders, looking up, and point- 
 ing with his left hand. There is 
 no balance in the composition, 
 and little that recalls the breadth 
 and grandeur of Titian in the 
 
 figures. The picture is a pleasing 
 youthful production of Bordone 
 in his Titianesque form. But it 
 is not to be forgotten that the 
 panel has been cleaned and robbed 
 of some of its finer glazings. 
 Photograph by Alinari. 
 
 The St. Christopher with a 
 variety in the turn of the head, 
 and in the position of the right 
 leg is one of the figures in an 
 altarpiece, representing the Ma- 
 donna with Saints, by Paris 
 Bordone. Prom St. Agostino of 
 Crema, where it was seen by the 
 Anonimo (Morelli, p. 55) ; it 
 passed but a few years since into 
 the Tadini Collection at Lovere. 
 Vasari also mentions this picture, 
 xiii. 50. It is on canvas, with 
 figures of life-size. 
 
 * "A mano sinistra tra la scala 
 de' Giganti e la scala coperta." 
 Boschini Eicche Minere, Sest di 
 S. Marco, p. 54. 
 
 -f Lorenzi, 131. This renova- 
 tion was made by Georgio Spa- 
 vento. 
 
Chap. VIII.] THE DOGE'S CHAPEL. 
 
 299 
 
 interior in the costliest style. He ordered a slab of 
 marble with figures in mezzo rilievo to be placed 
 on the altar, and confided the frescos of the walls to 
 Titian. In the lunette above the altar, the Yirgin 
 and child between St. Nicholas and the kneeling 
 Doge, right and left of the altar the four Evangelists, 
 and in the lunette above the entrance, St. Mark seated 
 on a majestic Hon.* It is evidence of the importance 
 of these wall paintings, which unhappily perished, 
 that no other works of this period by Titian have 
 been preserved ; and it would appear that, with the 
 exception of the portraits which he was obliged by 
 the tenure of his place to execute, Titian did little at 
 this time that was thought worthy of remembrance, j* 
 Gritti no doubt sat for the likeness which Titian 
 prepared, according to his habit, for the studio ; and 
 then again — we may think — served as a model for 
 portraits of which historical notices are preserved, 
 and especially for that which perished in the Hall of 
 Great Council at Yenice during the fire of 1577. It 
 is to be regretted that time should have dealt so 
 hardly with the semblance of this heroic Doge. In a 
 working canvas belonging to Count Sebastian Gius- 
 tiniani Barbarigo at Padua, the materials and form as 
 well as the measures are similar to those previously 
 noted in a portrait of Antonio Grimani, belonging to 
 the same collection. The fine canvas, thin priming 
 and smooth surface are particularly remarkable. The 
 
 * Compare Boschini Ricche 
 Minere, Sest di S. Marco, p. 54, 
 Eidolli Marav. i. 216, Sansovino, 
 ed. Martinioni, p. 321. 
 
 t The frescos were first white- 
 washed. The chapel itself was 
 dismantled in 1797. Zanotto,Nuo- 
 vissima Guida, p. 126. 
 
300 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 Doge is facing slightly to the left, his right hand 
 inactive, his features completely illumined, but flushed 
 with a purply red, and enframed in a white beard and 
 whiskers. The ducal cap of white silk with yellow 
 arabesques is edged with a broad gold binding. The 
 white silk mantle interwoven with yellow flowers has 
 gold buttons hanging from cords at close intervals. 
 A yellow doublet fits the frame closely, its fur lining 
 appearing at the seams of the breast and at the wrist. 
 The form and face are those of a handsome man of 
 large stature, with eyes wide apart, an aquiline but 
 fine cut nose, grand lips, and a forehead broad as that 
 of Jove. Though strongly marked, the features dis- 
 play but little of the bold and impulsive handling of 
 Titian, yet it may be that this appearance is caused 
 by modern stippling, which has altered, and all but 
 covered most of the parts. Once more we meet with 
 a canvas which bears the aspect of a study, yet for 
 which long sittings were taken, whilst the parts 
 seem finished at one painting; and this is charac- 
 teristic of the drawing which is carefully made out, as 
 well as of the modelling which is carried out with 
 very thin application of pigment. But here, as in 
 earlier portraits of the Giustiniani collection, it may 
 be that we have genuine work of Titian retouched 
 and changed after Titian's death, and further altered 
 by subsequent " restoring." * 
 
 * The canvas in the Giustini- 
 ani Collection measures m. 1.20 
 high, by 1. The figure is of life- 
 size on a repainted back-ground. 
 There are heavy marks of restor- 
 
 ing on the right eye ; but parts of 
 the hand are preserved. On the 
 parapet at the lower edge of the 
 picture we read: "andreas 
 
 GRITTI VENETA^ DVX." That 
 
Chap. VIII.] POETEAITS OF GEITTI. 
 
 301 
 
 We recognize Gritti' s features again in portraits at 
 Vienna, Florence, and St. Petersburg ; but the first, 
 though marked as a Titian in the Czernin collection, 
 and commendable as a clever work of art, is almost 
 unmistakably by Pordenone, whilst the second, be- 
 longing to Mr. Cotterel at Florence, has received 
 injuries which almost preclude an opinion, and the 
 third, originally in the Barbarigo Palace at Venice, 
 presents the form of a damaged Tintoretto. None of 
 the Doges was more frequently painted by Titian 
 than Gritti, none of Titian's portraits were more 
 celebrated than those which he made of that Doge. 
 Charles the First had one, Eubens copied a second of 
 the replicas.* 
 
 But Gritti was not a patron of Titian only. He 
 was a friend of Titian's patrons, the Duke of Ferrara 
 
 this is the portrait noticed by 
 Eidolfi in the Barbarigo Collec- 
 tion there can be no reasonable 
 doubt (Marav. i. 262). 
 
 * The portrait in the Czernin 
 Collection has been described in 
 the Life of Pordenone. Mr. 
 Cotterel' s likeness of Gritti (life- 
 size on canvas) is turned in the 
 opposite direction, being a front 
 view of the body in furred yellow 
 damask robes, and the head in 
 profile to the right on a dark 
 ground. One hand is pointing, 
 the other (the left) holds a hand- 
 kerchief. The tones of the flesh 
 are unfortunately stippled up to 
 an empty uniformity, so that we 
 remain doubtful whether the 
 painter is Titian or Lorenzo Lotto. 
 The third portrait, No. 103 in the 
 
 Hermitage at Petersburg, is a 
 three-quarters face to the left, 
 with the right hand holding a 
 glove. The surface is so injured 
 by repainting, that the original 
 author of this picture can only be 
 guessed at as Tintoretto. For 
 Charles the First's replica, see 
 Bathoe's Catalogue, p. 104. The 
 picture, a private purchase, was 
 4 ft. 4 in. by 3 ft. 4 in. and a 
 half length. Eubens' copy is 
 registered in the inventory in 
 Sainsbury's Papers, u. s., p. 238. 
 Mr. Buskin's "Portrait of a 
 Doge," said to be Gritti (Times, 
 January 3rd, 1870), has not been 
 seen by the authors. It was ex- 
 hibited at the Boyal Academy in 
 1870. 
 
302 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 and the Marquess of Mantua, he was the first to 
 recognize the talents of Sansovino, whom he invited to 
 Yenice at his accession, and he was mainly instru- 
 mental in laying the foundation of those intimate 
 relations between the sculptor and the painter, which 
 nearly lasted till the wane of the century.* 
 
 In the spring of 1524 Titian fell ill of a fever, 
 which threatened to become chronic. It would have 
 been folly, under these circumstances, to attempt a 
 journey towards the Po, where fevers were more easily 
 caught than cured. Still Alfonso claimed of Titian 
 the performance of a promise to visit his court, and 
 complained in his usual manner of want of punctuality, 
 whilst Titian more than ever excused himself on the 
 plea of overwhelming business public and private. 
 On the 13th of March he told Tebaldi that in spite 
 of intermittent attacks he was then convalescent, and 
 purposed to ask for a medical certificate which should 
 recommend a change of air, and justify a visit to 
 Ferrara ; but on this, as on previous occasions, the 
 artist was too busy to move, and merely laboured at 
 home at the pictures of his patron. When he thought 
 Tebaldi too angry to listen to his excuses, he wrote 
 personally to the Duke, and so gained snatches of 
 breathing time. At last Alfonso's agent was able 
 to write on the 29th of November, that after a hun- 
 dred delays Titian had agreed to leave Yenice on 
 the morrow, and that, lest he should repent of his 
 
 * See " Sansovino's life in Ci- 
 cogna," Iscr. Ven. iv. 24. " Te- 
 manza's Life of Sansovino," fol. 
 
 Ven. 1752, p. 13, and Vasari, 
 xiii. 81. 
 
Chap. VIII.] TITIAN AT FEERAEA. 
 
 303 
 
 determination, a barge had been sent to bis lodgings 
 to wait bis leisure. But Titian's stay, Tebaldi added, 
 would necessarily be short ; he was bound to return 
 to Yenice for Christmas to complete the commissions 
 upon which he was then busy ; and the delivery of 
 these would enable him to sail again for Ferrara, 
 where he would remain as long as the Duke required 
 him. That Titian then performed his promise seems 
 proved by payments for colours which were sent to him 
 from Yenice to Ferrara, and by notices in the accounts 
 of pictures which he painted by order of the Duke.* 
 But what these pieces were was never put on record. 
 "We can only guess that he began, and carried away 
 for subsequent completion, the portrait of the Duke's 
 confidential man of letters, Tommaso Mosti, whom we 
 saw witnessing the marriage of his master with Laura 
 Dianti, and whose likeness, now at the Pitti, shared 
 the fate of others destroyed by time and restoring.-]* 
 
 Andrea Gritti meanwhile watched the progress of 
 Titian's labours in the palace of the Doges, and, we 
 may think, rewarded him liberally ; but not satisfied 
 with mere pecuniary acknowledgments, he used his 
 influence to promote the painter's family, and in 
 April, 1525, he sanctioned the appointment of Titian's 
 brother-in-law, Matteo Soldano, to the office of " can- 
 
 * See the proofs of the above in 
 Campori's Tiziano e gli Estensi, 
 pp. 17-18. 
 
 t This portrait, No. 495, at the 
 Pitti, is a half length, on canvas, 
 of a yonng man in a black pelisse 
 and cap, with his gloved right 
 hand on a book. Most of it is 
 
 covered with new paint. On the 
 back of the new canvas, to which 
 the picture was transposed, and 
 perhaps copied from an old in- 
 scription, are the words : "tom- 
 maso MOSTI DI ANNI XXV, i/ANNO 
 MDXXVI : THITIANO DACADOKO 
 PITTOEE." 
 
304 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 celliere" at Feltre, and filled up the post of a 
 " mineral vicar," or inspector of mines, which was 
 thus vacated, by giving it to Titian's father Gre- 
 gorio."* 
 
 An epitaph exists in the church of St. Sebastian at 
 Venice, in which Amelio Cortona, a lawyer of name, 
 records the virtues of his ancestor, a general in the 
 Venetian army. By his will, in date of October 31, 
 1555, Amelio " bequeaths his 'Annunciation of the 
 most Holy Virgin ' by Titian " to the brotherhood of 
 San Eocco at Venice ; and it is the good fortune of the 
 representatives of that fraternity still to possess this 
 valuable relief It surpasses the same subject at 
 Treviso in breadth of handling and simplicity of land- 
 scape, as well as in richness of colour and delicacy of 
 gradations; and a serene composure dwells in the 
 attitude of the Virgin kneeling prayerful at her desk, 
 which indicates the maturity of the painter's talent. 
 But the piece would be more perfect if the angel who 
 hops into the terrace on a cloud was not presented in 
 a dancing motion, which gives a worldliness to the 
 composition inseparable, it would seem, from Titian's 
 treatment of this theme. We are pleasantly reminded 
 of early phases of Venetian art by the partridge on 
 the floor and the basket at Mary's feet ; and we thus 
 involuntarily measure the distance which separates 
 the simpler staidness of older pictorial forms from the 
 gorgeous brilliancy of Titian's time.f 
 
 * See the record in Appendix. 
 
 t See Moschini Guida di Ve- 
 nezia, 12mo, Venice, 1815, ii. 
 p. 217 ; and an extract from the 
 
 will in Cicogna, Iscr. Ven., iv. 
 141. 
 
 X The canvas hangs high up on 
 the staircase leading to the upper 
 
Chap. VIII.] 
 
 THE PESAEI. 
 
 305 
 
 More elaborate and studied, and in every sense 
 grandiose, the " Madonna di Casa Pesaro " reveals 
 more surely than the u Annunciation " the breadth of 
 Titian's talent, and takes us, not without preparation, 
 to the height of his pictorial fame. Seven years 
 elapsed before he brought this miracle of skill, in 
 May, 1526, to completion; but in those seven years 
 he also brought to perfection the last and finest of all 
 forms of presentation pictures, the noblest combina- 
 tion of the homely and devotional with palatial archi- 
 tecture — the most splendid and solemn union of the 
 laws of composition and colour with magic light and 
 shade. The mere expression in words of the painter's 
 theme fails to convey a conception of his aim and 
 purpose, or an idea of the way in which he solves in- 
 numerable problems hitherto left untried by artists of 
 previous ages. St. Peter, St. Francis, and St. Anthony 
 of Padua implore the intercession of the Yirgin in 
 favour of the members of the Pesaro family. On the 
 eve of sailing to the conquest of Santa Maura, Jacopo 
 Pesaro, then Bishop of Paphos, had sat to Titian, who 
 represented him praying for victory before the throne 
 of St. Peter. Twenty-three years after the victory 
 had been won, Jacopo again sat to the same master, 
 who showed him in the attitude of thanksgiving 
 
 story of the Scuola di San Eocco. 
 The figures are as large as life. 
 To the right the Virgin kneels at 
 her desk at the foot of a pillar, on 
 a terrace with a stone balustrade. 
 The angel to the left, in red dress 
 and short white sleeves, points 
 with his right hand to the dove 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 that descends towards the Virgin , 
 and carries the lily in his left ; a 
 red cloth hangs on the balustrade 
 in front of a flight of four columns. 
 An open book lies on the Virgin's 
 desk. This picture is engraved in 
 Le Febre. 
 
 x 
 
306 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 before the throne of Mary, escorted by saints, and 
 accompanied by members of his family. "We followed 
 step by step, till now, the development of Titian's 
 genius; bnt who conld have foretold in 1503 the 
 greatness of its expansion ? "Who wonld have 
 thought that an art so free and so bold would have 
 gained such an increase of boldness and freedom, and 
 associated with it such a depth and subtlety of power 
 in every department of the craft. Far away from 
 those humble conceptions of place which mark the 
 saintly pictures of earlier times, the Pesari kneel in 
 the portico of a temple, the pillars of which soar to 
 the sky in proportions hitherto unseen. The Virgin's 
 throne is raised to a platform, to Avhich access is 
 obtained by two high steps, and still the plinths upon 
 which the pillars rest are as high as the Virgin's 
 form and the die of stone on which she sits, and 
 the human shape is but a pigmy in those colossal 
 surroundings. We might fancy that such a massive 
 edifice on so large a scale would needs crush the 
 figures and spoil them of their grandeur ; but who- 
 ever should fancy this would misjudge Titian, who 
 knew how to temper all this vastness and fetter the 
 eye to the points upon which it required to be fet- 
 tered, on the group of the Virgin and her noble band 
 of adorers. She sits on her throne, bending down in 
 a graceful kindly way, and directs her glance towards 
 the kneeling " Baffo," her white veil falling over one 
 shoulder, but caught on the other by the infant 
 Christ, who peeps with delightful glee from beneath 
 it at St. Francis. High on the platform to which the 
 
Chap. VIII.] MADONNA DI CA. PESARO. 
 
 307 
 
 steps ascend, the saints occupy a position of natural 
 vantage. To the left front of the throne St. Peter at 
 ■& desk interrupts his reading, and marks the line with 
 his fingers as he turns to look down at Baffo, who 
 kneels in prayer on the floor below. In rear between 
 both an armed knight with the standard of the church 
 unfurled and a captive Turk bound by a rope, sym- 
 bolizes the victory of the Pesari, which is further in- 
 dicated by a twig of laurel on the flag-pole. Near 
 the infant Christ on the right, St. Francis extatically 
 looks up, and showing the marks of the stigmata in 
 l)oth hands, points at the same time downwards to 
 Benedetto Pesaro, who kneels with the members of 
 his family — three men and a handsome boy — on the 
 floor behind him. St. Anthony, in the background 
 near St. Francis, is all but lost in shadow. The arms 
 of the Borgia, embroidered on the dark red and gold 
 damask of the flag, the scutcheon of the Pesari 
 beneath it, the keys of St. Peter lying on the steps, 
 are small but telling points in the picture.* High 
 up on a spray of clouds that enwreathes the pillars of 
 the temple, two angels playfully sport with the cross ; 
 and, with that wonderful insight which a painter gets 
 who has studied cloud form flitting over Alpine crags, 
 Titian has not only thrown a many-toned gradation of 
 shade on the vapour, but shown its projected shadow 
 on the pillar. The light falls on the clouds, illumines 
 the sky between the pillars, and sheds a clear glow on 
 
 * The, arms of Borgia : the horizontal bands. The arms of 
 tiara and cross-keys, the shield Pesaro : a shield azure, with seven 
 red, with the ox on it, quartered wedges or, on the left of the 
 with a field of black and gold field. 
 
 x 2 
 
308 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 the angels, casting its brightest ray on the Madonna 
 and the body of the infant Christ. It tips the faces 
 of the friars and the bald head of the grey -bearded 
 Peter, displays the gorgeous tones of his blue tunic 
 and yellow mantle, and falls at last on the profiles of 
 the kneeling Pesari. There are grand planes of 
 shadow, too, sharply projected or mildly suffused; 
 down the pillars and past the Madonna to the groups 
 beloAY ; or along the pedestal of the throne to Peter's 
 desk, and the platform steps, edging the standard of 
 the Borgias, the armour of the knight, the profile and 
 black silk dress of "Baffo," whose hands and white 
 sleeves catch the sun as they are held out and joined 
 in prayer. Decompose the light or the shadow, and 
 you find incredible varieties of subtlety, which make 
 the master's art unfathomable. Both are balanced 
 into equal values with a breadth quite admirable, 
 the utmost darks being very heavy and strong with- 
 out losing their transparency; the highest lights 
 dazzling in brightness, yet broken and full of sparkle. 
 Pound the form of the infant Christ the play of white 
 drapery is magic in effect. Hardly less remarkable, 
 and telling of Titian's minute realism, the fingers of 
 Mary press the breast of the babe, and show the flexi- 
 bility of the flesh into which they sink. The model- 
 ling is so grand in the simplicity of its rounding, as 
 to produce the impression of a plastic surface. Look 
 into it, and this simplicity involves innumerable and 
 most delicate modulations. Miracles of texture are 
 the silks and brocades, which contrast so admirably 
 with the plain stuffs of the dresses in the Virgin and 
 
Chap. VIII.] MADONNA DI CA. PESAEO. 
 
 309 
 
 Saints. In the portraits a family resemblance rnns 
 through every head, Benedetto, who died in 1503, 
 being painted from an earlier likeness, the rest more 
 obviously from life. But nothing can exceed the 
 dignified, calm, or appropriate motion of them all. 
 Each expresses some peculiar feeling, and the boy, 
 who ceases to take part in the ceremony absorbing 
 his elders, and looks round at the spectator, is charm- 
 ing. To the various harmonizing elements of hue, 
 of light and of shade, that of colour superadded 
 brings the picture to perfection — its gorgeous tinting 
 so subtly wrought and so wonderfully interweaving 
 with sun and darkness and varied textures as to 
 resolve itself with the rest into a vast and incompre- 
 hensible whole, which comes to the eye an ideal of 
 grand and elevated beauty — a sublime unity that 
 shows the master who created it to have reached a 
 point in art unsurpassed till now, and unattainable to 
 those who came after him.* One sees by the study 
 which it caused how great must have been the effect 
 of this noble creation on the painters of the time. In 
 the pages of chroniclers the " Madonna di Ca.Pesaro" 
 was eclipsed by the " Martyrdom of Peter Martyr," 
 because that altarpiece embodied sensationally dra- 
 
 * The last payment for this 
 grand picture, which still hangs 
 in its original place at the Frari, 
 was made on the 27th of May, 
 1526 : for which see the Appendix. 
 The figures are above life size, on 
 a canvas arched at top. A few 
 years ago a layer of oil and terra 
 rossa laid on the back of the can- 
 
 vas, darkened the picture, which 
 had been restored by G. Bertani 
 (see Moschini, Guida di Ven. ii. 
 194). There are etchings of this 
 work in Le Febre and Patina. 
 The principal group in red chalk, 
 in the Albertina at Vienna, was 
 photographed by Braun. 
 
310 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 matic incident, and exhibited some conspicuous 
 changes in the master's art. But Paul Veronese 
 studied the first as carefully as the second ; and we see 
 him casting a composition in the same mould, with 
 similar adjuncts of architecture and church furniture 
 in an " Adoration of the Virgin" at the Venice 
 Academy, where, with an incongruity of which Titian 
 would not have been guilty, the boy Baptist stands 
 on a pedestal at the very centre of the picture, and 
 presents his back in a prominent way to the spec- 
 tator.* There was no place more favourable to inno- 
 vation in ecclesiastical subjects than Venice, where 
 freedom of thought and opinion was allowed to an 
 extent unknown in other cities ; and Titian availed 
 himself of this and made innovations innumerable ; 
 but the tact which he possessed was not handed down 
 to his successors ; and Paolo Veronese, who died of a 
 cold which he caught at a procession, was once very 
 severely handled and reprimanded for pictorial delin- 
 quencies by the Inquisition. 
 
 * No. 519, at the Venice Aca- 
 demy, representing the Virgin 
 and Child, with St. Joseph near 
 
 her ; and below, St. Christine, 
 St. Francis, the boy Baptist, and 
 St. Jerome. 
 
CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 Pietro Aretino, his first acquaintance with Titian. — His likeness and 
 portrait of Girolamo Adorno by Titian. — Both pictures are sent 
 to the Marquess of Mantua. — The "triumvirate." — Titian at 
 Mantua and Ferrara. — Portraits of the Gonzagas. — Altarpiece of 
 Zoppe in Cadore. — Titian, Palma, Pordenone, and the Peter 
 Martyr. — Sebastian del Piombo and Michaelangelo at Yenice ; 
 their influence on Titian. — Peace of Bologna and coronation of 
 Charles the Pifth. — Titian's visit to Bologna and likeness of 
 Cornelia. — Death of Titian's wife. — St. Sebastian and other pieces 
 at Mantua. — Benefice of Medole. — Pictures of St. Jerom, the 
 Magdalen, and the Infant Baptist. — Portraits of Max Stampa, 
 Francesco Sforza, and Christine of Denmark. — Aretino's comedy 
 of the Marescalco. — Doge Gritti's votive picture. 
 
 Peevious to the sack of Eome in 1527, Titian made 
 the acquaintance of Pietro Aretino, pamphleteer, poet, 
 and comic writer, of whom a satirist once pemied 
 the lines : 
 
 " Questo e Pietro Aretino poeta tosco 
 
 Che d' ogni un disse male, eccetto che di Dio ; 
 Scusandosi con dir, non lo conosco." * 
 
 Hardly a man of any note in Italy but stood con- 
 nected with Aretino in some sort of personal or 
 political relation ; not a prince, Italian or foreign, but 
 felt the necessity of buying his venal services. We 
 have portraits of him at various ages : young, middle- 
 aged, and old. In the earliest he looks a grand and 
 
 * These lines are appended to a portrait of Aretino, engraved by 
 Hollar. 
 
312 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 handsome bully ; in the latest, he combines the fat of 
 Yitellins with the seared aspect of Silenus, and his 
 face is impressed with the stamp of all the vices for 
 which the fierce and cruel age in which he lived was 
 so remarkable. Publicity which is used in our day 
 for the instruction and improvement of mankind, 
 under laws which secure to individuals immunity 
 from libellous attack, was put in motion, and one may 
 say invented by Aretino, for the single purpose of 
 filling his pockets. Like all men of his stamp, he was 
 cursed with inordinate desires of every kind. His 
 appetites in the culinary and other senses were such 
 as no ordinary means could sate. He liked dinners, 
 dress and high company, varied on occasion with the 
 lower forms of debauch; he was in Iris way lavish 
 and open-handed; and as he started penniless so he 
 died fortuneless, but we may believe he spent gene- 
 rously on others the mere overflow of a treasury 
 which was never replenished but by baseness, and it 
 is probable that his generosity was never disinterested. 
 How Titian came to be connected with such a man, 
 and how, knowing him intimately, he kept up rela- 
 tions with him, is a strange feature in the life of an 
 artist so great and so renowned; but from the first 
 Aretino appeared to Titian as a man of influence with 
 those who were the mainstays of his pictorial practice; 
 and coming to Venice as he notoriously did, with 
 strong recommendations to the Doge Andrea Gritti, 
 Aretino could not but have had means to captivate at 
 once a man whose livelihood depended in part upon 
 this personage. But in order to understand Aretino' s 
 
Chap. IX.] 
 
 PIETEO ARETINO. 
 
 313 
 
 career and his power over several classes of individuals, 
 it is necessary that we should picture to ourselves the 
 state of Italian society when he came to its surface. 
 It was a time remarkable for the struggles of ambi- 
 tious states possessed of national life to absorb others 
 whose national life was" less developed, regardless of 
 race and language and personal antipathies. It was 
 about the time when Francis the First conceived it 
 possible to reign as Emperor of Germany, and Charles 
 the Fifth thought to be lord of the Moors of Tunis ; 
 when both considered it feasible to absorb Italy, 
 divided amongst petty princes, indeed, but comprising 
 rulers like the Pope on the one hand, and the Vene- 
 tian republic on the other. No doubt temporary 
 success in a policy of this kind was easy of attainment 
 by the use of force ; but as an accompaniment to force 
 or as a means for securing the gains acquired by 
 force, bribery and intrigue would naturally suggest 
 themselves ; and these were employed without scruple 
 on every side. Aretino — a parasite of the most 
 dangerous kind — was placed by chance in a position 
 to discover some of the secret machinery by which 
 political springs were set in motion, and he soon grew 
 into an occult power by working on the fears of some 
 and the cupidity of others. Like a fungus on a 
 dunghill he took advantage of a general corruption to 
 live and to fatten, and he was not the less like a 
 prosperous fungus because he happened to be poison- 
 ous. There is every reason to believe that he was 
 the illegitimate son of a patrician of Arezzo. His 
 mother Tita gave birth to him about 1492 in an 
 
314 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 hospital at Arezzo; but the outer world discovered 
 little that was authentic as to this and other points 
 connected with Aretino' s early life, which remained 
 so obscure as to escape the vigilance of his most 
 determined enemies, and a veil was thrown over him 
 by the interested kindness of the people of his native 
 town, who raised him in 1541 to the citizenship from 
 which his illegitimate birth debarred him.* Aretino 
 himself boasted that he was never at school and never 
 had a tutor ;f but he doubtless had some knowledge 
 of reading, since he was apprenticed to a binder in 
 Perugia ; J and though it is clear that he neither 
 studied nor understood Greek or Latin, it is equally 
 clear that he acquired at a very early age the art of 
 writing in Iris own tongue. There must have been 
 something in him too besides good looks and impu- 
 dence to captivate a man like Agostino Chigi, who was 
 his patron at Borne from 1517 to 1524. In what 
 capacity he served this well-known merchant has not 
 been stated ; but in some way he gained a livelihood 
 and made himself useful to the banker and his exalted 
 customers Leo the Tenth and Clement the Seventh. § 
 It was in Chigi' s service that he made acquaintance 
 with Sansovino, Sebastian del Piombo, Marcantonio 
 Eaimondi, and Giulio Eomano, and we may judge of 
 the tone which distinguished some of these artists, 
 when we remember that Giulio designed some prints 
 which Marcantonio engraved and Aretino furnished 
 
 * For this, consult Vita di 
 Pietro Aretino, by Giammaria 
 Mazzucchelli, 8vo, Milan, 1830, 
 pp. 7-8. 
 
 t Aretino to Mariano Borro, in 
 
 Lettere di M. Pietro Aretino, u. s. , 
 ii. p. 242. 
 
 X Berni's Eime in Mazzucchelli, 
 u. s., p. 13. 
 
 § Mazzucchelli, u. s., pp. 14, 15. 
 
Chap. IX.] 
 
 GIOVANNI DE' MEDICI. 
 
 315 
 
 with appropriate letter press, and these prints were 
 considered even at the conrt of Clement to be so 
 indecent that Marcantonio was thrown into prison, 
 whilst Ginlio escaped a similar fate by engaging his 
 services to the Marqness of Mantua ;* Aretino's share 
 in the venture remained secret long enough to enable 
 him to obtain for Marcantonio the protection of 
 Cardinal Ippolito cle' Medici, but then he also fell 
 under suspicion and ran for Arezzo, from whence he 
 made his way in 1524 to the camp of Giovanni de' 
 Medici the great condottiere, whose only son became 
 Duke of Florence, f The relations of Aretino to 
 Giovanni de' Medici have been characterized with an 
 openness which leaves nothing to be desired.^ It is 
 quite clear that he was Giovanni's private secretary 
 from 1524 to 1526; that he came into familiar contact 
 with Giovanni's friends, the Yitellis, the Eoveres, 
 Guicciardinis and Gonzagas; and that he became 
 possessed of many of the secrets of these and other 
 chiefs. § He was useful as a despatch writer, and 
 composed numerous letters, some of which have been 
 published, and show that he managed the political 
 business of his patron after he left the Imperialist to 
 join the French cause, and take service in the Vene- 
 tian army. Unluckily Giovanni de' Medici was 
 wounded in an encounter with the Imperialists near 
 Governolo, and carried to Mantua, where he died after 
 
 * Vasari, Life of Marcantonio, 
 ix. p. 277. 
 
 t Mazzucchelli, p. 16, and Let- 
 tere di M. P. Aretino, i. p. 8. 
 
 X Compare Aretino to G. A. 
 Boccamazza, in Lettere di M. P. 
 
 Aretino, iii. 172. 
 
 § Lettere Scritte a Pietro Are- 
 tino, first published by Marcolini 
 in 1551. Edition of Landoni, 
 8vo, Bologna, 1873, pp. 1 — 8. 
 
316 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 amputation on the 30th of December, 1526 ; Aretino 
 found himself under the necessity of retiring to 
 Venice, where he had no friends except those who 
 might have known him as confidential servant to a 
 captain in the service of the republic. But in this 
 strait Iris good fortune did not desert him; acting 
 on some secret recommendation, perhaps from the 
 Duke of Urbino or the Marquess of Mantua, Andrea 
 Gritti received and protected him, and as he himself 
 confessed, " not only saved his honour but his life ! "* 
 But Aretino 's gratitude did not prevent him from 
 changing his colours. On the 25th of March he 
 entered Venice. | On the 20th of May, after the sack 
 of Borne, he offered his services to Charles the Fifth, 
 and thus inaugurated that new form of life which he 
 called " living by the sweat of his pen." J His fa- 
 miliar correspondence at this time proves that he was 
 a pensioner on the bounty of the Marquis of Mantua, 
 as well as a recipient of presents in money and clothes 
 from individuals upon whom he had claims of some 
 secret and unrevealed nature. But no doubt he was 
 also in the pay of Gritti, who tried by his means to 
 smooth the way to a reconciliation between Clement 
 the Seventh and the Emperor. Gritti or the Marquis 
 of Mantua, Sansovino or Sebastian del Piombo, may 
 all or singly have led to Aretino' s acquaintance with 
 Titian. Assuredly Titian at this time had Aretino for 
 a sitter, for he wrote in June, 1527, the following 
 letter, which proves his intimacy with the secretary 
 
 * Lettere di M. P. Aretino, i. 
 p. 3. 
 
 t Aret. to Cardinal Caracciolo 
 
 in Lettere di M. P. Aret., i. p. 83. 
 
 J Aretino to Cusano, Lett, di 
 M. P. Aretino, ii. p. 58. 
 
Chap. IX.] 
 
 GIROLAMO ADOENO. 
 
 317 
 
 of Giovanni de' Medici as well as his past friendship 
 for Girolamo Adorno, who died ambassador to the 
 Emperor at Venice on the 10th of March, 1523.* 
 
 TITIAN TO THE MAKQUESS GONZAGA, AT MANTUA. 
 
 " Excellent Lord : — Knowing your Excellency's 
 love for painting and yonr passion for protecting it as 
 shown in the patronage of Ginlio Eomano ; — being 
 further desirous of pleasing yonr Excellency, — I have 
 taken the opportunity of Messer Pietro Aretino's 
 arrival to paint his likeness, and as he comes — a 
 second St. Paul — to preach the virtues of your 
 Excellency, and I likewise know that you are fond of 
 so faithful a servant because of his many virtues, I 
 make you herewith a present of his portrait. But I 
 also bear in remembrance the Signor Girolamo Adorno 
 who adored the Marquis of Mantua, and as he was a 
 qualified gentleman, I send your Excellency a present 
 of him also. These may not be gifts worthy of so 
 great a person as your Excellency, they may not be 
 done by a master of sufficient skill, yet be pleased to 
 accept the service of Titian, and cherish it till such 
 time as I — according to the quality of my means — 
 shall be able to send something that will satisfy and 
 be acceptable to your Excellency, remembering that I 
 always was and still am the servant of your Excel- 
 lency, whose hand I beg to kiss. 
 
 " Most devoted servant, 
 
 " TlTIANO VECELLIO.t 
 
 " From Venice, June 22, 157.' 
 
 * Cicogna, Iscr. Yen., vi. 250. 
 
 t The original will be found in 
 Appendix. 
 
318 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 Aretino readied Venice, as we saw, in March. In 
 less than three months he captivated Titian, sat to 
 him, and materially affected his epistolary style. His 
 knowledge of courts had taught him to flatter the 
 self-love of princes, and he now imparted to Titian 
 the secret of that flattery, subject to showing him 
 later how the fruits of flattery might be garnered. 
 The pictures and Titian's letters were both forwarded 
 by Aretino to the Marquess, who thought fit to acknow- 
 ledge the receipt in the two following epistles. 
 
 FEDEEICO GONZAGA TO PIETEO AEETINO, AT VENICE. 
 
 "I received the two beautiful pictures of Titian 
 which you sent by your servant. They are very dear 
 to me ; and quite as much so because of my wish to 
 possess a work done by hands so clever as those of 
 the excellent painter Titian as because one of them 
 represents a man of your eminence ; whilst, at the 
 same time, I am enabled to contemplate the image of 
 a person so dear to me as was of old Signor Hieronimo 
 Adorno. Be good enough to thank Titian in my 
 name, and give him to understand that I shall soon 
 show the gratitude which I feel for so kind a demon- 
 stration. 
 
 "From Mantua, July 8, 1527." 
 
 FEDEEICO GONZAGA TO TITIAN, AT VENICE. 
 
 " M. Tuciano — I received the two beautiful pictures 
 which you were pleased to send as a present to me, 
 and am very grateful for them, not only because I 
 was most desirous of possessing works from such 
 
Chap. IX.] 
 
 PORTEAIT OF ARETINO. 
 
 319 
 
 skilful hands as yours, knowing as I do how clever 
 you are in the art of painting, but because you send 
 me portraits of two persons who were always and still 
 are dear to me ; — so like too that nature itself could 
 not have made them more so ; I therefore thank you, 
 and shall hold these pictures dear for your sake ; and 
 you may be assured that nothing you could have done 
 would have been more agreeable to me, or make me 
 feel myself more under obligation. "When I can I 
 shall ever be ready to do you a pleasure, and always 
 be disposed and inclined to consult your wishes. 
 
