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FA  3909,/. 7 


HARVARD  COLLEGE 
LIBRARY 


FROM  IHE  B£QUBST  OF 

CHARLES  SUMNER 

CLASS  OF  1830 

Senator  from  Massadmsetts 

FOR  BOOKS  BELATING  TO 
POUnCS  AND  EINB  ASTS 


TITIAS'S  D4U0HTER. 


0 


TITIAN: 


HIS    LIFE    AND    TIMES. 


\ 


WITH 


SOME  ACCOUNT  OF  HIS  FAMILY, 

CHIKFLY  FBOM  NEW  AND  UNPUBLISHED  BBCORD& 


BY 


J.  A.  CKOWE  AUD  G.  B.  CAVALCASELLE, 

AVTBOBB  or  THE  **  HISfORT  OV  PAIVTIMO  Ht  KOBTH  ITALY.** 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES.— VOL.  U. 


WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


^  LONDON : 
JOHN   MURRAY,  ALBEMARLE   STREET. 

1877. 
[Righl  of  TranslcUian  reserved.] 


\ 

\ 
\ 


^<:?^^7 


iMfUD  coum  u%mn 


LOVDOV: 
■■JLOBVIT,  AOiriW,  &  Oa,  PBI9T1B8,  WHIXBlELilS. 


J 


*     r  ^ 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    L 

PAOB 

BiTaliy  of  Titian  and  Pordenone. — Pordenone  decorates  the  Pablic 
Library,  and  Titian  loses  his  Broker's  Patent. — Pordenone  is 
ordered  to  compete  with  Titian  in  the  Pablic  Palace,  and  Titian 
paints  the  ^  Battle  of  Cadore." — History  of  that  Picture. — Site  of 
the  Battle. — Prints  by  Fontana  and  Borgkmair ;  Rubens*  Drawing, 
and  Copy  at  Florence. — ^Titian  in  contrast  with  Da  Vinci  and 
BaphaeL — Drawings  of  the  "Battle  of  Cadore." — ^Portraits  of 
(George  Gomaro,  Savoignano,  and  others. — Death  of  the  Duke  of 
Drbino  and  Andrea  Gritti. — Portrait  of  Doge  Lando. — Sultan 
Soliman. — Titian*s  private  AfEalrs. — He  tries  to  visit  Florence  and 
Borne. — He  &ils. — ^Aietino  and  his  Lampooners. — ^Del  Yasto  giyes 
a  Cftnonry  to  Titian's  son. — The  '*  Allocution.** — Portrait  of  Bembo. 
— Death  of  Pordenone. — Titian  regains  his  Broker's  Patent. — 
**  Angel  and  Tobit,**  and  <*  Presentation  in  the  Temple.**— From 
Jaoopo  Bellini  to  Paolo  Veronese 1 


CHAPTER    IL 

Korth-east  of  Venice.^ — Titian's  House  in  Biri  Grande;  his  Home 
Life ;  his  Children. — Portraits. — ^Death  of  the  Duke  of  Mantua. — 
Portraits  of  Mendozza  and  Martinengo.— Charles  the  Fifth  and 
Titian  at  Milan  ;  the  *'  Allocution/'  and  the  *'  Nativity  ."—Titian 
receiyes  a  Pension  on  the  Milan  Treasury. — His  quarrel  with  the 
Monks  of  San  Spirito. — Camiyal  and  the  Company  of  the  Calza. — 
Aretino  sends  for  Vasari,  who  receiyes  employment  at  Venice.— 
Portraits  of  Catherine  Comaro  and  Doge  Lando. — Portraits  of 
ntian  by  himself ;  of  Titian  and  Zuccato  ;  of  Titian  and  Layinia. 
— ^Votlye  Picture  of  the  Doge. — The  StroEzi,  and  Titian's  likeness 
of  B.  StroEzi's  daughter. — Ceilings  of  San  Spirito. — '*  Descent  of 
the  Holy  Spirit." — ^Titian  compared  with  Baphael  and  Michael- 
angelo, — ^Visit  to  Cadore,— Aleseandio  Vitelli  .....    87 


Ti  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    III. 

PAOX 

Titaan  and  the  Famese  Family. — Portrait  of  Bannccio  Famese^ — Offer 
of  a  Benefice  and  proposalB  of  service  to  Titian. — History  and 
policy  of  the  Famese  IMnces. — Cardinal  Alessandro. — ^Titian 
accepts  the  invitation  of  the  Famese. — ^Visits  Ferrara,  Bologna, 
and  Bii86^.^-He  refuses  an  offer  of  the  Piombo. — His  Portraits  of 
Paul  in.,  Pier  Luigi,  and  Alessandro  Famese. — Family  of  Danna, 
and  the  great  '*  Ecce  Homo  "  at  Vienna. — ^The  Assnnta  of  Verona. — 
Benewed  conrespondence  with  Cardinal  Famese. — Letter  of  Titian 
to  Michaelangelo. — Altar-piece  of  Roganzuolo. — Portraits  of  the 
Empress,  and  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Urbino. — Court  of  Urbina, 
and  Sperone's  Dialogues. — Portraits  of  Daniel  Barbaro,  Morosini, 
Sperone,  and  Aretino. — Titian's  relations  with  Qnidubaldo  II.— 
Guidubaldo  opposes  Titian^s  Journey  to  Borne,  which  is  favoured 
by  Girolamo  Qulrini. — Quidubaldo  gives  Titian  escort  to  Bome. 
— Meeting  of  Titian  with  Sebastian  del  Piombo,  Vasari,  and 
Hichaelangelo. — Jealousy  of  Boman  Artists. — Pictures  executed 
at  Bome :  Danae. — Contrast  between  Titian  and  Correggio,  and 
Titian  and  Buonarroti. — Titian  and  the  Antique. — Portraits  of 
Paul  III.,  Ottavio,  and  Alessandro  Famese 75 

CHAPTEla   IV. 

Bansovino  meets  with  a  mishap  at  Venice. — His  imprisonment. — He  is 
liberated  by  Titian's  interest. — ^Negotiations  for  the  Benefice  of 
CoUe.— Doge  Donate  succeeds  Doge  Lando,  and  allows  Titian  to 
remain  at  Bome. — Portraits  executed  for  the  Duke  of  Urbino. — 
Titian's  return  to  Venice. — He  visits  Florence,  and  paints  again 
the  Portrait  of  Pier  Luigi  Famese. — Portraits  of  Doge  Donato, 
Giovanni  de'  Medici,  and  Lavinia. — Cardinal  Famese  visits 
Venice. — Marriage  of  Guidubaldo  II. — Marriage  of  OraEio  Ve- 
celli. — Titian  askes  for  the  Piombo,  and  receives  the  promise  of  it. 
— ^Altar-piece  of  Serravalle. — Titian  and  BaphaeL — ^The  Cartoons, 
and  especially  the  **  Miraculous  Draught." — **  Venus  and  Adonis." 
— **  Disciples  at  Emmaus."^*'  Becumbent  Venus  and  Cupid  "  at 
Florence, — ** Venus  and  the  Organ-player"  at  Madrid. — Beplicas 
and  Copies.^The  "  Ecce  Homo  "  at  Madrid 127 


CHAPTER    V. 

The  Pope  and  the  Emperor.— Titian  has  to  choose  between  them ;  gives 
up  the  Seals  of  the  Piombo,  and  goes  to  Court  at  Augsburg. — He 
visits  Cardinal  Madruzzi  at  Ceneda. — ^Augsburg,  the  Fuggers. — 
Titian's  reception  by  Charles  the  Fifth. — His  pension  on  Milan 
doubled. — He  promises  a  likeness  of  the  Emperor  to  the  Governor 
of  Milan.— Sketch  of  Charles  the  Fifth,  and  how  he  rode  at  Miihl- 
berg  with  Mafirice  of  Saxony  and  Alva. — His  Court  at  Augsburg. 


CONTENTS.  vii 


— ^King  Ferdinand. — ^The  QnuiTelles,  John  Frederick  of  Saxony, 
and  other  Princes  and '  Princetsses  portrayed  by  Titian. — Like- 
nesses :  of  Charles  as  he  rode  at  Mtihlberg ;  as  he  sat  at  Angsbnrg ; 
of  the  captive  Elector,  with  and  without  Armonr ;  of  Chancellor 
and  Cardinal  Granyelle,  and  Cardinal  Madnuzi. — The  '*  Prome- 
theus and  Sisyphus." — Likeness  of  King  Ferdinand  and  his  Infant 
Children. — Titian  returns  to  Venice ;  proceeds  to  Milan,  where  he 
meets  Alya  and  the  Prince  of  Spain. — Portrait  of  Alva  and  his 
Secretaiy.— Beplicas  of  Charles  the  Fifth's  Portrait  for  Cardinal 
Famese  and  Francesco  Gonzaga. — Betrothal  of  Lavinia. — Death  of 
Paul  the  Third. — Plans  for  the  Succession  of  Philip  of  Spain. — 
Charles  the  Fifth  again  sends  for  Titian  to  paint  the  Likeness  of 
fais  presumptiye  Heir. — Projected  Picture  of  the  "  Trinity." — Close 
Belations  dt  Titian  wilii  the  Emperor,  and  surprise  caused  by  it.— 
Melanchthon. — Court  of  the  captive  Elector.  —  Cranach  paints 
Titian's  Likeness. — Philip  of  Spain  sits  to  Titian. — Numerous 
Portraits  are  the  result 162 


CHAPTER   VL 

AJl^ged  reception  of  Titian  by  the  Doge  in  Council. — His  suspension 
from  the  Sanseria,  and  resumption  of  that  Office. — Life  at  Venice. 
— Portrait  of  Legate  Beccadelli — Pictures  for  the  Prince  of  Spain ; 
**  Queen  of  Persia,"  Landscape,  and  '*St.  Margaret."~af  Titian's 
Landscapes  in  general. — ^Prints  and  Drawings.— *'  St.  Margaret "  at 
Madrid. — Rumours  of  Titian's  Death. — He  reports  himself  alive  to 
the  Emperor.— The  "  Grieving  Virgin,"  the  »*  Trinity,"  and  "  Christ 
appearing  to  the  Magdalen." — Portrait  of  Doge  Trevisani. — ^Vargas 
and  Thomas  Granvelle.— '' Danfie,"  for  Philip  of  Spain,  and 
Beplicas  of  the  same.— Titian  and  Philip. — The  "Venus  and 
Adonis." — Philip  and  Pomponio. — "Virgin  of  Medole." — Portrait  of 
Doge  Venier. — Votive  Picture  of  "Doge  Trevisani  and  "  The  Fede." 
— Marriage  of  Lavinia. — Titian  sends  to  Philip  the  "  Perseus  and 
Andromediw" — Decoration  of  the  Library  at  Venice. — Paolo 
Veronese. — The  "Baptist"  of  Santa  Maria  Maggiore. — Death  of 
Aretino. — Titian,  Fenante  Gonzaga.  and  the  Milan  Pension. — 
**  Entombment,"  sent  to  Philip  and  lost 214 


CHAPTER   VIL 

Standard  of  San  Bernardino. — Philip  and  St.  Lawrence. — "  Martyrdom 
of  St.  Lawrence  "  in  the  Gesuiti  at  Venice. — Gifolamo  di  Titiano. 
— Lorenzo  Bfassolo;  his  Widow  and  Titian. — Parody  on  the 
**  Laocoon,"  "  Christ  Crowned  with  Thorns "  at  the  Louvre. — 
Portraits.— Death  of  Charles  the  Fifth.— Titian  and  Coxie,— The 
"  Grieving  Virgin." — Philip  at  Ghent  orders  Titian's  Pensions  to 
be  paid. — Qrazio  at  Milan  is  nearly  murdered  by  Leone  Leoni — 
Titian  begins  the  "  Diana  and  Actseon,"  and  "  Diana  and  Calisto. 


»i 


Tiii  OONTENTS. 


