Episode 6: Titian (1485?-1576)
After the triumph of Renaissance art in Florence and Rome, the movement found a new centre, the city of Venice, and a new master, Tiziano Vecellio, known to English speakers as Titian. Titian did more to establish the principles of modern painting than any of his Florentine contemporaries. Unlike the Italian masters that had preceded him, Titian painted for the most part in oil, the medium came to dominate the production of art from then on. His radical approach to light, colour and composition set him apart from those around him and his free brush strokes are more expressive than anything that had come before. His enormous talent was recognised across Europe, and he received commissions to paint portraits of some the most powerful people of the age, including Pope Paul III and the Holy Roman Emperor, the King of Spain, Charles V. Titian’s fame spread far and wide, making him perhaps the first truly international artist.
Works featured in this programme include The Assumption of the Virgin (1516-18, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice), The Pesaro Altarpiece (1519-26, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice), Bacchus and Ariadne (1523, The National Gallery, London), Portrait of Charles V with Hound (1533, Prado, Madrid), The Venus of Urbino (1538, Uffizi Gallery, Florence) and Diana and Callisto (1556-59, National Gallery, Edinburgh).