 " From Mantua, 8th July, 1527."* 
 
 Titian's Adorno and Aretino were lost, but the 
 features of the latter were preserved in one of the 
 canvases of Count Sebastian Giustiniani at Padua; 
 and this remarkable piece may possibly be the 
 original study for the portrait sent with such aj)pro- 
 priate cunning to Mantua. Embrowned by age, and 
 with fleshtints changed by time and repainting to a 
 dark and dusky olive, the picture is so thoroughly 
 injured that Count Giustiniani has catalogued it under 
 Tintoretto's name. Yet it undoubtedly represents 
 the features of Aretino as a young man, with a fine 
 aquiline nose and a large open eye, in a dark pelisse 
 and vest, and a pointed white collar visible beneath a 
 black, but well-furnished beard, a bush of thick and 
 curly hair showing off to advantage a round but 
 rather narrow forehead. It would be presuming to 
 assert that this is a genuine Titian, but the execution 
 
 * The originals of these two letters are in Appendix. 
 
320 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 is apparently very careful ; and the ruins may conceal 
 traces of the hand of Vecelli, who was much more 
 likely to paint the portrait of Aretino at an early age 
 than Tintoretto, a child at the period under notice. 
 Nor is it uninteresting to note that a print ascribed 
 by Hollar to Titian, shows much the same head 
 covered with a picturesque hat, the counterpart 
 perhaps of one introduced by Yecelli in the Mantuan 
 portrait.* 
 
 Titian and his new confederate had little patience 
 to wait for the gratitude of the Marquis of Mantua. 
 On the 6th of August, Aretino wrote to Feclerico 
 Gonzaga, asking him to " bear in mind the promise 
 made to Titian in respect of the portrait presented in 
 the painter's name ; "f and to this Federico replied in 
 the following note : 
 
 FEDEEICO GONZAGA TO PIETEO AEETINO, AT VENICE. 
 
 " I shall not forget to make some demonstration of 
 my gratitude to Titian, so that he shall have reason to 
 know what account I take of him, and how grateful I 
 am to him. 
 
 " From Mantua, 11th of October \ 1527." { 
 
 Sansovino and Sebastian del Piombo were in Venice 
 
 * Hollar's print is a reversed 
 copy of a copper plate by Marc- 
 antonio, preserved in a worn 
 state in the Museum of Berlin. 
 On what grounds Hollar ascribes 
 the portrait to Titian it is hard to 
 say. It looks like a copy from 
 Giulio Eomano, but bears the 
 lines quoted at the opening of 
 
 this chapter, and the words, 
 " Titianus pinxit, V. Hollar fecit. 
 1647." 
 
 f Aretino to the Marquess of 
 Mantua, Venice, Aug. 6, 1527, in 
 Lettere di M. P. Aretino, i. p. 13. 
 
 X The original will be found in 
 Appendix. 
 
Chap. IX.] 
 
 ARETINO'S CRAFT. 
 
 321 
 
 at the date of Aretino's last communication to the 
 Marquess; and he did not fail to recommend them 
 both in his letter — Sansovino as the sculptor of a 
 lively Venus, Sebastian as capable of producing 
 pictures " that should not represent anything holy." 
 We see the tone of which the pitch notes were 
 struck at Eome finds an echo at Venice. Aretino's 
 correspondents form a circle of persons of quality 
 whose morality is of a light and flimsy kind. He 
 makes friends of artists whom he drags into the 
 vortex of his dissipation. What he requires to repay 
 attentions in the shape of purses, doublets, hats, or 
 ■chains, is a portrait, a picture or a loose illustration. 
 Titian occasionally furnishes the former, and more 
 pliant artists the latter. Thus, whilst Titian paints 
 the likeness sent by Aretino to the Marquess of 
 Mantua, the work of a humbler craftsman requites 
 the generosity of a less important patron ; and in 
 return for a present of a cap, a medal, and tags from 
 Cesare Fregoso, Aretino sends a book of sonnets 
 descriptive of designs which seem to differ in no way 
 from those condemned at Eome by the policy of 
 Clement the Seventh.* In this form of interchange 
 all the parties concerned find their advantage, Aretino 
 is paid for puffing princes; princes secure praise 
 instead of satire from Aretino's pen; and artists 
 become known through the scribe's exertions. 
 Aretino, it may be, sat to Titian in the medalled 
 cap of Fregoso ; perhaps he wore a doublet made by 
 
 * Lettere di M. P. Aretino, i., p. 14. 
 
 VOL. I. Y 
 
322 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 Gonzaga's tailor. We regret that his portrait in its 
 finished form should have perished. 
 
 Of the two great masters who took refuge at Venice 
 in 1527, one only found encouragement to remain. 
 Whilst Sebastian del Piombo, after a short stay, was 
 induced to return to Borne, Sansovino received 
 pressing invitations to proceed to Paris and take 
 service with Francis the First ;* but preferring a 
 residence in Italy, he saw his patience at last 
 rewarded by a permanent appointment. In 1529 
 Sansovino became architect of St. Mark at Venice ; 
 his intimacy with Titian and Aretino completed the 
 " Triumvirate," which lasted for more than a quarter 
 of a century. 
 
 In the meantime Titian kept up his connection with 
 Alfonso of Este, and paid several visits to the Duke 
 with the permission of Doge Gritti. The Ferrarese 
 accounts register " 15 lire to a carrettiere" for taking 
 to Francolino on the 15th of January 1528, " Maestro 
 Tutiano the painter who goes to Venice. "f At a 
 later season in the same year Tebaldi wrote to the 
 Duke on the subject of Titian, who promised to sail 
 for the Po with one Guglielmo sent by Alfonso to 
 Venice to buy leopards; but he reported also that 
 Titian complained of stingy treatment, having received 
 no funds for the support of his family during his 
 absence, or money for the purchase of clothes in 
 which to appear at court. During his last stay at 
 
 * The proofs are in Temenza's I t Campori,TizianoegliEstensi, 
 Sansovino, p. 14, and Vasari, xiii., p. 19. 
 81. 
 
Chap. IX.] FEEEAEA AND MANTUA. 
 
 323 
 
 Ferrara, Titian added, he had painted three pictures, 
 each of which was worth 100 ducats, and for these 
 his Excellency's servants — for he could not blame his 
 Excellency himself — had only given him 100 ducats 
 in all. In January 1529, Titian was again at Eerrara, 
 where his stay was only interrupted by a visit to 
 Mantua. His diary, as noted in the Eerrarese day 
 books, shows him to have been attended by no less 
 than five persons, whose sustentation and wine rations 
 are given for regular terms of days, from January 24 
 to February 27 ; and from April 20 to June 18. 
 
 As he left Eerrara for a fortnight at Mantua, Titian 
 was the bearer of the following letter to Eederico 
 Gonzaga, which displays an amiable feeling towards 
 the painter to which Alfonso's earlier correspondence 
 has not accustomed us : — 
 
 ALFONSO D' ESTE TO THE MAEQUESS OF MANTUA. 
 
 " Most illustrious and excellent Lord, honoured as 
 a brother, Titian has been here for some days to do 
 me a pleasure, and asks leave to visit Mantua on 
 duty. Though unwilling to part with him, I have 
 still considered the importance of the business which 
 calls him to your Excellency, and wishing to do him 
 service consistently with the great esteem in which 
 I hold his talent, I have thought it well to give him 
 these lines, by which I beg your Illustrious Lordship 
 to consider him recommended not only for the love I 
 bear him, but for the sake of the goodwill which I 
 know your Lordship bears him also, and the favour 
 which it will be to him without further intercession ; 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIPfi AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 and the sooner your Excellency shall deign to send 
 him back, the greater will be the obligation under 
 which you will place myself and him. And I further 
 beg to be recommended to your Excellency. 
 
 "Alfonsus Dux Ferraris.* 
 
 "FERRARA, Uth of March, 1529." 
 
 In a similar strain Alfonso was careful to express 
 his gratitude to the Doge, for giving leave to the 
 painter " who had served him admirably and well; " 
 and Titian, who left Ferrara on the 18th of June, was 
 made the bearer of a dispatch to that effect, addressed 
 by the Duke to Andrea Gritti.f But before he 
 started Titian, on his part, wrote a letter expressing 
 his devotion to the Marquess of Mantua, and describing 
 his impatience to be home in order to take in hand 
 the work which he had pledged himself to perform. J 
 
 Looking at the blanks and gaps which occur in the 
 series of works produced by Titian at this period, we 
 might almost conclude that all the pictures of the time 
 were predestined to perish. In 1528, Matteo Palatini, 
 a friend of the Yecelli of Cadore bequeathed a sum of 
 money to his heirs for the purpose of founding a chapel 
 in Zoppe, a village at the foot of the Pelmo.§ The 
 chapel was built, and Titian painted an altar-piece in 
 which he represented the Yirgin and Child enthroned 
 
 * For this letter and the fore- 
 going facts, Campori Tiziano e 
 gli Estensi, pp. 19, 20. 
 
 f lb. p. 19. 
 
 X See this letter, dated June 12, 
 1529, in Appendix. 
 
 § 1528, not 1526 as Ticozzi 
 states. Vite dei pittori Vecelli, p. 
 72 ; Matteo and not Giuseppe, as 
 the same authority affirms. MS. 
 Jacobi of Cadore. 
 
Chap. IX.] ALTAR-PIECE OF ZOPPE. 
 
 825 
 
 between St. Joachim, and St. Jerom, and St. Anna 
 in prayer at the foot of the throne. * A traveller who 
 should venture to climb the sides of the valley in which 
 that .^Alpine village rests, would be rewarded now 
 with a sight of this composition ; but at an early part 
 of the present century, an eager but injudicious patriot, 
 who wished to defend the treasure of Zoppe from the 
 plundering propensities of soldiers or thieves, rolled 
 the canvas on a rough piece of deal, and when the 
 danger was past, caused the picture to be restored by 
 inexpert hands. The canvas suffered greatly from 
 damp and repainting. The Virgin, who sits with the 
 infant lying on her lap and stretching its hands up 
 towards her, is disfigured by heavy spots in the face 
 and hands ; and her mantle has been changed from 
 blue to black. St. Anna, who looks up in a beautiful, 
 prayerful way, and joins her hands imploringly, sits 
 in draperies bared almost to the thread of the cloth ; 
 and the saints who stand at her sides, though grand in 
 shape and expression, are but the shadow of what 
 they must once have been when first thrown upon 
 the canvas.* 
 
 The labours which Titian devoted to his patrons at 
 Ferrara, Mantua and Cadore were of less importance 
 in these years than those which he spent on commis- 
 
 * The picture is on canvas, 
 4 ft. h. by 3. The throne, which 
 rises above the Virgin's form, 
 intercepts the sky, and is orna- 
 mented with caryatidse. On the 
 pedestal to the left of St. Anna's 
 head, the scutcheon of the Pala- 
 tini, nine white lilies on a field 
 
 azure, is hung. The Virgin wears 
 a white veil ; St. Joachim an 
 orange tunic and blue cloak. St. 
 Jerom carries the book and hat, 
 and is dressed in red, white, and 
 green. But compare Ticozzi, 
 Vecelli, pp. 72—73. 
 
326 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 sions from religious corporations at Venice. One 
 composition in particular, which he finished in 1530, 
 absorbed his thoughts for a couple of years ; and the 
 tension which it caused was doubtless felt alj the 
 more because it was due to an active competition 
 with two of the most dangerous rivals at that time in 
 practice as painters at Venice. It is probable that no 
 picture ever taxed the faculties of the master to such 
 an extent as the " Peter Martyr " of San Giovanni e 
 Paolo ; but it is quite certain, on the other hand, that 
 no picture more victoriously proved the superiority of 
 his skill. 
 
 Amongst the older artists whose fame had been 
 gradually increasing at Venice since the opening of 
 the century, Palma Vecchio was the most prominent. 
 His influence on Titian had been so powerful and so 
 lasting, that it was not shaken off till after 1520. 
 But in proportion as it waned, the friendship of the 
 two painters appeared to cool ; and they entered at last 
 into a direct competition. Palma had had no share 
 in the promotion which fell to the lot of Titian, but he 
 had had powerful protectors amongst the Querini, 
 the Priuli, and Cornari ; and many persons at Venice 
 probably thought his " Marriage of the Virgin" 
 in Sant' Antonio, or the " Glory of St. Barbara" 
 at Santa Maria Formosa, as fine as anything that 
 Titian had done, except perhaps the Madonna of San 
 jSTiccolo de' Frari, or the Madonna di Casa Pesaro. 
 The brotherhood of St. Peter Martyr, whose altar 
 stood in the church of San Giovanni e Paolo, were at 
 all events unprepared to accept as paramount the 
 
Chap. IX.] 
 
 POEDENONE AND TITIAN. 
 
 327 
 
 superiority of Titian over all his fellow painters, and 
 being desirous to exchange an old .altar-piece by 
 Jacobello del Fiore for one of a more modern style, 
 they invited all the artists then at Yenice to send in 
 designs for a picture to represent the death of Peter 
 Martyr* 
 
 Palma, Giorgione, and Titian himself had contri- 
 buted, each in his peculiar sphere, to the formation of 
 a younger talent, that of Pordenone. Early in 1528, 
 when the brethren of St. Peter Martyr may be sup- 
 posed to have published their intentions, Pordenone 
 was employed by one of the Venetian brotherhoods 
 in adorning the church of San Eocco. He was a 
 great admirer of Titian, of whose works he had 
 expressed the most favourable opinion ; but he burned 
 with desire to show that he too could paint a picture 
 worthy of public admiration. These three artists — 
 Titian, Palma, and Pordenone — entered the lists 
 together; their sketches were exhibited for public 
 approval, and Titian carried off the prize. f Palma 
 did not live to witness the further triumph of his old 
 friend and present antagonist. He died in the 
 
 * See the deed dated 1530 in 
 Appendix, and compare Sanso- 
 vino, Ven. desc. p. 65. Paolo 
 Pino, Dialogo di Pittura, 8vo. 
 Vinegia, 1548, p. 32; Eidolfi, 
 Marav. i. 217, andScanelli, Micro- 
 cosmo, p. 217. 
 
 t Scanelli (Microcosmo, 217) 
 says he saw the sketches in 
 private hands at Bologna. Ei- 
 dolfi (Marav. i. 217) saw that of 
 Palma in the Contarini Palace 
 
 (San Samuele) at Venice. As to 
 the competition, Paoio Pino says, 
 in his Dialogo di Pittura, printed 
 in Venice in 1548 (p. 59), " Vog- 
 lio che lui venghi al duello della 
 concurrentia, e fare un opera per 
 uno, ma con patto, che sia com- 
 messa la piii perfetta, come gia 
 volse far Giacopo Palma con 
 Titiano nelP opra de San Pietro 
 Martire qui in Vinegia." 
 
S28 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 summer of 1528. Pordenone lived to nourish a 
 deadly hatred against the man who beat him with 
 the sketch of the Peter Martyr, and whom he failed 
 to beat in a finished picture at San Giovanni Elemo- 
 sinario. They came out still later socially and pro- 
 fessionally as irreconcilable foes. 
 
 Titian took years to finish the "Peter Martyr;" he 
 quarrelled with the brotherhood as to its price, but he 
 delivered it at last, on the 27th of April, 1530, for a 
 sum equivalent to that paid by the Bishop of Paphos 
 for the " Madonna di Casa Pesaro."* During the time 
 which elapsed between the completion of the design 
 and the delivery of the completed picture, several cir- 
 cumstances combined to effect a change in the form of 
 his art. In the first place Sebastian del Piombo took up 
 his residence at Venice, where he stayed till March, 
 1529. In the next place Michaelangelo fled from 
 Florence and spent some months at Venice in the 
 autumn of 1529. The presence of Sebastian del 
 Piombo and Buonarotti in a city where art had 
 acquired a spirit so different from that of the Tuscans, 
 could not fail to produce an extraordinary impression 
 on Venetian painters. Sebastian was well acquainted 
 with Titian, for both had been students in the same 
 city from their earliest youth, and both were intimate 
 with Aretino. Michaelangelo had been received on 
 his way to Venice by Alfonso of Perrara, and had 
 publicly expressed to the Duke his admiration of 
 Titian's skill. f Sebastian, whose pictorial career had 
 
 * See the payments from 1519 
 to 1526 in Appendix under 1519. 
 
 f Yasari xii. 210. 
 
DEATH OF ST. PETER MARTYR. 
 Formerly in SS. Gio. e Paolo, Venice. 
 
 [To face p. 329, Vol. I. 
 
Chap. IX.] MICHAELANGELO AT VENICE. 
 
 329 
 
 been altogether moulded during a long" stay at Eome 
 by Buonarotti, would alone have contributed to 
 promote the study of design in a form unusual to the 
 Venetians. He would be naturally enthusiastic of the 
 beauties of the Sixtine chapel. It is conceivable that 
 when the painter of that chapel appeared at Venice, 
 he was received by his fellow craftsmen with the 
 utmost distinction. The pictorial annals of Venice 
 were so poorly kept, that they left this important 
 matter in obscurity, but the " Peter Martyr " would 
 alone suffice to demonstrate how deeply Titian was 
 impressed with the grandeur of the Florentine's style ; 
 and we may note in this the origin of the feeling 
 which prompted Tintoretto at last to write over the 
 door of his workshop : 
 
 " II disegno di Michelangelo, e il colorito di Tiziano.*'* 
 
 Titian once said to the Imperial envoy Vargas, 
 " who saw him use a brush as big as a birch-broom, 
 that he wished to paint in a manner different from 
 that of Eaphael or Michaelangelo, because he was 
 not content to be a mere imitator, "f In the Peter 
 Martyr he proved his power to absorb and to assimi- 
 late what suited him in the style of Michaelangelo. 
 He was Michaelangelesque without ceasing to be 
 Titian, and this is a proof of the greatness of his 
 genius. 
 
 The Martyrdom of St. Peter Martyr is still in the 
 chapel of the Eosary at San Giovanni e Paolo. But 
 
 * Eidolfi, Marav., ii. 1741. 
 
 t Vicus, de Studiorum ratione, 
 
 p. 100, in Cicogna's MS. Annot. 
 to Tizianello's anon. 
 
330 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 this picture which now adorns those walls is not that 
 which Titian painted. After many mishaps and 
 changes, having been taken to Paris and there trans- 
 ferred from panel to canvas, it was destroyed by 
 fire on the 16th of August 1867, and in its stead 
 there now hangs a copy by Cardi da Cigoli. The 
 original picture lives in numberless imitations and 
 innumerable prints, and more than all it lives in the 
 memory of those who went to Yenice for the sole 
 purpose of seeing it, but the loss to art is still irre- 
 parable, because neither copy nor print can give an 
 idea of a masterpiece that deserved to be called 
 sublime. In this picture above all others Titian 
 reproduced the human form in its grandest develop- 
 ment, yet still within the limits which define nature 
 as contradistinguished from the preternatural conven- 
 tionalism of Michaelangelo. He took from Buonarotti 
 indeed a startling display of momentary action and 
 muscular strength. He set before his admirers the 
 colossal forms of an herculean race, but he tempered 
 every excess by a constant appeal to the reality, and 
 he knew so well how to modify strain by balanced 
 play of light and by gradation of tone that a natural 
 effect was the necessary consequence. It seems 
 almost useless labour to describe a work so familiar to 
 every student of painting, but the process of descrip- 
 tion brings out points which escape an eye captivated 
 by artifices of design and colour. The figures were 
 placed on the verge of the plane of delineation invit- 
 ing examination by their closeness as well as by their 
 size. The saint lay prostrate on a grass-grown knoll, 
 
Chap. IX.] 
 
 ST. PETER MARTYR. 
 
 331 
 
 his face turned upwards, his form partly raised on 
 the right elbow and forearm, the right hand pointing 
 to the Creed, the left outstretched towards heaven ; 
 over the prostrate martyr the hired murderer, with 
 bronzed face and clotted hair, grasping at the saint's 
 black mantle and treading on his dress as he dealt 
 the final blow. To the left the saint's companion 
 fled in an agony of fear, his head and scapular stained 
 with blood, his legs and arms striding and tossing, 
 his face turned back and blanched by terror, his eye 
 fascinated by the dagger of the murderer j the limbs, 
 the torso, in a momentary state of swing — fore- 
 shortened and muscular after the fashion of Buona- 
 rotti ; to the right, in the distance of the glade, the 
 suborner of the murder in armour on horseback, 
 with a satellite hurrying from the scene of guilt. 
 Combined with forms of athletic strength familiar 
 to a hillsman, Titian set a landscape solemn in its 
 gloom and grandeur, a landscape of tall and majestic 
 trees, to the lofty summits of which "the last call 
 of the Martyr and the shriek of his companion had 
 room to rise."'* To this landscape, on the verge 
 of a forest in the higher regions of the Alps, a 
 mountain distance of great remoteness was added, — 
 a distance angrily coloured, but united with the fore- 
 ground and sky by an enchanted effect of light, a 
 lambent ray piercing the clouds perpendicularly to 
 fall on the upturned face of the Martyr, to edge the 
 frame of the flying friar and project on the head 
 and shoulders of the murderer, playing brightly the 
 
 * Burchardt's Cicerone. 
 
332 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 while on the floating shapes of two angels poised 
 above the spot and looking down as they cheered 
 the victim with the palm of martyrdom. Accom- 
 panying the gleam, a gnst of wind seemed to flap 
 the drapery, where it did not cling, into picturesque 
 festoons. There was something too suggestive of 
 the awful and supernatural in the cloud which rolled 
 down into the trees, and either relieved their foliage 
 or concealed them altogether, deepening here and 
 there the darkness naturally falling on a glade, but 
 partly lighted from the sun, yet still so ingeniously 
 contrived as to leave broad masses of shadow and 
 reflexions on large masses of the figures. Titian's 
 taste, Avhich urged him to imitate the simplicity of 
 nature, was still far too refined to be satisfied with 
 the commonplace realism of frocks and cowls. His 
 friars were dressed in black mantles and white 
 scapulars, but the robing was ideal or blown into 
 motion with such skill as to look classic as the dress 
 of an apostle in a cartoon by Eaphael. But not the 
 dress only, the faces were fine in their character and 
 expression, that of the Martyr especially so, as he 
 looked up to the sky heedless for ever of human 
 pain and treachery, and the two winged boys in 
 the air — marvels of life and motion — as charming 
 singly as they were fine in joint grouping, their 
 innocence and timidity being pitted in an admirable 
 way against the ruthless action below. The assassin 
 striding with his back to the spectator, was made to 
 turn his head into strong profile, his movement 
 strained no doubt, but true in the tension of the 
 
Chap. IX.] 
 
 ST. PETER MARTYR. 
 
 333 
 
 muscles, and superb as a nude of clean limb and ex- 
 tremities. Nothing technically recalled the pains 
 or minutise of execution, for all was lost in a general 
 breadth concealing the contours in the rounding of 
 the flesh. A masterpiece of colouring, the picture 
 was remarkable for nothing more than that it was 
 executed with primaries, a single patch only — that 
 of the red hose worn by the executioner — being 
 thrown in to vary the blacks and whites of the 
 Dominican's draperies, and the deep browns and 
 greens of the trees and foreground. When Titian 
 first composed the solitary group which made up 
 this grand picture, he thought of nothing more than 
 the chief episode. In a splendid sketch for the mur- 
 derer and his victim once possessed by Mr. Sack- 
 ville Bale, the saint is represented on the ground, 
 and lying there with both his hands before him, and 
 his glance directed towards the assassin.* 
 
 The Martyr's appeal to heaven, and the opening 
 of the sky in the picture, thus appears to have been 
 an afterthought. Critics of various ages reproved the 
 unnatural movement of the body in the murderer and 
 his victim, and there was certainly room for the criti- 
 cism; but here, as in the " Entombment," the weaker 
 points were concealed in the grandeur of the whole, 
 
 * The drawing of Mr. Bale be- 
 longed previously to Dr. Wellesley 
 at Oxford. There is another draw- 
 ing of the whole composition in the 
 British Museum, with one angel 
 in the air. The robe of the Martyr, 
 the hands of the fugitive friar are 
 not disposed as they were in the 
 
 picture. A drawing of a like com- 
 position is in the Berlin Museum, 
 whither it came from the Suer- 
 mondt Collection, but it is not by 
 Titian. Sketches for the angels 
 and other figures in the Lille 
 Museum are photographed by 
 Braun. 
 
334 
 
 TITIAN : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 and enthusiasm left no room for moderate fault- 
 finding. Dolce opened his Dialogue on Painting by 
 bringing Aretino and Fabrini into converse before the 
 Peter Martyr of Titian.* Generations of artists, from 
 Benvenuto Cellini and Tribolo in the sixteenth to 
 Eubens and the Caracci in the seventeenth, and 
 Eeynolds in the eighteenth century, spent hours ad- 
 miring and studying it ; and it is variously reported 
 that the Signoria threatened with the penalty of death 
 any person who should have the audacity to move it.f 
 We cannot wonder that on the eve of its exhibition, 
 Pordenone should have resolved to abandon the field 
 occupied by so powerful an adversary, and that Sebas- 
 tian del Piombo should have thought of Eome as 
 better suited than Yenice to his form of artistic skill. 
 A deed has been preserved under date of April 27, 
 1530, in which the contract originally drawn up 
 between Titian and the brotherhood of San Giovanni 
 
 * Dolce, Dialogo, p. 1. 
 
 f Compare Boschini (Navegar 
 Pittoresco, p. 12), who ascribes 
 the severity of the Signoria to an 
 offer made by Daniel Nys to buy 
 the picture for 18,000 scudi, with 
 St. Disdier (w. s. p. 56), who states 
 that in consequence of the practice 
 of spunging, frequently indulged 
 by student copyists, the panel lost 
 its colour. That it was frequently 
 restored is clear from the exhaus- 
 tive narrative of Zanotto in the 
 Pinacoteca Veneta. 
 
 A copy by Cigoli, once in the 
 Uffizi, was noted in the text. 
 Another of very respectable age 
 is on the first altar to the right 
 
 after entering the high portal of 
 San Domenico of Ancona. The 
 "Finished Study," belonging to 
 Mr. Pigott, exhibited at the Eoyal 
 Academy in 1875, canvas 36 in. 
 by 23 in., if it be the same 
 picture, numbered 249 at Man- 
 chester, and then the property of 
 the heirs of J. Smith Pringle, 
 Bart., is a copy. We note in 
 the inventory of Eubens' pictures 
 ' ' a great draught of the Martir- 
 dome of Peter Martyr, by Titian " 
 (Sainsbury, u. s. 236), but what 
 became of it is not at present 
 known. See the engravings of 
 Martin Eota, G. B. Fontana, Le 
 Febre, and Patina. 
 
Chap. IX.] CHAELES THE FIFTH. 335 
 
 e Paolo is set forth. It shows that differences as 
 to payment arose between the painter and the 
 guardian of the convent ; but it also shows that 
 Titian had finished the altar-piece some time before, 
 and fonnd leisnre to turn his attention to other 
 works.* 
 
 Meanwhile, events were taking place in Central 
 Italy which indirectly were of influence in mould- 
 ing Titian's career. Clement the Seventh left Eomc 
 in October, 1529, on a progress to Bologna, and 
 Charles the Fifth came from Spain by way of Genoa 
 to meet him. There the pacification of Italy was 
 obtained at the expense of Italian liberties. The 
 Medici bought the lordship of Florence ; the Emperor 
 received the crown from the Pope's hand; and the 
 patrons of Titian, Federico Gonzaga and Alfonso 
 d' Este worshipped the " rising sun " of Germany and 
 Spain. In the midst of the festivities which half 
 concealed the passions and intrigues of statesmen and 
 princes, there is a vague tradition that Titian was 
 invited to appear. It would have been strange had 
 he been asked to Bologna at the opening of the con- 
 ferences which were to decide whether Yenice should 
 remain at war with the Emperor or not ; — less strange 
 had he been sent for after the ratification of peace 
 on Christmas Eve of 1529. The Marquess of Mantua, 
 Titian's staunch friend, was a constant attendant on 
 the Emperor during the whole of his stay in the 
 pontifical states, and it might be supposed that he 
 would be the first to bring together the monarch and 
 
 * See Appendix. 
 
336 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 the artist ; but, curiously enough, historians do not 
 connect Titian with the Gronzagas on this occasion, 
 and his meeting with the Emperor is ascribed to the 
 mediation of Aretino. "It is said," writes Yasari,* 
 "that Charles the Fifth being at Bologna in 1530, 
 was sent for by Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici at 
 Aretino' s suggestion; and there he produced a mag- 
 nificent portrait of his Majesty in complete armour, 
 which so pleased the Emperor that he sent the master 
 a thousand scudi, which however he had to share with 
 Alfonso Lombardi." If we should doubt the correct- 
 ness of Yasari in reference to this story, it would be 
 not only because the facts are not confirmed by 
 authentic records, but because there are proofs of 
 Titian's presence elsewhere than at Bologna in the 
 first months of 1530. 
 
 Whilst the painter was settling his quarrel with 
 the brotherhood of San Giovanni e Paolo at Yenice, 
 he was busy with commissions for the Marquess of 
 Mantua, of which the following letters give sufficient 
 intelligence. 
 
 GIACOMO MALATESTA TO FEDEKICO GONZAGA AT 
 MANTUA. 
 
 " Titian has shown me the pictures which he is 
 painting for your Lordship. That of the ' Madonna 
 with St. Catharine ' and another of nude females are 
 much advanced. The first he promised to deliver 
 at the beginning of Lent, the second at Easter. That 
 of the bathing women is merely designed. The other 
 
 * Vasari, xiii., 29, 30. 
 
Chap. IX.] POKTRAIT OF GONZAGA. 
 
 337 
 
 representing the person of your Lordship in armour 
 is in good part finished. 
 
 « From Venice, Feb. 5, 1530." * 
 
 Three pieces, it thus appears, were on the painter's 
 easel at one time, the portrait of the Marquess, 
 which perished, but of which Yasari said it was 
 life itself j \ the " Virgin and St. Catharine," which 
 probably went with it to Mantua before Easter, and 
 the "Nude Women Bathing" which was not ready 
 till Midsummer. 
 
 On the 3rd of March, Titian wrote to the Marquess 
 to excuse himself for not sending the latter; and 
 acknowledged a donation which — it subsequently 
 comes out — was no less than a benefice for his 
 son Pomponio : 
 
 TITIAN TO FEDEEICO GONZAGA AT MANTUA. 
 
 " Illustrious and most excellent Lord and patron,' 
 I have heard by letter from Count Mccola of the gift 
 and present which your Excellency has condescended 
 with habitual grace and liberality to make in my 
 favour. Eor these I beg to tender infinite thanks, 
 attributing this great reward to the infinite [blank 
 in original] which I have with your Lordship. I 
 would beg your Excellency to be content to advise 
 the officials in time in order that the matter may be 
 settled without further troubling your Excellency, 
 
 * The original is in the Appen- 
 dix. 
 
 f Vasari, xiii., 31. The portrait 
 was in the Palace of Mantua, 
 vol. i. 
 
 according to one of the inven- 
 tories of the Gonzaga Collections, 
 as late as 1627. (Darco, Delle 
 Arti di Mantova, ii., 159.) 
 
 z 
 
338 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 and, having taken possession, I shall promise to 
 satisfy my debt,* and shonld not like to fail in pay- 
 ing it or break my word. Of this I also write to the 
 Signor Connt, as yonr Excellency may ascertain from 
 himself. 
 
 " I shonld have ere this furnished your Excel- 
 lency's picture of the ' Nude Women,' but that I 
 have such irritation of the skin that I cannot move. 
 I hope within a fortnight, or at Shrovetide, to give it 
 to your Excellency, whose hands I beg with all my 
 heart to kiss, and to whom I wish myself constantly 
 recommended. 
 
 " Your Excellency's devoted servant, 
 
 "TlCIANO, PlTTORE.f 
 
 "From Venice, March 3, 1530." 
 
 The portrait of Federico found a worthy place in 
 the " camera dell' arma," in the Marquess's palace. 
 It hung in noble company with a picture by Giulio 
 Eomano, Del Sarto'scopy of Eaphael's "Leo the Tenth," 
 and Eaphael's portrait of the Marquess as a boy.f 
 
 The " Virgin and St. Catherine," which may be 
 identified as the " Madonna del Coniglio " at the Louvre, 
 is a masterpiece in which Titian substitutes for the 
 wilds of Bethlehem the lovely scenery of the Isonzo and 
 Tagliamento. He represents the Yirgin seated on the 
 grass with her hand on a white rabbit, and St. Cathe- 
 
 * We shall see there was a 
 pension payable out of the bene- 
 fice to an earlier holder. 
 
 f The original will be found in 
 Appendix. 
 
 % Calandra to Federico Gonzaga 
 at Casale from Mantua, Oct. 28, 
 1531, in Pungileoni, Elogio Storico 
 di Eafaello Santi, 8vo., Urbino, 
 1829, p. 182. 
 
Chap. IX.] MADONNA DEL CONIGLIO. 
 
 339 
 
 rine by her side stooping with the infant Christ in her 
 arms to look at the rabbit : a charming gronp in the 
 corner of a landscape — a gronp on which all the light 
 of the picture is concentrated, whilst the broad ex- 
 panse behind with the wooded farmstead in its right, 
 the distant village, the chain of hills and the far-off 
 mountains lost in blue haze, lies dormant under the 
 shade of a summer cloud. St. Catherine and the 
 Yirgin are both portraits, the first a queen in the rich 
 ornament of pearls that decorates her luxuriant hair, 
 the silken scarf that covers her neck, her white silk 
 puffs and armlets, and her striped orpiment dress ; the 
 Yirgin in traditional red and blue, her sandaled foot 
 near a round basket in which some apples lie. As 
 St. Catherine stoops to the Yirgin she holds the infant 
 Christ in a muslin cloth, and the child looks half 
 merrily, half slyly at the rabbit, catching at the Saint's 
 face to make sure of near support, and making signs 
 of half distress with one of its hands. In the back- 
 ground near a hut St. Joseph fondles a black lamb 
 that has straggled from the neighbouring flock. 
 Bunches of flowering weeds, a pumpkin, grace the 
 foreground, and on the broken wheel at Catherine's 
 feet we read Ticianus, F. 
 
 Palma has made us acquainted with varied mani- 
 festations of homely feeling in his " Holy Conversa- 
 tions." Titian watches life with an equal and yet 
 more sensitive insight, refining upon that which is 
 merely familiar by bringing before his admirers 
 figures which they revere, in the sweetest and most 
 
 graceful converse. Truth as displayed in nature is 
 
 z 2 
 
340 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 put before us with such singular elevation, in a 
 medium so enchanting from its tone and air and 
 vegetation, that it vies with the more severe sublimity 
 of works embodying the highest ideals of form. 
 Combinations of strength and tenderness, of colour and 
 transparence, of polished blending and grain, of vivid 
 tint and atmosphere, are all to be found in one picture 
 in which, at the same time, there is a delicacy of 
 feeling full of pathos.* We ask ourselves indeed 
 when looking at the " Madonna del Coniglio," whether 
 an artist with only fleeting ties could have created 
 such a masterpiece ; and the answer seems to be that 
 nature here gushes from the innermost recesses of a 
 man's heart who has begun to know the charms of 
 paternity, who has watched a young mother and her 
 yearling child, and seized at a glance those charming 
 but minute passages which seldom or ever meet any 
 but a father's eye. 
 
 Titian we know had a wife. Her name was 
 Cecilia; and we are able to compute that about the 
 year 1525 she gave birth to Titian's scapegrace son 
 Pomponio.j* The joys of which we here find a trace 
 
 * This picture, No. 459 at the 
 Louvre, belonged to Louis the 
 Fourteenth. It is on canvas, 
 m. 0.70 h. by 0.84, and with 
 figures half the size of life. It is 
 eD graved in Filhol and in Lan- 
 don ; but there is a fine photo- 
 graph of it by Adolphe Braun of 
 Dornach. 
 
 f See proofs of Titian's marriage 
 to D[onna] Cecilia in a declara- 
 tion of the Court of Intestates at 
 
 Venice on the 23rd of October, 
 1576, published in Cadorin's Dello 
 Amore, &c, p. 95. Compare 
 Aretino to Pomponio, Venice, 
 Nov. 26, 1537, in Lettere di M. 
 Pietro Aretino, u. s.,p. 204, verso, 
 in which Pomponio is stated to be 
 12 years old. We shall see that 
 Titian lost his wife in 1530. Ti- 
 cozzi's error in calling her Lucia, 
 the name of Titian's mother, may 
 be noted. That she bore Titian 
 
Chap. IX.] 
 
 THE EIPOSO. 
 