PAOB 

— Philip  the  Second  orders  an  "  Entombment." — ^Titian,  Philip, 
and  Apelles. — The  **  Girl  in  Yellow." — Description  of  the  "  Diana 
and  ActBBon,"  '*  Calisto,"  "  Entombment,"  and  replicas. — Figure  of 
"  Wisdom  "  at  Venice. — Death  of  Francesco  Vecelli. — Altar-piece 
of  Pieve 258 


CHAPTER    VIIL 

Paolo  and  Qinlia  da  Ponte,  Irene  and  Emilia  of  Spilimberg. — ^Their 
Portraits. — The  Oomaro  Family  at  Alnwick. — "Epiphany"  at 
Madrid,  and  numerous  Replicas  of  the  same. — ^Victories  of  Caesar. 
— Magdalens. — ^** Venus  of  Pardo." — "Christ  in  the  Garden." — 
Titian  and  Correggio. — The  "  Europa  "  at  Cobham. — Titian  begins 
the  "Last  Supper." — "Crucifixion"  at  Ancona. — "St.  Francis 
receiving  the  Stigmata^"  at  Ascoli. — Mosaics  and  Mosaists. — 
Titian's  Cartoons  designed  by  Orazio  Vecelli. — Nicholas  Crasso. — 
His  Altarpiece  of  "St.  Nicholas"  by  Titian.— •" St.  Jerome "  at 
the  Brera. — "  Venus  with  the  Mirror." — Loss  of  Titian's  Venetian 
Pictures  by  Fire. — "  The  Last  Supper  "  at  Venice  and  the  Escorial. 
—  Portrait  of  the  Queen  of  the  Romans. — Commission  for  the 
"Martyrdom  of  St.  Lawrence." — Titian  visits  Brescia. — Titian, 
A.  Perez,  and  Philip  the  Second. — Canvases  of  Brescia  Town 
Hall.— "The  Last  Supper"  at  the  Escorial.— Its  Mutilation.— 
Titian  and  the  Milanese  Ti-easury. — The  "Transfiguration,"  the 
"  Annunciation,"  and  "  St.  James  of  Compostella." — Titian  employs 
Cort  and  Boldrini  as  Engravers. — Vasari's  Visit  to  Veoice. — Pic- 
tures at  that  time  in  Titian's  House. — Allegories. — Titian  joins  the 
Florentine  Academy 300 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Titian  is  taxed  for  his  Income. — His  Relations  with  Picture  Dealers 
and  Collectors. — Strada  the  Antiquary. — Final  Correspondence 
with  Urbino  and  the  Famese. — Frescos  at  Pieve  di  Cadore. — The 
"  Nativity." — "  Martyrdom  of  St.  Lawrence  "  at  the  Escorial. — 
Canvases  of  the  Town  Hall  at  Brescia,  and  Quarrel  as  to  the 
Payment  for  them.— The  second  "  Christ  of  the  Tribute  Money." 
— Death  of  Sansovino. — "  Lucretia  and  Tarquin." — "  Battle  of 
Lepanto,"  and  Pictures  illustrative  of  that  Encounter. — Titian's 
Allegory  of  Lepanto. — "  Christ  Derided  "  at  Munich. — Exalted 
Visitors  at  Biri  Grande. — Titian's  List  of  Pictures. — His  last  Letter 
to  Philip  the  Second. — The  Plague  at  Venice.— Titian's  last 
Masterpiece. — His  Death. — Titian's  Pictures :  Genuine,  Uncertified, 
and  Missing 364 

APPENDIX 497 


/ 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS   TO  VOL.   U. 

♦ 

TITIAJr's  DAfGHTEK FrontitpUet 

PAGfi 

BATTLB  OF   CADOEE 11 

TEE  FBESEHTATIOir  IK  THIS  TEMPLE 31 

I 
CEEI8T  AT  EMICAUS 153 

mTAW.TM  THE  FIFTH  OK  THE  FIELD  OF  MUHLBEBO  .      .  178 

FBOIOETHBUB 187 

DAKAi 229 

CHKIST  IK  THE  FBBTOEIAK  GOTJBT 265 

JUPITEB   AKD  AKTIOPE 317 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 


CHAPTEK  I. 

Rivalry  of  Titian  and  Fordenone. — ^Pordenone  decorates  the  Public 

Library,   and  Titian  loses  his  Broker's  Patent. — Pordenone  is 

ordered  to  compete  with  Titian  in  the  Public  Palace,  and  Titian 

paintB  the  **  Battle  of  Cadore."— History  of  that  Picture.— Site  of 

the  Battle. — Prints  by  Fontana  and  Burgkmair ;  Eubens'  Drawing, 

I  and  Copy  at  Florence. — Titian  in  contrast  with  Da  Yinci  and 

I  ^  EaphaeL— Drawings  of  the  **  Battle  of  Gadore."— Portraits  of 

I  George  Comaro,  Sayorgnano,  and  others. — ^Death  of  the  Duke  of 

TJrbino  and  Andrea  Gritti. — Portrait  of  Doge  Lando. — Sultan 

Soliman. — Titian's  private  AfiEairs. — ^He  tries  to  visit  Florence 

and  Borne. — He  fails. — ^Aretino  and  his  Lampooners. — Del  Yasto 

gives  a  Canonry  to  Titian's  son. — ^The  **  Allocution." — Poi-trait  of 

Bembo. — ^Death  of  Pordenone. — ^Titian  regains  his  Broker's  Patent. 

— "Angel  and  Tobit,"  and  ''Presentation  in  the  Temple." — ^From 

Jaoopo  Bellini  to  Paolo  Yeronese. 

Titlan's  life  and  times  have  been  traced  from  his 
first  landing  at  Venice  to  the  days  when  he  completely 
established  his  independence.  The  eminence  of  his 
position  was  now  so  fully  recognised  that  he  had 
nothing  apparently  to  fear  from  any  sort  of  competi- 
tion ;  yet  it  is  a  fact  that  he  only  held  his  own  by 
great  and  constant  exertion,  and  he  never  once  was 
free  from  strong  and  even  dangerous  rivalry.  A 
versatile  craftsman,  it  would  have  been  difficult  to 
find  a  single  artist  who  could  paint  a  picture  or  a 
portrait  with  more  taste  or  skill  than  himself.     But 

VOL.   II.  B 


2  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.         [Chap.  I. 

there  were  branclies  of  his  profession  in  which  he 
probably  confessed  his  own  inferiority,  and  we  cannot 
be  sure  that  he  would  not  have  been  able  to  name,  at 
least,  one  Venetian  who  surpassed  him  in  the  practice 
of  fresco.  There  were  moments  too  when  he  would 
have  admitted  that  there  was  a  limit  to  the  extension 
of  his  business  as  a  painter,  a  limit  at  once  defined  by 
his  own  powers  of  production  and  the  ability  of  a 
wealthy  public  to  absorb  the  produce  of  his  pencil  at 
the  price  which  he  felt  inclined  to  put  upon  it.  Again 
he  would  have  to  choose  between  the  sources  of 
income  derivable  from  composed  pieces  or  likenesses. 
At  the  period  with  which  we  are  now  concerned  he 
neglected  composition  to  some  extent  as  being  less 
profitable  than  portraits,  and  this  gave  him  a  certain 
one-sidedness  which  did  not  escape  general  observation. 
The  Venetian  public  seeing  that  in  five  years  he  had 
not  brought  out  more  than  three  or  four  pictures, 
whilst  his  portraits  or  portrait  canvasses  nearly 
reached  the  number  of  forty,  grew  impatient  of  his 
exclusiveness.  The  government  which  had  besought 
him  in  vain  to  complete  one  subject  at  least  for  the 
Council  Hall  looked  round  for  a  cheaper,  more  pliant, 
and  more  accommodating  artist.  Gritti,  the  Doge, 
whose  countenance  and  support  had  been  Titian's 
mainstay,  grew  old  or  wearied  of  defending  him  ;  and 
the  result  was  the  coming  of  Pordenone. 

Pordenone  had  spent  most  of  his  life  as  a  monu- 
mental draughtsman.  Scarce  a  town  or  a  village  in 
Friuli  could  be  named  in  which  he  had  not  covered  an 
aisle,  a  chancel,  or  a  choir  with  frescoes.     In  Venice 


Chap.  L]  TITIAN   AND   PORDENONE. 


itseK  he  had  decorated  the  whole  of  one  church  and 
the  cloisters  of  another  with  compositions  celebrated 
for  the  talent  with  which  they  were  executed.  But 
his  settlement  in  the  capital  had  long  been  deferred, 
because  the  freedom  of  a  wandering  life  or  the  charms 
of  a  country  residence  had  always  had  more  attrac- 
tions for  him  than  the  confinement  of  a  city.  Perhaps 
also  Pordenone  was  ill  satisfied  to  hold  rank  after 
Titian,  to  whom  he  succumbed  in  1527;  still  less 
pleased  after  1533  to  think  that  he  was  socially 
inferior  to  his  rival,  who  had  risen  to  the  statics  of  a 
count  of  the  Roman  Empire.  But  after  1528  Porde- 
none's  fame  had  greatly  increased.  It  extended  far 
beyond  the  alpine  regions  which  surrounded  his  home 
— ^to  Mantua,  Cremona,  and  Genoa.  It  was  no  longer 
based  exclusively  on  skill  in  fresco  painting,  but  on 
solid  acquirements  in  every  branch  of  art.  Socially 
the  gap  which  lay  between  him  and  Titian  had  been 
filled  by  a  patent  of  nobility  purchased  or  begged  from 
the  king  of  Hungary.  Besides  this,  Pordenone's 
residence  in  the  hiUs  had  been  made  intolerable  by  a 
family  feud,  and — ^last  not  least — Venice,  as  a  market 
for  artistic  production,  had  acquired  an  importance 
hitherto  unforeseen.  During  a  period  of  comparative 
quiet,  that  portion  of  the  public  receipts  which  the 
government  of  Venice  was  authorized  to  expend  on 
the  preservation  of  state  buildings  had  been  allowed 
to  accumulate.  It  was  asserted  in  a  minute  of  Decem- 
ber, 1533,  that  the  sum  set  apart  fot  the  keep  and 
repair  of  the  public  palace  had  risen  to  7000  ducats, 
though,  two  years  before,  1700  ducats  had  been  spent 

B  2 


TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.         [Chap.  I. 


in  rebuilding  the  library  called  in  after  years  the  Sala 
del  Scrutinio  or  Sala  d'Oro.*      Looking  round  for 
artists  to  adorn  this  large  and  noble  hall,  which  lay  at 
right  angles  to  that  of  Great  Council,  the  sages  had  to 
determine  whether  they  should  employ  the  facile  hand 
of  Bonifacio  or  Paris  Bordone,  or  trust  to  the  un- 
certain promises  of  Titian.     At  the  critical  moment 
Pordenone  made  his  appearance  at  Venice;  and  his 
services  were  instantly  accepted.     The  library  had 
been  restored  architecturally  by  Serlio  and  Sansovino 
under  the   superintendence   of  Antonio  Scarpagnini, 
builder  of  the  Fondaco  de*  Tedeschi.t    All  these  artists 
were  friends  of  Titian,  and,  we  may  believe,  hostile  to 
Pordenone,  yet  they  were  compelled  to  witness  the 
favour  extended  to  Titian's  rival.     Scarpagnini,  when 
ordered  to  pay  ten  ducats  to  Pordenone  for  preparing 
the  decoration  of  the  library  ceiling,  declined  to  per- 
form the  duty.     The  Council  of  Ten  respected  the 
feeling  which  dictated  his  conduct,  but  not  the  less 
continued  to  patronize  the  painter  of  their  choice.  J 
The  library  was  so  far  advanced  in  March,  1537,  that 
the  Council  of  Ten  entered  a  special  minute  on  the 
journals  to  mark  its  approval  of  Pordenone's  work. 
Not  satisfied  with  this  negative  rebuff,  it  determined 
also  to  promote  Pordenone  at  Titian's  expense,  and  on 
the  23rd  of  June  it  issued  the  following  hard  and 
eigniiicant  decree  : 


*  Lorenzi,  u. «.  pp.  204  &  213. 

t  Compare  Serlio's  own  state- 
ment in  *^  Begole  general!  di  ar- 
chitettura,"  fol.  Yen,  1537,  Ub. 


4,  c.  xi.  p.  Ixx,  with  Lorenzi,  u.  s, 
pp.  194  &  213. 

X  See  the  details  of  these  trans- 
actions in  Lorenzi,  u.  s.  p.  213. 


Ciup.  I.]        TITIAN   LOSES   THE    SANSEEIA. 


"  Since  December,  1516,  Titian  has  been  in  posses- 
sion of  a  broker's  patent,  with  a  salary  varying  from 
118  to  120  ducats  a  year,  on  condition  that  he  shall 
paint  the  canvas  of  the  land  fight  on  the  side  of  the 
Hall  of  Great  Council  looking  out  on  the  Grand 
Canal.  Since  that  time  he  has  held  his  patent  and 
drawn  his  salary  without  performing  his  promise.  It 
is  proper  that  this  state  of  things  should  cease,  and 
accordingly  Titian  is  called  upon  to  refund  all  that  he 
has  received  for  the  time  in  which  he  has  done  no 
work."* 

Preparations  were  then  made  to  install  Pordenone 
as  a  rival  to  Vecelli ;  and  on  the  22nd  of  November, 
1538,  an  order  was  issued  appointing  Giovanni  An- 
tonio da  Pordenone  to  paint  the  picture  between  the 
pilasters  six  and  seven  in  the  HaU  of  Great  Council  — 
the  space  next  to  that  reserved  to  Titian's.t  These 
proceedings  of  the  council,  however  severe  they  may 
have  appeared  to  the  person  most  concerned,  were  not 
without  immediate  eflFect.  They  induced  Titian  to 
think  at  once  of  his  promise,  and  four  months  after 
the  issue  of  the  decree  against  him  Aretino  wrote  the 
letter  of  November  9,  1537,  already  quoted  in  these 
pages,  in  which,  after  describing  the  picture  of  the 
Annunciation  sent  to  the  Empress,  he  spoke  with 
emphatic  praise  of  that  which  his  friend  was  painting 
in  the  Palace  of  St.  Mark.| 

The  state  of  irritation  in  which  Titian  was  placed 


*  See  antea,   and  Lorenzi,  p. 
219. 
t  Lorenzi,  p.  223. 


X  Aretino  to  Titian,  Nov.  9, 
1537,  in  Lettere  di  M.  P.  Are- 
tino, i.  p.  180.  v 


^ 


6  TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.         [Chap.  I. 

by  the  rivalry  of  Pordenone  and  the  displeasure  of  the 
council  may  be  easily  conceived:  We  can  fancy  his 
despair  at  being  asked  to  refund  the  unattainable  sum 
of  1800  ducats,  and  obliged  to  remain,  if  but  tem- 
porarily, deprived  of  his  annual  salary.  We  can 
picture  to  ourselves  Pordenone,  who  was  no  stranger 
to  the  settlement  of  quarrels  by  arms,  believing  that 
he  too  might  be  waylaid  and  killed,  if  not  on  his 
defence,  and  he  might  think  it  fortunate  that  the 
patent  of  nobility  which  he  had  recently  acquired 
should  entitle  him  to  wear  the  sword  that  would 
allow  him  to  pink  his  antagonist.  But  nothing  in 
Titian^s  conduct,  then  or  after,  appears  to  have  justi- 
fied his  adversary's  precautions.  Titian  redressed  the 
wrong  which  he  had  inflicted  on  himself  by  diligently 
completing  the  battle-piece,  which  Vasari  declared  to 
have  been  the  finest  and  best  that  was  ever  placed  in 
the  Hall.*  Though  a  tardy  atonement,  it  was  the 
fittest  that  he  could  make ;  and  we  contemplate, 
even  now,  with  a  sigh  the  loss  which  the  destruction 
of  this  composition  inflicted  on  the  Arts.  In  copies, 
drawings,  and  a  print  which  have  casually  been  pre- 
served, we  gain  a  fair  knowledge  of  the  groups  which 
Titian  threw  upon  his  canvas,  but  no  notion  of  the 
splendid  execution  which  Sansovino  attempted  to 
describe  in  the  following  words  : 

"With  surprising  industry  and  art  Titian  repre- 
sented the  Battle  of  Spoleto  in  Umbria,  where — conspi- 
cuous above  all  others — a  captain,  awake  on  a  sudden 


♦  Yasari,  xiii.  29. 


Chap.  I.]  CADORE   AND   SPOLETO.  7 

to  the  noise  of  a  fight,  was  armed  by  a  page.  On  the 
fiont  of  his  breastplate  there  shone  with  incredible 
reality  the  lights  and  reflections  of  arms  and  the 
clothes  of  the  page.  There  was  s,  horse  of  extreme 
b«uiy  and  a  youth  [a  girl]  rising  from  the  depth  of  a 
ditch  to  its  banks^  in  whose  face  the  utmost  terror 
was  depicted.  And  beneath  this  piece  there  was  no 
inscription."  * 

It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  all  the  pictures  in 
the  Council  Hall  had  inscriptions,  and  that  the 
al^sence  of  such  an  appendage  to  Titian^s  work  must 
have  had  a  cause.  Beneath  the  fresco  which  Titian 
covered,  there  stood  as  far  back  as  1425  a  sentence 
-which  proved  that  it  was  meant  to  commemorate  an 
Imperial  victory : 

«  URBS  SPOLETANA  QUE  SOLA  PAPE  FAVEBAT  OBSESSA 
ET  VICT^  AB  IMPEEATOEE  DELETUB."t 

Why,  the  public  might  have  asked,  was  this  sen- 
tence now  omitted  ? 

Doge  Gritti  had  always  been  known  as  a  partisan  of 
France.  He  probably  asked  Titian  to  produce  a  pic- 
ture which  should  prefigure  the  capture  of  Spoleto, 
but  illustrate  an  action  won  by  Venice  against  the 
Kaiser;  and  Titian  doubtless  chose  the  battle  of 
Cadore  as  one  which,  on  account  of  his  knowledge  of 
the  locality,  he  could  paint  better  than  any  other.  It 
was  not  desirable  to  ofiend  the  partisans  of  the 
Emperor,  who  ruled  the  destinies  of  Italy  by  too  open 


*  Sansoyino,  Yen.  Descr.,  p.  327.  t  Lorenzi,  u.  8.  p.  61. 


8  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.         [Chap.  I. 


an  exhibition  of  Venetian  pride.*  Titian  therefore 
veiled  the  composition  discreetly  :  he  displayed  in  Lis 
composition  the  banner  of  the  Empire,  and  the  cogni- 
sance of  the  Comari,  rather  than  the  winged  lion  of 
St.  Mark;  he  dressed  Maximilian's  soldiers  in  tie 
garb  of  Romans,  and  refrained  from  giving  prominence 
to  the  characteristic  troops  of  the  Republic.  The  dis- 
tance which  simulated  the  Castle  of  Spoleto  wis 
really  the  crag  of  Cadore.  The  battle  thus  remained 
to  the  initiated  a  symbol  of  Venetian  heroism  and 
success,  whilst  it  might  still  appear  to  the  ignorant  a* 
victory  without  political  meaning.  Presuming  all 
this  to  be  true,  it  is  amusing  to  register  the  reticences 
and  assumptions  of  contemporary  writers.  Ridolfi, 
having  no  precautions  to  observe,  revealed  the  purpose 
of  the  artist.t  Critics  of  the  time  were  more  wary. 
Venetian  chronicles  only  spoke  of  the  "land  fight.' 
Dolce  curtly  talked  of  "  the  battle ;  "  f  and  Sansovino 
aflfected  to  believe  that  Titian  represented  "  the  cap- 
ture of  Spoleto."§  Vasari,  deceived  by  the  banter  of 
the  Venetians,  was  alone  in  the  belief  that  the  Signors 
had  published  a  brilliant  record  of  their  own  humilia- 
tion ;  and  he  wrote,  in  apparent  good  faith,  that 
Titian's  picture   represent<jd   the    "  rout   of  Chiara- 


*  It  was  a  moot  point  whether  '  Paruta,  Storia  Veneta,  torn.  iii. 


Venice  in  1537  should  exchange 
the  alliance  of  the  Emperor  far 
that  of  France,  and  the  matter 
was  seriously  disoussed  in  that 
year  in  the  Venetian  senate.  See 
a  speech  by  Marcantonio    Cor- 


naro,  in  favour  of   Charles,  in  !  827 


of  Storici  Ven.  1718,  lib.  Tiii.  p. 
669. 

t  Bidolfi,  Marav.  i.  214. 

X  Lorenzi,  p.  219 ;  Dolce,  Dia- 
log©, 27,  67. 

§  Sansovino,    Ven.    Descr.    p» 


Chap.  I,]  BATTLE    OF   CADORE.  9 

dadda,"  *  thus  substituting  the  action  which  Alviano 
lost  for  that  which  Alviano  won.  It  was  reserved  to 
Ticozzi's  defective  historical  insight  to  assign  to  Titian 
two  battles  instead  of  one.t  If,  after  this,  we  still 
should  doubt,  an  old  canvas  at  Florence  and  a  print 
by  Fontana  would  show  that  Titian  meant  to  paint 
the  field  of  Tai,  where  the  troops  of  Maximilian  were 
overthrown  in  sight  of  the  Castle  of  Cadore.  And 
thus  the  master,  who  owed  his  knighthood  and  pen- 
sions to  Charles  the  Fifth,  is  seen  without  compunction 
recording  the  defeat  of  Charles'  predecessor,  and,  as 
Aretino  says,  doing  honour  to  the  "  Signors.'' 

Vasari  describes  the  contest  truly  as  a  r)iel^e  of 
soldiers  in  a  storm  of  rain,  but  he  adds  that  Titian 
took  the  whole  scene  from  life,  which  we  can  scarcely 
interpret  to  mean  that  the  painter  was  present  at  the 
fight.  We  should  rather  think  that  the  landscapes  and 
the  figures  were  separately  drawn  from  nature,  and 
this  again  Avould  confirm,  if  confirmation  were  needed, 
the  story  of  Eidolfi.  But  Titian,  as  we  shall  see, 
was  not  so  foolish  as  to  depict  one  episode  of  a 
celebrated  encounter.  He  was  too  well  acquainted 
with  the  locality  and  history,  not  to  be  aware  that  its 
varied  incidents  could  scarcely  be  seen  from  a  single 
point.  But  he  thought  a  painter  might  take  the 
liberty  of  composing  the  subject  so  as  to  show  the 
whole  action  at  once,  and  we  shall  presently  see  how 
he  succeeded.  Shortly  stated,  the  main  features  of 
the  battle  are  these.     Cadore  and  its  castle  havinor 


*  Yasari,  xiii.  p.  28.  t  Ticozzi,  Veoelli,  pp.  64,  114. 


10  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.         [Chap.  I. 

fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Emperor's  generals, 
Girolamo  Savorgnano  was  ordered  to  close  the  upper 
passes,  Alviano  to  occupy  the  lower  defiles  of  the 
Vjalley  of  the  Piave,  and  Comaro  the  provveditore  gave 
his  consent  to  the  scheme.  Alviano  then  concerted 
measures  with  his  colleagues,  and  surprised  the 
passage  of  the  Boite  at  Venas.  Having  posted  his 
troops  in  Valle,  and  on  the  ground  that  stretches  from 
Valle  to  Monte  Zucco,  he  sent  a  detachment  round  to 
his  left  to  seize  Nebbiii,  with  orders  to  fall  on  the 
flank  of  the  Imperialists  as  they  advanced  from 
Cadore.  In  these  positions  Alviano  awaited  the 
enemy's  attack  The  chroniclers  of  the  fight  say  that 
the  Emperor's  force  was  allowed  to  fling  back  the 
outlying  troops  of  the  Venetians.  But ''  near  a  small 
torrent,"  "  at  the  first  house  of  Valle,"  Alviano  turned 
and  took  the  offensive.  This  is  the  moment  depicted 
on  Titian's  foreground. 

It  has  been  supposed  by  the  writer  of  a  charming 
notice  of  the  battle-field,  that  an  arched  bridge 
spanning  "  the  torrent "  in  Titian's  picture  is  that  still 
existing  over  the  Boite  near  Venas,  which  by  an 
artistic  licence  is  made  a  leading  feature  in  the  com- 
position,^ but  this  is  probably  a  mistake,  as  may 
presently  be  shown.   . 

Titian's  original  canvas  perished  in  the  fire  of  1577, 
but  a  complete  view  of  the  whole  composition  may  be 
obtained  from  the  contemporary  print  by  FontMa. 
Its  colours  and  shadows  are  found  in  the  mutilated 


*  Cadore,  by  Josiali  Gilbert,  «. «.  p.  182. 


Chap.  I.]  FONTANA'S   PRINT.  11 


copy  at  Florence,  its  admirable  detail  in  a  drawing  by 
Eubens.  A  stream  with  steep  and  rocky  banks,  forms 
the  centre  of  the  foreground.  To  the  right,  half  seen 
above  the  edge  of  the  picture,  a  general,  bare-headed, 
but  armed  in  steel,  stands  resting  his  hand  on  a  long 
cane,  whilst  his  page  in  a  slashed  dress  ties  his 
shoulder-laces.  Close  in  rear  of  these  personages  a 
field-piece  stands  unlimbered,  and  a  girl,  who  seems 
to  have  crossed  the  water,  struggles  up  with  terror 
depicted  in  her  face  from  the  depths  below.  On  the 
higher  ground  to  the  right,  the  Venetian  knights 
with  flying  pennons  and  the  Cornaro  banner — three 
lions  passant — unfurled,  moves  into  action ;  two 
drummers  beating,  one  trumpeter  sounding  a  charge. 
A  groom  with  difficulty  holds  the  general's  led-horse. 
Across  a  light  stone  bridge  which  spans  the  banks  of 
the  stream,  the  head  files  of  the  Venetian  array  have 
charged  in  twos,  and  are  still  charging  the  Germans, 
whose  cavalry  and  men-at-arms  are  falling  together  in 
the  "ni&lee.  Two  Venetian  knights  are  galloping  across 
the  bridge,  six  others  are  on  the  left  bank  cutting  down 
the  enemy  who  resists  with  obstinacy  yet  with  loss.  The 
left-hand  comer  of  the  picture  is  filled  by  the  figure 
of  an  Imperialist  soldier,  whose  horse  is  stumbling 
down  the  bank  of  the  stream,  whilst  his  rider  is 
thrown  sideways  from  the  saddle,  to  which  his  legs 
still  cling  with  spasmodic  energy.  His  sword  is  in 
his  hand,  but  his  left  arm  is  thrown  up  convulsively, 
the  head  forced  back  by  the  shock  of  tlie  lance 
piercing  the  ribs ;  and  the  reins  fly  loosely  in  the  air 
as  horse   and  man  are  hurled   to  destruction*      In 


12  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFB  AND  TIMES.         [Chap.  I. 