 341 
 
 were vouchsafed to the painter more than once 
 between that date and his wife's death in 1530. 
 
 The " Madonna del Coniglio" was never copied. It 
 remained an unicum. Its counterpart in homely 
 attraction — the " Virgin's Eest in Egypt" — was pro- 
 duced about the same time, and often repeated. Editio 
 frinceps is the Louvre example, where the Virgin 
 is seated under a tree to the left, and supports the 
 child on her lap as the boy St. John comes forward 
 with his lamb, and St. Joseph contemplates the scene. 
 In the distance a servant leads the ox and ass, and 
 two angels in the air carry the cross. The . landscape 
 background is full of colour.* A good school replica 
 in the Holford Gallery in London is preferable to the 
 .coarser and later one of the Friulan School in the 
 Eoyal Institution at Liverpool. f A cold but careful 
 copy in the Museum of Modena bears the master's 
 name with less claim to the honour than a replica of 
 the sixteenth century, in the EscuriaLJ Two later 
 
 a daughter, who died early, is 
 known. See Zanetti, Pittura Ven., 
 u. s. p. 746, and Ticozzi, Vecelli, 
 p. 28. 
 
 * This canvas, No. 461 at the 
 Louvre, and in size m. 0.81 h. by 
 1.08, belonged to Mazarin, and 
 was bought of the Cardinal's heirs 
 for Louis the Fourteenth. (See 
 Villot's Catalogue.) It is engraved 
 in Filhol and Landon. Photo- 
 graph by Braun. 
 
 f The replica in the Holford 
 Gallery was in the Orleans Col- 
 lection, and belonged to Mr. 
 Walton and Mr. Wilkins before it 
 was bought by Mr. Holford. It 
 
 is much injured by re-painting. 
 Compare Waagen's Treasures, ii., 
 pp. 197 and 497. 
 
 The copy at Liverpool, No. 89 
 of the Catalogue, is 2 ft. 11 in. 
 high by 4 ft. 1 in. The figures 
 are large and weighty, as they 
 would naturally be if copied by 
 one familiar with the manner of 
 Pordenone ; and the general tone 
 somewhat merges into a ruddy 
 brown. 
 
 t The copy at Modena is in the 
 Museum, but not numbered; it 
 belongs to the Modena Academy 
 of Arts. The replica at the Es- 
 curial is of Titian's own time. 
 
342 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 adaptations are in the galleries of Stockholm and 
 Berlin.* 
 
 Titian was still at work completing pictures for the 
 Gonzagas when the conferences of Bologna broke np. 
 On the 23rd of March, 1530, the Emperor rode north 
 with his suite. On the 31st the Pope bestrode his 
 mule and started for Eome. The pageantry was over, 
 the princes were gone, and the nobles dwelt com- 
 placently on the splendour of the past festivity, whilst 
 the people breathed again when freed from the burden 
 of De Leyva's soldiery. Amongst the palaces which 
 shone with more than usual brilliancy during this 
 memorable winter, that of the Pepoli had been very 
 remarkable. Charles the Fifth had frequently accepted 
 Count Pepoli' s hospitality, and Covos, his chief political 
 secretary, had seen and admired the Countess's maid 
 in waiting, Cornelia. Here was an opportunity for 
 influence not to be neglected. The Marquess of 
 Mantua watched with interest the love affair of Covos 
 and Cornelia, and determined at all hazards to secure 
 imperial interest, by flattering the secretary's passion. 
 To this end he sent Titian and Giov. Bologna to take 
 the likeness of the lady, with a view of presenting her 
 in painting and statuary to Covos. In June, Titian 
 had -written to Isabella d' Este to announce the near 
 
 * The Stockholm copy, No. 
 1060 of the Museum Catalogue, 
 is more modern than any of the 
 foregoing, yet is still registered 
 as an original Titian. 
 
 No. 203 at the Berlin Museum 
 is a hard copy, remarkable for 
 
 studies of flowers, the tree to the 
 left being in bloom, and the rock 
 behind the boy Baptist decorated 
 with the leaves and blossoms of a 
 gigantic convolvulus. On the 
 foreground to the left an ewe is 
 standing. 
 
Chap. IX.] 
 
 COENELIA AND COVOS. 
 
 343 
 
 completion of a travelling altar-piece.* In the first 
 days of July lie came to Bologna, with a letter of 
 introduction to the Countess Pepoli, in which the 
 Marquess described him generously as a rare and 
 excellent painter, and a gentleman for whom he 
 begged facilities for taking the portrait of the lady 
 Cornelia, f On a similar errand the sculptor Bologna 
 had been sent a few days before, and great was his 
 anger as he met Titian at the door, and learnt the 
 cause of his visit, f Writing to the Duke on the 
 11th of July, Bologna said, "he had heard from His 
 Excellency that it was intended that he should 
 portray ' la Cornelia.' He was in bed at the time, 
 but had risen and taken horse, and gone to the house 
 of the lady Isabella Pepoli, where he met Titian, who 
 told him he had been sent by my Lord to do that 
 which he, Bologna, came also to do, whereupon he, 
 Bologna, had withdrawn, calling Titian to witness 
 that he had a swollen cheek, and that his teeth 
 chattered with a fever caught days before in the damp 
 rooms of the palace of Te." § 
 
 Next day, July the 12th, Titian wrote also to record 
 a failure. 
 
 TITIAN TO FEDEEICO GONZAGA AT MANTUA. 
 " The lady Cornelia is no longer in Bologna. She 
 
 * Titian to Isabella, from Ve- 
 nice, June 30, 1530 (Pungileoni, 
 in Giornale Arcadico, fol. , Eome, 
 torn, li., 1831). 
 
 t Federico Gonzaga to Eliza- 
 betta, Countess Pepoli, from 
 Mantua, July 8, 1530, in Gaye, 
 
 Carteggio, 8vo, Firenze, 1840, ii., 
 p. 219. 
 
 t Federico Gonzaga to Fran- 
 cesco Bologna, from Mantua, 
 July 6, 1530, in Gaye, u. s., ii., 
 220. 
 
 § See Appendix. 
 
344 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 lias been sent away for change of air to Nuvolara, 
 being ill and ont of condition. Hearing this, I 
 fancied I should do little good, the lady having been 
 sick, and I for my part being affected by the great 
 heat, so being unwilling to become altogether indis- 
 posed, have gone no further with my work. But the 
 lady impressed me so much from the first with her 
 beauty that I have the greatest desire to portray her, 
 and I am sure that those who know her will think I 
 painted her frequently, and I beg your Excellency to 
 leave the matter to me, and in ten days, if I have sent 
 to me to Venice the portrait which was done by that 
 other painter of Cornelia, I shall send both it and 
 mine to your Excellency, and comparison will show 
 how anxious I am to serve your Excellency in this as 
 in everything else so long as I live. Should your 
 Excellency after seeing the portrait think that it 
 requires alteration, I shall go with pleasure to Nuvolara 
 to alter it, but I do not think that will be required." * 
 
 During the master's absence, the Marquess had 
 written to Agnello at Yenice to prepare a present of 
 100 scudi for him.f On the 15th of July, Agnello 
 announced Titian's return sick to Yenice, and a 
 payment to him of 78-| scudi. :£ 
 
 Titian's life at this period excites none of the 
 interest which clings to that of Michaelangelo. Whilst 
 Florence is wrestling with fate and fighting against 
 treachery, with Buonarotti on the side of the patriots, 
 
 * See Appendix. I 1530, in Appendix, 
 
 t See the letter, dated July 8, | X See Appendix. 
 
Chap. IX.] DEATH OF TITIAN'S WIFE. 
 
 345 
 
 Yenice stands still and watches with feline cunning 
 the triumph of Imperialism, her greatest master being 
 busied with nothing more than portraits of ladies 
 and pictures of female nudes. But if Titian's figure 
 is absent from the great drama of politics, it does not 
 pass through the days unscathed by private trouble. 
 We saw him at Bologna sickening at the heat of an 
 Italian summer. He returned to Yenice, and there 
 the great bereavement of his life fell upon him. 
 Cecilia, the wife who had borne him Pomponio, Orazio, 
 and Lavinia, was struck down, and he buried her 
 with a mournful heart on the 5th of August. The 
 friends of his house gathered round it at this juncture, 
 and condoled with the painter, and one of them, 
 Benedetto Agnello, the agent of his patron Federico 
 Gonzaga, wrote to the warder of Mantua : 
 
 " Our master Titian is quite disconsolate at the loss 
 of his wife, who was buried yesterday. He told me 
 that in the troubled time of her sickness he was 
 unable to work at the portrait of the lady Cornelia or 
 at the picture of the i Nude ' which he is doing for 
 our most illustrious Lord ; but he thinks the latter 
 will be a fine thing, and he hopes to finish it before 
 the month is out. Meanwhile he desires to know how 
 his Lordship likes the ' St. Sebastian ' lately sent to 
 him, which he admits is but an ordinary performance 
 as compared with the nudes, and one which he only 
 produced as an entertainment in token of the devotion 
 which he feels for his Excellency." * 
 
 * See Appendix. Of the 
 ' nudes " we hear no more, nor 
 
 do we know what became of 
 them. 
 
346 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 The u St. Sebastian " we observed was but a copy of 
 that which, ten years before, Titian had painted for 
 the legate Averoldo.* It was speedily followed by 
 the portrait of Cornelia, the despatch of which to 
 Covos was announced in the following letter : 
 
 FEDEKICO GONZAGA TO SIGISMUNDO DELLA TOERE. 
 
 " The muleteer of M. Antonio Bagarotti left this 
 day with the arms which we are sending to Don Petro 
 de la Cayena, and the portrait of 4 La Cornelia ' for 
 the 4 Sior Commendador Maior 3 (Coyos.) 
 
 " From Mantua, 26th of September, 1530." f 
 
 The house of the painter was thrown into disarray 
 by the death of the matron who presided over it. 
 There were young children there who required attend- 
 ance and care. Titian, in this strait, asked his 
 sister Orsa to take charge of his household, and she 
 soon joined him from Cadore.f He also felt the 
 irksomeness of living in the old dwelling of San 
 Samuele, and sighed for purer air and more open 
 country ; and before long he hired a lodging in the 
 northern suburbs, where he laid out a garden famous 
 in after years for the beauty of its site and the 
 company which occasionally met there. § 
 
 But in the midst of his family troubles Titian did 
 not forget his worldly interests. Since he had become 
 the father of a family he had often thought of the 
 
 * See antea, p. 253. 
 
 f See the original in Appendix. 
 
 X Ciani, Storia del Popolo di 
 
 Cadore, ii., 322. 
 
 § See postea, and Cadorin's 
 Dello Amore, p. 83. 
 
Chap. IX.] BENEFICE OF MEDOLE. 
 
 347 
 
 best means for securing to them a respectable com- 
 petence. Orazio, it had been determined, should 
 follow the profession of his father. Pomponio was to 
 enter the church ; and this was the more natural as 
 Titian already had a promise of a benefice for the boy. 
 In September, 1530, Agnello reports Titian's desire to 
 obtain possession of the promised sinecure : 
 
 BENEDETTO AGNELLO TO JO. JACOMO CALANDRA 
 AT MANTUA. 
 
 " Some days have elapsed since I saw Titian, but 
 from what I hear, his health is not yet completely 
 restored. On paying him a visit a few days ago, he 
 told me his cure would be hastened if he received 
 intelligence that our Signor had given him possession 
 of the benefice of Medole. He thinks the pleasure of 
 this news would be very great, his present indisposi- 
 tion being simply due to melancholy. 
 
 " From Venice, Sept. 27, 1530."* 
 
 Belying on Federico's promise, Titian had put his 
 son into a clerical dress, and in this way openly 
 advertised his good fortune to his friends, but the 
 promise was still delayed, so long delayed indeed, 
 that the painter's health improved without the cure 
 he longed for. 
 
 BENEDETTO AGNELLO TO JO. JACOMO CALANDRA 
 AT MANTUA. 
 
 "M. Titian is beginning to resume strength, and 
 will soon leave for Mantua. He has had a letter from 
 
 * The original in Appendix. 
 
348 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 the Signor Count Mccola (? patron of the benefice of 
 Medole), bnt not being in a condition to write at the 
 time, he gave no answer. 
 
 " Erom Venice, October 4, 1530."* 
 
 BENEDETTO AGNELLO TO EEDEEICO GONZAGA AT 
 MANTUA. 
 
 " M. Ticiano and Sansovino are looking out for a 
 man who can do foundry work. They will let me 
 know when they find anything suitable. 
 
 "Erom Venice, October 24, 1530." 
 
 THE SAME TO THE SAME. 
 
 " M. Tiziano tells me he has found a man who can 
 do foundry work admirably, and is also a fair sculptor. 
 He thinks this man will suit, and willingly take 
 servioe with your Excellency. So soon as he shall 
 have spoken with the man, he will give me the answer, 
 and I shall report to your Illustrious Lordship. 
 
 " Erom Venice, Oct. 30, 1530." t 
 
 In the meanwhile Titian was labouring to give his 
 Mantuan patron proofs of his diligence. The despatch 
 of a " St. Jerom " to Federico, was acknowledged in a 
 kind letter of March 5, 1531, in which a request was 
 made for a " Magdalen" " as beautiful but as tearful as 
 possible." The picture was one in which the 
 Marquess and his mother were both interested, as it 
 was intended for a present to Davalos del Vasto, at 
 that time high in favour with Charles the Fifth. 
 
 "* The original in Appendix. f The originals in Appendix. 
 
Chap. IX.] THE DAVALOS MAGDALEN. 
 
 349 
 
 The progress of this work, upon which Titian ex- 
 pended more than nsnal pains, is illustrated in 
 numerous letters which passed between the Marquess 
 and his agent Agnello in March and April. On the 
 14th of April both Titian and the Mantuan envoy 
 were able to announce the sending of the picture, 
 and Federico acknowledged his obligations in the 
 kindest words.* 
 
 The " Magdalen " pleased the Gonzagas so much that 
 they obtained a copy of it. "When Daniel Nys carried 
 off the Mantuan Collection to Yenice a Magdalen by 
 Titian formed part of it.f But it may be that Charles 
 the First only received a later adaptation, of which 
 the original was sent to Davalos. The general was 
 certainly acquainted with Titian at this time, and he 
 begged Aretino, in November, to ask him to head 
 quarters at Correggio, adding that the steps of the 
 master would not be taken in vain. J Whether 
 Titian had previously painted a " Magdalen" it is hard 
 to say. The subject was one to which he was partial, 
 and he was once heard to boast that he made upwards 
 of 2000 scudi by it,§ but it is difficult to tell when he 
 
 * For these letters, dated March 
 5, 18, 19, 22, and April 8, 12, 14, 
 and 28, see the Appendix ; and 
 consult Gaye, Carteggio, i. , 223 ; 
 and Pungileoni, in Giornale Ar- 
 cadico for 1831. 
 
 t Compare Bathoe's Catalogue 
 and Sainsbury Papers, illustrative 
 of Sir P. P. Eubens, p. 336. But 
 it is well to note that the Mantuan 
 inventory of the year 1627 only 
 registers a copy of Titian's " Mag- 
 
 dalen" (see Darco, Delle Arti, 
 p. 156). Charles I.'s Catalogue, 
 however, describes the " Mag- 
 dalen " as an original Titian. 
 
 % Lettere scritte a P. Aretino, 
 p. 109. 
 
 § Francesco di Pietro Morosini, 
 Duke of Candia, from Candia, 
 1601, to F. Lollino at Venice, 
 relating the purchase of a " Mag- 
 dalen" of Titian (Cicogna, Isc. 
 Ven., v. 46). 
 
350 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 composed the first example, and equally so to discover 
 what became of del Yasto's copy. The earliest 
 extant representation of the Magdalen was probably 
 done for Francesco Maria, Duke of Urbino. It is 
 now at the Pitti, and displays a beauty of such un- 
 common order as to deserve all the encomiums which 
 can be given to it. But it also bears obvious marks 
 of the haste with which it was executed ; and tells of 
 itself the tale of its production. Titian was evidently 
 asked to paint quickly a picture of effect. He chose 
 the smooth surface of a panel, upon which he threw 
 the naked form of a young woman of twenty-five, 
 whose full shape and bright flesh are partially decked 
 by golden tresses' that fall copiously down her 
 shoulders ; a pair of beautiful rounded arms and 
 delicate taper fingers press the locks to the bosom and 
 waist, leaving bare the throat and breasts. The 
 upturned face and eyes, and the tears which drop 
 down the cheeks, are emblems of a penitence which 
 the forms belie. It is clear that Titian had no other 
 purpose in view than to represent a handsome girl. 
 He displays all his art in giving prominence to her 
 shape. Her skin glows uniformly between the metallic 
 reflexions of her gilt hair, it shines brightly in front 
 of a dark hill to the right, the brown back of which 
 is broken with mysterious greys. It shines with equal 
 clearness before the deep enamel blue of an Italian 
 sky, blotched with pearly cloud, and verging towards 
 the horizon on a misty range of mountains. The 
 model of the girl is the Yenus of the Shell, but it is 
 a model which Titian designed from memory, and not 
 
Chap. IX.] 
 
 'ST. JEEOM. 
 
 351 
 
 from life, a lovely conventional being, equally brilliant 
 and unreal, but a creation which no master less able* 
 than Titian could have produced.* The friends of this 
 form of art were at all times so numerous that copies 
 could not be made fast enough for them, but the 
 copies were not executed by Titian, seldom even by 
 his immediate disciples ; and the best of them in the 
 Doria Palace at Eome is but a school-piece, whilst a 
 replica in the same collection, and repetitions at 
 Hampton Court, are quite unworthy of Titian's name.*]* 
 Not less difficult to find than the " Magdalen" is the 
 " St. Jerom " of the Gonzagas. The wild scenery of 
 Friuli, with its growth of oak and pine intermingled 
 with rocks and grassy banks, or netted with gnarled 
 roots, was altogether suited to Titian's idea of the 
 retreat of a saint whose familiar companion was the 
 lion. In pictures and engravings the man is variously 
 occupied ; pensive, penitent, despairing, or in prayer ; 
 the landscape is always imposing by its severity and 
 
 * This panel, No. 67 at the 
 Pitti, belonged in Vasari's time 
 to the collection of the Dukes of 
 Urbino. It is 1 braccio 9 high, by 
 1, 3, 4, browned by age and var- 
 nishes, the latter concealing a few 
 small retouches, one of which is 
 on the forehead. On the vase to 
 the left we read, " Titian vs." 
 The figure, a half-length, is turned 
 to the right. See Vas., xiii., 32. 
 
 f The best of the two copies in 
 the Doria Palace is the canvas 
 numbered 56 in the large room of 
 the " braccio secondo." A white 
 drapery, which covers some of 
 the forms, ' is obviously a modern 
 
 improvement, and the flesh is in 
 many places re-painted. The same 
 addition of drapery will be found 
 in the second copy, No. 37, of the 
 second room at the Doria Palace, 
 a copy inferior in every respect 
 to No. 56. Both examples are 
 under Titian's name. A poor 
 copy of the Pitti " Magdalen " is 
 in the Prince of Wales' Presence 
 Chamber at Hampton Court ; it 
 is disfigured by the addition of 
 new canvas all round. Another 
 but feebler copy is in Queen 
 Mary's Closet, also at Hampton 
 Court. 
 
352 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 effective lighting. In the Louvre we see St. Jerom, 
 old, bearded, and kneeling, but glaring at a crucifix 
 fastened to the trunk of a tree, the stone in his hand, 
 the cardinal's hat on the ground, a red cloth covering 
 his loins, and a weird light filtering through the trees. 
 The grand breadth of the treatment and the richness 
 of the tones indicate the time with which we are now 
 busied ; and there is evidence in replicas or varieties 
 once at Garscube, Chatsworth, and elsewhere that 
 Titian's pupils and copyists had a large demand even 
 at this period for a subject greatly favoured by 
 fashion.* If Titian had taken half as much pains to 
 
 * The " St. Jerom " at Mantua 
 was hung in the rooms of the 
 Marchioness Isabella. See Ca- 
 landrato Federico, inPungileoni's 
 Raphael, p. 1 82. The " St. Jerom " 
 of the Louvre, numbered 466, 
 measures m. 0.80 in. high, and 
 1.02 in. broad, and is on canvas : 
 it was probably a Mantuan piece, 
 and was purchased in the time of 
 Louis XIV. It is engraved in 
 Landon. At Garscube, seat of 
 Sir A. Campbell, the " St. Jerom " 
 is with slight variety a repetition 
 of the canvas at the Louvre. 
 Though catalogued as Titian, it 
 shows few, if any, marks of his 
 hand, being so extensively re- 
 painted as to display quite a 
 modern appearance. At the Duke 
 of Devonshire's seat, Chats worth, 
 the saint is also represented of a 
 larger size than the two foregoing, 
 but on panel. He kneels turned 
 to the right, with the stone in his 
 right and a finger of his left on a 
 book resting near the crucifix on 
 
 a rock. At the foot of the latter 
 the lion advances. This picture 
 is not treated with the mastery of 
 Titian, and seems the work of a 
 pupil in Titian's shop. A " St. 
 Jerom" in the same attitude as 
 that of the Louvre, is catalogued 
 as a Titian in the Balbi Collection 
 at Genoa, but is only a feeble 
 copy. A small and clever repro- 
 duction of " St. Jerom," penitent, 
 kneeling in a wilderness with the 
 crucifix in the distance to the 
 right, and a landscape of trees 
 and hills, is that which was once 
 catalogued in the Northwick Col- 
 lection as a Titian. It is a small 
 panel, 2 ft. long by 1 ft. 8 in. 
 wide, with the saint in the same 
 action as that of the Louvre ; but 
 the execution is that of Romanino. 
 Two small pictures, Nos. 478 and 
 492, in the Madrid Museum, re- 
 present St. Jerom ; the first is by 
 Lotto, the second by a later 
 Venetian. 
 
Chap. IX.] 
 
 POMPONIO VECELLI. 
 
 353 
 
 teach Pomponio his own art as he did to procure for 
 him a succession of sinecures, he would have done 
 better for his boy and enjoyed a happier old age. But 
 he was doubtless at this time under the influence of 
 Aretino, who lived by begging when not engaged in 
 extortion ; and Aretino would naturally make it clear 
 to his understanding that a benefice in the name of 
 Pomponio would yield an income for some years to 
 Pomponio' s father. There is something painfully 
 comic in the letters in which Titian treats of these 
 matters bartering his skill as a painter for the fat 
 returns of a Lombard curacy. 
 
 " I have been expecting," he writes on the 12th of 
 July, 1531, to the Duke of Mantua, "the bull of the 
 benefice of Medole which your Excellency gave me 
 ■for my son Pomponio last year, and seeing that the 
 matter is delayed beyond measure, and what is worse, 
 that I have not received the income of the benefice — 
 I find myself in a state of great discontent. It 
 would," he adds, "be greatly to my dishonour and 
 infamy, if my boy should be forced to change the 
 priest's dress, which he wears with so much pleasure, 
 after all Yenice has been made acquainted with the 
 gift made to him of this benefice by your Excellency."* 
 A fortnight more and Titian's note is changed. He 
 is very humble and thankf ul, for the Duke has written 
 to say that the benefice and its income are his ; and 
 he congratulates his Grace upon his coming marriage, 
 and kneels to the ground and kisses his hands, 
 
 * The original, published by cadico for 1831, is reprinted in 
 Pungileoni in the Giornale Ar- Cadorin, Dello Amore, p. 37. 
 
 VOL. I. A A 
 
354 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 assuring him of his readiness to obey all his 
 behests.* 
 
 On the 7th of September Agnello reports the 
 delivery of the bull of the benefice to Titian. 
 
 BENEDETTO AGNELLO TO FEDEEICO GONZAGA. 
 
 " I have given the bulls to M. Titiano, whose joy 
 at receiving them could not have been greater. I 
 pressed him to proceed with the pictures which he 
 owes to your Excellency, and he promised to finish 
 them immediately." 
 
 Titian's duties in 1531 were multifarious. Besides 
 painting and performing commissions for the Gonzagas 
 in October and November, f he worked diligently for 
 the public requirements of the Doge Gritti, whilst not 
 the least portion of his time was devoted to forwarding 
 the private interests of Aretino. There were three 
 persons at this period whose favour was of the utmost 
 concern to this grasping man, the Doge, the Duke of 
 Mantua, and Francesco Sforza Duke of Milan. The 
 bounties of the two first were distributed through 
 their agents at Yenice ; those of Sforza under the 
 superintendence of Maximian Stampa, an imperialist 
 partisan in command of the castle of Milan. In 
 
 * See the letters in Appendix, 
 Pungileoni and Cadorin having 
 only given an extract. The Duke 
 of Mantua was married to the 
 heiress of Montferrat at Casale, in 
 Oct. 1531. (B. Arelio to Aretino 
 in Lettere, sc. a P. A. u. s. } ii. 
 
 p. 170.) 
 
 f See for some of these com- 
 missions a letter of Titian to the 
 Duke of Mantua of October 29 ; 
 and another from Agnello to Ca- 
 landra, of Nov. 30, in Appendix. 
 
Chap. IX.] TITIAN AND SFOEZA. 
 
 355 
 
 return for most substantial marks of Stampa's favour, 
 Aretino in October sent that captain a gem cut by 
 Luigi Anichini and a boy Baptist by Titian, and 
 in the letter accompanying the presents, he parti- 
 cularly dwelt on " the beautiful curl of the Baptist's 
 hair, the fairness of his skin, the richness of his 
 crimson tunic lined with lynx, and the deceptive 
 beauty of the lamb which had caused a sheep to 
 bleat."* That Titian should furnish such morsels as 
 these for the hungry maw of his confederate without 
 requiring some form of requital was not to be 
 expected. It may have been at Aretino' s suggestion 
 that Titian was subsequently employed to paint 
 Stampa's likeness, and the portraits of the hunch- 
 backed Sforza, and the infant bride which the policy 
 of Charles the Fifth gave him in 1534. There are 
 traces of all these works in the pages of history 
 though none of them were preserved to our day.f 
 But independent of this, Aretino knew how to repay 
 favours by judicious flattery; and there is nothing 
 more ingenious than the way in which he brings up 
 
 * Lettere di M. P. Aretino, i. 
 p. 24. 
 
 f Stampa's likeness was seen 
 by Vasari (xiii. 38), Sforza's by 
 Vasari (xiii. 38) and Lomazzo 
 (Trattato della pittura, fol., Milan, 
 1585, p. 633). Cristina of Den- 
 mark was twelve years old when 
 she was married to Francesco 
 Sforza (Lanz. Correspondence of 
 Charles V., ii. 87, 89, and 206). 
 Her portrait was painted by Titian 
 after her marriage in January, 
 
 1534 (See Guido Mazenta to the 
 Grand Duke Ferdinand, from 
 Milan, Jan. 27, 1604, in Gaye, 
 Carteggio, iii. p. 531). There is 
 every probability in favour of the 
 belief that the portraits of Fran- 
 cesco Sforza and Cristine were 
 taken to Madrid. They were 
 copied there by Eubens, and 
 doubtless perished in the fire of 
 the Palace of Pardo (see Sains- 
 bury, u. s., p. 238). 
 
 a a 2 
 
356 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. IX. 
 
 the names of his friends in letters or introduces them 
 into the scenes of plays. In his earliest comedy, 
 written in 1530, he has a good word for patrons and 
 friends of every rank ; and the pedant who tries to 
 persnade Marescalco that he onght to marry, wishes 
 him a son "beautiful as Davalos, and eloquent as the 
 Duke of Urbino,'' not failing on the same occasion to 
 praise " Titian, the only rival of nature; Sansovino, 
 the half of a new Michaelangelo, and Sebastian, more 
 than divine."* 
 
 Titian's duty to Gritti was of a more earnest and 
 solid kind. On the 6th of October, 1531, Sanuto 
 registers a visit to the public palace where he saw 
 Titian's picture just exhibited representing St. Mark 
 with the kneeling Doge before the Virgin and a suite 
 of saints. It was a subject of comment, says Sanuto, 
 that a quarrel had broken out amongst the saints as 
 to who contributed most to the election of " Serenissi- 
 mus." St. Bernardino claimed that the Doge had 
 been chosen on the day of his festival; St. Marina, 
 that he owed his elevation to the recovery of Padua 
 on the day of her canonization ; St. Louis, that his was 
 the name of Alvise Pisani the procurator of St. Mark 
 who was most instrumental in raising the Doge to 
 power. St. Mark had heard of the quarrel, and 
 brought the saints and the Doge together to submit 
 their differences to the Yirgin. The unanimous ver- 
 
 * The "Marescalco" was written 
 in 1530 (see Aretino to Vasone, 
 Sept. 17 of that year, in Lettere 
 di M. P. Aretino, and compare 
 
 Act V. Sc. 3, of the Marescalco 
 in Quattro Commedie, del Div. 
 P. Aretino, 8vo, Venice, 1588, 
 p. 40). 
 
Chap. IX.] GEITTI'S VOTIVE PICTURE. 
 
 3.37 
 
 diet of all Yenetian annalists was, that this was one 
 of Titian's most snccessfnl pictures. It perished 
 unhappily in the fire of 1577.* 
 
 During the winter of 1531-32 Titian probably 
 paid his annual visit to Cadore. In the following 
 summer we find him either at Ferrara or busy with 
 odd commissions for the Gonzagas, painting amongst 
 other things a picture of a gazelle imported from 
 Egypt by way of Alexandria. On the eve of the 
 Emperor's visit to Mantua, he engaged the services of 
 a scene-painter whose quaint designation of "II 
 piacevole pittore " excites our curiosity, f 
 
 * See the extract from Sanuto, 
 in Appendix. 
 
 f See as to this, letters of June, 
 
 October, and November, in Ap- 
 pendix. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Charles V. revisits Italy. — Titian is asked to meet him at Mantua. — 
 He joins the Court at Bologna. — Conferences with Secretary 
 Covos. — Titian chooses the pictures which Alfonso d' Este gives 
 to the Emperor. — Charles sits to Titian. — Sketch portrait and 
 other likenesses of the Emperor. — Titian returns to Venice and 
 receives a knighthood. — Davolos and portrait allegories. — Ippo- 
 lito de' Medici sits twice to Titian. — St. John the Almsgiver. — 
 Titian's social position and state of parties at Venice. — Portraits 
 of Francis the First. — Titian and the Eovere. — Venus at Florence. 
 —"Bella di Titiano." 
 
 Aftee Charles the Fifth's coronation at Bologna, 
 the whole of Italy lay at his feet. The Pope was his 
 ally, Mantua was subservient, and Genoa occupied ; 
 Venice remained at peace, Milan subject, Ferrara 
 cowed, and Savoy doubtful. Florence alone, hoping 
 against hope, but doomed to perish, defied the 
 imperial arms. Within the Peninsula little remained 
 for Charles to compass, except the reduction of. Tus- 
 cany or the settlement of the contested claims to 
 Modena and Eeggio. But beyond the Alps the paci- 
 fication of 1530 increased rather than diminished the 
 complications to which the empire was subjected. 
 The Pope's alliance widened the breach between 
 Charles and the Eef ormers ; and French enmity still 
 urged the Turks to the conquest of Austria. By 
 strenuous exertions an army was brought together to 
 repel the invasion of the Moslems. The ferment in 
 
Chap. X.] 
 
 CHAKLES V. IN ITALY. 
 
 359 
 
 the Church required fresh recourse to negotiation, and 
 Charles found it necessary to revisit Italy and per- 
 suade the Pope to call a General Council. 
 
 After the retreat of the Turks from Hungary in 
 1532, Charles crossed the Alps into Friuli and wrote 
 to his brother Ferdinand in October, that he had 
 resolved to meet Clement the Seventh at Bologna.* 
 On the 3rd of November he rode to Conegliano, where 
 he was met by the Dukes of Ferrara and Mantua. 
 Near Yicenza, on the following day, Francesco Maria, 
 Duke of Urbino, greeted him in the name of the 
 Venetian Eepublic. At Mantua, which he entered on 
 the 6th, Francesco Sforza waited to receive him.f It 
 was no longer a question whether the imperial alliance 
 should be preferred to the friendship of France. The 
 influence of Charles was paramount, and all the princes 
 who flocked to the presence of the Emperor bowed 
 humbly before the potentate at whose bidding states 
 and principalities were distributed. The number of 
 councillors who followed the Emperor was not so 
 large as that which accompanied him in 1530; but he 
 was amply provided with generals, and his favourite 
 secretary Covos, Commander of Castile, was charged 
 with the department of Italian affairs. No sooner had 
 the Emperor set foot in Italy, than he became a 
 popular idol, and his secretaries were worshipped 
 with considerable unanimity. Covos, who was fond 
 of pictures, was smothered with kindness, and tempted 
 with appropriate bribes, and private instructions were 
 
 Lanz., u. s., ii. 18 
 
 1" Ibid. ii. 22. 
 
360 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. X. 
 
 given to envoys and agents to gain his favonr on any 
 conditions. Ferrante Gonzaga, brother of the Duke 
 of Mantua, tried to ingratiate himself by promising a 
 picture by Sebastian del Piombo.* Alfonso of Eerrara 
 gave his envoys clear instructions to win him at any 
 price, and Titian was set to work to attain this 
 end.f The Marquess of Mantua, on his part, over- 
 whelmed the Emperor and his followers with appro- 
 priate civilities, nattering their fondness for art,, 
 though he had nothing to expect or to desire 
 for himself, since Charles had already done more 
 for him than for any Italian prince except the 
 Sforza, and very properly taking care that no mistake 
 of his should mar the prospects of other members 
 of his family. 
 
 The court of the Emperor was described by con- 
 temporaries as forming a marked contrast to that of 
 Francis the Eirst ; and it was noticed at Parma in 
 1529 that the Kaiser and his suite were by no means 
 such splendid cavaliers as the French, even under a 
 subordinate agent like Chabot. J But Charles was an 
 accomplished patron of painting, which he first learnt 
 to appreciate in Flanders, and he was a collector of 
 such inveterate habits that he carried his treasures 
 with him to the solitary convent in Estremadura, in 
 which he elected to end his worn and troubled 
 existence. At Bologna, in 1530, he indulged his 
 favourite taste in visits to churches and monasteries 
 
 * See the life of that painter, 
 f Campori, Tiziano e gli Es- 
 tensi, u. s., p. 22. 
 
 % Niccolo da Ponte's Kelazione 
 in Alberi, u. s., 2nd Series, iii. 
 157. 
 
Chap. X.] 
 
 CHAELES AT MANTUA. 
 
 361 
 
 where pictorial and other treasures were accumulated. 
 His interview with Damiano the friar, who made won- 
 derful figures out of inlaid wood, is celebrated ; his 
 attention to Parmegianino and other painters is 
 known. At Mantua he was not an hour in the 
 palace before he proceeded to investigate its contents. 
 The Duke of Mantua showed him the newly decorated 
 rooms of his palace, and particularly the Camera delP 
 Arma, where his best pictures were exhibited. On 
 one wall — we saw — was Del Sarto's copy of BaphaePs 
 " Leo," on another wall a "St. Jerom" by a Fleming ; 
 a third contained EaphaePs likeness of him as a boy, 
 and Titian's portrait of him as a man.* The pano- 
 plies in the armoury were next visited. They were 
 very remarkable as comprising the armour of every 
 Marquess of the Gonzaga family since its foundation. 
 Then the helmets of the Duke of Urbino, which were 
 celebrated amongst connoisseurs, were discussed, and 
 the Emperor proudly showed some of his own 
 cuirasses, which were acknowledged as marvels of 
 German workmanship.*)* Of all these masterpieces 
 none struck the Emperor so much as Federico's like- 
 ness by Titian ; J and Charles expressed so strong a 
 wish to obtain a portrait of himself from the same 
 hand, that the Duke of Mantua, on the following day, 
 sat down at his desk and penned the following 
 letters : — 
 
 * See Ippolito Calandra to Fe- 
 derico Gonzaga, from Mantua, 
 Oct. 28, 1531, in Pungileoni's 
 Kaphael, p. 182 ; and Aretino to 
 the Empress in Lettere di M. P. 
 
 Aretino, i. 257. 
 
 f Darco, Delle Arti, ii. 118-119. 
 