Kubens'  drawing,  the  marveUous  foreshortening  of  this 
figure,  the  outline  of  the  forms  in  their  tension  and  agony, 
are  admirable ;  equally  so  those  of  a  soldier  behind,  who 
stands  with  his  blade  ready  to  defend  himself,  and 
presents  a  brawny  back  and  arms  to  the  spectator. 
Admirable,  too,  in  this  drawing  is  the  knight  who  has 
just  crossed  the  bridge,  and  tearing  on  at  full  gallop, 
stoops  to  his  opponent,  who  falls  headlong  into  the 
river.      The  left  bank  is  strewn  right  down  to  the 
water  with  the  bodies  of  the  dead  and  dying,  whilst 
through  the  arch  one  sees  a  soldier  trying  to  climb  the 
face  of  a  perpendicular  rock.   In  the  field  of  Tai  beyond 
are   two   distinct  bodies   of   troops,   one   in  motion 
nearest  to  the  bridge,  another  in  reserve  at  the  foot  of 
a  spur,  which  gradually  rises  to  form  the  crag  on 
which  the  castle  of  Cadore  is  built.     Deep  ravines  on 
the  right  and  left  part  the  crag  from  the  surrounding 
hills,  and  flames  and  smoke  are  darting  from  a  house, 
and  from  the  more  distant  battlements  of  the  fortress. 
AVe  can  fix  with  tolerable  certainty  the  spot  upon 
which  Titian  made  his  sketch  of  the  foreground  for 
the  "  Battle  of  Cadore."     The  road  which  leads  from 
Valle  to  Tai  crosses  the  beds  of  two  torrents  which 
take  their  rise  in  the  neighbouring  mountains.     These 
two  torrents  fall  into  one  bed,  south  of  the  road,  and 
taking  the  name  of  Kuseco,  run  between  very  steep 
banks    to   the   Boite.     The  old   road  from  Valle  to 
Perarolo  crosses  the  Ruseco  over  a  wooden  covered 
bridge,  which  spans  a  chasm  of  some  depth  ;  and  here 
we  may  think  Titian  imagined  the   arch   of  stone 
which  is  a  conspicuous  feature  of  his  picture.     From 


Chap.  L]  THE  EUSECO.  13 


the  bank  to  the  right  of  the  stream  one  can  see  the 
bridge,  and  the  precipices  over  which  it  is  built,  the 
side  of  Monte  Zucco,  and  the  road  to  Perarolo. 
Behind  the  bridge  the  "  Pian  di  Tai,"  the  very  field 
on  which  the  action  was  ultimately  won.  Eising  from 
the  Pian  di  Tai,  the  spurs  are  cleft  to  form  the  range 
of  San  Dionisio,  in  rear  of  which  the  peak  of  Antelao 
soars.  To  the  left,  on  a  height,  is  Valle.  Titian 
having  chosen  the  bridge  on  the  Ruseco  as  the  point, 
"  near  the  torrent  at  the  first  house  of  Valle,''  where 
the  first  onset  was  made,  takes  the  licence  of  ignoring 
the  natural  background  of  Tai,  but  substitutes  for  it 
that  of  the  crag  of  Cadore,  as  it  might  be  seen  from 
other  points  of  the  battle-field.  He  paints  the  action 
in  its  various  phases  and  general  character,  as  if  all 
its  parts  were  visible  from  one  spot  He  keeps 
enough  of  the  reality  to  enable  a  Cadorine  to 
recognise  th^  action,  but  not  enough  to  enlighten 
those  whom  the  Venetian  government  might  wish  to 
convince  that  the  scene  was  the  hill  of  Spoleto.  The 
deception  is  kept  up  by  ingenious  arrangements  of 
detaiL  The  Emperor's  troops,  we  saw,  are  dressed  as 
Roman  soldiers;  their  banners  are  those  of  the 
empire.  The  troops  on  the  other  side  are  not  under 
the  winged  lion  of  St.  Mark,  but  under  a  banner 
which  bears  the  three  passant  lions  of  the  Comari. 
No  snow  conceals  the  land,  no  dolomites  arc  visible. 
There  are  no  signs  of  the  Stradiots,  the  nimble  cavalry 
of  the  Venetians.*    The  prominent  forces  of  Venice 


*  They  were  easily  recognized  by  their  cylinder  hats. 


14  TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TlMEa         [Ohap.  I. 


are  all  in  amour,  their  infantry  is  thrown  back  into 
the  middle  distance.  We  noted  that  Eidolfi  boldly- 
called  the  fight  by  its  real  name.  Fontana's  print 
always  has  borne  the  title  of  "Titian's  Battle  of 
Cadore."  Burgkmair  designed  a  woodcut  for  the 
romance  of  the  "  Weiss  Kunig/'  in  which  he  repre- 
sented, long  before  Titian,  the  action  of  Pian  di  Tai, 
It  is  curious  to  observe  how  closely  the  landscape 
resembles  that  which  adorned  the  public  palace  of 
Venice.  Having  nothing  to  conceal,  Burgkmair 
shows  the  Stradiots  tilting  at  the  Germans.  The 
winged  lion  of  St.  Mark  is  the  standard  of  Venice. 
Cadore  crag  is  in  the  middle  of  the  background* 
The  castle  crowns  the  hill,  under  the  flag  of  the 
empire;  and  fire  has  not  singed  its  walls.  The 
torrent  and  bridge  are  not  component  parts  of  the 
picture,  but  the  general  lie  of  the  ground  and  rocks  is 
that  of  Fontaua's  print. 

We  noted,  besides  the  print,  a  copy  of  Titian's 
picture  at  Florence.  This  is  a  sketch  on  canvas, 
repeating  on  a  small  scale  part  of  the  master's  com- 
position. Eubens'  drawing  of  the  principal  group  is 
preserved  in  the  Albertina  at  Vienna,  and  was 
probably  copied  from  the  original  registered  in  the 
great  Fleming's  collection,  as  **  a  draught  of  horses  by 
Titian."  *  The  copy  is  but  a  transcript  in  Eubens' 
style  of  outlines  by  a  still  greater  artist,  but  we  may 
yet  discern  in  it  the  truth,  correctness,  and  energetic 
design  of  Titian.     It  enables  us  to  admire  the  com- 


*  See  Babens'  inventory  in  Sainsbury,  u.  s.  p.  236. 


Chap.  I.]    COPY  OP  THE  BATTLE  OF  CADOEE.  15 


bined  perfection  of  appropriate  grouping  and  indi- 
vidual  action,  carried  to  surprising  completeness  in  the 
splendid  figure  of  the  falling  horse  and  man  in  the 
left  foreground,  in  which  the  weight  and  power  con- 
centrated in  the  foreshortenings  of  the  "  Peter  Martyr " 
are  apparent,  allied  to  more  searching  contour.  Here 
we  recognise  a  force  akin  to  that  of  Michael  Angelo, 
conjoined  with  that  realistic  boldness  which  Tintoretto 
so  often,  yet  so  vainly,  strove  to  emulate.  Strange 
that  the  same  artist  who  preserved  the  group  of 
Lionardo's  **  Battle  of  Anghiari "  should  also  have 
rescued  from  total  loss  one  group  of  the  *' Battle  of 
Cadore."  Strange  that  in  both  fragments  we  should 
find  the  weapons  and  dress  of  the  Roman  age — 
matters  familiar  indeed  to  Titian,  who  was  studying 
the  antique  at  this  time  to  realise  his  portraits  of  the 
Caesars,  but  striking  in  Lionardo  as  contrasting  with 
his  tender  delineations  of  Madonnas,  deep-meaning 
in  their  sublime  serenity  and  eternal  smile.  In 
Fontana's  print  we  observe  Titian's  surprising  art  as 
a  composer,  his  rare  skill  in  depicting  the  stem 
reality  and  varied  expression  of  a  hand-to-hand 
conflict.  His  cleverness  in  detail  is  only  equalled  by 
the  grandeur  of  his  conception  in  the  spring  and 
motion  of  horses.  Looking  at  this  noble  display  as  a 
whole,  we  are  struck  by  its  relation  to  the  "  Battle  of 
Constantine"  at  the  Vatican,  which,  though  carried 
out  by  Giulio  Romano,  was  designed  by  Raphael.  We 
concede  to  Sanzio  more  simplicity  of  arrangement,  a  - 
more  measured  distribution,  more  studied  outline, 
greater  elegance  in  figures  and  drapery.     But  Titian 


16 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.         [Chap.  I. 


is  second  to  none  in  fancy  and  appropriate  action, 
whilst  he  is  more  naturally,  true  and  convincing  by 
reason  of  his  colour  and  massive  balance  of  light  and 
shade.  Of  this  last  quality  we  have  evidence  in  the 
copy  at  the  Uffizi,  which  has  long  been  considered  a 
sketch  by  Titian  himself, — a  copy  which,  in  spite  of 
its  imperfections  and  hasty  execution,  still  preserves 
the  tints  as  well  as  the  lights  and  shades  of  the 
original  picture.^^ 

We  should  think  this  canvas  a  copy,  not  alone 
because  it  is  drawn  and  painted  without  the  mastery 
of  Titian,  but  because  its  details  are  not  those  of  a 
preliminary  sketch,  and  because  it  comprises  a  part 
only  of  Titian's  composition.  So  great  a  master 
would  never  have  thrust  back  the  prominent  figures 
of  the  general  and  his  page  to  the  edge  of  the  canvas, 
nor  confined  himself  to  the  indication  of  the  trumpeter 
and  drummers,  and  leading  files  of  the  Venetian 
array.  He  would  have  given  to  his  sketch  the  grand 
lines  which  distinguish  Fontana's  print.  A  copyist, 
without  feeling  for  the  laws  of  composition,  might, 
and  probably  did  mutilate  the  master's  design  for 
some  purpose  of  his  own.     The  same  mutilation  and 


*  Uffizi,  No.  609.  SmaU  sketch 
on  canyas,  four  feet  square,  omit- 
ting  no  less  than  one  entire  figure 
of  a  knight  on  horseback,  and 
eight  others  in  rear  of  it;  aU 
forming  part  of  the  Venetian 
troop  on  the  right  side  of  Titian's 
composition,  as  shown  in  Fon- 
tana's  print  We  may  note  some 
of  the  colours  in  the  Uffizi  copy. 


The  page  is  in  red ;  the  groom,  in 
yeUow,  leads  a  white  horse.  The 
standard  of  the  troops  in  the 
middle  ground  is  striped  in  rod 
and  white.  The  trumpeter  wears 
a  red  dress.  The  horse  of  the 
foremost  rider  on  the  bridge  is 
white ;  the  banner  of  the  empire 
white,  embroidered  with  a  black 
eagle. 


Chap.  L] 


DRAWINGS  OP  THE  BATTLE, 


17 


similar  defects  mark  a  drawing  which  the  late  Dr. 
Wellesley,  Principal  of  New  Inn  Hall  at  Oxford, 
fondly  assigned  t6  Titian;  and  we  might  conclude 
that  drawing  and  canvas  were  the  labour  of  one  pair 
of  hands,  but  that  some  details,  such  as  a  Stradiot  in 
the  left  side  of  the  former,  are  not  to  be  found  in  the 
latter.**  There  is  but  one  artist  in  the  pictorial 
annals  of  Venice  whose  name  is  mentioned  in  con- 
nection with  a  copy  of  the  "Battle  of  Cadore."  Ridolfi 
states  that  Leonardo  Corona,  who  studied  the  works 
of  all  the  great  Venetians,  copied  the  masterpiece  in 
the  Hall  of  Great  Council,  and  sold  it  to  his  colleague, 
Aliense,  who  sent  it  to  Verona,  where  it  passed  for  an 
original,  t  It  would  be  rash  to  infer  that  this  copy 
was  used  for  the  production  of  Fontana's  print.  We 
are  unfortunately  ignorant  of  every  detail  respecting 
the  life  of  an  engraver  of  whom  but  one  plate  is 
known  to  exist. 

Italian  historians  were  fond  of  attributing  the 
victory  of  Cadore  to  Giorgio  Cornaro,  the  praweditore, 
whom  the  Venetian  government  appointed  to  control 
Alviano  in  the  exercise  of  supreme  command.  Titian 
appears  to  have  given  pictorial  expression  to  this  feel- 
ing, which  Eidolfi  refused  to  countenance.!    Not  only 


*  This  diawing  passed  through 
the  Lawrence  and  Esdaile  Col- 
lections, and  now  belongs  to  Mr. 
Gilbert,  who  purchased  it  at  Dr. 
'WeUesley's  sale,  together  with  a 
study  for  the  horse  and  fiJling 
rider,  aseigned  to  Titian,  but  ob- 
yiously  by  some  other  draughts- 
man.   Compare  Qilbert's  Cadore, 

vol*  II. 


pp.  185,  186. 

t  Bidolfi,  Maray.  ii.  p.  289. 
The  same  author,  however,  af- 
firms: ''Di  questa  istoria  molte 
oopie  si  sono  vedute,  ma  scarsa- 
mente  rappresentano  la  bellezza 
deU'  originale."  (Marav.  i.  215.) 

t  Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  225. 