 X Aretino to the Empress, 
 Lettere di M. P. Aret. i. 257. 
 
362 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. X. 
 
 FEDERICO GONZAGA TO TITIAN AT VENICE. 
 
 "Messer TlZIANO, 
 
 " I should be very glad to have you near 
 me, and beg as hard as I can that you come hither 
 as quickly as you are able, which will do me a 
 singular pleasure." 
 
 " From Mantua, November 7, 1532." * 
 
 THE SAME TO THE SAME. 
 
 " Master Titian, 
 
 " Be content when you come hither — and I 
 hope you will come for my sake — to have some fish 
 (pesce suola) brought with you ; and as I expect you 
 shortly, I say no more than that I am yours, 
 
 "The Duke of Mantua."-)- 
 
 "From Mantua, Nov. 7, 1532." 
 
 In the evening Charles and the Duke were present 
 at a play in the Castle theatre, the scenes being 
 painted for the occasion by pupils of Giulio Romano. 
 
 Titian had been staying at Ferrara in July, when 
 no doubt he sketched the profile of Ariosto for the 
 " Orlando Furioso." % He was in Venice when Fede- 
 rico Gonzaga wrote ; but he could not or would not 
 accept the Duke's invitation, preferring to follow the 
 court to Bologna, where Alfonso of Este had sent two 
 of his most trusted agents. 
 
 Since 1530 the cities of Modena and Eeggio had 
 
 * See the original in Appendix, 
 t Gaye, Carteggio, ii. 249. 
 % Campori (TizianoegliEstensi 
 
 p. 21) proves that Titian was at 
 Ferrara on the 24th and 25th of 
 July, 1532. 
 
Chap. X.] 
 
 COVOS AND ALFONSO. 
 
 363 
 
 been occupied by Imperial garrisons pending the 
 award of Charles, who was to decide whether they 
 should be restored to the Pope or Ferrara. It was of 
 the utmost importance to Alfonso to secure, not only 
 the favour of the Emperor, but that of the omnipotent 
 secretary Covos, in whose desk the papers of the 
 negotiation lay. The Emperor, on the other hand, 
 and Covos himself, were not unwilling to make the 
 award as to Moclena and Eeggio dependent upon the 
 generosity of Alfonso. Much had been said — pro- 
 bably at Mantua, certainly at Bologna — of the 
 splendid works of art which Alfonso had accumu- 
 lated at Ferrara. There was a portrait of the 
 Emperor by some good painter, a likeness of Alfonso, 
 and other pictures by Titian, worth their weight in 
 gold. Not only did the Emperor in person communi- 
 cate with Titian as to this, but Titian was often 
 " closeted with Covos, who wrote out lists of what he 
 should like to get from the treasures of Ferrara, and 
 prepared to ask for them of the agents of the Duke.* 
 In order to keep Titian in good humour, Covos 
 employed him to paint the Emperor's portrait. He 
 then matured a plan for acquiring the Ferrarese 
 jnctures, which he carried out in the following 
 fashion : — The agents of the Estes at Bologna were 
 Jacopo Alvarotti and Matteo Casella, both of whom 
 were instructed by the Duke to gain the favour of 
 Covos. On the 9th of January, 1533, Casella called 
 on the Castilian secretary to request a reply to one 
 
 * For this and the negotiations 
 between Covos and the Ferrarese 
 
 agents, consult Campori's Tiziano 
 e gli Estensi. 
 
364 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. X. 
 
 of the Duke's memorials. He had hardly begun upon 
 matters of general import when Covos stopped him to 
 speak of the pictures in the possession of the Duke of 
 Ferrara, alluding especially to a portrait of the Em- 
 peror and one of the Duke himself, of which Titian 
 had often spoken. Having thus started this agreeable 
 theme he went straight to the point, and expressed 
 his desire to receive as a present the two portraits and 
 a likeness of Ercole, hereditary prince of Ferrara. 
 The envoys in reply told Covos that he could choose 
 out of the pictorial treasures at Ferrara whatever 
 he liked to take, and Titian himself was suggested as 
 the person best fitted to direct his choice. Covos 
 said he would consult the painter, but declared, mean- 
 while, that whatever Titian might think, it should be 
 a condition sine qud non that the portrait of Alfonso 
 would be given up to him. Three days later Casella 
 and Alvarotti were admitted to an interview, and told 
 that Titian had advised Covos to take the portrait of 
 Alfonso, a Judith, a St. Michael, and a Madonna. 
 It was vain for Casella to repeat that the likeness of 
 Alfonso was an old one which was no longer like, or 
 to suggest that a new one might be taken together 
 with that of the Prince. Covos remained firm, saying 
 the envoys might do as they pleased, but he insisted 
 on the original portrait because Titian had told the 
 Emperor that it was a very fine one. The latter, he 
 added, should be sent to the Emperor at Bologna — 
 the former to the Emperor's agent at Genoa. Covos 
 was so impatient to obtain the booty, that, finding it 
 had not been despatched within the week, he made 
 
Chap. X.] 
 
 COVOS AND ALFONSO. 
 
 365 
 
 repeated inquiry respecting it of the ducal agents. 
 On the 23rd of January Alvarotti and Casella de- 
 livered the portrait into the secretary's hands, accom- 
 panied by a letter from Alfonso announcing the 
 despatch of the pictures to Genoa, and offering to do 
 anything more that Covos might think fit to require. 
 With ill-concealed exultation Covos took the likeness, 
 which, he said, would be dear to him as recalling the 
 features of the Prince, and added, with brutal indis- 
 cretion, that he would not have hesitated to ask for 
 more favours of the Duke had he known that his Ex- 
 cellency possessed anything that would please him. 
 Whilst the envoys were waiting for their interview 
 Titian came into the room, and, as Casella informed 
 his master, received for the second time injunctions 
 to attend to the recommendations of the Duke. His 
 answer was that he would do all he could to serve his 
 Grace, though he was overwhelmed with business and 
 hardly able to snatch his meals. A few days later 
 Covos met Casella and told him that Alfonso's portrait 
 was hanging in the Emperor's room. The Pope, he 
 thought, would be surprised to hear it. Casella re- 
 torted : " The Pope might rather complain that the 
 features of the Duke should have been engraved on 
 the Emperor's heart." * Whether Covos obtained 
 the portrait of the heir-apparent of the Estes, whether 
 the " Judith," the " St. Michael," or the " Madonna » 
 were pictures by Titian ; whether Titian made a copy 
 of the likeness of Alfonso or not, are questions upon 
 which the secret papers of Eerrara cast no light. A 
 
 Campori, Tiziano e gli Estensi, pp. 21 — 24. 
 
366 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. X. 
 
 replica of Alfonso's first portrait was certainly made 
 in the master's workshop. It passed a few years 
 since ont of the Kaunitz collection into the hands of 
 M. Artaria at Vienna.* The recommendations of the 
 Duke, alluded to by Casella, may have had reference 
 to this replica, or to the second likeness of Alfonso, 
 which Titian finished and delivered to Ercole the 
 Second in 1537. It may have had reference to an 
 allegory of " Minerva and Neptune " which Yasari 
 saw unfinished in Titian's house at Venice.*)" Neither 
 of these pieces was long preserved.^ 
 
 When it was arranged that the Emperor should sit, 
 Lombarcli, the sculptor, asked Titian to give him a 
 chance of seeing his Majesty, and Titian allowed him 
 to carry his paintbox. As soon as the sitting began, 
 Lombardi drew a tablet of wax from his pocket and 
 made a relief portrait of the Emperor, which he 
 slipped into his sleeve. The Emperor was too sharp- 
 sighted not to observe what Lombardi had done. He 
 asked for the tablet, praised it, and inquired of the 
 artist whether he was man enough to carve it in 
 marble. Lombardi replied that he was, and begged 
 to be told where he should send the relief when it was 
 finished. The Emperor said it should be brought to 
 
 * This portrait, on canvas, is an 
 exact copy of that numbered 452 
 in the museum at Madrid. It is 
 also signed in the same way, but 
 it is by a later painter than 
 Titian. 
 
 t Vas. xiii. p. 44. 
 
 J A portrait in the Pitti gallery, 
 No. 311, represents Alfonso with 
 
 his hand on a piece of cannon. It 
 answers the description given by 
 Vasari of one of Titian's works. 
 But this is not an original piece, 
 being by Dossi Dossi; and we 
 can only conclude that the original 
 has been lost, and the copy pre- 
 served (compare Vasari, xiii. 25). 
 
Chap. X.] 
 
 PORTE AIT OF CHAELES Y. 
 
 367 
 
 him at Genoa ; and this alone must convince ns that 
 Titian and Lombardi had their sittings of Charles in 
 1532-3, and not in 1530 ; for in 1530 the Emperor 
 visited Bologna on his way from Genoa to the Alps, 
 and in 1533 he was coming from Germany to embark 
 at Genoa for Spain.* 
 
 Titian's first sketch was preserved at Bologna till 
 the middle of the present century, when it was sold 
 to an English collector by the owner of the Zam- 
 beccari Gallery. It was a spirited and rapidly exe- 
 cuted bust of Charles in armour, bare-headed and seen 
 to the shoulders — the original, doubtless, of the larger 
 and more finished full length, which perished, after 
 decorating the royal palaces of Brussels and Madrid, j" 
 
 Monarchs have seldom leisure to sit long to a single 
 painter. Their hours are counted and measured by 
 equerries in waiting. If Charles sat more than once 
 to Titian, he scarcely sat more than an hour at a time; 
 and we can fancy the master rapidly laying in the 
 bust and face of his illustrious sitter, and retiring to 
 execute the full portrait from the sketch. The Em- 
 peror's wardrobe would naturally be at the master's 
 
 * Compare Vasari, ix. 14. 
 
 f As the Emperor and his sister 
 Eleanor left the Netherlands with 
 Mary of Hungary in Sept., 1556, 
 they took away amongst other 
 pictures " el retrato del Empera- 
 dor Carlos V. nuestro seiior en 
 lienzo, armado, con un baston; 
 hecho por Titiano." See the 
 register in Eevue XTniverselle des 
 Arts, 8vo, Paris, 1856, iii. 140. 
 The same picture is in the inven- 
 tory of August 18, 1556, published 
 
 in Gachard's Eetraite et mort de 
 Charles V., 8vo, Brux. 1855, vol. 
 ii. pp. 90—93. If the author's 
 memory be not treacherous, the 
 Zambeccari sketch, which is ill 
 engraved in the "Cronaca" of 
 Gaetano Giordani (8vo, Bologna, 
 1842), was an original. It was 
 sold in 1856 to Signor M. A. 
 Gualandi, who parted with it to 
 an Englishman, whose name was 
 not publicly divulged. 
 
368 
 
 service ; and if royal portraits were made then as they 
 are now, Titian mnst have had more than one snit of 
 Charles' clothes in the presses of his workshop.* 
 This is the more likely to have occurred, because 
 Titian was not content to paint the Emperor in 
 armour. He also executed at the same period the 
 portrait of Charles in gala, which still remains in the 
 Museum of Madrid. 
 
 Charles the Fifth was not handsome. Even when 
 drawn by the elder Holbein as a boy out hawking, 
 his nose is turned up to a point, and his lower lip 
 protrudes like that of all the princes of his house, f 
 But contemporary observers affirmed in 1530 that 
 nothing disfigured the Emperor's face so much as a 
 long chin, whilst the frame was seen to be manly, 
 regular, and strong. J Of himself Charles was wont 
 to say that he was by nature ugly, but that being 
 frequently painted uglier, he favourably disappointed 
 those who expected to see an ill-favoured individual. § 
 In Titian's gala portrait the dress is gorgeous, <but no 
 art could give beauty to the features, though Aretino 
 said of them that the eye divulged clemency and 
 justice, and the brow commingled " virtue, fortune, 
 wisdom, majesty, and grace." || A pale skin, blue 
 
 * To illustrate this we may- 
 quote a letter from G. F. Grossi 
 to the Marquess of Mantua, dated 
 Feb. 15, 1513, in which he says : 
 "M. Eafaello da Urbino mi ha 
 restituito il Saion e altre robe del 
 Sr. Federico per ritrarlo c'havea," 
 Campori, Notizie, Mod. 1870, p. 7, 
 
 t Hans Holbein the Elder's 
 
 drawings are in the Berlin Mu- 
 seum. 
 
 X Gasparo Contarini's Eelazione 
 in Alberi, vii. p. 269. 
 
 § Lettere a M. P. Aretino, iii. 
 p. 37. 
 
 || See the sonnet in Eidolfi, i. 
 p. 225. 
 
Chap. X.] POETEAIT OF CHARLES V. 
 
 369 
 
 eyes, hair of a golden auburn, a red moustache and 
 beard are the chief characteristics of a face seen 
 at three-quarters to the left against the deep rich 
 green of a fall of tapestry. A black cap with a white 
 fea*ther covers the head; a silken dress of various 
 textures encases the frame, the white mantle of stiff 
 brocade trimmed with a broad collar and facing of 
 dark fur, the sleeves of striped stuff, puffed at the 
 shoulder, brailed on the arms, the shoes and stockings 
 plain, the hose slashed and striped, the whole em- 
 broidered with patterns. The right hand on the 
 haunch plays with a dagger hanging with a pouch to 
 the girdle. The thumb of the left hand is in the 
 collar of a large fawn-coloured Spanish hound, the race 
 of which was not extinct when Velasquez composed his 
 grand picture of " The Hunt." Pity that much of the 
 canvas — and particularly the mouth and lower part of 
 the face — was repainted to cover old and probably irre- 
 parable injuries. ' 6 Death," says Aretino, 6 4 should hate 
 the man who secures immortality to those he would 
 kill." * In this sense Charles was more than once 
 immortalized, but never, as he then thought, in a 
 more skilful manner." f "We shall presently see how 
 he showed his gratitude. After his departure for 
 
 * Aretino to Veronica Grambara, 
 in Lettere di M. P. A. i. p. 179. 
 
 t The Ml length of Charles 
 with the dog is No. 453 in the 
 Museum of Madrid; on canvas, 
 m. 1.92 h. by 1.11. There are 
 references to its existence in the 
 royal palaces at Madrid in the 
 reigns of Philip the Second, 
 
 vol i. 
 
 Charles the Second and Third 
 [Madrazo (Pedro de) Catalogo, 
 8vo, 1872, p. 245]. The face is of 
 the same age here as in the Zam- 
 beccari bust sketch. The colours, 
 where there are no repaints, have 
 lost their freshness, and look 
 clouded, as they would be if 
 covered with bad varnish. 
 
 B B 
 
370 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 [Chap. X. 
 
 Genoa, Titian carried the portrait to Venice to copy- 
 it for the Duke of Mantua, and he signified his inten- 
 tion to do so in the following letter : — 
 
 « TITIAN TO THE DUKE OF MANTUA. 
 
 " Illustrious Lord, 
 
 " Hearing that your Excellency has gone to 
 the court of his Imperial Majesty, I abstain from 
 coming to Mantua, sighing at my bad fortune in not 
 having left Bologna soon enough to meet your Grace. 
 At Venice I shall prepare the copy of the portrait of 
 his Majesty, which I take home with me at your 
 Excellency's bidding.* 
 
 "From Bologna, March 10, 1533." 
 
 The portrait which Titian took home and repeated 
 he doubtless sent to Charles. The replica was not 
 sent to Mantua till after 1536, but there it appears to 
 to have remained, f Another example besides that of 
 the Madrid Museum came into the hands of Charles 
 the First of England. It was described in the White- 
 hall inventory as "the Emperor Charles the Fifth, 
 brought by the King from Spain, being done at 
 length, with a big white Irish dog." % 
 
 It was said of Charles the Fifth, that from the day 
 
 * The original in Appendix. 
 
 f See Federico Gonzaga to 
 Titian from Mantua, April 27, in 
 Gaye Carteggio, ii. 262. 
 
 % Ashmolean MS. in Bathoe's 
 Catalogue, No. 12. The picture 
 was 6 ft. 2 h. by 4 ft. It was 
 sold, according to the " certifi- 
 
 cates of the contractors for the 
 sale of the goods of the late King 
 Charles" (Academy, March 7, 
 1874, p. 268), on the 21st of June, 
 1650, to Sir Balthasar Gerbier for 
 £150. But compare also Sains- 
 bury's Papers, u. s. p. 355. 
 
Chap. X.] 
 
 ALEXANDER AND APELLES. 
 
 371 
 
 on which he first saw Titian he never condescended to 
 sit to any other master.* The statement is based on 
 the wording of a patent which the Emperor issned 
 to the master on his arrival at Barcelona in 1533. 
 Titian is described in this document, which bears the 
 date of May 10, as a man so exquisitely gifted, that 
 he deserves the name of the Apelles of his time. The 
 Emperor declares that he only follows the example 
 of his predecessors, Alexander the Great and Octa- 
 vian, in selecting him to be his painter; Alexander 
 having sat to none but Apelles, and Octavian having 
 employed the best of all draughtsmen, lest his glory 
 should be tarnished by the monstrous failures of in- 
 experienced designers : Titian's felicity in art, and the 
 skill he displayed, warrant a grant of Imperial honours. 
 He is therefore created a Count of the Lateran Palace, 
 of the Aulic Council, and of the Consistory, with the 
 title of Count Palatine, and all the advantages attached 
 to those dignities. He acquires the faculty of ap- 
 pointing notaries and ordinary judges, and the power 
 to legitimize the illegitimate offspring of persons 
 beneath the station of Prince, Count, or Baron. His 
 children are raised to the rank of Nobles of the Em- 
 pire, with all the honours appertaining to families with 
 four generations of ancestors. Titian himself is made * 
 a Knight of the Golden Spur with all the privileges 
 of knighthood, to wit : the sword, the chain, and the 
 golden spur; and with this right the entrance to 
 Court is conceded, — a privilege which we shall find 
 Titian frequently exercised. f " Every time," says 
 
 * Vasari, xiii. p. 37. | f The diploma, which belonged 
 
 b b 2 
 
372 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. X. 
 
 Yasari, " that Titian painted the Emperor, he received 
 a thousand scudi in gold." We shall find Titian, on 
 his return from Bologna to Yenice, investing these 
 savings in lands near Treviso. There were no laws of 
 mortmain in these days, and fields and farms were 
 more frequently in possession of monastic com- 
 munities than in the hands of laymen. But Titian 
 interested Federico Gonzaga in his purchases, and a 
 good word from the Duke to the chapter of San 
 Benedetto in Polirone, facilitated the transfer which 
 he so much desired.* But whilst Titian was serving 
 the Emperor he was also doing duty with the nobles at 
 the Kaiser's court ; amongst whom Davalos Marquess 
 of Yasto played a conspicuous part. Davalos was a 
 soldier of established repute, whose star at this time 
 was quite in the ascendant. At the battle of Pavia in 
 1525, he had seen Francis the First led into captivity. 
 His division had shared the perils of the Neapolitan 
 campaign in 1529. He was Commander-in-Chief 
 in Lombardy, when called by his sovereign to 
 Yienna in the autumn of 1532, to serve under the 
 orders of Croy against the Turks. The Turks at 
 
 to Dr. Taddeo Jacobi of Cadore, 
 was printed by Cadorin in 1850. 
 It will be found in full in Bel- 
 trame's Tiziano Vecellio, fol. 
 Milan, 1855. An extract ap- 
 peared early in Ridolfi, who 
 (Marav. i. 234) erroneously dated 
 the diploma 1553. 
 
 * See two letters of Federico to 
 Titian, one of them dated June 
 5, 1523 (should be 1533) in 
 Pungileoni's contributions to the 
 
 Giornale Arcadico for 1831, u. s. t 
 and Federico to Titian from Man- 
 tua, May 9, 1533, in Gaye Car- 
 teggio, ii. p. 249. Cadioli (in 
 Darco Arti di Mantova, ii. 123) 
 states that the canons of San 
 Benedetto, in Polirone, were pos- 
 sessors of a " Christ by Titian ; " 
 and it is not improbable that 
 Titian gave them such a picture 
 as part of the purchase -money of 
 an estate. 
 
Chap. X.] 
 
 TITIAN AND DAVALOS. 
 
 373 
 
 this period were equally noted for bravery and 
 merciless cruelty. 
 
 In a recent invasion, as the generals of Charles 
 were well aware, no less than 80,000 Christians had 
 been led by the Moslems into slavery; and every 
 soldier in the Emperor's camp knew that the Turks 
 seldom exchanged a prisoner except for cartloads of 
 children or adult women, whilst the aged or en- 
 feebled captives were invariably massacred. No 
 wonder that Mary of Arragon, the young and lovely 
 wife of Davalos, should have sighed when her husband 
 left her for an encounter with this bloodthirsty people. 
 As Davalos returned, he thought it a good subject to 
 suggest to Titian. The warrior should be represented 
 parting from his wife, but consoled by Yictory, Love, 
 and Hymen ; and we still admire at the Louvre the 
 beautiful picture into which Titiao introduced this 
 allegory.* Mary of Arragon, lovely as her sister 
 whose portrait was drawn by Giulio Eomano and 
 painted by Eaphael, sits brooding in silent thought 
 over possible disasters. Her bosom is imperfectly 
 covered by snowy folds of muslin ; a yellow veil falls 
 over her shoulder, and a green mantle is carelessly 
 thrown over the gorgeous red of her skirt. Her arms 
 are bare, and she holds in her hand a crystal orb, symbol 
 of perishable humanity. Behind her, solemn but erect, 
 and looking steadily into space, Davalos stands in 
 armour and ready to depart ; but his hand is on her 
 breast; the boy Cupid brings his bunch of arrows^ 
 
 * Felibien Entretiens edition 
 of 1705, Tome lii. p. 50, states 
 
 unconditionally that this picture 
 represents the Marquess of Yasto*. 
 
374 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. X. 
 
 Victory bends in homage, and Hymen, in the back- 
 ground, holds aloft his offering of fruit and flowers. 
 There are certain actions in the pictures of the fifteenth 
 and sixteenth centuries which, to the observer of the 
 nineteenth, appear indelicate. That which has been 
 just described may be one of these, yet in the sacred 
 pictures of an earlier generation, and particularly in 
 those which represent the Salutation, the action is still 
 more simple and naive : and we have to remember that 
 Titian, in the language of his art, is not more out- 
 spoken than Shakspeare in his. Nor should we 
 forget to note that the age of Titian is that in which 
 the melody and measure of Ariosto's strophe was 
 clothed in language that now makes readers blush; 
 whilst the loose novels of Bandello surpass in in- 
 decency anything that was ever penned by Boccaccio. 
 As an allegorical creation and as a work of a potent 
 master of colour, Titian's canvas is one of the most 
 entrancing that was ever created. There is such 
 perfect sweetness of tone, such a rich strain of har- 
 mony in tints, such a solemn technical mastery — that 
 we can do no more than look on and wonder. Such 
 flesh, such complexions, such devout reverence shown 
 in movements or. in glance, such resignation in atti- 
 tude, such depth in expression, it is hard again to find. 
 It may be that we have portraits before us ; we may 
 believe indeed that it is so, but who thinks of them, 
 or who thinks that nature here is studied to remind 
 us of individuals ? Titian, perhaps, had the general 
 aspect of his sitters, Davalos or Mary of Arragon, in 
 his mind, but he transfigured them with a grand con- 
 
Chap. X.] 
 
 POETEAIT ALLEGOEIES. 
 
 375 
 
 ventionalism of which he alone had the secret, and we 
 gaze on the lovely faces, the slender and elegant hands, 
 the ductile and pulsant flesh, — the eye wanders past 
 the brighter forms into the tender gloom of the back- 
 ground and finds something new to admire at every 
 glance. That this should be the portrait of Davalos 
 which Vasari describes there is every reason to doubt ; 
 yet where that portrait is no one as yet can guess.* 
 It is curious indeed that whilst canvases exist in 
 which the figure of del Vasto forms part of a subject — 
 we acknowledge as such the " Allocution" at Madrid — 
 no likeness of him alone is exhibited, except a full 
 length in the gallery of Cassel, which shows Titian's 
 style in its later development, and displays the features 
 of a man much younger than Davalos at that time 
 could have been. Titian's admirers, and particularly 
 those amongst them who had wives and mistresses 
 whose forms they wished to immortalize, asked him to 
 repeat the allegory of Davalos, with such varieties as 
 were necessary to suit their own situation. But these 
 replicas are not handled with the delicacy and success 
 of the original ; and two examples at Vienna, though 
 still clearly by Titian, are evidence of his tendency to 
 paint carefully for those he liked, and carelessly or 
 those of whom he expected no favours. We shall 
 presently see that at this very period the Duke of 
 Mantua knew how to distinguish the creations of 
 
 * This canvas, engraved by 
 Natalis, and in Filhol, was hand- 
 somely photographed by the pho- 
 tographic company. It is num- 
 bered 470 at the Louvre, measures 
 
 m. 1.21 h. by 1.07. The figures 
 are half-lengths. In: Felibien's 
 time, the picture was in the 
 cabinet of Louis the Fourteenth-, 
 Davalos and his wife sit and stand 
 
376 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. X. 
 
 Titian which he called " excellent," from others that 
 he thought " less fine and less good."* 
 
 Like Davalos, Ippolito de' Medici held high state 
 at the Emperor's court. At the first coming of 
 Charles the Fifth from Spain, he had been sent with 
 his relative and rival Alessandro de' Medici to meet 
 the monarch. At Bologna he took part in the corona- 
 tion as a cardinal deacon. When Charles assembled 
 an army in 1532, to make head against the Turks 
 under Sultan Solyman, Clement appointed Ippolito his 
 legate, gave him the command of three hundred mus- 
 keteers, and sent him to Vienna. Here the youthful 
 
 in front of a dark-brown wall, to 
 the right of which the sky is seen 
 decked with clouds. The head of 
 the figure in the background to 
 the right is sharply fore-shortened. 
 It holds up with both hands a 
 basket of fruit and flowers. The 
 technical execution of the work 
 is akin to that in a likeness of 
 Ippolito de' Medici, of which we 
 shall presently speak, and both 
 pieces were clearly done at one 
 time. Compare Vasari, xiii. p. 
 30, and Miindler's Analyse, p. 211. 
 
 * Eederico Gonzaga to Titian, 
 Mantua, Aug. 3, 1536, in Gaye, 
 ii. 263. The allegories in the 
 gallery of Vienna are these : No. 
 6, Eoom 1, Italian Schools, 1st 
 Floor. A lady seated to the left 
 takes the bow and arrows of Amor, 
 whilst a man behind her holds a 
 mirror in which she is gazing. 
 A girl to the right plays a mando- 
 line — half lengths on canvas, 3 ft. 
 by 4, with two pieces sewn on 
 vertically at the sides. Back- 
 ground a dark wall. This, at first 
 
 sight, looks like a picture by 
 Schiavone ; but we may attribute 
 this impression to the repainting 
 which the surface has undergone. 
 There are traces of Titian's hand 
 on the breast of the man, part of 
 the ear and hair of the lady, and 
 fragments of the Amor. 
 
 No. 59, Eoom 2, Italian Schools, 
 1st Floor. This is more in the 
 spirit of the Louvre canvas, as 
 regards arrangement, than the 
 foregoing. The lady, Cupid, and 
 the female doing homage, are 
 modifications of the same figures 
 in Paris. Instead of a crystal 
 ball, the lady here holds a vase. 
 The man behind is at the extreme 
 left of the picture, holding a glove 
 in his right. He raises a cup in 
 his outstretched hand. The sky r 
 seen to the right, is quite re- 
 painted, as indeed^ are many other 
 parts of the canvas. To this piece 
 the same remarks apply as to its 
 pendant, No. 6. Both are now of 
 the same size. 
 
Chap. X.] 
 
 IPPOLITO DE' MEDICI. 
 
 377 
 
 churchman had leisure to satisfy his martial propen- 
 sities. He possessed, as Suriano thought, a tincture of 
 letters, and was not to be classed amongst the most 
 illiterate of cardinals, but he disliked being a priest, 
 and roused the anger of Clement in consequence, who 
 was heard to say that he was cracked: "E matto, 
 diavolo, e matto ; non vuole esser prete."* Yet when 
 the Turks, surprised by the preparations of the 
 Christian princes, turned back from their advance on 
 Yienna, and Charles withdrew from the army to 
 negotiate in Italy, Ippolito showed more inclination to 
 revisit his native country than to follow the fortunes of 
 the troops sent in pursuit of the Sultan to Hungary. The 
 Italian contingent mutinied, and Ippolito rode at the 
 head of his musketeers through the Austrian provinces 
 conniving, it was said, at their acts of plunder, and 
 rousing the wrath of Charles the Eifth, who arrested 
 and confined him. But Charles was well aware that 
 Ippolito enjoyed the partial favour of the Pope 
 with whom he was going to treat. He liberated the 
 legate, who again appeared in state at the conference 
 of Bologna. The rugged service of a soldier in 
 Hungary was not to Ippolito' s taste ; but the martial 
 dress of a Hungarian captain caught his fancy. The 
 youthful cardinal sat to Titian at Bologna, in the red 
 cap and variegated plumes of a Magyar. His curved 
 sabre hung from an oriental sash wound round a red- 
 brown coat with golden buttons, and he wielded with 
 his right the mace of command. It appeared as if the 
 burning sun of the Danube valley had bronzed the 
 
 * See Suriano's Eelazione in Alberi, u. s., vii. 281, and ff*. 
 
378 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. X. 
 
 features of the chieftain, whose skin seemed to glow 
 with a tropical heat, whilst its surface was smooth 
 and burnished as that of the Bella Gioconda. No- 
 thing shows Titian's versatility and his cleverness in 
 varying technical means with his subject than this 
 likeness at the Pitti. ~No modulations are to be ob- 
 served in a face the whole character of which lies in 
 the contrast between polished skin, sharp-cut features, 
 and eyes of portentous cunning. There is something 
 grandly entire in the whole head, to which Titian 
 gives life and elevation by a broad and general ren- 
 dering of the lineaments, without any research of 
 minutiae. Smooth rounding and tone were essential 
 to the production of this effect, and these Titian gives 
 with a warmth and softness of fusion truly admirable. 
 Looking closely at the grain of the canvas, one sees 
 the art with which the colour is strained over it, 
 the skill with which uniform gloss is broken with a 
 touch or modified with a glaze. A Giorgionesque 
 and mysterious glow is the result. But it was not 
 enough for Ippolito to be painted as a Hungarian chief ; 
 he wished to be represented in the panoply of his 
 time ; Titian executed a second portrait of him in 
 armour, and Yasari reports that he saw it in the 
 palace of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, where so many 
 treasures of the master lay hid till the opening of the 
 nineteenth century.* 
 
 * Titian's Ippolito in the Pitti 
 Gallery is No. 201, on canvas of 
 life-size. Puccini, who discovered 
 the portraits of the Puke and 
 Duchess of Urbino at the Uffizi, 
 
 seems not to have found that of 
 Ippolito in armour. See postea, 
 and Vasari, xiii. 30. In the Louvre 
 we find a portrait of Ippolito in a 
 red Hungarian dress. It is num- 
 
Chap. X.] 
 
 ST. JOHN THE ALMSGIVEE. 
 
 379 
 
 Though Titian had promised to Ippolito de' Medici 
 that he would visit him in Borne, though he subse- 
 quently promised to attend the Court of the Gonzagas 
 at Mantua, he was in no hurry to leave Venice; 
 where, if vanity was his failing, he might daily dis- 
 play the collar, the sword, and the spurs which were 
 the emblems of his new rank.* Once in the sunny 
 workshop at Biri Grande, to which he had moved 
 from his old house on the Grand Canal, Titian had 
 scarcely heart, it seemed, to move, except to enjoy the 
 bracing landscapes of his native Cadore. But duty 
 before all else kept him at Venice, where he was not 
 only under orders to finish the Emperor's portrait for 
 the Duke of Mantua, but under contract to complete 
 an altar-piece for San Giovanni Elemosinario. The 
 church of that name had been burnt down in 1513, 
 and rebuilt by order of Andrea Gritti. It was one of 
 those foundations peculiar to Venice, in which the 
 patronage and the right to appoint curates were 
 vested exclusively in the Doge. It was natural 
 that the high altar should be decorated by a painter 
 who was Gritti' s favourite, equally so that it should 
 be decorated at this time, since the altar was finished 
 
 bered478, and painted on a panel, 
 m. 0.64 h. by 0.55. Though cata- 
 logued at one time as an original 
 Titian, it is now registered as a 
 copy. It may be the handiwork of 
 Battista Franco (compare Vasari, 
 xi. 320); but we remember also 
 Titian's Ippolito was copied by 
 Eubens (see Sainsbury's Papers, 
 u. s., p. 237). 
 
 * Agnello to Jacomo Calandra, 
 
 from Venice, July 12, 1533; see 
 the original in Appendix. Titian 
 to Vendramo, chamberlain of Car- 
 dinal Ippolito de' Medici, dated 
 Venice, Dec. 10, 1534, published 
 from a codex of Apostolo Zeno in 
 the library of the Dominicans at 
 Venice, 8vo, Venice, 1809, for the 
 Nozze Lavagnole-Mila. The re- 
 print of Ticozzi (Vecelli, p. 308) is 
 incorrect. 
 
380 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. X, 
 
 on the 2nd of October, 1533 * Titian produced a 
 masterpiece, well described by Zanetti as remarkable 
 for massive definition of parts and brush-strokes " of 
 determined conclusiveness." St. John the alms- 
 giver, bishop and patriarch of Alexandria, is not a 
 saint of note. His type is not one that painters know 
 and respect as traditionally preserved in the annals of 
 the pictorial craft. A bishop giving alms might be 
 the subject of a tame composition. None but a man 
 of genius could give interest and force to such a 
 theme ; but Titian was a genius, and it is surprising 
 with what power he conceives and carries out his 
 idea. The bishop is seated on a raised podium, to 
 which access is gained by marble steps. At the foot 
 of these steps to the left, a beggar half kneels, half 
 strides to catch the alms. His scanty rags contrast 
 with the white surplice and the red robes and rochet 
 of St. John. But more startling than the contrast of 
 dress is that of movement and action. The bishop 
 has been sitting at a desk reading the gospels, at- 
 tended by an angel, who carries the cross. He turns 
 with a sudden effort of volition from the book to the 
 beggar, looks grandly down at the humble being at 
 his feet, and drops a purse into his hand. Every- 
 thing in this noble picture is calculated. The colours 
 are harmonized to a chord of such purity that we 
 think less of the tints singly than of the total effect 
 
 * Sansovino, Ven. desc. 186 ; 
 Vasari, xiii. 30, and ix. 37. Mos- 
 chini (Guida di Venezia, 163) is 
 the only writer who noticed the 
 inscription on the side of the 
 
 high altar: "A di doi Octobrio, 
 
 MDXXXIII." 
 
 t Zanetti, Pitt. Ven. u. s., p. 
 166. 
 
Chap. X.] ST. JOHN THE ALMSGIYER. 
 
 381 
 
 which they produce. Light and shade are balanced 
 so nicely, yet with such breadth, that a brilliant play 
 of sun and atmosphere is suggested. The forms are 
 natural, but of good scantling, moving boldly, yet 
 appropriately, foreshortened with daring yet without 
 strain, the nude correct, the modelling masterly. 
 Though as yet unacquainted with Eome, Titian here 
 emulates the stern power of Michaelangelo in the 
 figure of St. John, whilst in that of the beggar he 
 recalls the rugged grandeur of Baphael's cartoons. 
 Majestic and forcible in the rendering of the human 
 frame, he depicts nature in a state of grand activity, 
 but without any supernatural developments. His 
 colouring is gorgeous, his command of line surprising, 
 his touch unsurpassable. Before the masterpiece 
 which he thus produces, we should fancy that men 
 like Tintoretto, Schiavone, and Paolo Veronese, would 
 pause in wonder, the first being led to exaggerate its 
 daring, the last to approach or transform its sublime 
 realism. "Were the light in San Giovanni less dim 
 and dusty than it is, had " St. John the Alms-Giver" 
 been left as Titian made it, and had it not been 
 changed from an arched to a square canvas, nothing 
 would prevent us from acknowledging it as one of the 
 finest works of the master's middle time.* 
 
 Meanwhile Titian's social position at Venice was 
 beginning to change, and he might follow with closer 
 
 * This picture is on canvas. 
 The upper part has been cut off, 
 and a piece added at the base. 
 The figures are as large as life. 
 Behind them we see the sky- 
 
 partially concealed by a green 
 curtain. This grand work is said 
 to have been painted in rivalry 
 with Pordenone (Vas. xiii. 30). 
 Photograph by Naya. 
 
382 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. X. 
 
 interest the curious whirl of events, of which the 
 capital of the lagoons was the theatre. Before his 
 departure for Spain, Charles the Fifth had raised to 
 himself, by his management of Italian affairs, a host 
 of enemies. His influence had produced a league, in 
 which the Pope and all the lesser states of Italy were 
 comprised; but Venice, with a wise reticence, had 
 refused to bind herself, whilst Clement the Seventh 
 had taken instant steps to neutralize his own handi- 
 word by pitting one member of his family, who was 
 to wed the Emperor's daughter, against another, who 
 was to marry the Dauphin of Prance. Yenice at the 
 time offered the spectacle of a market-place, where 
 each of the parties displayed his political wares ; and 
 here Aretino was in his element, receiving offers from 
 all sides without taking part decidedly for any, and 
 imitating, on a small scale, the policy of Venice itself. 
 " Come," said Alessandro de' Medici, who had posses- 
 sion of Florence, and fetched the daughter of Charles 
 the Fifth from Spain, " come, ' Pietro mio,' and make 
 my house thy home. Thou shalt have for thyself 
 a present of the Strozzi palace."* " Here," wrote 
 Ippolito de' Medici, "are gold chains and money." 
 "King Francis sends thee a golden collar," wrote 
 the Connetable de Montmorency. "The Emperor 
 gives thee a pension and a golden cup," quoth De 
 Leyva. Aretino found time at this juncture to write 
 the play of the " Cortigiana," in which he praised his 
 patrons in every camp, and with impartial effrontery 
 published the favours received from them all. Nor did 
 
 * Lettere scritte a P. Aretino, i. 156-7. 
 
Chap. X.] TITIAN AND FEANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 383 
 
 he forget to mention his friends, the "glorious Titian," 
 and the " stupendous Michaelangelo," or to tell of 
 Titian's portrait of Alfonso, which Buonarotti had so 
 greatly admired at Ferrara, and the Emperor carried 
 off to adorn his palace.* Living in the midst of 
 these currents, Titian naturally picked up what he 
 could in the eddies. Equally familiar with the 
 statesmen and agents on each side, he accepted with- 
 out compunction the orders which these agents gave, 
 and fresh from the Court of Bologna and the blandish- 
 ments of Covos or the Emperor, he set up his easel to 
 paint the likeness of Francis the First. But there 
 was this difference in the performance of Titian's 
 duty, that whereas Charles had sat, Francis the First 
 had not, and just as Aretino admitted that he adored 
 the King, though he had never seen him, so Titian 
 produced his likeness with nothing more than a 
 medal to guide him. Three times, it would seem, the 
 master reproduced the features of the King ; once, we 
 may think, for the collection which he kept in his 
 own house ; once for Francis the First, and once for 
 the Duke of Urbino. The preservation of two of 
 these likenesses in Padua and Paris allows us to test 
 the skill of the master in representing persons whom ? 
 it is more than probable, he never saw. 
 
 Here again we have to notice an heirloom in 
 possession of Count Sebastian Giustiniani, in which 
 Francis the First is shown bareheaded in profile. 
 The flesh is painted in liquid but luscious tones ; the 
 dress, a slashed satin surcoat of brown tone, faced 
 
 * La Cortigiana del divino P. Aretino, Venezia, 1534, Act iii. Sc. 8, 
 
384 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. X. 
 
 with brown tinted fur; a medal hanging from a 
 golden string, merely indicated. A finished study of 
 head and neck, it is sketchy in the frame, but the 
 whole, evidently done from a medal, has been injured 
 by retouching and mending, though still spirited and 
 clever, and obviously the original from which the 
 more splendid and more finished likeness at the 
 Louvre was taken.* Every one knows the shape of the 
 head of Francis, his long pointed nose, the small dark 
 eye, bolstered on all sides with broad, fleshy brows 
 and cheek, the jaw wide and strong, to suit a bull 
 neck, hair straggling in short, straight spikes about 
 the forehead, the beard black and closely clipped. 
 These characteristic features are admirably preserved 
 in the canvas at the Louvre, where the face looks so 
 fresh as to suggest a study from nature. But here 
 the head is covered with a jewelled toque of black 
 velvet fringed with feather, the red satin of the 
 slashed coat shows its bright reflexes against the 
 white of the whitest under-linen. A snowy frill sits 
 in neat plaits round the neck, and the facings of the 
 coat are of fur. Titian must have been familiar with 
 the air of courts to paint such a picture as this. But 
 he does even more than show us a prince whose bear- 
 ing is in every inch that of a king. "We compare 
 Francis with Charles, as designed by the same hand, 
 
 * This portrait was known to 
 Pddolfi (Marav. i. 262). It is now 
 in a bad state of preservation, 
 the brown background being new, 
 the nose and several bits of the 
 dress re-painted. A piece of 
 canvas sewn on all round helps 
 
 to disfigure the picture. On the 
 lower band of new canvas we 
 read, " franciscvs galllse hex." 
 The figure is seen to the breast, 
 and is of life size without the 
 hands. 
 
Chap. X.] 
 
 ISABELLA D'ESTE. 
 
 3S5 
 
 the first picture exhibits a gallant, the last a shy and 
 sombre monarch.* 
 
 Almost at the time when these works were pro- 
 duced Titian also copied, from an older likeness, 
 the semblance of Isabella d'Este. There was no 
 reason why the Marchioness should not haye sat 
 to the master, who was constantly paying visits to 
 Mantua; but she evidently wished to be seen as a 
 bride and not as an old woman, and she borrowed a 
 portrait executed years before and sent it to Titian 
 to draw from, rather than be shown in weeds or with 
 the wrinkles of a matron. An experienced eye may 
 still discern that the canvas which represents Isabella 
 as a young girl in the Belvedere at Yienna was 
 executed at the period we are now noticing, whilst a 
 letter, written by the Marchioness, explains how 
 Titian came to reproduce the features which were no 
 longer her own. 
 
 ISABELLA D'ESTE GONZAGA TO BENEDETTO AGNELLO, 
 AT VENICE. 
 
 " The persons who lent the portrait of ourselves 
 which Titian received for the purpose of taking one 
 like it, beg most urgently that it should be returned. 
 We, therefore, desire that you should get it back and 
 
 * The portrait now at the 
 Louvre, and numbered 469, is 
 on canvas, m. 1.09 h., by 0.89. 
 The right hand is seen on the hilt 
 of a sword ; the king's age is 35 
 to 40. See the engravings by 
 Gilles-Edme Petit, Massard, and 
 Leroux ; and compare Filhol, a 
 fine photograph by Braun of 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Dornach. A third portrait of 
 Erancis, already alluded to in the 
 text, was seen by Vasari in the' 
 palace of Urbino (Yas. xiii. p. 
 32). Curiously enough, Gotti's 
 inventory registers it as Eitratto 
 del Duca Francesco I. (Gotti, Gal- 
 leriedi Firenze, 8vo, Firenze, 1872, 
 p. 336). 
 
 c c 
 
386 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. X. 
 
 sent by a discreet person, and so packed as to receive 
 no damage. 
 
 " From Mantua, March 6th, 1534." * 
 
 The freshness and youth in the portrait are undeni- 
 able, but the flesh greatly lacks modulation. The 
 dress, of extreme elegance, is treated with extra- 
 ordinary skill, and we observe that Isabella, following 
 the fashion of her time, bathed her hair to give it an 
 auburn tinge, and covered her head with the jewelled 
 turban, which distinguishes the Lombards from the 
 Venetians of this time. A rich gown, with capricious 
 ornaments of white and black and dark green 
 shoulder pufTs, sleeves of a blue transparent web, 
 with edging stripes of alternate white and gold and 
 patterns in the bands, white frills at the wrist, pearls 
 in the ears, grey Astrakan fur across the shoulders, 
 all admirable in texture, contrast with the flat tones 
 of a face, throat and hands, perhaps originally fair, 
 but now injured beyond redemption by abrasion and 
 retouching. That this canvas represents Isabella 
 there is no reason to doubt, since Yorsterman's print, 
 from a copy taken by Rubens at Mantua, was in- 
 scribed with her name.| That it was customary to 
 
 * See the original letter in 
 Appendix. 
 
 f The history of this portrait, 
 which is now in the Gallery of 
 Vienna, is this. It was bought 
 by the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm 
 for his gallery at Brussels, and so 
 passed into the Imperial Austrian 
 collection. It has been stated 
 
 (Historisch-Kritischer Catalog 
 der Grail, von Belved. zu Wien, 
 von A. Krafft, 8vo, Wien, 1854, 
 p. 60) that the portrait is that 
 which passed into the collection 
 of Charles I. , but this is a mistake ; 
 firstly because the canvas in that 
 collection measured 2 feet high by 
 2 feet 5 in., whilst that of Vienna 
 
Chap. X.] 
 
 ISABELLA D'ESTE. 
 
 387 
 
 represent her as a bride or a young mother, is clear 
 from numerous likenesses of similar type in public 
 and private galleries, which only differ slightly from 
 each other in respect of age, features, and dress. But 
 the state to which the best of these likenesses was 
 reduced by time and restoring, makes it hard to 
 recognise the hand of Titian, whilst, in most in- 
 stances, that of imitators and copyists is apparent. 
 None of the replicas have more claim to originality 
 than that of the Hermitage at St. Petersburg, 
 where Isabella is represented, in company of a boy. 
 The touch in some parts of this canvas is of that 
 strength and breadth which we acknowledge as 
 peculiar to Titian ; but the background and other 
 parts are repainted so as to recal Paris Bordone, to 
 whom indeed the work has of late been assigned.* 
 
 measures 3 feet 2 in. high, by 
 2 feet; and secondly, because 
 Charles I.'s copy was dressed in 
 red (See Bathoe's Catalogue). 
 But the Vienna example is no 
 doubt that which Eubens copied 
 (see the inventory in Sainsbury's 
 Eubens, u. s., 237), as it tallies 
 with Vorsterman's print inscribed 
 " Isabella Estensis Erancisci Gon- 
 zagse March. Mantovee, uxor. 
 E. Titiani prototypo. P. P. Eubens, 
 exc." The background of the 
 picture at Vienna is a green hang- 
 ing on a dark wall. Let us note 
 the large abrasion on the fore- 
 head and right eye, and the 
 hands reduced to formless logs. 
 The whole picture is injured by 
 abrasions and re-painting. The 
 princess is slightly turned to the 
 
 left, and sits with her left hand 
 on the arm of a chair, her right 
 clutches the edge of her dress. 
 There are prints by Van der Steen, 
 I. Krepp, and others, a photograph 
 by Miethke. A copy is No. 495 
 in the Madrid Museum. 
 
 * An original portrait of Isa- 
 bella " in black clothes," by Titian, 
 must have existed at Mantua, 
 where Eubens copied it (see Sains- 
 bury, u. s., 237). The portrait, 
 No. Ill at the Hermitage, is on 
 canvas, 3 ft. <L\ high, by 2 ft. 6, 
 and was catalogued under Bor- 
 done' s name according to the 
 opinion of Dr. Waagen (see Die 
 Gemaldesammlung in der Ere- 
 mitage, &c, 8vo, Munchen, 1864, 
 p. 65). Isabella wears a low dress 
 of green, or blue and yellow 
 c c 2 
 
388 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. X. 
 
 Of this portrait there are so many repetitions and 
 adaptations that they must all have had a common 
 original. But whether that original is the canvas at 
 St. Petersburg it is hard to say. It is only necessary 
 to note the copies or adaptations at Strahow, near 
 Prague, in the Belvedere despot at Yienna, in the 
 museum of Yicenza, in the collections of Montanari 
 at Verona, and Maldura at Padua.* 
 
 Of one great chieftain, whose influence at this 
 time was paramount at Yenice, history says nothing 
 to warrant us in thinking that he patronized Titian. 
 Yet it is more than probable that Titian, at this 
 period, was acquainted with Francesco Maria della 
 Eovere. We saw that he had painted for this prince 
 a " Magdalen " and the likeness of Francis the First. 
 Other pictures, possibly of an earlier date, found their 
 
 figured brocade, white puff sleeves, 
 with blue bracings, and a turban, 
 as at Vienna. Eound her neck is 
 a collar of pearls. She holds the 
 arm of her boy, who is seen to the 
 shoulders, dressed in a figured 
 jacket with lake sleeves. Except 
 the forehead and right eye, and 
 part of the throat and left hand, 
 there is little left that recalls 
 Titian, the surfaces being exten- 
 sively re-painted. The back- 
 ground is renewed after Paris 
 Bordone, but the picture, as a 
 whole, is very like an injured 
 Titian. 
 
 * The copy at Strahow is num- 
 bered 1026. That in the De- 
 pository at the Belvedere of 
 Vienna belonged to Archduke 
 Leopold Wilhelm, and is engraved 
 
 by Prenner as Palma Vecchio ; 
 that of Vicenza is numbered 53, 
 and catalogued as of Palma's 
 school. The copy belonging to 
 the late Conte Montanari at 
 Verona, was classed in the 1 ' School 
 of Giorgione." It was quite dis- 
 figured by re-painting. There is 
 nothing to be said of the Maldura 
 copy. 
 
 A copy of a portrait of a lady in 
 a jewelled turban and red velvet 
 dress, preserved in the deposits of 
 the Belvedere Museum, seems to 
 represent Isabella in her old age. 
 One might ask whether it might 
 not have been copied by a Fleming 
 from an original by Titian, per- 
 haps from the missing original of 
 Charles I.'s collection. 
 
Chap. X.] 
 
 VENUS OF UEBINO. 
 
 389 
 
 way to Urbino, and conspicuous amongst these is the 
 celebrated " Venus " in the tribuna of the TJffizL 
 Francesco Maria della Eovere was connected by marri- 
 age with the Gonzagas. He was a frequent guest at 
 Mantua. But in 1532 he was general-in-chief of the 
 Venetian forces and a resident at Venice, and thus had 
 every opportunity of patronizing the greatest of North 
 Italian masters. The " Venus" which Vasari was 
 fortunate enough to see at Urbino, passed as an heir- 
 loom, in the seventeenth century, to the gallery of 
 Florence, and this is all that history records of it.* 
 But the style points to a date not very remote from that 
 of the portraits of Francesco Maria and his Duchess 
 in the Uffizi, and these, we are assured, were finished 
 in 1537. Compared with the ' ' Venus ' ' of Darmstadt, 
 that of Florence is more fully developed, less of a 
 girl, more of a woman, yet still lithe and slender. 
 Lying as nature shaped her, with her legs entwined, 
 at the foot of a deep green hanging, on a muslin 
 sheet, that covers a ruby tinged damask couch, her 
 left arm reposes on her frame, her right supporting 
 her on cushions, whilst the hand is playing with a 
 chaplet of flowers. We may fancy her to have 
 bathed and to be waiting for the handmaids, who are 
 busy in the room, one of them having raised the lid 
 of a chest and taken a dress out, whilst a second 
 stoops to select another. Meanwhile a little dog lies 
 curled up on the couch. In forming this " Venus," 
 
 * Vasari, xiii. p. 32, to which 
 compare Director Aurelio Gotti's 
 Le Gallerie di Firenze, u. s. } 
 
 p. 103; and Eidolfi's Marav. i. 
 225. 
 
390 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 [Chap. X. 
 
 if Yenus be an appropriate name, Titian seems to 
 have had in his mind the gorgeous word-painting of 
 Ariosto as put into Aretino's mouth by Dolce : — * 
 
 " Spargeasi per la guancia deiicata 
 Misto color di rose e di ligustri. 
 Di terso avorio era la fronte lieta, 
 Che lo spazio finia con giusta meta 
 Sotto due neri e sottilissimi archi 
 Son due neri occhi, anzi due cliiari soli, 
 Pietosi a riguardar, a mover parchi, 
 Intorno a cui par che amor scherze e voli. 
 
 Bianca neve e il bel collo, e il petto latte, 
 II collo e tondo, il petto colmo e largo." 
 
 Not after the model of a Phryne, nor yet with the 
 thought of realizing anything more sublime than 
 woman in her fairest aspect, did Titian conceive this 
 picture. Nature as he presents it here is young and 
 lovely, not transfigured into ineffable noblesse, but 
 conscious and triumphant without loss of modesty. 
 "What the painter achieves, and no other master of 
 the age achieves with equal success, is the representa- 
 tion of a beauteous living being whose fair and 
 polished skin is depicted with enamelled gloss, and yet 
 with every shade of modulation which a delicate flesh 
 comports ; — flesh not marbled or cold, but sweetly 
 toned; and mantling with life's blood, flesh that 
 seems to heave and rise and fall with every breath. 
 Perfect distribution of space, a full and ringing 
 harmony of tints, atmosphere both warm and mellow, 
 are all combined in such wise as to bring us in 
 contact with something that is real, and we feel as 
 
 * Dialogo, u. s., pp. 31-32. 
 
Chap. X.] 
 
 BELLA DI TITIANO. 
 
 we look into the canvas that we might walk into that 
 apartment and find room to wander in the grey 
 twilight into which it is thrown by the summer sky 
 that shows through the coupled windows.* 
 
 It might occur to many to think that the " Yenus " 
 of the Uffizi was a portrait immortalizing the charms 
 of a young and beautiful woman dear in a passing 
 way to the Duke of Urbino. But this need not 
 necessarily be true, if the figure be but an embodiment 
 of a new type which struck Titian's fancy at the time. 
 The figure as a whole, was frequently copied by con- 
 temporaries and later artists ; and of this we have 
 examples in the replica by a Yenetian of Titian's age 
 at the Uffizi, and adaptations such as are seen in the 
 Butler Johnstone and Hampton Court collections. f 
 But the face was also one which reappeared in diverse 
 forms in pictures of varied character, and this we 
 observe in a portrait of a young woman at the Pitti 
 which goes by the name of " La bella di Titiano," and 
 two or three fancy pieces in the galleries of St. 
 Petersburg and Yienna. 
 
 " La bella di Titiano " at the Pitti, is one of 
 Titian's likenesses in which every feature tells of 
 
 * This picture, now No. 1117 
 in the Tribuna at the Uffizi, is on 
 canvas ; the principal figure being 
 large as life. Some injury has 
 been done to the surface by clean- 
 ing, but no important parts are 
 damaged. Photograph by the 
 Photographic Company. 
 
 f The replica in the Uffizi is 
 not exhibited. 
 
 The " Venus " in the late Munro 
 
 (now Butler Johnstone) Collection 
 in London, is identical with No. 
 1117 at the Uffizi, but the back- 
 ground differs. It is a good old 
 Venetian copy on canvas, which 
 Dr. Waagen (Treasures, ii. 133) 
 took for an original. 
 
 The " Venus," No. 558 at 
 Hampton Court, is to be placed 
 in the same class. 
 
302 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chat*. X. 
 
 high lineage and distinction. The pose, the look, the 
 dress are all noble. We may presume that the name 
 was accepted for want of a better. The face was so 
 winning that it lurked in Titian's memory, and passed 
 as a type into numerous canvases in which the painter 
 tried to realize an ideal of loveliness. The head being 
 seen about two-thirds to the left, whilst the eyes are 
 turned to the right, the spectator is fascinated by the 
 glance in whatever direction he looks at the canvas. 
 The eye is grave, serene, and kindly, the nose delicate 
 and beautifully shaped, the mouth divine. Abundant 
 hair of a warm auburn waves along the temples, 
 leaving a stray curl to drop on the forehead. The 
 rest is plaited and twisted into coils round a head of 
 the most symmetrical shape. A gold chain falls over 
 a throat of exquisite model, and the low dress with 
 its braided ornaments and slashed sleeves, alternately 
 tinted in blue and white and white and purple is 
 magnificent. One hand — the left — is at rest ; the 
 other holds a tassel hanging from a girdle. Nothing 
 can exceed the delicacy and subtlety with which the 
 flesh and dress are painted; the tones being har- 
 monized and thrown into keeping by a most varied 
 use and application of glazings and scumblings.* 
 
 From the palace — for here we are surely in the 
 best and highest of company — we descend the social 
 
 * This picture is a half length 
 of life-size on canvas. It measures 
 1 brae. 14 in height, and 1.6 in 
 breadth, and is numbered 18 in 
 the Pitti collection. Some of the 
 finish has been removed by clean- 
 ing, and the abrasion of the finest 
 
 glazings makes the surface look 
 comparatively cold. This coldness 
 is most apparent about the throat, 
 but may also be seen in the hair, 
 which is partly retouched, and in 
 the warm dark back-ground. Pho- 
 tograph by Alinari of Florence. 
 
Crur. X.J 
 
 MISTRESS OF TITIAN". 
 
 393 
 
 scale to the " mistress of Titian'' at the Hermitage of 
 Petersburg ; a half-length of a slender girl in a red 
 hat prettily decorated with a white feather — a double 
 string of pearls, and a jewelled clasp, earrings of 
 pearls, and necklace of the same, enhance the charms 
 before us. But instead of a dress to match this gala 
 head, we find the form all but unclad, the muslin 
 under-garment hardly showing at the shoulder, the 
 frame but loosely covered with a green pelisse lined 
 with ermine. We might think this is a young lady 
 whose head is dressed for a ball, waiting for her maid 
 to complete the toilet; but the face, which vaguely 
 recalls the Venus of the Uffizi, is too gay, too arch and 
 too provoking, and women who are dressing are not 
 necessarily in this best of tempers.* 
 
 More composed but still bright-eyed and smiling, 
 is the girl in a similar undress at Vienna. But here 
 the hair alone is twisted with artful finish and adorned 
 with strings of pearls. The body is plump and 
 loosely decked in a black satin pelisse lined with 
 ermine which hardly covers when drawn together 
 with both hands the rounded shoulders and torso.f 
 It is not too much to say that Titian painted subjects 
 
 * This canvas is No. 105 in the 
 Petersburg gallery, and belonged 
 to Crozat's collection in Paris. It 
 measures 3 ft. and f in height, 
 by 2 ft. 5 j. The back-ground of 
 a warm green verges to brown 
 in the darker parts. The flesh is 
 injured by abrasion and modern 
 stippling. 
 
 f On the first floor, and second 
 room of the Italian Schools at 
 
 the Belvedere in Vienna, this 
 picture — on canvas, 3 ft. 2 by 2 ft., 
 is preserved. The back-ground is 
 dark brown, but modern; the 
 flesh injured by abrasion and re- 
 touching ; one finger of the right 
 hand repainted and lengthened; 
 the left hand altogether spoiled 
 by so-called restoring. Compare 
 Krafft's Historisch-Krit. Cata- 
 log, u. s., p. 62. 
 
394 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 [Chap. X. 
 
 of this class in considerable numbers. No doubt a 
 canvas of this kind was in his mind when he wrote in 
 1534 to Ippolito de Medici's chamberlain, saying he 
 had prepared a picture of a woman for the Cardinal 
 which he saved with difficulty from the clutches of 
 the Cardinal of Lorraine, who only let it go on condi- 
 tion of obtaining a similar one.* It was probably 
 from pieces of this sort that Eubens copied four 
 canvases registered in the inventories of his succes- 
 sion as Venetian courtezans, and got the idea for his 
 " Chapeau de Paille."f The picture at Yienna is 
 probably that described in a catalogue of the gallery 
 of Charles the First of England as " a naked woman 
 with both her hands putting on her smock, which the 
 king changed with the Duchess of Buckingham for 
 one of his Majesty's Mantua pieces.":}: The Duchess 
 probably preferred something of Titian that was more 
 holy and less nude. 
 
 * Titian to Vendramo, Dec. 20, % Bathoe's Catalogue, u.s. The 
 
 1534, u. s. picture is described as half length, 
 
 f Sainsbury's Papers, u. s., p. the figure of life-size, the canvas 
 
 238. 3 ft. 2 by 2 ft. 6. 
 
CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 A summer storm. — Titian in Cadore and his relations with the Cado- 
 rines. — Death of Clement VII. and Alfonso d'Este. — Titian and 
 Perrante Gonzaga. — Portrait of the Cardinal of Lorraine. — Re- 
 newed promise to visit Borne.— The triumvirate. — Charles the 
 Fifth offers to take Titian to Spain. — Tunis expedition. — Ver- 
 meyen. — Death of Ippolito de' Medici. — Portrait of Charles V.— 
 Titian with the Duke of Mantua at Asti. — His acquaintances at 
 Court. — Portraits of the Sforzas and Estes; of the Duke and 
 Duchess of Urbino ; of Bembo. — The twelve Caesars. — The An- 
 nunciation. — Titian's style compared with that of Raphael and 
 Michaelangelo. — Was Titian acquainted with Correggio. — Con- 
 temporary painters and disciples of Titian. 
 
 Cadore never lost its attractions for Titian. After 
 the death of Gregorio Vecelli, which took place about 
 1527, Francesco Vecelli retired to the old honse at 
 the Pieve, where he practised alternately as a painter 
 and a dealer in corn and timber.* When Titian felt 
 weary of his labours or worn by the heats of the city, 
 he wandered away towards the place of his birth, to 
 visit his cottage in the Trevisan province, or enjoy 
 the mountain air of Cadore. He would pass on his 
 way through Treviso, to Ceneda andBelluno; and in 
 the charming landscapes of these regions, which vary 
 from the richest lowland scenery to the most rugged 
 of Alpine rocks, he gratefully revived his jaded spirits 
 and refreshed his tired eye. From head quarters 
 
 Ticozzi, Vecelli, 259. 
 
396 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 near Treviso or Piazza Arsenate he might study at 
 . appropriate intervals the varied outlines of Dolomites 
 or rolling plain, and the haze of a summer sky on the 
 corn fields, or the swelling clouds driven by storms 
 from the mountain ranges. That on these journeys 
 he never forgot his sketch-book we may well believe, 
 but he sometimes also carried his easel and paint-box ; 
 and on one of the journeys undertaken about this 
 period he doubtless sketched the scenes that were to 
 decorate his " battle of Cadore," and caught, as it 
 passed, the summer squall which he depicted with such 
 admirable skill in a canvas at Buckingham Palace. 
 We may think that Titian was on the border of the 
 true Alpine country when, at the close of August, 
 this squall burst upon his path. The pure sky which 
 shows the deepest blue above the foreground, loses its 
 intensity of tone and grows clearer as it recedes to a 
 distance of Alp; the view of which is closed by a 
 homestead and church tower. A grey storm cloud, 
 with a sullen edge and rolling prominences tipped 
 with light, drifts before the gust sending a deluge as 
 it passes over field and covert. Lights and shadows 
 chase each other across the undulations, giving lurid 
 brightness to the slopes before the village, and dark- 
 ness to the clump of trees on a less distant rise. 
 Nearer again a strip of land glistens under a fitful 
 gleam of sun ; yet nearer, a bed of bushy shrubbery 
 forms a foreground through which two shepherds lead 
 their flocks, and a peasant drives a donkey. On a 
 path near the church two friars return laden from 
 their quest, and a dog runs frightened towards his 
 
Chap. XI.] 
 
 TITIAN IN CADOEE. 
 
 397 
 
 kennel. The whole of the right side of the picture is 
 occupied by tall stems of trees which throw their 
 branches across the sky. In some of his finished 
 pieces Titian's foreground is decked with plants of 
 which we can tell the names. Some of his drawings 
 and woodcuts or prints are remarkable for varieties of 
 pine and beech, and curious details of roots and 
 stones. Here his object is to catch an effect of storm 
 and indicate the swiftness or suddenness of its 
 passage. His foliage is conventional in touch but 
 boldly thrown with a liquid pigment on the canvas. 
 But he realizes with force and mastery the fleeting 
 scud of clouds in rapid movement and the changes 
 wrought upon the ground by their shadows ; he 
 balances with the true instinct of a finished painter 
 the gloom which cloud-masses produce and the sun 
 which they fail to intercept.* 
 
 It may be that Titian took this sketch when 
 travelling early in the autumn of 1534 to show 
 the emblems of his new dignity to his friends at 
 Cadore. Since he had become rich and risen to 
 honours the Cadorines were prouder than ever of 
 their countryman, making much of him at the 
 Pieve and courting his interest at Yenice. He lent 
 them money when they wanted it, and helped them 
 willingly when they asked for favours ; and they 
 in turn were always ready to help the friends of the 
 Yecelli. 
 
 * This canvas, 3 ft. 9^ high, by 
 3 ft. 1^, was exhibited by command 
 of the Queen at the Academy in 
 
 1875. There are some signs of re 
 touching on the edges of the 
 trees. 
 
398 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 TITIAN VECELLI AT CADOEE TO TITIAN VECELLI THE 
 PAINTER, AT VENICE. 
 
 " Good Sir Cousin and all but brother, 
 " On my return from the fair at Bolzano, a few days 
 since, I learnt that you had been here and had paid 
 me a visit. I regret my absence the more because it 
 prevented me from making proper return for all that 
 we owe you in respect of numerous proofs of friend- 
 ship shown to our community at large and in special 
 to our envoys, for all which you may be assured we 
 have a grateful memory and a true sense of obligation. 
 Ser Andrea Costantini and Ser Filippo de Barnabo 
 have been selected to appear as orators of this com- 
 munity before the Signoria, and pray that, considering 
 the ill-effects experienced in the case of our present 
 captain, officers of this class should no longer be 
 allowed to trade. The two gentlemen I have named 
 are eminently fitted for the duty assigned to them, but 
 I have thought it good nevertheless to remind you in 
 the name of the community of the important mission 
 upon which they are sent, in order that you may extend 
 to them the favour and assistance which must — we are 
 certain — ensure success. I say no more than that we 
 all hope that out of friendship to us you will act in 
 this affair with your usual kindness and humanity. 
 
 " My son Yecello begs you to give him your interest 
 in respect of the place of San Francisco, and this by 
 way of an exchange of services, as I am ready at all 
 times to second your wishes and consult your con- 
 venience. i Your respectability ? might write, should 
 you think fit, to our Ser Antonio or Ser Tito to promote 
 
Chap. XI.] TITIAN AND THE CADOKINES. 
 
 399 
 
 this matter before our council, where everyone without 
 a dissentient voice would agree to do what you desire. 
 
 "If £ your nobility 7 will write to say to, whom the 
 money should be paid, which you so courteously lent 
 to the community, it shall instantly be disbursed with 
 many thanks for your prompt service. 
 
 " In conclusion we beg of you to command this com- 
 munity; and, should this exchange of favours be 
 carried out on both sides, it will be a proof of the 
 utmost mutual kindness and charity in which it is 
 our wish that God should keep you for many years. 
 
 "May 'your nobility' remain well and strong, to 
 whom I beg to be recommended. 
 
 " Your cousin and all but brother, 
 
 " TlTIANUS YECELLIUS, 
 " Syndic of Cadore." * 
 " Pieve di Cadore, loth October, 1534." 
 
 Titian the Syndic was at the fair of Botzen when 
 his kinsman came to Cadore. He would probably 
 have liked to confide to his cousin personally the 
 grievances of the community. Though not of the 
 best patrician blood, Girolamo Zeno, then Captain of 
 Cadore, was a man of influence, whose friends in the 
 Venetian Senate were powerful and numerous, hence 
 the despatch of special envoys to the capital, and their 
 warm recommendation to the painter. It is easy to 
 conceive that an officer commanding the castle, and 
 bent on making his fortune might, if duly supported 
 at Venice, venture to create a monopoly of the sale of 
 
 * From the original published 
 on occasion of the Nozze Costan- 
 
 tiai Morosini, 8vo. Ceneda, April, 
 1882. 
 
400 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 certain kinds of produce and enrich himself at the ex- 
 pense of the people whom he was sent to govern. 
 Zeno, however, either trusted too much to his interest, 
 or he underrated that of his enemies. Titian's inter- 
 cession and the cleverness of the Cadorine envoys 
 secured his defeat. The Doge in council sent orders to 
 him to abstain from trading. 
 
 Whilst these obscure incidents absorbed the atten- 
 tion of the Cadorines events of greater consequence 
 were happening in Italy. On the 25th of September 
 Clement the Seventh died and made room for Paul 
 the Third of the house of Farnese; and on the 31st 
 of October Alfonso d'Este was carried off with great 
 suddenness. On the one hand Titian lost a patron to 
 whom he owed much of the success which attended 
 his earlier labours, on the other hand he gained 
 powerful friends in papal circles at Borne. But it 
 was not immediately on the accession of Paul that 
 Titian's relations to the family of Farnese began ; and 
 time elapsed before the princes of this clever but 
 rapacious race learnt to value his services and con- 
 descended to court them. 
 
 Other friends meanwhile were busy promoting the 
 master's interest. Federico Gonzaga introduced him 
 by letter to his brother Ferrante in February, 1534, 
 asking him for a "Bape of Proserpine" and a com- 
 panion picture intended as a present to some Spanish 
 grandee.* Peter Paul Yergerio, who had made the 
 
 * Federico Gonzaga to Titian 
 from Mantua, February 7, 1534, 
 in Gaye, Carteggio, ii. 252 ; and 
 
 Benedetto Agnello to Calandra, 
 February 14, 1534, in Appendix. 
 
Chap. XL] 
 
 EAPE OF PEOSERPINE. 
 
 401 
 
 painter's acquaintance when practising law at Yenice, 
 had since become Papal Nuncio at Vienna, and 
 Avrote to Aretino from Prague in May to say he had 
 half promised that Titian and Sansovino should visit 
 Cardinal Cles (Gloss) in his episcopal palace at Trent ; 
 and it may be that previous to his journey to Cadore 
 Titian accepted this invitation.* So far as we can 
 learn, the portrait of the Cardinal of Lorraine and two 
 pictures of women, an allegory left unfinished at the 
 death of the Duke of Ferrara, and the " Eape of Pro- 
 serpine," commissioned for Perrante Gonzaga, were 
 the labours to which he confined himself in 1534 
 and 153 5. | But it is probable that these were the 
 least of the canvases to which he set his hand. 
 The known and the unknown are alike enshrouded 
 in obscurity, and all that we can determine with 
 reference to one of the former is the existence of 
 a copy representing the rape of Proserpine, preserved 
 as a genuine production of the master, and last ex- 
 hibited at Manchester. Titian, like Giorgione, had 
 his imitators in different schools. The copyist here 
 reminds us that artists like Paolo Pranceschi or 
 
 * Titian had promised Yerge- 
 rius a picture or portrait, and 
 Vergerius, writing to Aretino from 
 Eome in June, 1536, says: " Sto 
 per ritornar in Germania, e per 
 passar per Vinegia, dove usciro 
 d' un duro debito c' ho con la sig- 
 noria vostra. Ma sollicitatemi 
 un poco quel nostro messer 
 Tiziano ch' egli esca meco d'uno 
 non duro ch' e pittura, non stagno : 
 ma farlo o non farlo, mi racco- 
 
 YOL. I. 
 
 mando a lui et a vostra signoria." 
 (Lettere a M. Pietro Aretino, u. s. 
 p. 174.) 
 
 t The portrait of the Cardinal 
 of Lorraine remained some time 
 in Titian's hands, and was not, it 
 would appear, ultimately claimed 
 by its owner. See Eoberto de' 
 ltossi to Aretino, May, 1539, in 
 Ticozzi's Vecelli, p. 106; and Bot- 
 tari, Eaccolta, Ticozzi's Edition, 
 vol. v. 228. 
 