18 


TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.         [Chap.  I. 


the  banner  is  that  of  Comaro,  but  the  general, 
whose  laces  the  page  is  tjdng  in  the  foreground  of  the 
battle,  is  another  man  than  Alviano.  Some  years 
after  this  brave  soldier  died,  a  monument  was  erected 
to  his  memory  in  the  church  of  San  Stefano  at  Venice, 
and  the  quaint  ugliness  of  his  ungainly  form  was  thus 
handed  down  to  posterity.  In  stature  short  and  stout, 
his  head  was  disfigured  by  unpleasant  pinguidity,  his 
nose  was  mutilated  by  scars,  his  hair  was  long  and 
parted  in  the  middle,  falling  in  limp  masses  over  the 
shoulders,  and  his  chin  and  lip  were  free  ftx)m  every 
trace  of  beard.  In  Titian's  battle  the  general  is  bearded, 
and  his  head  is  covered  with  a  short  shock  of  curly 
hair.  His  person  is  tall  and  stately,  his  features 
handsome  and  manly,  all  distinctly  pointing  to  Giorgio 
Cornaro,  of  whom  a  contemporary  panegyrist  said : — 
"  Quam  enim  decora  forma  fuit ;  quanta  oris  majes- 
tate  !  qua  totius  corporis  pulchritudine."  * 

Nor  is  it  to  be  forgotten  that  a  portrait  of  Titian's 
best  time  exists  which  bears  some  trace  of  a  likeness 
to  the  general  of  "  the  battle,"  and  on  the  back  of  the 
canvas  are  the  words: — "Georgius  Cornelius  firater 
Catterinae  Cipri  et  Hierusalem  Reginse."  Titian 
had  numerous  opportunities  of  meeting  Giorgio 
Comaro,  who  lived  till  1527,  and  played  an  important 
part  in  Venetian  politics.  His  form  was  conspicuous 
in  the  canvas  which  Titian  first  painted  for  the  Hall 
of  Great  Council,     It  is  probable  that  the  portrait,  to 


♦  "  CaroK  CappeUii  in  funere 
Georgii  Gomelii  Catharinee  Oypri 
Beginee  fratrig  Oratio;"  in  Au- 


gnstini  Valorii  opnscolam,  &o.^ 
4to,  Patav.  1719,  p.  223. 


Chap.  I.]  OIOEGIO  CORNAEO.  19 

which  allusion  has  been  made,  was  executed  about 
1522,  when  Comaro  was  sixty-eight  years  old,  but 
that  the  painter  reproduced  the  features  of  an  earlier 
time,*  for  which  he  had  ample  facility  from  his  long 
and  untiring  practice. 

We  cannot  otherwise  explain  the  conflicting  evidence 
of  style,  which  shows  that  the  portrait  was  executed 
about  1522,  of  an  age  which  proves  that  the  man  de- 
picted is  not  more  than  fifty  years  old ;  of  an  inscrip- 
tion which  tells  that  the  person  portrayed  is  Giorgio 
Comaro.  Titian  never  produced  a  finer  picture  than 
that  which  now  adorns  the  gallery  of  Castle  Howard. 
Comaro  stands  as  large  as  life  at  a  window,  and  his 
frame  is  seen  to  the  hips.  His  head,  three-quarters  to 
the  right,  is  raised  in  a  quick  and  natural  way,  and 
his  fine  manly  features  axe  enframed  in  short  chestnut 
hair,  and  a  well-trimmed  beard  of  the  same  colour.  r  ^^ 

On  his  gloved  left  hand  a  falcon  without  a  hood  is  6^^ 
resting,  of  which  he  is  grasping  the  breast.  He  looks 
at  the  bird,  which  is  still  chained  to  his  finger,  as  if 
preparing  to  fly  it ;  a  sword  hangs  to  his  waist,  which 
is  bound  with  a  crimson  sash ;  a  fur  collar  falls  over  a 
brown  hunting  coat,  and  a  large  white  liver-spotted 
hound  shows  his  head  above  the  parapet.  There  is  no 
sign  of  a  touch  in  this  beautiful  work,  which  is  modelled 
with  all  the  richness  of  tone  and  smoothness  of  surface 


Gomaro's  panegyrist  says  he  I  Carol!  GappeUii  Oratio,  «.  $,   p. 


saoeeeded  bis  &ther  at  the  age 
of  twenty-five.  Maroo  Cornaro, 
GioTgio^s  father,  was  hnried  on 
Uio  6th  of  September,  1479.     See 


1)18,  and  Petri  Oontareni  in  Fu- 
nere,  Marci  Gomelii  Oratio,  lb 
p.  202. 

c2 


20 


TITIAN :  mS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  I. 


which  distinguish  polished  flesh.  The  attitude  ifi 
natural,  the  complexion  is  warm  and  embrowned  by 
sun ;  and  every  part  is  blended  with  the  utmost 
finish  without  producing  want  of  flexibility.* 

Tradition  points  to  another  general  who  commanded 
in  the  Cadorine  war  as  one  of  Titian's  sitters,  and 
Girolamo  Savorgnano,  who  had  this  honour,  deserved 
.to  be  portrayed  by  so  great  a  master,  if  only  for  the 
grandeur  of  the  figure  which  he  presents  id  the  annals 
of  Venetian  diplomacy  and  war.  Yet  a  portrait  of 
"  Savorgnano,"  which  adorns  the  Bankes  Ck)llection,  is 
not  certainly  that  of  Girolamo,  who  died  in  Friuli  on  the 
30th  of  March,  1529  ;  and  were  it  even  so,  can  hardly 
have  been  executed  as  early  as  1537.  It  represents  a 
man  of  sixty,  in  a  dark  green  pelisse,  with  a  fur  collar 
and  sleeves,  and  a  red  stole  falling  across  the  breast 
from  the  left  shoulder.  The  right  hand  grasps  the 
stole,  whilst  the  left  rests  qn  a  table  and  lightly  holds 
a  glove.  The  whole  form,  detached  in  gloomy  warmth 
on  a  light  brown  ground,  is  striking  for  the  grave 
dignity  of  its  bearing  and  the  energy  of  its  attitude 
and  expression.  The  face  is  open,  its  shape  regular, 
the  features  are  well  cut,  and  fairly  set  oflf  by  short 
curly  hair,  and  a  close  trimmed  beard.  It  is  hard  to 
believe  that  Titian  should  have  painted  a  likeness  of 


*  This  beaatifnl  piece  has  been 
transferred  to  a  new  canyas,  on 
which  the  -old  inscription  above 
given  was  copied.  There  are 
traces  of  stippling  here  and  there 
in  the  flesh.  On  the  brown  back- 
ground  we  read,  "TitianvsF." 


A  copy  of  this  picture  was  for- 
merly owned  by  Signer  Valentino 
Benfatto  of  Venice.  See  the 
addenda  to  Zanotto's  Guida  of 
1863,  The  original  at  Castle 
Howard  was  engraved,  1811,  by 
Skelton. 


Chap.  I.] 


GIEOLAMO  SAVOBGNANO, 


21 


this  boldness, — ^bold  in  touch  and  modelling — ^bold  in 
glance^  and  thoroughly  natural  in  attitude;  without 
the  presence  of  a  model.  Whilst  if  he  produced  this 
work, — as  we  should  think  he  did — after  1537,  and 
meant  to  depict  Girolamo  SavorgQano,  he  must  have 
trusted  to  memory  or  to  some  earlier  likeness.* 

If  we  judge  of  the  size  of  the  "Battle  of  Cadore''  by 
that  of  the  Hall  in  which  it  was  placed,  we  must  con- 
clude that  it  was  a  picture  of  great  compass,  with  the 
principal  figures  as  large  as  life.  If  in  November, 
1537,  Titian  was  at  work  in  the  palace,  as  Aretino 
asserts,t  it  is  not  probable  that  he  ceased  to  work  there 
before  the  following  Midsummer.  But  in  June  and 
during  the  latter  half  of  the  year  he  had  time  to 
attend  to  commissions  from  other  patrons  f>esides  the 
angry  and  obdurate  signors  of  Venice.  Having  sent 
the  first  emperor — Augustus — in  April,  1537,  to 
Mantua,  he  had  been  able  to  finish  three  more  in  the 
middle  of  the  following  September;  but  then  he 
paused  and  surrendered  every  hour  of  his  time  to  the 
Council  of  Ten.  J  In  June,  1538,  he  found  leisure  to 
do  his  friend  Sansovino  a  service.  The  Cadorines 
had  been  quarrelling  with  the  municipality  of  Belluno 
as  to  boundaries,  and  the  Doge,  to  whom  they  had 
appealed,  had  refused  to  deliver  judgment  before 
seeing  a  sketch  of  the  ground.     At  Titian's  request 


*  ThiB  also  is  a  half-loDgth,  of 
lile  sisse,  on  canyas,  not  without 
injury  from  wear  and  re-touching. 
It  onoe  belonged  to  the  Mares- 
oalchi  CoUeotion  at  Bologna. 


t  See  aritea,  p.  9. 

t  See  antea,  i.  pp.  422  and  fr.» 
and  two  letters  of  Benedetto 
Agnello  to  the  Doke  of  Mantua, 
in  Appendix. 


22 


TITIAN:  HIS  LQ^E  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  I. 


the  Syndic  of  Cadore  and  Girolamo  Ciani  took 
Sansovino  through  the  woods  of  the  Toanella,  which 
skirted  the  Bellunese  limits,  and  his  sketch  of  the 
country  was  sent  to  Venice  and  decided  the  case  in 
favour  of  Cadore,* 

About  the  same  time  Titian  painted  the  likeness — 
still  preserved  in  the  Berlin  Museum — of  Giovanni 
Moro,  a  well-known  captain  in  the  Venetian  fleet, 
who  was  appointed  to  a  high  command  in  the  Duke 
of  Urbino's  armada.  Moro  had  made  his  name  iUus- 
trious  in  the  wars  of  Venice  with  the  Duke  of  Ferrara. 
He  had  been  envoy  to  Charles  the  Fifth,  and  "  Prov- 
veditore  Generale "  in  Candia.  He  was  now  on  the 
eve  of  returning  to  the  island,  where  he  was  killed  in 
a  riot  in  *  1539.  Titian  has  preserved  to  us  the 
features  of  a  soldier  who  appears  in  long  hair  and 
beard,  with  a  red  scarf  across  his  arm  and  the  baton 
of  his  rank  in  his  hand.  The  channelled  breast-plate 
and  scolloped  shoulder-pieces  are  cleverly  rendered ; 
but  time  has  done  some  injury  to  the  surfaces,  which 
are  in  part  abraded  and  scaled  away  or  injured  hy 
restoring.t 


*  Ciani,  Storia,  u,  «.,  ii.  255-6. 

f  This  canvas,  No.  161  in  the 
Berlin  Museum,  is  2  ft.  7^  in. 
high,  by  2  ft.  2  in.  The  figure  is 
bareheaded,  and  seen  to  the  belt. 
As  late  as  1873  the  surface  of  the 
picture  was  such  as  to  suggest 
grave  doubts  as  to  the  authorship 
of  Titian ;  the  flesh  tints  being 
crude  and  uniform,  the  beard  and 
hair  repainted,  and  the  breast 
and  shoulders  lost  in  darkness. 


In  white  letters,  on  a  very  dark 
ground,  the  foUowing  modem 
inscription  was  to  be  read : — 


lOANKES  MAVBYS 
OENERALIS  liA£IS 
DCPERATOB 
ICDZXXVIU. 


In  1874  the  canvas  was  regene- 
rated by  Pettenkofer's  process, 
when  much  of  the  richness  of  the 
original   tones  reappeared.    The 


Chap.  I.] 


"THE  GRAND  TUEK," 


23 


In   August,    1538,    Federico   Gonzaga  .wrote    to 

Benedetto  Agnello,    his    agent   at  Yeniee,  that  he 

intended  to  visit  his  marquisate  of  Montfeirat,  and 

for   that  purpose  would  proceed  to   Casale  in  the 

following  September.     It  was   his  wish  that  Titian 

should  be  informed  of  this  and  instructed  to  come 

with  the  remaining  "  Emperors  "  to  Mantua.     If,  he 

added,  Titian  was  not  ready,  he  should  stiU  be  asked 

to  come,  on  the  understanding  that  the  ^^  Cassars " 

should  be  sent  at  least  for  the  Duke's  return.     Titian 

promised  AgneUo  to  devote  aU  his  time  to  his  duty; 

but  in  view  of  further  comnussions  said  he  had  made 

a  portrait  of  the  Grand  Turk  from  a  medal,  and  he 

would  repeat  it  in  proper  form  if  His  Ezcelleney 

pleased.     Federico  replied  that  he  would  take  all  that 

Titian  sent  him,  the  "Emperors"  first,  the  "Grand 

Turk"  affcer.     The  latter,  Agnello  wrote  on  the  18th 

of  September,  was  abready  finished ;  the  "  Emperors '' 

would  be  delayed  because  the  Duke  of  Urbino  had 

asked  Titian  to  accompany  him  to  Pesaro.*   Francesco 

Maria,  it  is  weU  to  recall,  had  fallen  ill  in  the  midst 

of  his  warlike  preparations,  and  had  hoped  to  recover 

by  changing  his  residence   &om  Venice  to  Pesaro. 

The  poison  which  kiUed  him  worked  with  no  less 

effect  at  Pesaro  than  at  Venice,  and  on  the  20th  of 


ioficription  was  then  found  to 
hare  been  written  oyer  the  old 
one,  the  letters  of  which  were  in 
black.  Abraded  parts  were  left 
as  they  were.  Holes  made  by 
sealing  in  the  forehead,  baok- 
grcmnd,  and   armour,  were  re- 


paired. The  hands  stOl  remain 
unsatis£BLotory.  Eor  details  of 
Moro's  career,  Oicogna,  Isc.  Yen. 
Ti.  690. 

*  See  thecorrespondenoe  of  the 
Duke  of  Mantua  and  his  agents  in 
Appendix. 


24 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES,         [Chap.  I. 


October  the  Duke  of  Urbino  died  after  weeks  of 
protracted  agony.  About  two  months  kter,  on  the 
28tli  of  December,  the  Doge,  Andrea  Gritti,  died  also, 
having  attained  to  the  great  age  of  83.  He  was 
succeeded  on  the  8th  of  January,  1539,  by  Pietro 
Lando,  for  whom  Titian  at  once  painted  a  portrait  for 
the  Hall  of  Great  Council*  It  is  with  regret  that 
we  look  back  to  the  annals  of  a  time  so  fruitful  in 
great  and  important  creations  of  Titian's  brusL  We 
saw  that  none,  or  at  the  best  but  one,  of  the  "Caesars'' 
was  preserved.  The  portraits  of  the  great  Soliman, 
one  of  which  belonged  to  the  Duke  of  Urbino,  and 
that  of  the  Doge  Lando,  are  all  lostt 

Amongst  the  cares  with  which  Titian  was  sur- 
rounded at  this  period  we  should  notice  not  only 
those  caused  by  the  displeasure  of  the  Venetian 
government,  and  the  rivalry  of  Pordenone,  but  others 
more  petty,  but  not  less  irksome.  Though  his  claims 
on  the  Emperor's  bounty  had  been  satisfied  by  an 
assignment  of  dues  on  the  Neapolitan  treasury,  and 
the  Duke  of  Mantua  had  given  him  the  benefice  of 
Medole,  he  had  not  yet  received  any  money  from  the 
first,  and  the  second  had  been  burdened  with  an 
annuity.  In  April,  1537,  Titian  asked  the  Duke  to 
relieve  him  of  this  annuity,  and  in  September,  1539, 
he  complained  that  the  annuitant  pestered  him  with 


*  See  the  proo&  in  Lorenzi 
(p.  259).  For  this  portrait  Titian 
received  as  usual  twenty-fiye 
ducats. 

t  The  former  is  noted  in  the 


tratto  di  Selim  rd  dei  Turohi. 
Darco.  Pitt.  Mant.  ii.  p.  167.  The 
original  from  which  it  was  done 
Yasari  saw  in  the  collection  of 
the  Boveres'  at  Urbino.    It  has 


Mantuan  inventory  of  1627 :  Bi-     also  been  lost.  (See  Yas.  ziii  32.) 


Chap.  L]  PEOPOSED  JOUENEY  TO  FLORENCE. 


95 


letters  wliich  prevented  him  from  working.*  But 
the  Duke  had  not  done  anything  for  his  relief,  and 
the  plague  of  letters  continued.  Conversely  Titian 
bombarded  the  treasury  of  Naples  with  letters,  making 
demands  similar  to  those  which  he  foimd  distressing 
to  himself.  **  I  have  no  money,"  said  Titian  to 
Agnello,  "to  pay  this  annuitant."  "We  have  no 
money  to  send  to  Titian/'  was  the  reply  of  the 
Neapolitans.  Yet  Titian  left  no  stone  unturned  to 
soften  the  rigour  of  the  Imperial  agents,  and  Aretino, 
in  his  name,  moved  "  Heaven  and  earth  "  for  months 
to  the  same  purpose.  In  a  characteristic  epistle  he 
promised  Ottaviano  de'  Medici,  in  July,  1539,  that 
Titian  should  go  over  to  Florence  and  paint  the  like- 
nesses of  himself,  the  Duke  and  Duchess,  and  the 
Princess  Mary,  if  he  would  only  use  his  interest  in 
the  painter^s  favour,  t 

Writing  on  the  following  day  to  Leone  Aretino  at 
Borne,  he  complained  of  the  lukewarmness  of  the 
Pope,  who  delayed  to  send  for  Titian,  whose  genius 
was  destined  to  leave  "eternal  memories  of  the 
princes  of  the  house  of  Famese."  J  All  in  vain. 
Frequently  as  Titian  had  been  asked  to  Rome,  he  had 
always  refused.  Now  that  Aretino  wanted  him  to  be 
asked,  no  one  would  attend  to  his  wishes.  There 
was  something  too  in  the  agency  of  Titian's  applica- 
tions which  possibly  ensured  their  failure.     Aretino 


*  See  Appendix,  yol.  i.,  and 
Appendix  to  this  yolnme. 

t  Aretino  to  Ottaviano  de'  Me- 
dici, Yenice,  July  10, 1539,  in  Ijet- 


tere  di  M.  P.  Aref ,  ii.  84\  &  85. 
t  Aretino   to  Leone  Aretino^ 
Yenice,  July  11, 1539,  in  Lettere 
di  M.  P.  A.,  ii.  p.  86. 


26 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Ohap.  I. 


was  in  trouble.  His  malignant  tongue  and  pen  had 
offended  the  Duke  of  Mantua  and  other  potent  person- 
ages, and  satirists,  almost  equal  to  himself  in  shame- 
less virulence,  were  lampooning  him  without  mercy. 
To  the  sonnets  of  Bemi  there  came  superadded 
those  of  Franco  of  Benevento,  whose  hand  never 
tired  till  he  had  written  more  than  five  hundred 
couplets.  It  was  the  more  grievous  for  "the  scourge'' 
that  he  should  be  thus  attacked,  because  Franco  was 
a  parasite  of  his  own.  He  had  taken  the  man  in,  a 
stranger,  shoeless  and  starving,  had  clothed,  fed,  and 
lodged  him,  and  used  his  services  as  a  secretary. 
Titian  too  had  recommended  him  to  Benedetto 
Agnello,  and  now  the  venomous  serpent  turned  and 
bit  his  benefactors.*  One  day  he  met  Titian  in  the 
street  and  thrust  his  cap  into  his  pocket  to  avoid 
doffing  it  when  the  painter  passed  ;  t  then  he  wrote  a 
sonnet  in  which  he  praised  Titian  for  painting  Aretino, 
and  thus  immortalizing  the  concentrated  infamy  of  an 
entire  age : — 

"  Datevi  buona  voglia,  Tiziano, 
E  deU*  aver  ritratto  V  Aretino 
Pentir  non  vi  deggiate  .... 
Non  manoo  lodi  ve  ne  saran  date 
Di  qoante  ayete  in  simile  eoggetto : 
Anzi  d'  assai  pii!^,  quanto  rincbiuso  aggiate 
NeUo  spado  d'on  picoolo  quadretto 
Tutta  rinfaznia  deUa  nostra  etate."  X 


Aretino  replied  to  these  lampoons  with  abusive 
letters,  which  he  printed,  and  which  obtained  a  much 


*  Aretino  to  Lodovico  Doloe, 
Yenioe,  Oot.  7,  1639,  in  Letteie 
di  M.  P.  Aretino,  ii.  98,  99. 


t  Ibid. 

Z  Mazuchelli,  Yita  di  P.  Are- 
tino, u,  «.,  p.  141. 


Chap.  L]  POMPONIO  GETS  A  CANONEY. 


27 


i^ider  circulation  than  the  manuscript  eflfusions  of  his 
adversaries  ;  and  Titian  recouped  his  losses  at  Medole 
and  Naples  under  the  favour  of  the  Marquis  del  Vasto. 
Davalos  had  been  sent  to  Venice  to  attend  the 
installation  of  the  Doge  Pietro  Lando.*  He  had  been 
with  Titian,  and  commissioned  him  to  paint  a  picture 
of  himself  in  the  act  of  addressing  his  soldiers.  Titian 
then  confided  his  grievances  to  the  patron  whose 
recent  appointment  to  the  government  of  Milan  had 
made  him  quite  a  power  in  the  Italian  states,  and 
Davalos  promised  every  sort  of  support.  In  October, 
1539,  Don  Lope  de  Soria,  who  had  just  been  super- 
43eded  in  the  office  of  ambassador  to  Charles  the  Fifth 
at  Venice,  by  Don  Diego  de  Mendozza,  passed  through 
Milan,  and  wrote  to  Titian  to  ask  him  to  visit  the 
miarquis  and  his  wife,  and  to  tell  him  that  his  son 
Pomponio  had  been  invested  with  a  new  canonry.t 
At  the  same  time  Antonio  Anselmi,  a  friend  of  Bembo, 
whose  promotion  to  a  cardinal's  hat  had  just  been 
made,  wrote  to  his  friend  Agostino  Lando,  at  Bembo's 
instigation,  to  recommend  him  to  Titian.  Agostino,  a 
relative  of  the  Doge,  agent  and  afterwards  murderer 
of  Pier'  Luigi  Famese  of  Parma,  sat  to  the  painter ; 
and  Aretino,  when  thanking  the  nobleman  for  a 
present  of  anchovies  and  fruit  in  November,  1539, 
was  able  to  congratulate  him  on  Titian's  success  in 


*  Aretmo  to  tHe  Emperor, 
Venice,  Dec.  25,  1539,  Lettere  di 
M.  P.  A.  ii.  108'. 

t  limti,  Memorie  dei  letterati 
del  Fritdi,  ii.  p.  288,  in  Ticozzi, 
Yeoelli,  note  to  p.  113 ;  and  Are- 


tino to  Don  Lope  di  Soria,  Yenice, 
Feb.  1,  1540,  in  Lettere  di  M.  P. 
Aretino,  ii.  116'.  Eidolfi  (i.  238) 
errs  in  afi&rming  that  the  oanonry 
was  given  by  Charles  Y. 


28 


TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        L^^ha^.  I. 


portraying  his  features.*  Bembo,  on  his  part,  asked 
Titian  for  another  likeness,  and  writing  to  Girolamo 
Quirini  at  the  close  of  May,  1540,  begged  him  to 
thank  the  master  for  his  second  portrait,  which  he  had 
meant  to  pay  for,  but  was  willing  to  accept  as  a 
present,  seeing  that  he  would  be  able  to  repay  the 
kindness  by  some  appropriate  favour.t  Finally,  the 
Venetian  government  having  lost  the  services  of 
Pordenone,  who  had  died  suddenly  at  Ferrara,  ia 
December,  1538,  relented  of  its  severity  and  re- 
instated Titian  in  his  broker's  patent  on  the  28th  of 
August,  15394 

Titian's  Hkeness  of  Bembo  as  a  cardinal  has  been 
preserved  It  now  adorns  one  of  the  rooms  of  the 
Barberini  Palace  at  Eome,  and  represents  the  Venetian 
statesman  in  a  grand  and  noble  fashion.  The  gaunt 
and  bony  head  is  lively  and  energetic,  the  flesh  warm 
and  flushed.  Though  powerful  in  form,  it  represents 
an  aged  man  ;  but  one  who  lightly  bears  the  seventy 
years  that  have  passed  over  his  features.  The  glance 
is  animated,  and  the  eyes  look  firmly  out  from  a  face 
turned  three-quarters  to  the  left  The  right  hand, 
half  pointing,  half  gesticulating,  appears  to  enforce 
the  words  that-we  might  think-had  just  issued 


**  Antonio  Anselmi  to  Agostino 
Landi  at  Venice,  Padua,  April  27, 
1539 ;  and  the  same  to  the  same, 
Padua,  May  2, 1539,  in  Bonchini, 
DeUe  Belazioni  di  Tiziano  coi 
Famesi,  4<*,  Modena,  1864,  note 
to  p.  1. ;  also  Aretino  to  Agostino 
Luidi,  Venice,  Nov.  15, 1539,  in 
Lettere  di  M.  P.  Aretino,  ii.  104. 


The  portrait  of  Landi  was  taken 
to  Milan,  and  is  not  now  to  be 
traced.  See  also  Ronchini's  Let- 
tere di  TJomini  illustri,  u.  «.,  L 
127,  133. 

t  Bembo  to  Girolamo  Quirini, 
Bome,  May  30, 1540,  in  P.  Bembo» 
Opere,  Tol.  vi.  p.  316. 

X  Lorenzi,  ii.  «.,  p.  276. 