 D I) 
 
402 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 Christopher Schwarz might oftener succeed in a close 
 reproduction of technical tricks familiar to Schiavone 
 or Tintoretto than in a faithful rendering of Titian's 
 sweetness and gorgeousness of tone.* 
 
 Towards the close of 1534, Titian wrote very 
 humbly to excuse himself for not accepting Cardinal 
 Ippolito de' Medici's renewed invitation to Borne. 
 He begged the Cardinal's chamberlain to assure his 
 master of Titian's dutiful regard, and promised to 
 send him a picture of a lady, which had already 
 been seen and coveted by the Cardinal of Lorraine.t 
 This proud and powerful churchman greatly nattered 
 the painter by his visit, and equally flattered Aretino 
 by a similar condescension; his reward in the first 
 instance being a portrait of which contemporaries said 
 wonders, in the second a letter in which Aretino praised 
 the prelate "as a prince in the disguise of a Cardinal, 
 who scented more of the purple than the frock." J 
 
 Meanwhile the " triumvirate " continued to nourish, 
 pleasantly reinforced, as occasion required, by Serlio 
 the architect, Anichini the carver of cameos, and the 
 humanist Fortunio Spira. Though frequently pro- 
 voked by the eccentricities of Aretino, the careless- 
 ness of Sansovino, and the utter neglect of his pro- 
 mises which characterized Titian, the doge Andrea 
 
 * The " Eape of Proserpine," 
 exhibited at Manchester, and 
 numbered in the Catalogue of the 
 great Manchester Exhibition as 
 235, was on canvas, and belonged 
 to Mr. J. Evelyn Denison. There 
 -was a picture with this subject 
 in the Man'uan Palace in 162". 
 
 Darco, Arti, &c, u. s., ii. 159. 
 
 f See Titian to Vendramo, 
 Dec. 20, 1534, in Ticozzi, Vecelli, 
 307. 
 
 X Aretino to Cardinal of Lor- 
 raine, Venice, Nov. 21, 1534, in 
 Lettere di M. P. Aretino, i. 33 v. 
 
Chap. XI.] TITIAN AND SANSOVINO. 
 
 403 
 
 Gritti seldom withdrew his countenance from any of 
 them, and once only took a sly pleasure in setting 
 the confederates by the ears. In 1534 he had ordered 
 Sansovino to rebuild San Francesco della Yigna, and 
 in anticipation of its completion had caused a medal 
 to be struck in which the edifice, with its cupola and 
 tower, were carefully represented.* The Franciscans 
 who watched the progress of the works thought they 
 detected some deviations from the model, and com- 
 plained to the Doge. A commission was appointed 
 with the friar Francesco Griorgi at its head, to inquire 
 into the truth of their allegation; and the result was 
 a long and learned Yitruvian report dated April 25, 
 1535, finding fault with measurements and acoustic 
 properties, which Titian, Serlio, and Spira, who were 
 members of the commission, signed, f But Sansovino 
 gave little attention to rebuffs clothed in affected 
 and hyperbolical language, and treated the opinion 
 of his friends with haughty neglect. The lesson 
 which he ought to have taken now, was given to 
 him later ; and he subsequently paid the penalty of 
 unpardonable negligence by fine and imprisonment. 
 
 It was of his own free choice that Titian thus 
 busied himself with matters of purely local interest. 
 Charles the Fifth had repeatedly asked him to Spain, J 
 and would perhaps have taken him on the glorious 
 expedition in which he overcame Barbarossa and 
 captured Tunis. But Titian had no longing for 
 
 * See a print of the medal in cogna, Iscriz. Ven., iii. 308. 
 Teuienza's Sansovino. X Aretino to Lione Aretino, 
 
 t Compare Selvatico, Sull' Ar- July 11, 1539, in Lettere a M. 
 chitettura, pp. 281-2, with Ci- P. Aretino, ii. p. 86. 
 
 T) I) 2 
 
404 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 adventure, and preferred the air of the lagoons, occa- 
 sionally varied with the breezes of the Alps, to the 
 fatigues of African travel; and Charles was fain to 
 content himself with the services of Vermeyen, who 
 produced, with laborious difficulty and doubtful suc- 
 cess, the pictures of the Emperor's victories which 
 adorn the fortress of Coburg or lie mouldering in the 
 magazines of the Belvedere at Yienna.* At ease 
 and at home, Titian contented himself with attending 
 to the wants of the Duke of Mantua, whilst far away 
 in the south of Italy death was making sudden 
 harvest of one of his patrons. During the prepara- 
 tions of the Emperor for his campaign in Africa the 
 rivals Alessandro and Ippolito de' Medici had been 
 intriguing against each other in Spain. It was not 
 Charles' intention to take any decisive course with 
 regard to Florence before his return from Africa. 
 The agents of the Medici had been put off in con- 
 sequence with evasions. But Ippolito thought he 
 would be able to compass his object by joining the 
 Emperor in person, and in July 1535 he started for 
 Naples with the fixed intention of urging his suit 
 with Charles in person. He was poisoned at Itri 
 on the 13th of August by his own cup-bearer, hired 
 by Alessandro de' Medici for that purpose. His 
 death cast an unmistakable gloom over the meetings 
 of the triumvirate, which lost in a single hour one of 
 its most generous protectors. 
 
 Whilst mourning over the loss of this benefactor 
 
 * Pinchart, in the Eevue uni- 
 verselle des Arts, gives the dates 
 
 of Yermeyen's employment (iii. 
 p. 137). 
 
Cjiap. XI.] MANTUAN PICTURES. 
 
 405 
 
 Titian received a letter from the Duke of Mantua, 
 who had long been wishing for a " Magdalen," and 
 now desired a picture of a " Christ." * 
 
 EEDERICO GONZAGA TO TITIAN AT VENICE. 
 
 " Excellent and dearest Friend, 
 
 " You once gave me an image of Christ 
 which pleased me so much that I wish to have another 
 like it. Pray set to work at this with the care and 
 diligence which you know how to apply when the 
 honour of your craft is concerned. I should like the 
 piece to be as fine and as perfect as its immediate 
 precursor, which I should call one of Titian's best ; 
 and I desire to have it next September at the feast of 
 the Madonna. 
 
 " Mantua, Aug. 3, 1535." t 
 
 Titian's best, and a replica which should do the 
 painter honour, would be well worth seeing now. 
 We ask in vain what became of it, or why it was 
 ordered by the Duke of Mantua. 
 
 A month, we observe, was the time considered 
 requisite by Gonzaga to produce a perfect Titian. 
 Not a trace in the Mantuan inventories — no sign in 
 the catalogues of Charles the First. In public or 
 private galleries no " Christ" executed in these years. 
 
 The following winter saw Titian finally busy at the 
 portrait of the Emperor which had so long been 
 
 * See Agnello to Calandra, date corrected to 1535, in Darco* 
 
 May 9, 1534, in Appendix. (Gayo, ii. 262-3; Darco, Pitt, di 
 
 t This letter is dated 1536 in Mant., ii. 122.) The feast of th» 
 
 Gaye, but republished with the Madonna is Sept. 8. 
 
406 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XL 
 
 promised and so constantly withheld. The Duke of 
 Mantua wrote to the painter at the end of April to 
 tell him : " He not only wanted the likeness of the 
 Emperor but Titian himself pressingly;" * and Titian 
 had replied, through Agnello, that he would send the 
 likeness instantly, though he could not say when he 
 could come to Mantua.']" Federico hoped to see 
 Charles the Fifth on his progress to the North ; whose 
 portrait would then fitly decorate a room of his palace, 
 and he could not hope to receive the portrait quicker 
 than by asking Titian himself to bring it. Charles 
 had returned from his African campaign to Sicily. 
 He landed at Trapani in August, 1535, received a 
 brilliant welcome at Messina, and spent the winter at 
 Naples. £ In April, 1536, he came through Eome; 
 and his triumphal entry into Florence in May gave 
 employment to all the artists of Tuscany. On the 
 16th of May he visited Fornovo, where, forty years 
 before, Francesco Gonzaga had lost a battle to the 
 French, and passing from thence to Asti, where troops 
 were assembling for a new expedition, he meditated 
 the invasion of France. Two months before, Francis 
 the First had sent his armies into Savoy and reduced 
 the whole of Piedmont. But Antonio da Leyva had 
 been sent to retrieve these losses, and had cleared the 
 peninsula of the enemy, and when he presented 
 himself before his master at Asti, he was able to boast 
 that except the French garrison of Turin, there were 
 
 * Federico to Titian, April 27, 
 1536, in Gaye, Carteggio, ii. 262. 
 f See the Letter in Appendix. 
 
 X Lanz., u. s., ii. 204, and fol- 
 lowing. 
 
Chap. XI.] 
 
 TITIAN AT ASTI. 
 
 407 
 
 no Frenchmen in Italy. On Leyva's arrival he found 
 the Duke of Mantua in camp, accompanied by Titian, 
 who had joined his party at Mantua, and was received 
 at court with the utmost favour. 
 
 BENEDETTO AGNELLO TO THE MARCHIONESS 
 ISABELLA AT MANTUA. 
 
 " Titian is not here. Some days ago he left this 
 for Mantua, and went with the Duke to court. He 
 will return with the Duke to Mantua, where your 
 Excellency will see him sooner than I shall, and can 
 speak to him of the portrait of Zurinelli, and order 
 him to send it when he reaches this. 
 
 " From Venice, May 5, 1536." * 
 
 TITIAN TO ARETINO AT VENICE. 
 " SlGNOR CoMPAR, 
 
 " I kissed the hand of Don Alvise Davila, 
 who said he was your friend, and begged me to tell 
 you he would soon prove it. I would have done the 
 same by Signor Antonio da Leva, but that there was 
 no time. He came to see the Emperor, and only 
 staid half a day, and there were so many visitors 
 that I could not kiss his hand. But should we meet 
 I shall do my duty, and attend to your interests 
 without regard to the consequences. ~No more on this 
 head. Here nothing is heard but the roll of drums, 
 and everyone is starting for France. I hope soon to 
 be with you, when we shall have much to say to each 
 
 * See the original m Appendix. 
 
408 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XL 
 
 other. Bas las manos a vnestra merced and also 
 those of Alvise Anichini. * 
 
 "From Asti, May 31, 1536." 
 
 At Asti, it would seem, Titian was quite in Spanish 
 waters. He doubtless met, perhaps he again portrayed, 
 the Emperor. But his special friends were Don Luigi 
 Davila, Gonzalo Perez, and Domenico Gaztelu, all of 
 whom were secretaries and confidential friends of 
 Covos, Commander of Castile. After the campaign 
 in Provence, which was short and unsatisfactory, 
 Davila and Perez followed the Emperor's court to 
 Genoa, and embarked with it in November for Spain : 
 Gaztelu remained at Yenice, and the favours of the 
 Emperor were distributed through him to Titian and 
 Aretino. From his cabin on board a galley at Genoa, 
 Perez wrote to Aretino : "I read your letter to the 
 Emperor and gave it to the cornendator mayor (Covos), 
 who showed the very best feeling for you and Titian, 
 to whom the favour was done of which you will have 
 heard from Signor Domingo (Gaztelu)." Aretino 
 replied (Dec. 20.) : " Titian will paint your portrait, 
 and with it abate the claims which death may have 
 upon your person ; " and Perez, not to be outdone in 
 Castilian courtesy, kissed Titian's hands from Valla- 
 dolid.f The favour conferred on Titian, hardly out- 
 
 * This letter, dated ' 1 ultimo 
 Marzo," in Lettere a P. Aretino, 
 i. p. 146, is reprinted in Ticozzi 
 (Vecelli, p. 309), -with the more 
 correct " ultimo Maggio." 
 
 t Perez to Aretino, " da Galera 
 
 cerca de Villafranca, Nov. 16, 
 1536; " and Valladolid, March 3, 
 1537, in Lettere a M. P. Aretino, 
 u. s., ii. 337-338 ; and Aretino to 
 Perez, in Lettere di M. P. A., i. 65. 
 
Chap. XI.] POETEAITS OF THE SFORZAS. 
 
 409 1 
 
 weighed we may think by that which he did to Perez 
 by painting his likeness, was predestined to a long 
 postponement. In order to strengthen the dubious 
 allegiance of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, 
 Charles the Fifth, in 1531, had promised him the 
 hand of Cristina of Denmark. Though never such an 
 ill-assorted pair had been selected for marriage, he 
 being old and sickly, and she but nine years old 
 on the day of her betrothal, still the wedding was 
 solemnized with pomp in January 1534, and the newly- 
 married couple entered Milan in state. It were 
 greatly to be desired that some graphic mementos, 
 such as the portraits of the Duke and Duchess, which 
 Titian was deputed to paint, had been preserved. 
 Lomazzo describes the Duke after Titian's likeness ; 
 pale, worn, and bent, his hair white and hoary, his 
 beard raven black.* Historians tell us that the 
 Duchess was a plain but clever girl of twelve. Sforza 
 hardly lived two years after this. At his death on 
 the 20th of November, 1535, his Duchy lapsed to 
 Charles the Fifth. Titian received a promise of a 
 canonicate for his son, and a grant of a pension on the 
 treasury of Naples, which for many years was never 
 paid ; and thus the " favour " of the Emperor, of 
 Covos, and Gonzalo Perez was postponed ad Kalendas 
 Grcecas . | 
 
 * Lomazzo, Trattato, p. 633 ; 
 see also Ridolfi, Mar., i. 251. 
 Eubens copied this picture. See 
 the inventory of the copies from 
 Titian which he left behind ; 
 Sainsbury, p. 238. 
 
 t Titian, in a letter to the Em- 
 
 peror, complains (? 1555) that his 
 pension on Milan, and likewise a 
 grant of corn from Naples, had 
 never yielded him a penny. (See 
 Ticozzi, Vecelli, p. 310.) Aretino 
 received a similar pension on the 
 15th of June, 1536. See Antonio 
 
410 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 Meanwhile the death of Alfonso d'Este had not 
 altogether disturbed the relations of Titian with the 
 Ferrarese court, nor had Tebaldi, after the accession 
 of Ercole the Second, ceased to visit the workshop of 
 his old master's favourite painter. Though Ercole 
 had not the same regard for Titian as his father, and 
 was subsequently led by circumstances of which we 
 have no adequate explanation to patronise Pordenone, 
 he had still too much respect for Alfonso's good 
 opinion of Titian to neglect so great an artist. In 
 earlier days he had been one of Titian's sitters ; and 
 he was well aware that a portrait of Alfonso still lay 
 unfinished on Titian's easel. One of his first acts, 
 therefore, was to send 50 ducats to Venice as an 
 earnest to the painter that he desired the completion 
 of the likeness which was to replace that of Alfonso 
 carried off to Spain through the wile of Covos.* It 
 is characteristic alike of the value which Ercole set 
 on his alliance with the court of France and Titian's 
 wish to represent Alfonso faithfully, that "the order 
 of France" was sent to Tebaldi for Titian's use, with 
 instructions to Titian to copy it for the Duke's 
 portrait. Tebaldi reported, on the 15th of December, 
 1536, that the picture was finished, and as like "as 
 water to water." So beautiful, too, that he wondered 
 his Excellency had shown so little eagerness to see it. 
 But Ercole was in no hurry. He allowed the canvas 
 
 Capelli's " Aretino" in Atti delle 
 E. R. Deputazioni per le prov. 
 Modenesi, 4to, Modena, 1866, p. 
 85. 
 
 * The payment of 50 ducats is 
 dated July 20, 1535. (See Cam- 
 pori, Tiziano e gli Estensi, p. 24.) 
 
Chap. XI.] 
 
 ERCOLE OF FEKBAKA. 
 
 411 
 
 to remain in Tebaldi's lodgings, and waited till ho 
 came in person to Venice in January to form an 
 independent judgment. But then lie confessed his 
 admiration, and paid handsomely ; and Titian ad- 
 mitted to Aretino that he had never been more 
 royally treated.* It is melancholy to register, not 
 only the loss of this masterpiece, but the disappear- 
 ance also of the portrait of Ercole, which was pre- 
 served at Ferrara long enough to be copied by the 
 faithful hand of Girolamo da Carpi.*]" In the absence 
 of such works as these, we might feel unable to 
 realise the manner in which Titian captivated high- 
 born sitters ; but that ample illustrations of his style 
 are found in the noble portraits of the Duke and 
 Duchess of Urbino at the Uffizi, which were executed 
 in 1537. 
 
 In Francesco Maria's face as depicted by the 
 greatest master of the time, there is perhaps more 
 expression of character than in the earliest of Alfonso 
 of Este ; and we look at the large black eye, the 
 hooked nose, and projecting jaw, with the perfect 
 certainty that the owner of those features was a man 
 of quick action and violent passions. Francesco 
 Maria came of a strong-minded mother, being the son 
 of Griovanna of Montefeltro, who so bravely, though 
 hopelessly, made head against Cesar Borgia. Flying 
 in disguise from the Castle of Sinigaglia, Giovanna 
 had once left her son in charge of Andrea Doria, and 
 
 * He received 200 scudi. Ibid., 
 and Aretino to Buonleo, Jan. 6, 
 — in Lettere di M. P. Aretino, 
 
 i. p. 8. 
 
 t Vasari, xi. 23G. 
 
412 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chai>. XI. 
 
 afterwards sent him to the court of France, where he 
 learnt the rules of chivalry as practised in the 
 sixteenth century by Gaston de Foix. Heir by 
 adoption to the throne of IJrbino, Francesco mur- 
 dered the lover of his sister at the age of seventeen. 
 At thirty he drew on Cardinal Alidosio, and ran him 
 through the body. Twice he lost his duchy, and 
 twice he won it back at the point of the sword. A 
 favourite of the Yenetians and Charles the Fifth, he 
 was one of the few Italian generals who combined 
 technical knowledge with bravery and rapidity of 
 execution. He could ride like Charles the Twelfth, 
 taking horse at Pesaro for Naples, thence to Capo 
 d' Istria, and back to Pesaro. He was short, stout, 
 and wiry, but of bilious aspect, his head and chin 
 covered with thick, short, curly hair, all fat trained 
 off of him by exercise, his fine cut nose spanned with 
 a slight membrane of flesh, the eyes black and pene- 
 trant, the lower eyelids hanging like purses over a 
 tanned gaunt cheek. He had just returned from 
 Capo d' Istria, by way of Pesaro, to Venice, when the 
 Pope, the Emperor, and Yenice signed the league of 
 January 31, 1537, against the Turks. He was 
 generalissimo under orders to assume command when 
 Titian was called to paint his likeness. We see him 
 with the plumed helmet and the emblems of his rank 
 in the background of a semi-circular niche covered 
 with red damasked velvet. The steel armour in 
 which his muscular frame is encased stands out a 
 marvel of cool bright polish in front of the niche, 
 whilst his head is turned to the right, and relieved in 
 
Chap. XL] 
 
 THE DUKE OF URBINO. 
 
 413 
 
 light against the brown wall of a room. His martial 
 aspect is enhanced by the firmness of his pose, the 
 staff with his arms, which he holds in his right hand, 
 and rests on his hip, and the batons, with the tiara 
 and keys, and the motto " Se Sibi," which are dis- 
 played behind him. " Titianvs, F.," in gold letters, 
 is written in the shadow of the niche to the left. 
 The form is snatched from nature, and transferred to 
 canvas with a master-hand, bringing out the planes 
 of a bony face in sallow olive tones, and showing the 
 bile that lurked beneath the skin with the same 
 subtlety as the reflexions in the burnished armour, 
 combining a marked touch with nice blending, and 
 working off with varied surface in tempered atmo- 
 sphere, the flesh and stuffs and steel and plumes.* 
 
 Eleonora Gonzaga, sister to the Duke of Mantua 
 and wife of Francesco Maria, accompanied her hus- 
 band to share the pomp of his new dignity at 
 Yenice.*)" She was a woman of perfect shape but 
 slender figure, with fine cut features and glancing 
 eyes shaded by long and dark eyelashes. Her type 
 of beauty, we might fancy, was that which afterwards 
 fascinated Cinq-Mars when he courted Marie de Gon- 
 
 * This is a half length of life- 
 size on canvas. It passed, like so 
 many other pictures of the same 
 kind, from Urbino to Florence by 
 the extinction of the male line of 
 the Koveres. It is numbered 605 
 at the Uffizi, and was discovered 
 in the " Guardaroba " of the 
 palace of the Grand Dukes by the 
 Director Puccini. See Puccini to 
 Cicogna, in the latter's MS. notes 
 
 to an edition of Morelli's Anonimo, 
 u. s. There is a patch of restoring 
 on the upper left edge of the 
 canvas. 
 
 f The Duchess came to Venice 
 in September, 1536, and returned 
 to Urbino, by way of Mantua, in 
 July, 1537. See Berribo to Pietro 
 Pamfili, in Bembo, P. Opere, vol. 
 vii. pp. 313—14 and 316. 
 
414 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 zague at the Louvre, and Titian immortalised it as 
 the Princess sat unconsciously claiming the homage 
 of admirers. Her look is stately, yet subdued. Her 
 delicate ringed hands are at rest, one of them on the 
 arm of a chair. At her side a table with a rich green 
 cloth supports a lap-dog and a chased metal clock, 
 whilst the reflex of an afternoon sun sheds a mild 
 light through an open casement. Outside, the sky is 
 pure and lightly flecked with clouds, and a haze rests 
 upon the distance of a verdant landscape. To make 
 the difference apparent between the blanched com- 
 plexion of a dame accustomed to luxury and ease and 
 the tanned face of a soldier habitually exposed to the 
 weather, Titian skilfully varied the detail of technical 
 execution. Here he is minute and finished, there 
 resolute and broad. Here the tinted and throbbing 
 flesh is pitted against a warm light ground, there the 
 sallow olive against a dark wall. The dress of the 
 Duchess, though low and square cut so as to show 
 the throat and bosom, is fringed with a ruff-fraise, 
 contrasting alike with the fair skin and the dark 
 warm stuff of the gown, the sleeves of which are 
 puffed and slashed with yellow. A chain hangs 
 round the neck and supports a jewel, whilst a tasseled 
 girdle encircles the waist. In this " divine " likeness 
 we discern the painter's tact, which conceals in part 
 the inroads of time upon the sitter. Eleonora being 
 turned of thirty, covered her head with a matron's 
 cap. Her fair flesh had lost the roses of youth 
 and formed a purse at the chin. But Titian, with 
 delicate handling and subtle modelling, makes the 
 
Chap. XI.] 
 
 DUCHESS OF URBINO. 
 
 415 
 
 Princess young again, shows the blood mantling in 
 her cheek, and her eyes glistening with vitality.* 
 
 The high-born public of Yenice was charmed by 
 the excellence of these masterpieces, which found 
 expression in the sonnets of Aretino. But the 
 praise of the bard was not wrung from him by the 
 chink of golden pieces. It was an admiration truly 
 felt, though suggested to the " Scourge of Princes " 
 by Yeronica Gambara, the friend of the Estes and 
 Charles the Fifth, and patroness of Correggio. In 
 the letter in which he incloses his sonnets "to 
 Yeronica," and in the sonnets themselves, Aretino 
 strikes the nail on the head repeatedly when he 
 speaks of the Duke's likeness, and dwells on "the 
 fierce grandeur of the brow, the spirited look of the 
 eye, and the ready action of the arm." Every 
 wrinkle, he truly says, every hair is realised; and 
 the colours divulge not alone the life in the flesh, but 
 the manliness of the soul within. The burnished 
 armour, too, takes the redness of the velvet behind it, 
 and magic are the reflexes of the helmet and plume 
 on the surface of the breastplate. Even the emblems 
 of command are natural, " and who shall say that the 
 batons granted by Florence, Yenice, and the Church" 
 are not of silver? Happy, again, is the description 
 of Eleonora as a chaste and lovely apparition, with 
 grace on her brow and command in her glance, f 
 
 * This canvas was found by i numbered 599 at the Uffizi. Con- 
 Puccini in the garrets of the Grand suit Vasari, xiii. 32, and Lomazzo, 
 Duke's palace three years after he Idea del Tempio, pp. 116 — 17. 
 had rescued the portrait of the Photograph by Alinari. 
 Duke. It is also a half length, f This letter, dated Not. 7 
 
41G 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XL 
 
 ~Not many months were to elapse after the despatch 
 of this epistle, and the Dnke of Urbino was to die, 
 leaving his widow to conjecture darkly who had 
 poisoned him, who robbed her of her lord. 
 
 The divisions of party were so snbtle, and princes 
 were so nnscrnpnlous in those days, that it was no 
 wonder that Francesco Maria shonld have been des- 
 patched by the secret and certain method of poisoning. 
 There were so many examples of a safe application of 
 this method that the temptation to nse it was very 
 great. Murder was a familiar resource of kings, why 
 not of princes ? On the 18th of December, 1536, 
 Aretino wrote to Alessandro de' Medici almost to 
 warn him of his approaching assassination. " God 
 keep you," he said, " from the steel and poison of 
 treason." * On the 5th of the following January 
 Alessandro was murdered. The Duke of Urbino pre- 
 paring to fight the Turks as generalissimo for Paul 
 the Third, Venice and the Emperor would have 
 numerous enemies ; Guido Eangone, for instance, 
 who was the Pope's general, and jealous of command, 
 and all the partisans of France. France, at this time 
 in alliance with Soliman, and active in its intrigues 
 at Yenice, was not without friends even amongst the 
 members of the triumvirate. Montmorency the 
 connetahle offered Aretino a yearly pension of 400 
 scudi if he would write in favour of Francis the 
 
 1537, is valuable, as it fixes the 
 date of the completion of the 
 portraits. See Lettere di M. P. 
 Aretino, i. 179. 
 
 * Aretino to Alessandro de' 
 Medici. Lettere di M. P. Aretino, 
 i. p. 64. 
 
Chap. XI.] PAINTERS AND POLITICS. 
 
 417 
 
 First, and Aretino replied accepting the offer. Comi- 
 tolo, the agent of Guido Eangone in France, was the 
 person who negotiated the bribe, and he was an inti- 
 mate friend of Titian, Sansovino, and Anichini,* 
 whilst Aretino and his two colleagues in the Trium- 
 virate were gossips or compare of Guido Eangone. f 
 But we shall not be wrong in supposing that, what- 
 ever the stains may be which attach to Aretino for 
 his advocacy of every party that paid him, a similar 
 blemish is not to be found in the painters who worked 
 for each of these parties in turn. " Artists," says an 
 able critic, " might claim the privilege of exercising 
 their talents with a sublime indifference to politics. J " 
 Titian's close connection with the Duke and 
 Duchess of Urbino in 1537 had, as a natural conse- 
 quence, renewed intimacy with their most confidential 
 adviser, Pietro Bembo. Since the days of the Aldine 
 Club, and the transfer of his residence to Eome, 
 Bembo had apparently neglected the master whom he 
 once tempted in vain to visit Eome. After the death 
 of Leo the Tenth, in 1522, he retired to Padua, where 
 he lived on his sinecures and a salary from the Vene- 
 tian Eepublic. That a man who was fond of art and 
 possessed the best gallery of pictures and antiques 
 
 * See Hieronimo Comitolo to 
 Aretino, May 17, 1537 (erro- 
 neously printed 1534), in Lettere a 
 M. P. Aretino, p. 222, and same 
 to same from Paris, June 1, 1537, 
 ibid. p. 223. In both these letters 
 Comitolo sends greetings to Titian. 
 See also Aretino to Montmorency, 
 June 8, 1537, in Lettere di M, P. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Aretino, p. 112. 
 
 t Guido E-angone was made 
 General of the Pope in Nov. 1 536. 
 In a letter of that date Aretino 
 (Lettere di M. P. Aretino, i. p. 
 62) boasts that Titian and San- 
 sovino are Rangone's " compari" 
 
 X Quarterly Review, vol. lxvi. 
 No. cxxxi. p. 17. 
 
 E E 
 
418 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XL 
 
 known to exist in the sixteenth century should have 
 remained so long estranged from Titian is curious. 
 But it may be, either that the proud nature of the 
 humanist could not pardon what he considered in- 
 civility or contempt in the painter, or his habitual 
 preference for the works of Eaphael and Michel- 
 angelo, with both of whom he had been personally 
 acquainted, prevented him from cultivating the 
 friendship of Titian. Early in 1537, having some 
 disagreement with Leone Leoni the sculptor of Arezzo, 
 whom he had employed to make a die for a medal, at 
 Eome, the latter complained to his relative, Aretino, 
 that Bembo was neglecting him for Benvenuto Cellini. 
 Aretino' s answer is at once a rebuke to Leoni and 
 evidence of a friendly current of feeling between the 
 Triumvirate and Bembo. The taste of the humanist, 
 he said, was too accomplished to warrant the belief that 
 he could fail to prize at its just value a work of art of 
 which Titian and Sansovino were sincere admirers.* 
 We may conclude the more confidently that Bembo 
 at this time sat to the painter, as we find him, in 
 1540, writing to Girolamo Quirini to acknowledge 
 the receipt " of his second portrait by Titian." f "We 
 doubt whether the "first portrait" has been pre- 
 served. But if the profile in the collection of the 
 Nardi family at Venice be in truth a likeness of 
 Bembo, it certainly must have been a replica executed 
 about the period with which we are busy .J Bene- 
 
 * Aretino to Leone Leoni, 
 May 25, 1537, in Lett, di M. P. 
 Aretino, i. 103-4. 
 
 t Bembo to Quirini, May 30 } 
 1540, in Bembo, Opere, vi. p. 316. 
 X Vasari would lead us to be- 
 
Chap. XL] 
 
 PORTBAIT OF BEMBO. 
 
 419 
 
 detto Yarchi wrote to Benvenuto Cellini in 1536 that 
 Bembo had jnst begnn to let his beard grow, and 
 Cellini expressed his great, satisfaction at a change 
 which made the face most picturesque.* The Nardi 
 portrait, no doubt originally painted for Jacopo Nardi, 
 the friend and gossip of Titian, f is a half-length with 
 a characteristic head shorn of hair, but long of beard. 
 A high forehead, gaunt cheeks, and an aquiline nose ; 
 the right hand holding a glove, the dress a black 
 flowered silk, complete a picture reduced by time, 
 corrosion, and cleaning to the semblance of a tinted 
 monochrome. 
 
 On the back of the old canvas, and beneath a new 
 one pasted over the first, we read the curious inscrip- 
 tion, " P. Bembo, fecit, an dom 15 . . There can 
 be no doubt of the originality of this work, which 
 unmistakeably reveals the hand of Titian ; but it 
 hardly resembles the bust by Cataneo on the monu- 
 ment erected to the Cardinal in the Santo of Padua, 
 which may be due to the fact that Bembo sat to 
 Titian, whilst Cataneo moulded his bust after the 
 Cardinal's death.J 
 
 In Bembo's museum at Padua, which was well 
 
 lieye that Titian painted Bembo's 
 likeness before 1513 (xiii. 27). 
 If this be true the likeness is 
 missing. 
 
 * Cellini to Varchi, Eome, Sept. 
 9, 1536, in Bottari's Eaccolta, i. 
 pp. 15, 16. 
 
 f See, further on, Priscianese's 
 account of an evening with Titian. 
 
 % See the bust in the Santo of 
 
 Padua, of which there is a draw- 
 ing in Gonzati's Basilica, ii. 172. 
 See also Aretino to Danese Ca- 
 taneo, April, 1548, in Lett, di 
 M. P. Aretino, iv. 205. The 
 Nardi picture was seen by the 
 authors in the studio of Signor 
 Vason at Venice. It is a half- 
 length, large as life. 
 
 e e 2 
 
420 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 known to most Italian artists and antiquaries, Titian 
 probably first saw some of the antiqnes which served 
 as a groundwork for the celebrated series of Eoman 
 Emperors, which he now began for the Duke of 
 Mantua. Giulio Bomano, in 1536, had completed 
 the " Sala di Troja" in the Castello of Mantua, and 
 made considerable progress with the apartments in 
 its vicinity, when it occurred to Federico Gonzaga to 
 devote one entire room to the portraits of twelve 
 Csesars, and to employ Titian to paint them.* Be- 
 sides the undoubted antiques in Bembo's museum, 
 which represented Julius Caesar, Domitian, and Cara- 
 calla, Titian would have statues of all the Emperors 
 from Csesar to Brobus, and numerous medals in the 
 Gallery of Mantua to refer to, and from these it was 
 competent to him to make the designs which this 
 large, if not novel, undertaking required, f In March, 
 1537, Federico wrote to Titian to say that the rooms 
 in the Castello, which were to be hung with his pic- 
 tures, would be ready in May, and he hoped that this 
 would be an incentive to him to be industrious and 
 punctual. J He also sent the painter a present of a 
 dress, which Titian acknowledged in the following 
 letter. 
 
 * See Darco, Delle Arti di 
 Mantova, ii. 112, 123, 153, and 
 173. See also the same author's 
 Life of Giulio Eomano, fol. , Mant. 
 1843, pp. 91 and 98 ; and letters 
 of July 10, 1536, and April 3, 
 1537, in Appendix. 
 
 f Daniel Nys to Secretary Lord 
 Dorchester, July 1629, in 
 
 Sainsbury's Papers relative to 
 
 Kubens, u. s., pp. 275 and 332, 
 and Inventory of 1627 at Mantua, 
 by Darco, delle Arti, ii. 169. See 
 also in Dolce's Dialogo (p. 68), 
 ' ' dipinse i dodici Cesari traendogli 
 parte dalle medaglie parte da 
 marmi antichi." 
 
 % Federico to Titian, from 
 Mantua, March 26, 1537, in Gaye, 
 Carteggio, ii. 264. 
 
Chap. XI.] 
 
 THE TWELVE C^SAES. 
 
 421 
 
 TITIAN TO THE DUKE FEDERICO GONZAGA, AT 
 MANTUA. 
 
 "Most Illustrious, &c, — 
 
 "It was not necessary for your Excellency to 
 remind me by letter or the gift of a rich cassock of 
 the pictures, which I have altogether at heart, know- 
 ing as I do under what obligation I am for many 
 kindnesses. But since your Excellency has been 
 pleased to do so, I beg to return my best thanks for 
 favour and guerdon, and kiss your Excellency's hands 
 a thousand times. Many days have passed since I 
 gave one of the pictures to the ambassador to send to 
 your Excellency. Five others are in a fair way, 
 which I shall finish on hearing that the first was 
 satisfactory, or the reverse, regulating my work 
 accordingly. And so I shall proceed by degrees to 
 the end, when I shall hope to have well served your 
 Excellency. In the meantime, it would be a great 
 favour to me if your Excellency would liberate my 
 benefice from the pension payable upon it, which, 
 besides causing me a loss in money which I pay out 
 yearly, creates not a little trouble and disturbance 
 because of the persons with whom I am pestered, 
 out of whose hands your Excellency alone can save 
 me. I beg, I supplicate your Excellency to do this 
 .... which alone would suffice to make me your 
 Excellency's perpetual slave. 
 
 " From Venice, April 6, 1537." * 
 
 On the 10th of April the Duke acknowledged the 
 
 * See the original in Appendix. 
 
422 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 receipt of the Emperor Augustus, which he hoped 
 would soon be followed by the rest of the series ; * 
 and then the correspondence ceased. It is not known 
 when the room was hung with the Csesars and 
 adorned with its illustrative pictures by Giulio 
 Eomano. It is enough to say that Titian was true 
 to his promise in so far that he painted eleven can- 
 vases, and allowed the twelfth to be executed by 
 Giulio ; f and Vasari thought the collection more than 
 good. But the judgment of later critics was less 
 frigid than that of the Aretine, and the popularity 
 of the Csesars is proved not only by the prints of 
 Sadeler, but by the copies which Bernardino Campi 
 executed in 1562 for Francesco d'Avalos, the Em- 
 peror, and others, and those which Agostino Caracci 
 made for Eanuccio Farnese. In 1628 Daniel Nys 
 shipped the whole of the original canvases to England, 
 where they served to adorn the gallery of Charles the 
 First, at the dispersal of which, in the time of the 
 Commonwealth, the Caesars were given " by the 
 State" to the Spanish Ambassador. :£ Of the five 
 successive copies made by Campi, one remains in the 
 
 * Gaye, Carteggio, ii. 264. 
 
 t Vasari, xiii. 31, and x. 106 ; 
 and Inventory by Darco, Pitture 
 di Mantova, u. s., p. 153. 
 
 % Caracci' s copies were in the 
 Palace of Parma till 1734 (Oam- 
 pori, Cataloghi, 205 & 207). The 
 originals, restored by Borgani in 
 1611, are noted in the Inventory 
 of Mantua of 1527 (Darco, Pitt., 
 u. s., i. 80, and ii. 153). Their 
 transfer to England is vouched 
 for by the records in Sainsbury. 
 