Chap.  L]  THE  "ANGEIi  AND  TOBIT."  29 

iirom  the  lips.  The  high  forehead  is  partly  concealed 
by  the  red  hat,  the  white  beard  square-trimmed,  and 
the  white  collar  and  sleeve  relieved  on  the  red  silk  of 
the  cardinal's  habit  Notwithstanding  a  dark  and 
cold  background,  injured  by  restoring,  the  figure 
stands  out  fairly  before  us,  and  modern  daubs  on  the 
forehead  and  face  hardly  prevent  us  from  observing 
4^he  quick  sway  of  the  brush  as  it  laid  in  the  parts, 
and  modelled  them  in  a  deep  bed  of  pigment.* 

But  Titian's  energy  and  great  creative  power  are  not 
fairly  illustrated  by  this — the  sole  surviving  relic  of 
numerous  pictures  noted  by  the  letter-writers  of  the 
time.  Several  masterpieces,  of  which  contemporary 
annalists  say  little  or  nothing,  are  worthy  of  more 
prolonged  attention ;  and  amongst  these  we  should 
particularly  note  the  "Angel  and  Tobit"  of  San 
jtfarciliano  at  Venice,  and  the  ^^Presentation  in  the 
Temple,"  at  the  Venice  Academy, 

In  the  "Angel  and  Tobit"  of  San  Marciliano,  the  art 
which  Titian  displays  is  equal  to  that  which  excited 
the  envy  of  Pordenone  in  the  Almsgiver  of  San 
Giovanni  Elemosinario.  The  grace  and  liveliness  of 
the  angel,  who  steps  forward  like  a  Boman  Victory, 
]x}me  by  his  green-toned  wings,  are  enhanced  by  the 
gorgeousness  of  a  red  tunic  bound  by  a  girdle  to  his 
hips,  and  falling  in  beautiful  folds  to  the  ground. 
The  right  arm  outstretched,  the  hand  with  a  vase  are 
fine.     It  would  seem  as  if  the  vase  was  the  subject  of 


*  This  pietnze,  No.  35  in  tlie 
2iid  Boom,  is  on  caiiTas;  the 
figure,  of  life  size,  seeu  to  the 


elbows.    It  is  mentioned  by  Ya« 
sari,  ziiL  p«  43. 


30 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  I. 


Tobit's  thoughts,  as  he  walks  and  looks  up  whilst  he 
puts  forth  his  right  hand  in  wondering  awe.  The  warm 
brown  dress,  the  white  sleeve  and  yellow  leggings 
harmonize  with  the  reds  of  the  angel's  tunic,  the 
green  of  his  wings,  and  the  blues  of  the  sky  behind. 
No  figures  were  ever  more  beautifully  coupled.  One 
sees  that,  though  moving  from  right  to  left  towards 
the  foreground,  they  are  on  the  point  of  turning  to 
their  right,  the  inception  of  this  movement  being 
indicated  in  part  by  themselves,  in  part  by  the  white 
spotted  dog  in  front  of  them,  who  sidles  very 
markedly  to  the  left.  St.  John  the  Baptist  kneels  at 
the  foot  of  a  tree  with  a  cross  resting  against  his 
shoulder.  His  glance  is  directed  to  the  heavens, 
where  a  ray  of  sun  pierces  the  clouds,  to  descend  and 
illumine  a  beautiful  expanse  of  landscape.  To  form 
of  a  masculine  and  powerful  type  Titian  adds  appro- 
priate expression  and  gesture,  and  action  and  motion 
of  grand  boldness  and  freedom.  The  bed  of  pigment 
is  heavy  and  thick,  but  of  malleable  stuff.  Large 
flakes  of  light  are  pitted  against  equally  large  masses 
of  gloom,  and  blended  with  them  in  masterly  fusion. 
The  shadow  is  thrown  with  broad  sweeps  of  a  brush 
of  stiff  bristle  and  solid  size,  and  it  seems  as  if  no 
time  had  been  lost  in  subtle  glazings,  when  effect 
could  be  won  by  direct  but  moderate  and  temperate 
strokes.* 


*  This  canyas  is  engraved  in 
the  Collections  of  Patina  and 
Loyiaa.  Yasari's  assertion  that 
it  "was  executed  before  1508  is 


dearly  erroneous.  The  fignres 
are  as  large  as  life,  and  the  canvas 
now  hangs  on  its  old  altar  to  the 
left  of  the  chnroh  portal,  alter 


Chap.  I.]      "PRESENTATION  IN  THE  TEMPLE." 


31 


The  "Presentation  in  the  Temple,"  originally  designed./ 
for  the  brotherhood  of  Santa  Maria  diella  CaritA,  covered 
the  whole  side  of  a  room  in  the  so-called  '^  Albergo/' 
now  used  for  the  exhibition  of  works  of  the  old 
masters  at  Venice.  In  this  room,  which  is  contiguous 
to  the  modem  haU  in  which  Titian's  "  Assunta ''  is 
displayed,  there  were  two  doors  for  which  allowance 
was  made  in  Titian's  canvas ;  and  twenty-five  feet — 
the  length  of  the  wall — is  now  the  length  of  the 
picture.  When  this  vast  canvas  was  removed  from 
its  place,  the  gaps  of  the  doors  were  filled  in  with 
new  linen,  and  painted  up  to  the  tone  of  the  original, 
giving  rise  to  the  quaint  deformity  of  a  simulated 
opening  in  the  flank  of  the  steps  leading  up  to  the 
Temple,  and  a  production  of  the  figures  in  the  left 
foreground — a  boy,  a  senator  giving  alms,  a  beggar 
woman  and  two  nobles.  Strips  of  new  stuff  were 
sewn  on  above  and  below,  and  in  addition  to  various 
patches  of  restoring,  the  whole  was  toned  up,  or 
"  tuned ''  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  picture.  Not- 
withstanding these  drawbacks  and  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  the  light  is  no  longer  that  which  the  painter 
contemplated,  the  genius  of  Titian  triumphs  over  all 
difficulties,  and  the  "  Presentation  in  the  Temple  "  is 
the  finest  and  most  complete  creation  of  Venetian 
art,  since  the  "Peter  Martyr''  and  the  "Madonna  di 
Casa**  Pesaro. 


having  "b&en.  a  long  time  in  the 
eacrifity.  Compare  Vas.  ziii.  21 ; 
Sansovino,  Yen.  Desc.  146 ;  Bos- 
ehini,  Miniere  S.  di  Canarregio, 
p.  53;    Zanetti,  Pit.  Yen.  146. 


Old  varnish  and  the  effects  of 
time  contribute  to  give  a  dark 
aspect  to  this  piece.  An  old  copy 
of  it  is  (No.  234)  in  the  Dresden 
Museum. 


32  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  I. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  Titian  should  go 
deeper  into  tiie  period  from  which  he  derived  his 
gospel  subject  than  other   artists  of  his  time.     An 
ardent  admirer  of  his  genius  has  noticed  the  propriety 
with  which  he  adorned  a  background  with  a  portico 
of   Corinthian    pillars,   because  Herod's    palace  was 
decorated  with  a  similar  appendage.     He  might  with 
equal  truth  have  justified  the  country  of  Bethlehem 
transformed  into   Cadorine  hills,  Venice   substituted 
for  Jerusalem,  and  Pharisees   replaced  by  Venetian 
senators.     It  was  in  the  nature  of  Titian  to  represent 
a  subject  like  this  as  a  domestic  pageant  of  his  own 
time,  and  seen  in  this  light,  it  is  exceedingly  touching 
and  surprisingly  beautiful    Mary  in  a  dress  of  celestial 
blue  ascends  the   steps  of  the  temple  in  a  halo  of 
radiance.     She  pauses  on  the  first  landing  place,  and 
gathers  her  skirts,  to  ascend  to  the  second.    The  flight 
is  in  profile  before  us.     At  the  top  of  it  the  high 
priest  in  Jewish  garments,  yellow  tunic,  blue  under- 
coat and  sleeves  and  white  robe,  looks  4own  at  the 
girl  with   serene    and  kindly    gravity,   a   priest  in 
cardinal's  robes  at  his  side,  a  menial  in  black  behind 
him,  and  a  young  acolyte  in  red  and  yellow  holding 
the  book  of  prayer.     At  the  bottom,  there  are  people 
looking  up,  some  of  them  leaning  on  the  edge  of  the 
steps,  others  about  to  ascend, — ^Anna,  with  a  matron 
in   company ;  Joachim  turning  to  address  a  friend. 
Curious  people  press  forward  to  witness  the  scene,  and 
a  child  baits  a  little  dog  with  a  cake.     Behind  and 
to  the  left  and  with  grave  solemnity,  some  dignitaries 
are  moving.     One  in  red  robe  of  state  with  a  black 


Ckap.  I.]  PALATIAL   AECHITECTXJEE.  33 


velvet  stole  across  his  shoulder  is  supposed  to  repre- 
sent Paolo  de'  Franceschi,  at  this  time  grand-chancellor 
of  Venice.*  The  noble  in  black  to  whom  he  speaks 
is  Lazzaro  Crasso.  Two  senators  follow,  whilst  a  third 
still  further  back  gives  alms  to  a  poor  mother  with  a 
child  in  her  arms.  In  front  of  the  gloom  that  lies  on 
the  profile  of  steps  an  old  woman  sits  with  a  basket 
of  eggs  and  a  couple  of  fowls  at  her  feet,  her  head  and 
frame  swathed  in  a  white  hood,  which  carries  the 
hght  of  the  picture  into  the  foreground.  In  a  comer 
to  the  right  an  antique  torso  receives  a  reflex  of  the 
light  that  darts  more  fully  on  the  hag  close  by.  It 
seems  to  be  the  original  model  of  the  soldiers  that 
rode  in  the  battle  of  Cadore,  or  the  Emperors  that 
hung  in  the  halls  of  the  palace  of  Mantua.t 

Uniting  the  majestic  lines  of  a  composition  perfect 
in  the  balance  of  its  masses  with  an  effect  unsurpassed 
in  its  contrasts  of  light  and  shade,  the  genius  of  the 
master  has  laid  the  scene  in  palatial  architecture  of 
grand  simplicity.  On  one  side  a  house  and  colonnade 
on  square  pillars,  with  a  slender  pyramid  behind  it, 
on  the  other  a  palace  and  portico  of  coloured  marbles 
in  fix)nt  of  an  edifice  richly  patterned  in  diapered 
bricks.  From  the  windows  and  balconies  the 
spectators  look  down  upon  the  ceremony  or  con- 
verse with  the  gi'oups  below.     With  instinctive  tact 


*  There  was  a  portrait  of  the 
ChapoeUor,  Paolo  de'  Franceschi, 
in  the  Yidman  Collection,  which 
Eidolfi  (Maray.  L  262)  assigned 
tolStian. 


t  This  torso  fiUed  the  unoc- 
cupied corner  of  the  picture  to  the 
right  of  the  door,  the  framework 
of  which  broke  through  the  base 
of  the  picture. 


YOL.  n. 


34  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.         [Chap.  I. 

the  whole  of  these  are  kept  in  focus  by  appropriate 
gradations  of  light,  which  enable  Titian  to  give  the 
highest  prominence  to  the  Virgin,  though  she  is  neces- 
sarily smaller  than  any  other  person  present.  The 
bright  radiance  round  her  fades  as  it  recedes  to  the 
more  remote  groups  in  the  picture,  the  forms  of  which 
are  cast  into  deeper  gloom  in  proportion  as  they  are 
more  distant  from  the  halo.  The  senator  who  gives 
alms  is  darkly  seen  under  the  shade  of  the  colonnade, 
from  which  he  seems  to  have  emerged.  In  every  one 
of  these  gradations  the  heads  preserve  the  portrait 
character  peculiar  to  Titian,  yet  each  of  the  figures 
is  varied  as  to  sex,  age,  and  condition;  each  in  his 
sphere  has  a  decided  type,  and  all  are  diverse  in  form, 
in  movement,  and  gesture.  To  the  monumental 
dignity  of  the  groups  and  architecture  the  distance 
perfectly  corresponds.  We  admire  the  wonderful 
expressiveness  of  the  painter's  mountain  lines.  The 
boulder  to  the  left,  with  its  scanty  vegetation  and 
sp-x.  tree,  rises  darMy  behind  .ie  pyxiid.  A  low 
hummock  rests  dimly  in  rear,  whilst  a  gleam  flits  over 
remoter  crags,  crested  with  ruins  of  castles ;  and  the 
dark  heath  of  the  hill  beyond — ^with  the  smoke  issuing 
from  a  moss-fire — ^relieves  the  blue  cones  of  dolomites 
that  are  wreathed  as  it  were  in  the  mist  which  curls 
into  and  mingles  with  the  clouded  sky.  The  splendid 
contrast  of  palaces  and  Alps  tells  of  the  master  who 
was  bom  at  Cadore,  yet  lived  at  Venice. 

The  harmony  of  the  colours  is  so  true  and  ringing, 
and  the  chords  are  so  subtle,  that  the  eye  takes  in  the 
scene  as  if  it  were  one  of  natural  richness,  unconscious 


Chap.  L]         BELLINI   TO   PAUL   VERONESE. 