 The gift of them to the Spanish 
 Ambassador in London is noted 
 in the Egerton MS., 1636, at the 
 British Museum, of which ex- 
 tracts were given by Mr. J. J. 
 Cartwright in the Academy for 
 April 18, 1874. Earlier copies 
 than those of Campi and Caracci 
 are noted in a will of 1580, in 
 which Ippolito Capilupi, Bishop 
 of Fano, bequeaths them to his 
 nephew Camillo (Darco, Pitt, di 
 Mantova, ii. 112). 
 
Chap. XX] THE TWELVE C^SAES. 
 
 423 
 
 Davalos Palace at Naples.* The rest are missing, 
 and it is a mere conjecture that one of them may- 
 be found in a collection said to exist in the Eoyal 
 Palace at Munich, f Julius Csesar, Tiberius, Caligula, 
 Claudius, Galba, and Otho, ascribed to Titian, and 
 exhibited, as the property of Mr. Abraham Hume, at 
 Manchester, are old, but not Yenetian, copies.^ Dr. 
 "Waagen acknowledged as genuine an "Otho" belong- 
 ing to Earl Brownlow, and a head of Julius Csesar 
 belonging to Mr. Tomline of Orwell Park ; though 
 Julius at the best is but a study for a larger picture. § 
 ~No single example amongst the many alleged to have 
 belonged to this remarkable series deserves more 
 attention than the so-called Vitellius, which passed 
 through the galleries of Queen Christine and the 
 Duke of Orleans, before it was purchased by Cosway 
 and sold to Lord Northwick. The companion piece, 
 which went with the Vitellius, and represents Vespa- 
 sian, is a counterpart of the same Csesar in Sadeler's 
 print ; but the Vitellius differs from every one of the 
 figures which Sadeler engraved, though of all the 
 pictures of this class assigned to the master, it is 
 most worthy of Titian's name. The Emperor is repre- 
 sented in profile to the right, holding the baton of 
 command in his hand, his dress of orange-yellow 
 being partly covered by a green mantle. The hand 
 
 * The copies in the Davalos 
 Palace are very poor, yet Davalos 
 rewarded the painter with a pen- 
 sion. Those made by Campi for 
 the Emperor, the Duke of Alva, 
 and " Eingomes," are missing. 
 See Lamo's Life of Campi, 8vo, 
 
 Cremona, 1774, p. 68. 
 
 t Vasari, xiii., note to 31. 
 
 % Nos. 220-5 in the Manchester 
 Catalogue. 
 
 § Waagen, Treasures, ii. 313, 
 and iii. 443. These canvases were 
 not seen by the authors. 
 
424 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 alone preserves its original character, and looks like 
 the work of the master. The Vespasian appears to 
 be spurious, because it was either a copy from the 
 beginning or it was subsequently daubed over with 
 modern pigment.* If we should venture to criticise 
 these Csesars by the light of Sadeler's prints, they 
 might be described as decorative work bordering on 
 the grotesque and theatrical. They are all half- 
 lengths in panoplies, wreathed with laurel, and wield- 
 ing batons of command. The attitudes are forced, 
 and in many instances unnatural, f Yet there may 
 have been qualities in the originals which atoned for 
 the defects apparent in the plates, and it is possible 
 that their affected bombast was mitigated when seen on 
 the walls of the Mantuan Castello. They pleased the 
 Duke. They met with respectful if not enthusiastic 
 admiration from Yasari, and Lomazzo certainly con- 
 sidered them appropriate, whilst Agostino Caracci 
 praised them as the non plus ultra of classical 
 adaptation. When Yincenzo Gonzaga sold them 
 surreptitiously to Daniel Nys, his subjects were 
 deeply grieved. The mere rumour of their recovery 
 led the Mantuans to a public demonstration, and 
 great was their indignation when they discovered that 
 
 * Both these canvases were in 
 the Orleans and Christine Gal- 
 leries (see Campori's Cataloghi, 
 p. 352, and Waagen's Treasures, 
 ii. 497). They were sold at the 
 Orleans sale for 20Z. to Mr. 
 Cosway. 
 
 t The prints were published in 
 four sheets, each of which con- 
 
 tained three Emperors. They are 
 numbered I. to XII., and in- 
 scribed Aegidius Sadeler. M. Scul. 
 Titianus invenit. The Emperors 
 are: Julius Csesar, D. Oct. Au- 
 gustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Clau- 
 dius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitel- 
 lius, Vespasian, Titus, and Do- 
 mitian. 
 
Chap. XL] TITIAN AND THE EMPEESS. 
 
 425 
 
 the treasure had sailed in the good ship " Margaret " 
 from Malamocco to England.* 
 
 During the progress of these labours Titian and 
 Aretino both made energetic and repeated efforts to 
 realize some of the promises of the Emperor. Titian 
 begged of Federico Gonzaga to support his claim on 
 the treasury of Naples, which the Duke consented to 
 do by means of his brother, the Cardinal of Mantua. 
 Gonzalo Perez was asked to press Davila in the same 
 cause, and Davila consented to write to Cardinal 
 Carraciolo to urge the painter's demands on the 
 Neapolitan exchequer. j" But all the correspondence 
 was wasted, and the arts of the triumvirate would 
 have failed to extract a single ducat from the 
 Emperor's agents, had not Aretino suggested to 
 Titian an ingenious method of compassing his object 
 in another way. Amongst the finished pictures 
 which lay unsold in the painter's studio was an 
 " Annunciation " ordered for the church of Santa 
 Maria degli Angeli of Murano. The nuns of the 
 convent had protested against Titian's charge of 
 500 scudi, and refused to accept the altar-piece at 
 such a price. Aretino proposed the despatch of 
 the canvas to the Empress, and the fortunate result 
 was a present from the Emperor of 2000 scudi. J 
 The public was ingeniously made acquainted with 
 
 * Compare Vas. Annot., xiii. 
 31; Lomazzo, Trattato, p. 432; 
 and Cardinal Pietro Campori to 
 Abbate Fontana, from Cremona, 
 May 19, 1629, in Campori's Let- 
 tere Inedite, p. 100. 
 
 f See Ticozzi, Extracts from 
 Liruti's Notizie delle vite dei let- 
 terati del Friuli (Vecelli, p. 181). 
 
 % Vasari, xiii. p. 30, and Ei- 
 dolfi, Marav. i. 223. 
 
426 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 this transaction by an open letter from Aretino to 
 Titian, in which the subject was described and 
 eulogised, and the painter and friend were vindicated 
 from a popular charge. It had been said that Titian 
 could only paint portraits, and Aretino distil spite. 
 The letter would prove that both accusations were un- 
 founded.* In the course of centuries the " Annun- 
 ciation " perished in Spain. But Caralio's print 
 preserved its principal features, which are a Virgin 
 listening with modest reverence, Gabriel bending to 
 Mary ; a rainbow in a sky peopled with angels, two 
 of whom carry a pillar with Charles the Fifth's device 
 " Plus ultra." 
 
 Titian, the greatest colourist of his age, and one of 
 the noblest representatives of an art which has not its 
 equal for subtlety, appears to us at this time as a 
 master who achieved all that can be expected of 
 human exertion. Acknowledged by his contem- 
 poraries as unequalled in skill, he enjoyed a position 
 almost unparalleled in the history of his profession. 
 Except Alberti, Eaphael, and Michaelangelo, no 
 artist had ever acquired such a position. Unlike 
 Alberti, whose relations were confined to the small 
 though select circle of Florentine humanists, he had 
 friends in every class. Unlike Eaphael, who perished 
 in the flower of his youth, he had outlived the age of 
 pleasures, and socially had learnt to give as well as to 
 take. Unlike Michaelangelo, whose sublime genius 
 
 * Aretino to Titian, Nov. 9, 1537, in Lettere di M. P. Aretino,, 
 p. 180. 
 
Chap. XI.] 
 
 QUALITIES OF TITIAN. 
 
 427 
 
 in art was recognised as fnlly as his poetic feeling and 
 profound learning, he was fond of society and not 
 insensible to its enjoyments. He had the faculty 
 which so few men possess, of charming his contem- 
 poraries, to whatever grade they might belong, and if 
 he had enemies it was becanse envy had not ceased 
 to be a vice of the time. There was not an artist in 
 Venice who could hope to equal him, and no one has 
 more felicitously expressed himself than Yasari when 
 he remarks : " Titian had rivals in Venice, but none 
 of much talent, none that he did not crush by his 
 excellence and his knowledge of the world in con- 
 verse with gentlemen." * Titian, in fact, was more 
 particularly distinguished from the great mass of the 
 artists of his day, by a quality which has always been 
 considered rare. He was and remained a gentleman. 
 
 Titian at sixty imparted to his art not only the 
 outward semblance but the secret, and to many un- 
 revealed, subtleties of nature. It was an art which 
 displayed the charm whilst it concealed the realism ; 
 not an imitation only, but an embodiment of results 
 attained by analysis of cause and effect, telling what 
 Nature tells in Nature's mysterious hidden way. 
 Men of all periods, from his own to the present time, 
 recognised this quality in Titian, which, however, 
 only came to perfection like some flowers, in autumn. 
 In 1538, when Lodovico Dolce dedicated his para- 
 phrase of Juvenal's Sixth Satire to the painter, he 
 prized the poet's art above that of Titian, inasmuch 
 
 Yasari, xiii. p. 45. 
 
428 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 as he conceived that Titian's portrait, thongh perfect, 
 still lacked the breath of life, whereas Juvenal's 
 picture was not the semblance, but life itself. Other 
 writers went further.* There had been a time, as 
 Yasari truly said, when the master finished his works 
 with such care and minuteness that they bore inspec- 
 tion at any distance. At a later period his touches 
 and brush strokes were ill suited for a close inspection, 
 but at the focus they were perfectly effective, and so 
 stupendously clever that the scenes appeared to be 
 real.-)* " Three lives," says Pino, " has Titian, one 
 natural, one artificial, the third eternal." % "All that 
 Titian's figures want," cries Biondo, "is a voice; in 
 all else they are nature itself." § " Nature," says 
 Eidolfi, " surrendered to Titian and took its laws 
 from his pencil." || " In every thing," exclaims 
 Boschini, " Titian's art was similar to nature. Milk 
 feeds his babes ; he weaves the stuffs ; by him the 
 arms are wrought. He transfers the trees, the 
 hills, and plains to his picture ; his animals have but 
 just issued from the ark ; and his joy or grief are 
 alike infectious. So long as Nature lives Titian will 
 also live. He was the very mirror of nature, only 
 that the mirror reflects whilst Titian creates."^" "In 
 imitating nature," Armenini concludes, " Titian was 
 
 * The dedication, dated Padua, 
 Oct. 10, 1538, was published with 
 the satire (Ven. presso Curzio 
 Nav6)in 1538. It is reprinted in 
 A. Maier, Delia Imitazione pit- 
 torica, &c, 8vo, Ven. 1818, p. 
 346. 
 
 f Vasari, xiii. p. 39. 
 
 % Pino (P.), Dialogo diPittura, 
 8vo, Venice, 1548, p. 41. 
 
 § Michel Angelo Biondo, Delia 
 Nobilissima Pittura, Venice, 1549, 
 cap. 17. 
 
 || Eidolfi, Marav. i. 195. 
 
 IF Boschini, Miniere, Preface 
 (1664). 
 
Chap. XL] TITIAN AND COEEEGGIO. 
 
 429 
 
 unsurpassed." * In this and other respects Titian 
 indeed excelled, and there is not in all the north of 
 Italy a single artist, Yenetian or Lombard, whose skill 
 can compare with his. But the marvellous appropria- 
 tion of Nature's semblance which shows itself in 
 Titian's later pictures, was not acquired without ex- 
 penditure of time and trouble, and certainly not with- 
 out fluctuations; and it is not without interest to look 
 back for a moment and trace the relative positions of 
 the master and his fellow painters in Northern Italy. 
 
 It was said early, and has often been repeated, that 
 Titian's contemporaries were unacquainted with Cor- 
 reggio, from which we might infer that Titian himself 
 was ignorant of the genius of Allegri. There is 
 reason to doubt the correctness of this judgment. At 
 one period of his career Titian produced pictures 
 which remind us of Correggio. We remember the 
 dazzling radiance, the playful character of the infant 
 Christ in the " Yirgin and Child " at Ancona. The 
 very substance of Correggio's pigments meets us 
 again in the " Madonna" of San Mccol6 de' Frari at 
 the Vatican, where the Yirgin looks down from 
 heaven with all the grace, and some share of the 
 delightful affectation, of Allegri. Even the colour 
 recalls the master of Parma by its silver sheen and 
 softness of blending. In both painters the same 
 chords appear to vibrate; Correggio's with a sensitive 
 and almost feminine delicacy, Titian's with more 
 manly power. Whilst Titian remains master of 
 
 * G. B. Armenini, De' veri precetti della pittura, 8vo, Yen. 1678, 
 p. 113. 
 
430 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 himself, and all but completely within the limits of 
 the natural, Correggio allows himself to be carried 
 away, and to succumb to that excess and exaggerated 
 emphasis of tenderness which the Italians call by the 
 untranslateable name of smorfia. Correggio again 
 treats all surfaces — flesh, clouds, and vestments — 
 alike, whilst Titian is diverse and subtle in his 
 definition of them. Correggio for this reason is con- 
 ventional, in spite of his grandeur, and leaves the 
 higher ground of ennobled reality, in all its majesty, 
 to his rival. That coincidence of style may occur in 
 the works of contemporary artists is not to be denied, 
 but they are not always casual or accidental. It may 
 be chance, or the reverse, that strikes us here, but 
 let us mark the curious facts. Titian and Correggio 
 married about the same time — Correggio certainly in 
 1520. Both christened their eldest born sons with 
 the same name of Pomponio. Titian and Correggio 
 were equally well known to the Gonzagas of Mantua 
 and the Gambaras of Correggio. At Correggio there 
 lived Alfonso d'Avalos, one of Titian's most constant 
 patrons, who asked the painter to visit him there in 
 1531.* Titian's "Madonnas" of Ancona and San 
 Niccolo de' Frari, were produced at the very time 
 when Allegri finished the cupola of San Giovanni, 
 and began the cupola of the cathedral at Parma. 
 Boschini speaks of a cupola completed at Parma by 
 Allegri. He describes Titian's admiration of it, and 
 
 * See for the relations of Ve- pp. 229-32. See further, Del 
 
 ronica Gambara and the Gon- Vasto to Aretino Correggio, 
 
 zagas to Correggio, Julius Meyer's Nov. 2, 1531, in Lett, a M. P. 
 
 Life of Allegri, 8 vo, Leipzig, 1871, Aretino, p. 109. 
 
Chap. XI.] TITIAN AND LOTTO. 431 
 
 notes the consequence. The people were at first 
 indifferent, but hearing of Titian's favourable criti- 
 cism, they began to sympathise, and Correggio 's 
 position was greatly improved.* All this would 
 point to an early acquaintance between the two 
 artists, without excluding that Titian later in the 
 century, and during his frequent visits to Bologna, 
 might have seen and admired the works of Correggio. 
 That Titian met Correggio at Parma in 1530 — a 
 theory set up by writers of this and the last century 
 — is less impossible than improbable, since Allegri left 
 Parma in that very year to settle finally in his native 
 place. But when Titian was sent to Bologna in 
 1531 by the Duke of Mantua, when he visited the 
 same city in 1532 and 1543, he had ample oppor- 
 tunity to examine and to praise the frescoes of 
 Parma, and there is every reason on this account for 
 believing that his alleged ignorance of one of the 
 greatest of his contemporaries is ill founded.")" 
 
 Had not chance or some serious cause produced a 
 connection between these masters, we might conjec- 
 ture that the fame of Correggio had been brought to 
 the knowledge of the Yenetians by Lorenzo Lotto. 
 At a very early period this artist left Yenice after 
 studying with Palma Yecchio, and under the influ- 
 ence of the Lombard Mantegnesques, at whose head 
 Bramantino stood, he slightly modified his style at 
 
 * Bosehini, Carta del Navegar 
 (1660), p. 16. 
 
 t The authors who assign to 
 Titian's visit to Correggio at 
 Parma the date of 1530, are 
 
 Ticozzi (Vecelli, p. 104) and Se- 
 bastiano Eesta, whose letter to 
 Giuseppe and Leone Ghezzi (close 
 of the 17th century) is in Bottari 
 (u. s., iii. 497). 
 
432 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 Borne. In the Eomagna his manner was altered to 
 some extent by Erancia's example. Bnt later still 
 he met Correggio, and he came to acquire all the 
 habits which we observe in that master. In 1527 
 Lotto repaired to Venice, where he painted a portrait 
 — for centuries assigned to Correggio — the portrait of 
 Andrea Odoni, a rich and enthusiastic admirer of 
 contemporary art in the North.* Neither Lotto nor 
 Odoni remained unknown to the triumvirate.')* "We 
 shall see that Lotto lived on terms of friendship with 
 Titian and Aretino, and it is impossible not to believe 
 that if Titian till then had known nothing of 
 Correggio, his ignorance would now at least have been 
 completely dispelled. But it is hardly necessary to 
 add that information conveyed to Titian in 1527 
 could not have influenced his art in 1520-23. 
 
 Lotto was one of the masters to whom Yasari 
 referred when speaking of those who were crushed at 
 Venice by Titian's superiority. He tried in 1529 to 
 rival the great Venetian master by copying his style ; 
 but the " Charity of Sant' Antonino," which he 
 executed for the Dominicans of San Giovanni e Paolo, 
 shows plainly that he could not do more than imitate 
 the solidity of Titian, and his attempt to compete was 
 without serious consequences. 
 
 * Like the portrait of Odoni at 
 Hampton Court, that of Aldro- 
 Tandi in the Museum of Vienna 
 is ascribed to Correggio ; yet both 
 are by Lotto. 
 
 i In a letter dated 1538, Are- 
 tino describes the treasures of art 
 
 collected in Odoni's palace at 
 Venice, part of which had been 
 inherited fifteen years before from 
 Francesco Zio. Compare Aretino 
 to Odoni, Venice, Aug, 30, 1538, 
 in Lett. d. M. P. Aretino and 
 Cicogna, Isc. Ven. ii. 435. 
 
Chap. XL] MOEETTO AND SAVOLDO. 
 
 433 
 
 In 1528, very shortly after Lotto settled at Venice, 
 Palma Vecchio died. Abont the same time Sebastian 
 del Piombo returned to Eome, and Pordenone withdrew 
 to the provinces. The artists of the older generation 
 who remained are easily divided into born Yenetians 
 or provincials, occasionally visiting or permanently 
 residing in the capital. Of Moretto and Eomanino 
 Venice saw but little, as they carried the style of 
 Titian and Palma to Brescia and the highlands north 
 of it, and busied themselves much with fresco paint- 
 ing. Savoldo alone kept up a casual residence in the 
 city of lagoons. In 1508 he paid for a matriculation 
 in the guild of surgeons and grocers at Florence.* 
 About 1533 he was called to Milan by Francesco 
 Sforza, but he lived to a great old age without issuing 
 from comparative obscurity, the public caring little 
 for works which were a composite of styles derived 
 from Titian, del Piombo, and the Brescians, and 
 utterly regardless of the skill with which he executed 
 certain classes of subjects, such as sunset scenes. | 
 Boccaccino, who tried his fortune in vain at Eome, 
 also endeavoured to transplant the style of the early 
 Cremonese to Venice ; but he made so slight a mark 
 that the date of his visit is unknown. Girolamo da 
 Treviso succeeded in finding a patron at Venice, and 
 painted the whole of the Palace of Andrea Odoni 
 about 1537 ; but he was very glad soon after to find 
 employment under Henry the Eighth in England. 
 
 # Private communication, for 
 which we have to thank Signor 
 Gaetano Milanesi. 
 
 t See Paolo Pino's complaint 
 (Dialogo, u. s., p. 6) of the neglect 
 of Savoldo by the Venetians. 
 
 F F 
 
434 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 Of native Venetians few are remembered, except those 
 employed in the difficult and peculiar art of mosaic, 
 which was tanght and assiduously practised at Yenice 
 long after it fell out of use in other parts of Italy. 
 But the mosaists formed a school of mechanical crafts- 
 men, whose sole study it was to shade and colour 
 objects designed by painters ; and little, we should 
 think, would be known even of Francesco and Yalerio 
 Zuccati, but that they were the sons of Sebastian, the 
 first teacher of Titian, and dear to that master from 
 feelings of old association. It was Titian chiefly who 
 gave cartoons for the mosaics which these two brothers 
 executed in San Marco. It was at Titian's request 
 that Francesco stood godfather to one of his children.* 
 Francesco's name clings to some monumental works of 
 art, but is better known to the world from the fact 
 that his portrait was frequently painted by Titian. 
 Yalerio is remembered less as a limner than as an 
 actor in the public comedies of his day — and as the 
 husband of Polonia, the best actress of her time at 
 Yenice. f 
 
 One artist, and one only who owed no instruction 
 to Titian, made head against that master in the first 
 half of the sixteenth century, and this was Bonifacio. 
 He was a Yeronese, and came apparently of a family 
 in which painting was hereditary. But he earned 
 his first laurels in Yenice, where he combined the gay 
 and brilliant scale of colours peculiar to his townsmen 
 with the blanched but softly modelled flesh of Palma 
 
 * See Zanetti, Pitt. Ven., u.s., \ f Compare Sansovino, Ven. De- 
 p. 746. I scritta, u. s., p. 450. 
 
Chap. XL] 
 
 BONIFACIO. 
 
 435 
 
 Yeccliio. After the death of Palma, Bonifacio suc- 
 ceeded to a large and important practice, which he 
 worked with comparative ease and great success by 
 means of numerous assistants. His pictures were to 
 be found in the sixteenth century, not only in guild 
 halls and religious edifices and in the palaces of 
 patricians, but in all the public offices of Yenice. In 
 " the Magistrato de' governatori delP Entrate " he 
 composed in 1530 the vast subject of Christ with 
 saints and allegorical figures of the virtues, which 
 still adorns the Academy of Yenice, and more than a 
 dozen canvases besides, in which it is impossible not 
 to admire the skill and rapidity of his pencil. But 
 Bonifacio was one of those artists from whom a man 
 like Titian had nothing to fear. He was a quick- 
 handed second rate, whose pictures were effective 
 without being of the first class. He was an artist — 
 we cannot doubt — who produced much because he 
 produced briskly — who being once in fashion acted as 
 a thorn in the side of the young generation of crafts- 
 men, who could only hope to live by painting with 
 equal skill, more rapidity, and for a lower price. It 
 is probably due in part to Bonifacio's example 
 that the younger generation of painters, at whose 
 head Paris Bordone, Tintoretto, and Andrea Schia- 
 vone stood, were induced to flood the market with 
 light and sketchy wares, which seriously injured the 
 character of Yenetian art. It was owing to these 
 joint causes that art fell into discredit, and the posi- 
 tion of its guildsmen became precarious. To them we 
 must attribute the remarks of Paolo Pino, a pupil of 
 
 F F 2 
 
436 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 Savoldo, who, writing in 1548, declared that painting 
 had ceased to be rewarded as of old, that artists 
 aspired to be masters before they had ceased to be ap- 
 prentices ; that poverty and the sordid nature of 
 wholesale purchasers prevented young men from 
 devoting themselves to careful study, but forced them 
 to large and worthless productions ; and that it was 
 a happy chance for a rising genius to get commissions 
 for chairs and chests.* 
 
 Titian for his part had given an impulse to quick 
 painting by the wonderful ease and rapidity of his 
 execution. That Aretino could boast in a letter to 
 Paul Manutius that Titian could throw off a like- 
 ness as quickly as another could scratch the ornament 
 on a chest, is evidence of the tendency which charac- 
 terised all art, high and low.f But the young men 
 forgot that Titian began as a patient, painstaking, 
 and minute draughtsman ; and that he was privileged 
 by years of hard work to take liberties for which his 
 pupils had no similar excuse. 
 
 So long as a man of Titian's power continued to 
 produce pictures in which technical facility was con- 
 cealed under faultless finish, young and rising artists 
 might appear to have had an incentive to follow his 
 example ; Paris Bordone, amongst others, began in 
 this form. But in his masterpiece of the fisherman 
 presenting the ring to the Doge, Paris already dis- 
 played the tendency to sweeping execution, which 
 now began to characterise all art at Yenice ; and he 
 
 * Pino, Dialogo, u. s., p. 32. 
 t Aretino to Paul Manutius, 
 
 Venice, Nov. 9, 1537, in Lett, di 
 M. P. Aretino, i. 236. 
 
Chap. XI.] GIACOMO TINTOEETTO. 437 
 
 soon fell into a lax and affected style, which combined 
 the worst features of portrait allegory with the crudest 
 contrasts of colour and costume. As a portrait painter, 
 he competed with Titian for some considerable time, 
 but he never gained a footing similar to that of Boni- 
 facio at "Venice ; and at the very time when Girolamo 
 da Treviso was induced to wander to the distant 
 shores of Britain, Paris started for the not less distant 
 capital of France. The new generation which now 
 came into play was composed of young and clever 
 men, who came out under the rival influences of 
 Bonifacio and Titian. The first taught Giacomo 
 Bassano, the second gave instruction to Tintoretto 
 and employed Schiavone. It is curious to observe 
 that jealousy and dislike of their pupils is supposed 
 to have characterised both masters. Bassano, it was 
 said, watched Bonifacio through the key-hole. When 
 he left Yenice, in 1530, to settle at Bassano, he 
 carried with him all the prominent features of Boni- 
 facio's style. Tintoretto was born in 1518.* It was 
 rumoured that he left the school-workshop because 
 his skill excited Titian's envy. But Tintoretto was 
 a mere student when Titian verged on 60, and the 
 story hardly deserves to be treated seriously. It is 
 much more likely that Tintoretto tired of the 
 
 * It is commonly asserted that 
 Tintoretto was born in 1512 ; but 
 the register of San Marciliano at 
 Venice contains the following 
 entry: 31 Maio, 1594 — morto mes. 
 Jacomo Eobusti detto Tentoretto 
 de eta de anni 75, e m[esi] 8, 
 
 ammalato giorni quindese da 
 frieve. See Zabeo (Gio. Prosdo- 
 cimo), Elogio in Discorsi letti 
 nella, I. E. Accad. di Ven. 8vo, 
 1815, p. 58. Tintoretto's birth- 
 day would thus be Sept. 29, 1518. 
 
438 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. [Chap. XL 
 
 restraint of learning, and took wing when hardly 
 fledged to labonr on his own account. Being the 
 son of a silk-dyer, who could well support him, he 
 would easily pass through the days of probation, in 
 which he strove to learn the art of fresco, which 
 Titian's atelier could not impart to him, and he had 
 ample opportunity — being free from the bonds of 
 apprenticeship — to exert his peculiar powers on the 
 scaffoldings of the numerous palaces erected in these 
 years by Venetian patricians. But when he took to 
 this line of the craft, he became the competitor of 
 Pordenone, not the rival of Titian or Bonifacio. 
 
 Schiavone or Medola, as records teach us to call 
 him, was older by some years than Tintoretto, and a 
 native of Sebenico, in Dalmatia.* Thrown entirely 
 on his own resources when first landed on the quays 
 of Yenice, he had a more serious struggle with 
 fortune than Tintoretto. But he learnt with singu- 
 lar perseverance to draw from the prints of Parme- 
 gianino, and to paint from the pictures of Titian and 
 Giorgione. He earned his first pittance as a decorator 
 of chests from a dealer named Eocco, who paid him 
 at the rate of 24 soldi per diem. But he also became 
 ambitious of acquiring the trick of fresco, and hired 
 his services to the builders who contracted for the 
 decoration of Yenetian palaces. In this sort of 
 labour, and probably as an assistant of Titian, he 
 
 * According to the version of 
 Eidoln, which has never been 
 subjected to revision, Andrea 
 Schiavone was born in 1522. 
 But this must be an error. There 
 
 is a fine portrait at the Pitti in 
 his best style, dated 1537 (No. 69), 
 and Vasari employed him to paint 
 a large canvas in 1540 (Vas. xii. 
 340). 
 
Chap. XI.] ANDEEA SCHIAVONE. 
 
 439 
 
 spent many years obscurely, and it was long before 
 he exercised an influence on the art of his country. 
 
 Of one painter, whose power was exerted per- 
 sistently and cleverly in competition with all the 
 Venetians of the period, much might now be said. 
 But Pordenone's rivalry forms part of the story of 
 the life of Titian in 1537, and as such, requires to 
 be treated separately. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Venice, 1519—26. 
 
 1519. 28 Aprile, in Ven a Bicevo io Ticiano depentor de la S. di 
 Monsignor Vesc di Baffo da Ca da Pesaro due. 1 per parte di una 
 pala, che io ho a far a sua S. in la gesia de li Frati minori. 
 
 1519. Adi 12 Giugno, ricevei dal mo Signor sopradito due. 10 a conto 
 ut supra. 
 
 — Adi 23 Septembrio ricevi dal mo Sig r sopra d° Due. 15 per conto 
 ut supra. 
 
 It. adi deto ricevj da sua S. per il Telaro di legno, per .tela, per fatura 
 di dito telaro Due sie (6), et io Ticia o scripto. 
 
 It. adi 13 April 1522 ricevi io Ticiano sopradito qui in cassa mia da 
 el soprad Eemo mosignore due. diexe a lire sie e soldi 4. 
 
 It. adi 5 Majo 1522. Bic. io Ticiano dal soprad due. 10 a L. 6 sol. 4. 
 
 — Adi 9 Septembrio contadi da el Emo mosignor due. diexe — 
 
 1525, adi 20 Zugno. Evj io Tician sopradito due. quindese. 
 Adi 30 April 1526. Contadi ut supra da el Emo mo S. due. 16. 
 
 1526, adi 27 Magio. Evj io Ticiano soprascripto el compito pagamento 
 della Palla. 
 
 (Copied from the original in possession of the patrician family of 
 Pesaro.) 
 
 [Unpublished^ 1523 25 Gennaj0> 
 
 GlAMBATTISTA MALATESTA AL MARCHESE FEDERICO GONZAGA. 
 
 El latore presente e M ro Ticiano excellentissimo nelT arte sua et 
 anche modesto, et gentil persona in ogni cosa ; qual ha postposta molte 
 sue opere di momento per venir abasciar la mano a V. E. secondo che 
 lei s' e degnata farlo ricercare per me ; unde non mi pare altrimenti 
 raccomandarla a quella. 
 
 Venetiis, die xxv Januarii, mdxxiii. 
 
 (Copied from the Mantuan Archives by Canon Braghirolli.) 
 
442 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1523j nAg08ta 
 
 Braghino al Marchese Federico Gonzaga. 
 Io ho clato il giupone al M r0 Tuciano, presenti molti grandi homini, 
 qual gh' e stato molto grato, e non pensa se non col proprio sangue 
 gratificarla et cosi senza fine basa le mani a V. S. Circa al ritrato, qual e 
 cusi bello el dice che per tutti " li modi " del mondo el vol farli fare un 
 bello adornamento et puoi mandarlo subito. 
 Venecia, ali xi Agosto, 1523. 
 
 (Copied from the Archives of Mantua by Canon Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1523? 14 Agogta 
 
 Il Braghino al March. Federico Gonzaga. 
 
 Per che 1' altra mia ch' i' 6 scripto a V. S. 111. Signor Mio Ex m0 non 
 nominai ch' io li mandassi il quadro di M ro Tutiano, ne di che modo ho 
 fatto averlo, per questa mi par tocarli una parola, accio che mai da 
 quella ne potesse avere imputacione alcuna. Sapii V. S. 111. che in 
 nome di quella, mi ho fatto una litera directiva a mi come potra vedere 
 V. S. per la qui aligata, pero con consenso del Sig. ambasciatore, qual 
 mi la sugilo del sugillo di V. E. et a posta lo andai a trovare et li lesse 
 la litera, dove in verita el non si fece pregare se non subito lo acconcio 
 di quel modo che seco che agustera pol aver visto V. S. e me lo dette 
 con molte altre oferte appresso. 
 
 Venetiis, 14 Augusti, 1523. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 15 Agosto, 1523. 
 
 Il Marchese Federico Gonzaga a Giambattista Malatesta. 
 
 Havemo havuto il quadro che ve ha mandato M ro Tutiano che n' e 
 molto piaciuto. 
 
 Mantue, 15 Augusti, 1523. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished,] 
 
 1525. Appointment of Gregorio Vecelli to the Office of 
 Inspector of Mines. 
 
 Andrea Gritti, Doge, etc., a Tomaso Donato Cap° di Cadore. Avendo 
 il Nob. nro Bernardo Balbi et° a Podesta e Cap. di Feltre comunicata la 
 Patente data da Bern de Marconi Vic° Generale delle miniere del 19 
 andante al fedelis mo nro Gregorio q. Conte di Ser Vecello di Pieve di 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 443 
 
 Cadore, con elegarlo in Pro. vicario minerale in Cadore in luoco del 
 fedel mo Matteo Soldano ora deputato da esso N. V. Balbi cancell. a 
 Feltre, e desiderando esso Podesta che tale patente sii conferrnata, accio 
 egli possa assumere con migliore effetto l'liffizio della cancell a , con li 
 Capi del Cons, nro di X. confermiamo la Patente snd a in omnibus, et 
 cosi commetiamo, che quelle abbiate ad osservare ed eseguire, onde 
 liberato esso Soldan possi andare a servire a Feltre d° N. V. giusta il 
 desiderio dell' uno e delF altro. Et cosi eseguirete, facendo correr la 
 paga al d° Soldan di tempo in tempo giusta la lettera nostra del 
 13 Aprile, 1503. Et et registratas presentanti restituite. 
 
 Dat. in Nro Dm. Palat die 24 Aplis, Ind e XIII. 1525. 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1527, 22 Giugno. 
 
 Tiziano Vecellio al Marchese Federico Gonzaga. 
 
 Ex M0 Signore : Sapendo quanto V. E. ami la pittura et quanto la 
 esalti, come si po vedere nei meriti de Mess. Julio Romano, et perche 
 sempre desiderai di piacervi, essendo qui venuto Mess. P° Aretino, 
 anzi San Pauolo in predicare le laude di V. E. l'ho ritratto, e perche 
 so ch' amate un tanto servitore per tante sue vertu. ve ne faccio un 
 presente. 
 
 Apresso havendo io la bona memoria del S r Girolamo Adorno, il quale 
 adorava il Marchese di Mantova, et perche fu qualificato gentilhomo, di 
 quello anchora seti presentato, et benche non sieno doni da un tanto 
 signore, ne di maestro troppo sufficiente, acceptate la fede di Tutiano et 
 tenetegli finche secondo la qualita del mio ingegno vi mandaro una 
 cosa che ibrse vi satisfara, cosi degnate acceptarli per vostra cortesia, 
 ricordandosi che sempre gli fui e son servitore et a V. E. baso le mani. 
 
 De Venetia, a xxii de Giugno, mdxxvii. 
 
 Dev m0 S re Titiano Vecellio. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua, by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 15 27, 8 Luglio. 
 
 Il Marchese Federico Gonzaga a Pietro Aretino. 
 
 Ho havuto li duo bellissimi quadri del Tuciano, che mi havete 
 mandati per il servitor vostro, li quali mi sono sta molto cari si per il 
 desiderio ch' io haveva di havere un' opera fatta di cosi dotte mani, come 
 sono quelle de lo excellente pt e Tuciano, come anche per rappresentarsi 
 in uno di essi quadri la effigie di cosi detto huomo come seti voi, et nelF 
 altro potendo io contemplare la imagine d'una persona tanto amata da 
 me quanto era il sig. Hieronimo Adorno. Sareti adunque contenti di 
 ringratiar summamente in nome mio esso Tuciano. facendo intendere 
 
444 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 eke in breve li faro conoscere quanto mi si a stata grata una tanta dimos- 
 trazione. 
 
 Da Mantova, alii viii di Julio, 1527. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.'] 152 7 ) 8 Luglio. 
 
 Il Marchese Eederico Gonzaga a Tiziano Vecellio. 
 
 M. Tuciano : ho ricevuto li due bellissimi quadri che vi h piaciuto 
 mandarmi a donare, li quali veramente mi sono sta gratissimi, si perche 
 desideravo molto havere qualche opera delle dottissime man'vostre, per 
 saper io quanto seti eccellente nell' arte della pittura, come anche per 
 havermi voi mandato li ritratti de quelle due persone che mi haveti 
 mandati, che mi furono sempre et sono carissime, oltra che sono anche 
 tanto naturali che da la natura in fuori non e possibile che d'alcuno 
 potessero essere sta facti meglio di quello che sono sta fatti da voi. Per 
 il che sommamente ve ne ringratio, et per amor vostro li tenero molto 
 cari. Certificandovi che di questa non mi haveresti potuto fare cosa che 
 mi fosse stata piii grata, et de che vi ne havressi maggior obligo. Cosi 
 dove potro farvi piacere alcuno saro sempre per farlo voluntieri e a tutti 
 i commodi vostri mi offero non meno disposto che apparecchiato 
 sempre. 
 
 Da Mantova, alii viii di Julio, 1527. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1527, n Ottobre. 
 
 Il Marchese Federico Gonzaga a Pietro Aretino. 
 
 Circa il Tuciano io non mancaro di fargli in breve qualche demon- 
 stratione, de sorte che potra conoscere in quanto bon conto io lo tengo 
 et quanto mi e grato. 
 
 Da Mantova, alii xi di Ottobre, 1527. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 Titian to the Marquess of Mantua. 
 
 All' Hlustriss. ed Eccellentiss. Signor mio osservandiss. 
 II Signor Marchese Di Mantova. 
 
 Illustrissimo ed eccellentissimo Signor mio, — Mi pareria far 
 troppo contra il mio debito, ed esser ingrato dell' infinito obligo che ho 
 con V. Ecc, s' io lasciassi passar molti giorno ch' io non facessi riverenza a 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 445 
 
 quella con mie lettere, quando non la posso fare presenzialmente : non ho 
 voluto piu differire ; cosi con questa fo riverenza a V. Illustriss. Signoria, 
 e la prego che non si scordi quanto io le sono servitore, e sia certa che 
 nessuno desiderio ho maggiore che di servirla, ed ogni ora mi pare un 
 anno di esser a Venezia, che sara passando dimane, a Dio piacendo, per 
 poter satisfar a quanto sono obligato a V. Ecc, alia buona grazia della 
 quale sernpre mi raccomando e totalmente mi sono donato. 
 
 A Ferrara, alii 12 Giugno, 1529. 
 
 Di V. Ecc. 
 
 Devotiss. Servitore, 
 
 Tician Vecellio, p.* 
 
 * [This letter has been printed in " Lettere Inedite de alcuni illustre 
 Italiani," 8vo, Milan, 1856. Per le nozze, Cavriani — Lucchesi — 
 Palli, by Canon W. Braghirolli. But the scarcity of this pamphlet 
 makes a reprint desirable.] 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1530j 27th April) y enicei 
 
 In Cristi Nomine Amen. Anno Nativitatis ejusdem millesimo 
 quingentesimo trigesimo (1530), Indictione tertia die vero vigesimo 
 septimo mensis Aprilis. 
 
 Cum ita sit prout a partibus infrascriptis expositum fuit realiter inter 
 dominum Gastaldionem et confratres St. Petri Martyris in Eclesia 
 Dominorum fratruum Minorum Joannis et Pauli Venetum ex una et 
 Magistrum Titianum de Vecellis pictorem partibus ex altera diu trac- 
 tatum et tandem conventum predictus Magister Titianus ipsi scholae et 
 confraternitate pingere et construere deberet quandam palam supra et 
 ante Altare prefacti Martyris ponendam et erigendam quam construere 
 et pingere dixit promisisse ac deinde pinxisse et construxisse, ac deinde 
 ortae fuerint diferentiae et questiones inter prefactas partes occasione 
 ipsius palae quas dominus Jacobus de Pergo modernus Gastaldio dictse 
 scolae res.sicare et quietare cupiens, igitur in mei Notari publici et 
 testium infrascriptorum presentia constitutus sponte convenit et pro- 
 misit eidem Magistro Titiano ibi presenti et contentanti. R in quantum 
 praedictus Magister Titianus praefactam palam sibi domino Jacobo per 
 totum diem Jovis proxime futuram videlicet crastina in Ecclesia predicta, 
 det et effectualiter consignet expensis M prefacte scholae circa ejus de- 
 lationem ipse Dominus Jacobus operabit ut eidem de mercede sua 
 occasione ipsius palae satisfiet. R quod ipse Magister Titianus computatis 
 legatis et promissionibus eidem scholae ut dicitur factis a diversis 
 personis habebit ducatos centum auri de libris sex et soldis quatuor 
 parvorum pro ducato et id pluri quod a confratribus dictse scholae ex 
 aliis exigi poterit quantumcunque fuerit totum sit ex constatatione 
 ipsius Magistri Titiani de quo contentus sit et tacitus remanebit prout 
 ita se taciturn et contentum esse voluit verum si quid obstiterit quo- 
 
446 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 minus ipse magister Titianus satisfactionem ut supra assequeretur, tunc 
 ipse Dominus Jacobus de Pergo obbligando se et heredes ac bona sua 
 praesentia et futura promisit in specie sua eidem Magistro Titiano 
 reficere et resercire usque ad integram sum am ducatorum centum auri 
 hinc per totum mensem Maij proxime renuntiando omni exceptione 
 remota sub refectione et emendatione omnium et singulorum damnorum 
 expensarum et interesse quae et quas ipse Magister Titianus creditor in 
 judicio vel extra pro non habitis ipsis denarijs ut supra ex aliis conse- 
 quendis vel eorum occasione pateret. 
 
 Actum Venetiis Rivo Althi ad cancellum. mei notarii presentibus p. 
 Matteo contento q m Nicolai draperio et Magistro Baptista q m Petri et 
 Luchano incisore Caligarum testibus rogatis. 
 
 Ego Joannes Jacobus de Raspis q m Domini Bartolomei 
 Pubblicus Imperialis et Venetus Notarius prcemissis interfui 
 et ea rogatus scripsi et pubblicare ac tradidi in fidem ipsis 
 
 Seal 
 
 signo mei notariatus apposito consueto. 
 
 (Copied from the original in possession of Dr. Gio. Carnieliiti of 
 Serravalle.) 
 
 [Unpublished.'] 1530, 5 Febbraio. 
 
 Giacomo Malatesta al Marchese Federico Gonzaga. 
 
 Tuciano m' ha fatto vedere gli quadri che '1 fa per V. S. Quello di 
 Nostra donna con S ta Catherina et 1' altro de le Donne nude sono in 
 bonissimo termine. Quello di Nostra Donna promette darlo a V. E. al 
 principio di quaressima, 1' altro a Pasqua. Quello da le Donne del 
 Bagno e solamente designato. L'altro de la persona de V. S. armata vi e 
 fatto buona parte, et molto se gli recomanda. 
 
 Da Venezia, alii v febraio, 1530. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1530, 3 Marzo. 
 
 Tiziano Vecellio al Marchese Federico Gonzaga. 
 
 I l mo ET Ex M o S. e Padrone mio singularissimo. Per una del signor 
 Conte Nicola ho inteso del dono e presente si e dignata farmi, e cio per 
 sua gratia e liberalita. Per il che gli riferisco continue e infinite gratie 
 scrivendo questo gran obligo agli infiniti ho con V. E. pregandola. Volia 
 anco fisser contenta commettere a saoi officiali, quando sara tempo ci6 
 s'eseguisca senza piii fastidir quella. Per ch' io facendo l'acquisto pro- 
 mettero a tal tempo sodisfare al debito e non vorei puoi manchare dil 
 debito e parola mia, scrivo anco al S r Conte prefato circa cio — quanto 
 lei potra da lui intendere. 
 
 Io harei hoggi mai fornito il suo quadro delle Donne nude, ma ho 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 447 
 
 tanta rogna che certo non mi posso muovere ; ben spero fra 15 giorni o 
 mezza quaresima darlo a V. E. alia quale baciando la mano con tuto il 
 core di continuo mi racomando. 
 
 Data da Venetia al 3 di Martio, mdxxx. 
 
 Di V. Ex. 
 
 Dev. S or TlCIANO PlTTORE. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli. ) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1530, 8 Luglio. 
 
 Il duca Federico Gonzaga a Benedetto Agnello. 
 
 Volemo che de quelli danari vi lasso maestro Zanino nostro, pagato 
 che abbiate queli lasso delli 400 ducati hebbe Spagnino, dati tutti li 
 altri a Ticiano per conto de quella cosa che sapeti et datine aviso quanta 
 dinari li mancheranno ad arrivare alia somma de cento Scudi che faremo 
 provisione de qua de fargeli havere, perche volemo che habbia cento 
 scudi. 
 
 Mantue, 8 Julii, 1530. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 F. Bologna to the Duke op Mantua. 
 
 Alio Illustrissimo Signor, 
 
 Duca Di Mantova. 
 
 Illustrissimo Signore, — Per una di V. Ecc. intesi come era intenzione 
 di quella che io ritraessi la Cornelia. Io in vero era in letto ammalato, 
 pur, al meglio che potei, vestitomi e montato a cavallo a casa della 
 Signora Isabella me ne andai per dare principio all' opera, e vi trovai 
 M. Tizian, il qual mi disse che V. Ecc. l'aveva mandato per fare quello 
 che io era ito a voler fare, si ch' io non ri cereal pin oltre, solo lo pregai 
 che facesse a V. Ecc. fede come ch' io aveva una massella enfiata, e che 
 tutti li denti, come esso vide, mi si scossavano in bocca per rispetto di 
 una umidita prespa in sul Te. Mi e stato scritto V. Ecc. aver aouto a 
 male, che mi partissi senza licenza, ma Dio sa se io avevoi intenzione di 
 fare le tre feste in Mantova, ma io non posso ire contra il Cielo. Tanto 
 e, se io vivo e che stia sano ho speranza che V. Ecc. si lodera della mia 
 servitu, e come piii tosto possa me ne verro a Mantova ai servigi di V. 
 111. S., alia quale riverente inchinandomi mi raccomando. 
 
 Di Bologna, alii 11 Luglio, 1530. 
 
 Il Bologna, servitore di V. 111. S. 
 (Reprinted from Canon Braghirolli's Lettere inedite, u. s. ) 
 
448 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 Titian to the Duke of Mantua. 
 All' Illustrissimo Signor, 
 
 Duca Di Mantova. 
 
 Illustrissimo Duca, — Questa donna, owero Cornelia, non si trova 
 qui in Bologna. La Signora Isabella I' ha mandata a stare a Nivolara a 
 mutar aria, per essere stata ammalata, e dicono, che la e alquanto 
 smarrita per il male : pur la sta meglio. Ed io intendendo questo, ho 
 dubitato di non far cosa buona, essendo stata ammalata, e poi io essendo 
 vinto dal gran caldo, ed anche un poco dal male, e per non mi ammalare 
 del tutto, non sono passato piii oltre, pensando io di servir V. Ecc. di 
 questa cosa benissimo, ed alia si trovera ben soddisfatta. Prima queste 
 gentili madonne mi hanno tanto bene impresso delle sue fatezze, che ci 
 ho ardire di farla di modo che ognuno che la conosca dira che io l'abbia 
 ritratta piu volte, e di questo prego V. Ecc. che lasci l'incarico a me, 
 perche in termine di dieci giorni circa ve la faro vedere, mandandomi a 
 Venezia quel ritratto che fece quell' altro pittore della detta Cornelia, 
 ed io ve li rimandero tutti due indietro, el la Ecc. V. conoscera al 
 paragone come desidero servirla in questo ed in ogni altra cosa finche 
 avro vita. Visto V. Ecc. il rittrato, quando sara fatto, se gli manchera 
 qualche cosa, io verro di grazia a Nivolara a raccozzarlo, ma credo non 
 fara bisogno. Ed a V. Ecc. bacia la mano. 
 
 A Bologna, alii 12 Luglio, 1530. 
 
 Di V. Ecc. 
 
 Servitor Tician V. 
 
 (Ueprinted from Canon Braghirolli's Lettere Inedite, u. s.) 
 
 [Unpublished.'] 1530, 15 Luglio. 
 
 Benedetto Agnello al Duca Federico Gonzaga. 
 
 Ho dato li 78 scuti e meggio a M ro Tuciano, qual e arrivato qui 
 mezzo amalato, ne ringratia infiuitamente la E. V". et molto se li rac- 
 comando. 
 
 Da Venetia, alii xv di Julio, 1530. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished."] 
 
 Death of Titian's Wife. 
 
 Benedetto Agnello to Jacomo Calandra. 
 
 Magnifico patron mio honorandissimo, 1' ambassator di Ferrara m' ha 
 detto haver inteso da bon loco chel Signor Duca di Milano tiene pratica 
 di far confederation con Svizeri et chel dubita che queste sue pratiche 
 in le quali tutte mostra diffidentia del Imperatore, al fine non siano 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 449 
 
 causa de la ruina sua, et subiunse poi, che anche ne la pratica del matri- 
 monio che si tratta tra lui senza partecipatione del Imperatore, come se 
 Madama di Monferrato fosse per maritare la figliola senza il con sens o di 
 sua Maesta. 
 
 II nostro Maestro Tiziano e tutto sconsolato per la morte di sua 
 moglie che fu sepelita hieri, lui ni' ha detto che per il travaglio in che l'e 
 stato per la infermita di detta sua moglie, non ha potuto lavorar al 
 rettratto de la Signora Cornelia ne al quadro delle nude, chel fa per il 
 nostro Illustrissimo Signore, qual sera una bella cosa, et crede di haverlo 
 fornito per tutto il presente mese. Esso Maestro Ticiano desideraria 
 sapper come il S r nostro e restato ben satisfatto del S. Sebastiano, che li 
 ha mandato ben chel dica che sia cosa da donzena, al respetto de laltro 
 dono chel fara del quadro de le nude, et che solamente lo ha donato per 
 uno intertenimento, et per segno della servitii chel porta a sua Excel- 
 lentia. A vostra Signoria me racomando. 
 Da Venetia, alii vi di Agosto, 1530. 
 
 Servitor Benedetto Agnello. 
 
 A tergo (Al Magnifico Messere Jo. Jacomo Calandra, Ducal Secretario 
 et Castellano di Mantua). 
 
 [Mantua, Archivio Ducale, Filza E. xlv. 3.] 
 
 (This letter, favoured by Rawdon Brown, Esq., was published in part 
 by Pungileoni in the Giornale Arcadico for Aug. 1831, but ascribed 
 erroneously to Titian, the writer being the envoy of Mantua at Venice.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1530) 2 6 Settembre. 
 
 Il Duca Federico Gonzaga a Sigismondo della Torre. 
 
 Hoggi si e partito di qua il mulatiere de M. Antonio Bagarotti con le 
 arme che mandamo a Don Petro de la Cavena et il retratto de la 
 Cornelia del Si or Commendador Maior. 
 Mantue, 26 Septembris, 1530. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1530, 27 Settembre. 
 
 Benedetto Agnello a Jo. Jacomo Calandra. 
 
 Sono alcuni di che non ho visto M. Titiano, ma per quanto intendo 
 non e anchor ben sanato et essendo andato 1' altro di a visitarlo me disse 
 che a farlo guarire presto bisognarebbe che li venisse nova che 1' Signor 
 nostro li havesse dato il possesso del beneficio di Medule, perche si 
 allegrarebbe tutto, che la indispositione sua e causata da humor 
 melanconico. 
 
 Venetia, 27 Settembre, 1530. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 vol. i. G G 
 
450 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 [Unpublished.] 153b> 4 0ttQh ^ 
 
 Benedetto Agnello a Jo. Jacomo Calandra. 
 
 M. Titiano comincia a farsi gagliardo et presto venira a Mantova. 
 Lui hebbe la lettera del Signor Conte Niccola ; ma perche allora non 
 era in termine de poter scrivere non lo diede risposta. 
 
 Venetia, 4 Ottobre, 1530. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1530j 24 0ttobrei 
 
 Benedetto Agnello al Duca Federico Gonzaga. 
 
 M. Ticiano et il Sansuino fanno pratica di ritrovare il garzone che 
 sappia fundere et subito che habbiano cosa al proposito me lo faranno 
 sapere. 
 
 Venetia, 24 Ottobre, 1530. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.-] 1530j 30 0ttobre> 
 
 Benedetto Agnello al Duca Federico Gonzaga. 
 
 M. Tiziano m' ha detto haver per li mani un gargione che sa fundere 
 benissimo et che anche e assai bon scultore, il quale pensa che sera 
 molto al proposito per V. E. et che volontieri venira al servitio di quella. 
 Subito che 1 gli habbi parlato ne fara resposta ; et io ne avisaro 
 V. S. 111. 
 
 Venetia, 30 Ottobre, 1530. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1531j n Marzo 
 
 Benedetto Agnello al Duca Federico Gonzaga. 
 Ho dato la sua lettera a M ro Ticiano, qual per il desiderio grande che 
 1' ha di servire a V. E. anchor che T si retrove alquanto indisposto ha gia 
 fatto far la Tavola per far la S ta Maria Magdalena, et credo che hoggi 
 dara principio a lavorarvi, ne gli mancara d' ogni diligentia per far una 
 cosa excellente de la quale V. E. ne possi restar soddisfatta. Esso 
 M. Ticiano dice voler fare la detta S ta M a Magdalena difFerente da 
 quella che V ha principiato, et che '1 mostro a M. Vincenzo veneziano 
 per far una cosa piu bella, anchor ch' io credo che 1' haveria da far assai 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 451 
 
 a poterla migliorare, perche in effetto quella che 1' ha comincio, da 
 quelli che hanno cogniiione di pictura e reputata cosa excellentissima. 
 
 Da Venetia, alii xi Marzo, 1531. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 153^ n Marzo. 
 
 Il Duca Federico Gonzaga alla Marchesa di Pescara. 
 
 Ho inteso dal S r Fabritio Maramaldo, quale me ha detto che ella 
 desidera di avere una pittura bella, et di mano di pittore eccellente 
 d' una flgura de S ta Maddalena. Ho subito mandato a Venetia e scritto 
 a Titiano, quale e forse il piu eccellente in quell' arte, che a nostri 
 tempi si ritrovi, ed e tutto mio, ricercandolo con grande instantia a 
 volerne fare una beliissima lagrimosa piu che si pu& e farmela haver 
 presto. 
 
 Mantua, alii xi de Marzo, 1531. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Un2mblished.] 1531j i 8 Marzo. 
 
 Benedetto Agnello al Duca Federico Gonzaga. 
 
 M. Ticiano ha dato principio alia S ta Maddalena, et dice che si 
 sforzara di fornirla quanto piu presto sera possibile. 
 
 Venetia, 18 Marzo, 1531. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.'] 1531 ? 19 Marzo. 
 
 Il Duca Federico Gonzaga a Benedetto Agnello. 
 
 Ne piace che maestro Tutiano habbia principiato la S ta Maddalena, la 
 quale come piu presto 1' habbiamo tanto piu mi sera grata. 
 
 Mantue, 19 Martii, 1531. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli. ) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1531> 2 2 Marzo. 
 
 Benedetto Agnello al Duca Federico Gonzaga. 
 M. Titiano lavora gagliardamente drieto la S ta Magdalena, la quale e* 
 
452 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 gia in termine che la si puo far vedere ad ogni ecceilente pictore ; et 
 V. E. sii certa che sera cosa molto degna et di summa excellentia. 
 Venetia, alii xxii de Marzo, 1531. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.'] 1531> 12 Aprile. 
 
 Benedetto Agnello al Duca Federico Gonzaga. 
 
 Mando la S ta Magdalena, la quale M. Ticiano ha tenuto ne le mani 
 questi dui di de piu contra la promissa che haveva fatto per darli la 
 vernice, ma il tempo V ha impedito, che per non esser stato il sole ben 
 chiaro non 1' ha potuta invernigiare ben a suo modo, pur dice che, cosi 
 come la sta la si puo mandare in ogni loco, affirmando che V. E. non ha 
 havuto cosa alcuna delle sue che sii al paragone di questa et pensa che 
 V. S. ne restera ben satisfacta. 
 
 Da Venetia, xii Aprile, 1531. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1531j 14 Aprile. 
 
 Benedetto Agnello al Duca Federico Gonzaga. 
 
 Non mandai la S ta Magdalena, si come scrissi alia E. V. perche 
 essendo stata invernigiata di fresco M. Titiano dubitava che la non si 
 guastasse : hora che 1' e ben secca la mando. 
 
 Da Venetia, 14 Aprile, 1531. 
 
 (Copied from the originals in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [ Unpublished.] 
 
 Titian to the Duke of Mantua. 
 
 1531, 31 Luglio. 
 
 Illmo et Exmo Sig r S r mio, 
 Cum quanta allegrezza et jubilo del animo habbi recevuto le human- 
 issime lettere che V. Ex ia per sua bonta se ha degnato scrivermi, non lo 
 potria exprimer ne cum parole ne cum scrittura, percioche quello che de 
 fuori via havea inteso de le felicissime sue nozze per le lettere de V. 
 Ex ia ne son fatto chiaro, dilche come sviscerato servitore che li son me 
 ne son tanto allegrato che non capisco in me medesmo, et prego il nostro 
 Sig r Idio la conservi et faci felice et adempi li desiderij sui per infiniti 
 anni. 
 
 Ill 1 " Sig r mio questi mesi passati io scrisse a Mes r Vicenzo venetiano 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 453 
 
 circa il beneficio de Medole, dal qual non havendo mai havuto risposta, 
 et forsi per le molte occupation sue mi parse prender quel partito de 
 scriver alia Ex ia V. non perch' io mai mi diffidassi del animo de quella, 
 ma solum per aricordarli la servitu mia, al presente vedendo quanto la 
 mi scrive de le bolle del ditto beneficio et de lentrate de quello, cum le 
 genocchia in terra humil te li baso le mani, et ge ne rendo infinite gratie, 
 et pensando che non accordi gli offerisca la servitu mia, perclie e sua gia 
 molti et molti anni la supplico solum, che parendoli di adoperarla 
 sempre la mi trovara paratissimo alii commandamenti soi et in la sua 
 buona gratia humil te me raccomando, adi ultimo luio mdxxxi. 
 
 De V. Ill™ Sig ia . 
 Humil Ser re et Schiavo Tician Vecellio. 
 
 Al IU mo et Ex mo S r mio il Sig r Duca de Mantua. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1531, 7 Settembre. 
 
 Benedetto Agnello al Duca Fedemco Gonzaga. 
 
 Io ho dato le bolle a M. Titiano quagli hanno reso quella allegrezza 
 che piu si possa dire maggiore, et cossi fattogli instantia delli quadri di 
 V. E. che ha promrsso, come debitore, de dargli subita expeditione. 
 
 Da Venetia, alii vii di Settembre, 1531. 
 
 (Copied from the originals in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [U7ipublished.] 
 
 Titian to the Duke of Mantua. 
 
 1531, 29 Ottobre, Venezia. 
 
 Ill m0 et Ex M <> Sig r et Hon mo sua singula. 
 Hyeri essendomi stato presentato una de V. Ex ia qual mi comandava 
 alcune cose per bisogno del Sig r Marchese de Monferrato, et prima letta 
 cum quella riverenza a me debita subito con ogni dilligentia non 
 obstante che mi fosse presentato doi giorni festivi che non se habbi 
 anco ritrovar parte de dette robbe, mi son sforzato suplire in parte al 
 debito mio, et cossi per il presente cavallaro le mando salvo che il colore 
 spalto, et una coppa d'oro et le doi de argento, qual per non si havere 
 potuto macinare, et importando la cellerita, mi e parso expedire dicto 
 cavallaro cum quiste che si sono havute, riservando mandar le altre per 
 il primo. Humil te baso la mane de V. Ex ia rac mi in sua bona gratia. 
 
 Di Vineggia, alii xxviiij de Ottub. 1531. 
 
 De V. Ill ma et Ex ma Sig ia , 
 
 Humilli™ Ser re Ticiano Vecellio. 
 
 Alio Ill m0 et Excel mo Sig r il S r Duca de Mantoa. 
 
 (Copied by Canon Braghirolli in the Archives of Mantua.) 
 
454 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1531j 30 Novem l)re. 
 
 Benedetto Agnello a Gio. Jac. Calandra. 
 M. Ticiano . . . al presente lavora continuamente su tre quadri da 
 portare a Mantova due per il S r Nostro, l'altro per 111. S ra Duchessa. 
 Da Venetia, alii 30 de Novembre, 1531. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [ Unpublished.] 
 
 Votive Picture of Doge Gritti. 
 
 Marino Sanuto, Diarii, vol. lv. pp. 9-10, 6 Ottobre, 1531. 
 
 " Io vidi in colegio il quaro novo posto con la persona et effigie di 
 questo serenissimo qualse in Zenochio davanti una nostra dona col 
 puttin in brazo et San Marco lo apresenta e da drio la nostra dona e tre 
 santi San Bernardin S. Alvise et S. Marina et e sta comentado che tra 
 questi tre santi vese diferentia chi dil horo 1' havea fato doxe. S. Ber- 
 nardin diseva fo eletto nel mio Zorno. Santa Marina diseva esta electo 
 per haver recupera Padoa nel mio Zorno adi 17 di luio. Santo Alvise 
 diseva et io son il nome di q. Alvise Pisani proc r suo consolo qual era 
 nel 41 et lui fo causa di farlo doze unde San Marco visto questa 
 diferentia tra li tre santi par lo apresenti ala nostra dona e il fiol per 
 terminar qual di lhoro esta causa di la elettione al ducato di soa serenita 
 e bel quadro fatto per Tuciano pittor et esta bello il commento fatto dil 
 qual ne ho voluto far memoria." 
 
 Copied by C. A. Cicogna. 
 
 MS. Note to Titianello's Anonymous Life of Vecelli, ed. of 1809. 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1532) 6 Giugno. 
 
 Benedetto Agnello al Duca Federico Gonzaga. 
 
 Suso le galee tornate de Alexandria e venuto uno animale molto 
 strano, nd mai piu visto in queste bande. Fin hora non 1' ho potuto 
 vedere, et anche per la relazione che ne ho havuto non mi basta l'animo 
 de scriver come el sii fatto. Messer Ticiano m' ha promisso di fame un 
 retratto, qual mandaro a V. E. subito che '1 sia fornito. 
 
 Venetia, 6 di Giugno, 1532. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1532, 8 Giugno. 
 
 Benedetto Agnello al Duca Federico Gonzaga. 
 Ho visto quello animale strano, del quale scrissi alia S. V. La persona 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 455 
 
 sua e poco maggiore di quella d' un daino ; lia la testa longa da caval o 
 et cosi li occhi, il mostazzo de bove, li denti de cervo, e le come de 
 camozzo, ma un poco piii grossette et grandette. II resto de la persona 
 sua mi assomiglia piii al cervo che ad alcun altro animale, da la coda in 
 fori che e suttile et longa circa un palmo con un spigolo de pelli sopra, 
 il pelo suo e piu chiaro di quello del cervo et trae al rosso. 
 
 Venetia, alii 8 de Giugno, 1532. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 JBraghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1532; 19 Giugno> 
 
 Benedetto Agnello al Duca Federico Gonzaga. 
 
 M. Titiano ha fatto il retratto de lo animale nuovamente venuto de 
 Alexandria et per la prima nave che venghi in suso lo mandero a la 
 S. V. 
 
 Venetia, 19 Giugno, 1532. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished] 1532j 22 Giugno> 
 
 Il duca Federico Gonzaga a Benedetto Agnello. 
 
 Staremo aspettando il ritratto de quigli animali poi che* M. Titiano 
 l'ha fornito e mi sara caro haverlo. 
 
 Mantue, xxii Junii, 1532. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.-] 1532j 22 Giugno> 
 
 Benedetto Agnello al Duca Federico Gonzaga. 
 Per il presente exhibitore, che sera Sirocco da Mantua, paron de 
 nave, mando alia E. V. il retratto dell' animale di che le scrissi. 
 Venetiis, 22 Giugno, 1532. 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1532j 29 0ttobre> 
 
 Il Duca Federico Gonzaga a Tiziano Vecellio. 
 Messer Ticiano amico, &c. Vi priego che mi mandate qui quel pittor 
 
456 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 piacevole che sapeti per far qualche bel spettacolo alia Maesta Cesarea 
 in alcune comedie che ho disegnato di fare alia venuta di quella che mi 
 farete piacer grande. 
 
 Mantue, 29 Octobris, 1532. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1532) ? Novembre< 
 
 IL DUCA FEDERICO GONZAGxV a Tiziano Vecellio. 
 
 Messer Titiano : per che haverei molto caro che vi ritrovasti qui 
 presso me de presente, vi prego quanto piu posso che siati contento 
 quanto piu presto potrete di venire in qua' che mi farete singularissimo 
 piacere. 
 
 Mantue, alii 7 di Novembre, 1532. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] ■ 1532j 8 Novembre> 
 
 Tiziano Vecellio al Duca Federico Gonzaga. 
 
 Ill m ° et Ex. Sig r Duca, — II Piacevole Pittore, richiesto dall' 111. S. 
 lator della presente, vien de li per satisfare alia soa intentione, qual 
 pittore e persona molto ottima et d a proposito di V. 111. S. che credo 
 certo assai li piacera. Io per far cosa sia di contento alia Ex. V. S. m' 
 ho sforzato di farlo venire, et cossi io ge lo mando, como anxioso ad 
 ogni suo servitio, et All. 111. S. V. mi racomando. 
 
 In Venezia alii 8 Novembrio, 1532. 
 
 D. V. 111. S.. 
 
 Servitore Ticiano Vecellio. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1533, 10 Marzo. 
 
 Tiziano Vecellio al Duca Federico Gonzaga. 
 
 Ill mo et Eccell m <> Sig r mio osser M( >, — Havendo io inteso V. Ecc. 
 esser partita per la corte di L. Ces. Maesta ho pensato chel mio venir a 
 Mantoa sarebbe stato soverchio, non ci essendo V. Ecc tia . Et cosi me 
 n' andro di lungo a Venetia, dolendomi della mia disgratia che non m' ha 
 lassato partir da Bologna tanto in tempo che habbia potuto trovarla 
 inanzi il partir suo per satisfare non meno al mio debito che al desiderio 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 457 
 
 di V. Ecc tia . Hora io saro a Venetia a ubidientia sua per far qiianto 
 ella si degnera sempre comandarmi, et attendero a fornire la copia del 
 ritratto di S. M ta che porto meco a nome di V. Ecc tia le cui mani basio 
 et alia buona gratia della quale humilmente mi raccomando. 
 Di Bologna, il di x di Marzo, mdxxxiii. 
 
 Di V. E. Humil S or Titiano. 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1533) 12 
 
 Benedetto Agnello a Jo. Jacomo Calandka. 
 Perchd M. Ticiano si sente un poco male et non cognosse di potere 
 venire a Mantova. Pero la S. V. lo potra far intendere al Signor 
 Nostro. 
 
 Venetia, xii Luglio, mdxxxiii. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1534, 14 Febbrajo. 
 
 Benedetto Agnello a Jo. Jacomo Calandra. 
 
 M. Tician, qual e giunto qui in casa mia mi dice ha posto in ordine la 
 tavola di far il quadro del Sig r Ferrante et che gli dara principio il 
 primo di di quaresima. 
 
 Venetia, 14 Febbraio, 1534. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1534> 6 MarzQ 
 
 Isabella Estense Gonzaga a Benedetto Agnello. 
 
 M ce , Perche coloro che ci prestarono il ritratto di noi el qual ebbe 
 Mess. Titiano per cavarne di lui uno simile ci fanno instantia grandissima 
 che glielo restituiamo, volemo che voi ve lo faciate rendere et che per 
 persona fidata et discreta la qual habbi ad havergli rispetto ce lo 
 mandiate aconcio di sorta che non vi sia pericolo di guastarsi. 
 
 Mantue, vi Marzo, 1534. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 VOL. I. H H 
 
458 
 
 TITIAN: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1534j 9 Maggio> 
 
 Benedetto Agnello a Jo. Jac. Calandra. 
 Circa la nostra S ta Magdalena non so piu che me dire, se non che 
 poteria essere che un giorno la se havesse, et 1' animo mio e che M. 
 Ticiano non possa mancare di darla. 
 
 Da Venetia, alii 9 Maggio, 1534. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1536? 30 Aprile> 
 
 Benedetto Agnello al Duca Federico Gonzaga. 
 
 M. Ticiano dice che mi dara il ritratto de V Imperator, che lo potro 
 mandare alia E. V. con la prima nave che venira in suso. De la sua 
 Venuta a Mantova promette che sera presta, ma per haver alcune 
 occupationi non pu6 per hora deliberare il di della partita, affirmando 
 pero che col primo cavallaro che verra dopo questo dara avviso a V. E. 
 quando la gli havera da mandare il cocchio, del quale ne la ringratia. 
 
 Venetia, ultimo d' Aprile, 1536. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1536j 5 Maggia 
 
 Benedetto Agnello alla Marchesa Isabella Gonzaga. 
 
 Ticiano non e qui che gli di passati se ne venne a Mantova et ando 
 col S r Duca alia Corte, col quale deve anche tornare a Mantova, dove 
 V. E. lo vedera prima di me, et lei medesima gli potra parlar del 
 ^etratto di Zurinelli et ordinarli glielo mandi subito sera giunto qui. 
 
 Da Venetia, alii v di Maggio, 1536. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 .aghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished.] 1536j 1Q LugUo< 
 
 Gianjacopo Calandra a Sigismondo Franzino dalla Torre. 
 
 M. Ticiano dice che se ricordara delle ritratti delli Imperatori pro- 
 messi a S. E. de fare. Tutto farete intendere a S. E. 
 
 Di Mantova, lo x di Luglio, mdxxxvi. 
 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 459 
 
 [Unpublished.] 153 7 j 3 Aprile. 
 
 Benedetto Agnello a Gio. Jac° Calandra. 
 Subito havuti che habbia le misure di quadri sollecitaro M. Ticiano 
 clie finisca le teste degli Imperatori che 1' ha da fare per il Sig r nostro. 
 Venetia, iii di Aprile, 1537. 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 [Unpublished,] 153^ 6 Aprile. 
 
 Tiziano Vecellio al Duca Federico Gonzaga. 
 Ill mo et Ecc mo S or mio, S or et patron OBSERV mo , — 
 Non era de bisogno che V. E. col mezzo de sue lettere et del dono de 
 la ricchissima casocca mi desse memoria de li suoi quadri ; non gli 
 potendo io haver piu a core di quello me habbia, conoscendo molto bene 
 in quanto obligo le sia per gli tanti beneficii. Ma poi che a lei e 
 piaciuto di cosi voler fare, et pel favore et de la mercede fattami la 
 ringratio quanto piu posso, et le ne baso mille volte le mani. Gia sono 
 piu giorni die di uno de li quadri all' ambasiatore, che lo mandasse a 
 V. E. Dui altri ne ho in bon termine, gli quali finiro subito che 
 intenda se il primo gli havera satisfatto, o in qual parte non le sara 
 piaciuto, che mi fara regula a li altri, et de mano in mano seguiro senza 
 intermissione di tempo fin tanto chi gli finisca tutti, e spero dover fare 
 di sorte che V. E. resti di me servita, alia quale quanto prima fusse 
 commodo de liberarmi il beneficio da la pensione la mi farebbe la 
 maggior mercede et gratia del mondo a farlo, che oltre al danno che ne 
 ho de li dinari, che pago ogni anno me ne segue ancho non poco fastidio 
 et disturbo per causa de le persone con le quale io son impazzato, de le 
 cui mani solo V. E. mi pud liberare, et cio la prego et supplico quanto 
 piu efficacemente so et posso ad volerlo fare, che in vero non so qual 
 cosa mi volesse se io mi trovasse senza questo intrico (sic) il quale 
 essendomi levato di piedi da V. E. quando per tanti altri rispetti non 
 gli fusse in quella maggiore obbligatione che possi essere servitore a 
 signore et patron suo, questo solo bastarebbe per farmeli schiavo per- 
 petuo, ne la cui bona gratia humilmente mi raccomando. 
 Di Venetia, adi vi di Aprile, mdxxxvii. 
 
 Di V. E. 
 
 Humil Servitore 
 
 Titiano Vecellio. 
 (Copied from the original in the Archives of Mantua by Canon 
 Braghirolli.) 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 London; beadbury, agneyv, & co., printers, whitefriars.