35 


of  the  means  by  which  that  richness  is  attained. 
Ideak  of  form  created  by  combinations  of  perfect 
shapes  and  outlines  with  select  proportions,  may  strike 
us  in  the  Greeks  and  Florentines.  Here  the  picture 
is  built  up  in  colours,  the  landscape  is  not  a  S3rmbol, 
but  scenic  ;  and  the  men  and  palaces  and  hills  are 
seen  living  or  life-like  in  sun  and  shade  and  air.  In 
this  gorgeous  yet  masculine  and  robust  reaUsm  Titian 
shows  his  great  originality,  and  claims  to  be  the 
noblest  representative  of  the  Venetian  school  of 
<X)lour.*  -^ 

Hardly  a  century  has  expired  since  Venetian  paint- 
ing rose  out  of  the  slough  of  Byzantine  tradition,  yet 
now  it  stands  in  its  zenith.  Recruiting  its  strength 
from  Jacopo  Bellini,  who  brought  the  laws  of  per- 
spective from  Tuscany,  the  schools  of  the  Eialto 
expand  with  help  from  Paduan  sources,  and  master 
the  antique  as  taught  by  Donatello  and  Mantegna. 
They  found  the  monumental  but  realistic  style  which 
Oentile  Bellini  developed  in  his  "Procession  of  the 


J 


*  The  measure  of  this  oanyas, 
No.  487,  at  the  Venice  Academy, 
is  m.  3.75  high  by  7.80,  but  of 
the  height  10  cent,  above  and 
10  below  are  new.  The  person 
who  made  these  and  other  addi- 
tions, as  weU  as  restorations  noted 
in  the  text,  was  a  painter  of  this 
century,  named  Sebastiano  Santi. 
(Zanotto,  Pinac.  Venet.)  Besides 
the  patches  described  above,  there 
are  damaging  retouches  in  the 
landscape  and  sky,  in  a  figure  at 
a  window  to  the  left,  in  figures  on 


the  balcony,  and  a  soldier  holding 
a  halbert.  The  face  of  St.  Anna, 
and  the  dress  of  the  old  woman 
in  the  foreground,  are  both  new. 
Zanetti  (Pitt.  Ven.  p.  155)  states 
that  the  picture  was  cleaned  and 
the  sky  injured  in  his  time  (18th 
century);  compare  Vas.  xiii.  p. 
29 ;  Sansovino,  Ven.  desc.  p.  266 ; 
Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  198;  andBoschini, 
Miniere,  S.  di  D.  Dure,  p,  36. 
Engraved  in  Lovisa ;  photograph 
by  Naya. 

D  2 


36  TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.         LChap.  I. 

Relic,"  and  Caxpaccio  displayed  in  his  "  Ursula  Legend."^ 
They  seize  and  acquire  the  secrets  of  colour  by  means 
of  Antonello ;  and  their  chief  masters,  Giovanni 
Bellini,  Giorgione,  and  Titian,  adding  a  story  to  the 
pictorial  edifice,  bring  it  at  last  to  that  perfection 
which  we  witness  in  the  "  Presentation  in  the  Temple." 
Looking  back  a  hundred  years,  we  find  Jacopo  Bellini's 
conception  of  this  subject  altogether  monumental. 
The  long  flight  of  steps,  the  portico  of  the  temple, 
Mary  on  the  first  landing,  her  parents  behind  her,  a 
castellated  mansion  in  the  distance,  are  all  to  be  found 
in  the  sketch  book  of  1430.  Titian  inherits  the 
framework,  and  fills  it  in.  He  takes  up  and  assimi- 
lates what  his  predecessors  have  garnered.  He  goes 
back  to  nature  and  the  antique,  and  with  a  grand 
creative  power  sets  his  seal  on  Venetian  art  for  ever. 
What  Paris.  Bordone  or  Paul  Veronese  can  do  on  the 
lines  which  their  master  laid  down  is  clear  when  we 
look  at  the  Doge  and  fisherman  of  the  first  and  the 
monumental  palaces  in  the  compositions  of  the  latter. 
In  a  later  form  of  Titian's  progress — that  which  marks 
the  ceiling  pieces  of  San  Spirito — ^we  trace  the  source 
of  Tintoretto's  daring.  All  inherit  something  from 
Titian,  but  none  are  able  to  surpass  him. 


CHAPTER  n. 

North-east  of  Venice. — Titiazi's  House  in  Biri  Grande;  his  Home 
Life ;  his  Children. — Portraits. — Death  of  the  Duke  of  Mantua. — 
Portraits  of  Mendozza  and  Martinengo. — Charles  the  Fifth  and 
Titian  at  Milan ;  the  "  Allocution,"  and  the  "  Nativity."— Titian 
receives  a  Pension  on  the  Milan  Treasury. — His  quarrel  with  the 
Monks  of  San  Spirito. — Carnival  and  the  Company  of  the  Calza. 
— ^Aretino  sends  for  Yasari,  who  receives  employment  at  yenic6« 
— ^Portraits  of  Catherine  Comaro  and  Doge  Lando— Portraits  of 
Titian  by  himself ;  of  Titian  and  Zuccato ;  of  Titian  and  Lavinia. 
— ^Votive  Picture  of  the  Doge. — The  Strozzi,  and  Titian's  likeness 
of  B.  Strozzi's  daughter. — Ceilings  of  San  Spirito. — ''Descent  of 
the  Holy  Spirit." — Titian  compared  with  Baphael  and  Michael- 
angelo. — ^Visit  to  Cadore. — ^Alessandro  Vitelli. 

For  many  yeajs  subsequent  to  the  settlement  of 
Titian  in  Venice,  the  north-eastern  limit  of  the  city 
was  sparsely  built  over,  and  the  pleasure-seekers,  who 
rowed  in  their  gondolas  to  the  villas  of  Murano,  issued 
from  the  more  intricate  canals  by  Sant'  Apostoli,  San 
Canciano  or  San  Giovanni  e  Paolo,  to  find  themselves 
skirting  a  shore  on  which  green  fields  were  varied  with 
patches  of  morass  and  garden  enclosures.  The  long 
and  dreary  wharves,  which  now  go  by  the  name  of 
the  Fondamenta  nuova,  were  not  in  existence,  and 
persons  living  beyond  Santa  Maria  de'  Miracoli  might 
be  looked  upon  as  country  residents  rather  than  towns- 
people. There  was  much  to  attract  the  lover  of  the 
picturesque  in  a  dwelling  on  the  northern  outskirts  of 

m 

the  city.     There  was  the  free  bank  of  the  lagoon,  with 


88  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  H. 

a  view  towards  Murano ;  at  right  angles  to  which 
the  hills  of  Ceneda  rose  beyond  the  lowland  of 
Mestre,  and  showed  through  their  gaps  the  Alps  of 
Cadore.  Here  too  was  fresh  vegetation,  herbage,  and 
trees,  something  quite  different  from  the  palace  fringe 
of  the  grand  canal,  or  the  gloomy  shade  of  the  narrow 
water-courses  intersecting  the  populous  quarters.  The 
house  at  San  Samuele,  which  Titian  inhabited  from 
1516  to  1530,  was  in  the  heart  of  Venice;  close  to* 
the  grand  canal,  and  equally  distant  from  San  Marco,, 
or  the  Rialto  bridge. 

In  1531,  Titian  left  San  Samuele  to  settle,  in  the 
north-eastern  fields,  and  thus  exchanged  the  town  for 
a  suburban  residence.  The  lease  of  his  new  dwelling, 
which  still  exists,  is  dated  September  the  1st,  1531,  and 
describes  it  as  situate  in  the  contrada  or  parish  of 
San  Canciano,  in  Biri.*  When  built,  in  1527,  by  the 
patrician,  Alvise  Polani,  the  Casa  Grande,  as  it  waa 
then  called,  stood  somewhat  back  from  the  banks  of 
the  lagoon,  upon  which  its  open  gardens  were  laid 
out.  The  basements  were  let  to  various  tenants, 
having  their  own  access  to  these  holdings,  whilst  the 
upper  story,  composed  of  one  large  apartment  and 
several  smaller  ones,  was  entered  by  a  terraced  lodge, 
to  which  there  was  an  ascent  from  the  garden  by  a 
flight  of  steps.  From  the  garden  the  view  extended 
to  Murano  and  the  hills  of  Ceneda,  between  which,  on 
favourable  days,  the  peaks  of  Antelao,  the  tutelary 
dolomite  of  the  Cadorines,  might  be  seen  against  the 


*  See  for  this  and  the  foUowing  &cts,  Oadoiin»  Dello  Amore,  pp.  83-7. 


Chap.  II.]        THE  HOUSE  IN  BIBI  GRANDE. 


39 


morning  sky.  We  can  fancy  such  a  garden  and  such 
a  house  having  peculiar  attractions  for  Titian,  who 
would  find  there  constant  memories  of  his  native  Alps, 
rural  surroundings,  and  complete  freedom  from  the 
noise  of  traffic.  After  several  renewals  of  his  lease, 
Titian  hired  the  whole  of  the  Casa  Grande  in  1536, 
and  in  1549  acquired  the  title  to  the  land,  which  he 
inclosed.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  previous  to  1531 
he  was  acquainted  with  the  site,  which  had  not  been 
much  built  on  during  the  first  years  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  Ridolfi  says  that  the  distance  in  the  picture 
of  "Peter  Martyr"  represented  the  Ceneda  hills  as 
seen  from  Biri,  and  Zanetti  asserts  that  he  saw  the 
round  leaved  trees  of  the  same  picture  in  the  court- 
yard of  Titian's  house ;  *  but  of  this  little  that  is 
certain  has  been  handed  down.  We  only  know  that 
in  course  of  years  Titian  greatly  embellished  the  place 
and  decorated  the  garden  on  the  water's  edge,  and 
that  it  was  the  resort  at  times  of  very  good  company. 
On  the  Ist  of  August,  1540,  Priscianese,  a  well  known 
Latinist,  who  came  to  Venice  to  publish  a  grammar, 
was  received  by  Titian,  who  asked  Aretino  and  San- 
sovino,  and  Jacopo  Nardi,  the  historian  of  Florence,  to 
meet  him.  A  letter  appended  by  Priscianese  to  the 
first  edition  of  his  grammar  in  1540,  thus  describes 
the  author's  impressions : — 


*  Zanetti,  Pitt.  Yen.  p.  160, 
and  Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  219.  Zanotto 
(Gnida  di  Yenezia  of  1863)  says 
in  the  Addenda  at  the  close  of  his 
yolume :  "The  house  of  Titian 
WSLB  quite  lately  barbaronsly  re- 


stored ;  the  frescos  of  Corona  on 
the  outer  wall  haying  been  white- 
washed, and  the  tree  in  the  neigh- 
bouring garden  which  figures  in 
the  *  Peter  Martyr,'  haying  been 
uprooted." 


40  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  H. 

"  I  was  invited  on  the  day  of  the  calends  of  August 
to  celebrate  that  sort  of  Bacchanalian  feast  which,  I 
know  not  why,  is  called  ferrare  Agosto — ^though  there 
was  much  disputing  about  this  in  the  evening — ^in  a 
pleasant  garden  belonging  to  Messer  Tiziano  Vecellio, 
an  excellent  painter  as  every  one  knows,  and  a  person 
really  fitted  to  season  by  his  courtesies  any  distinguished 
entertainment.  There  were  assembled  with  the  said 
M.  Tiziano,  as  like  desires  like,  some  of  the  most 
celebrated  characters  that  are  now  in  this  city,  and  of 
ours  chiefly  M.  Pietro  Aretino,  a  new  miracle  of  nature, 
and  next  to  him  as  great  an  imitator  of  nature  with 
the  chisel  as  the  master  of  the  feast  is  with  his  pencil, 
Messer  Jacopo  Tatti,  called  il  Sansovino,  and  M.  Jacopo 
Nardi,  and  I ;  so  that  I  made  the  fourth  amidst  so 
much  wisdom.  Here,  before  the  tables  were  set  out, 
because  the  sun,  in  spite  of  the  shade,  still  made  his 
heat  much  felt,  we  spent  the  time  in  looking  at  the 
lively  figures  in  the  excellent  pictures,  of  which  the 
house  was  full,  and  in  discussing  the  real  beauty  and 
charm  of  the  garden  with  singular  pleasure  and  note 
of  admiration  of  all  of  us.  It  is  situated  in  the  ex- 
treme part  of  Venice,  upon  the  sea,  and  from  it  one 
sees  the  pretty  little  island  of  Murano,  and  other 
beautiful  places.  This  part  of  the  sea,  as  soon  as  the 
sun  went  down,  swarmed  with  gondolas,  adorned  with 
beautiful  women,  and  resounded  with  the  varied  har- 
mony and  music  of  voices  and  instruments,  which  till 
midnight  accompanied  our  delightful  supper. 

"  But  to  return  to  the  garden.  It  was  so  well  laid 
out  and    so    beautiful,   and   consequently  so   much 


Oeap.  n.]       TITIAN  AND   THE   HUMANISTS. 


41 


praised,  that  the  resemblance  which  it  offered  to  the 
deHcious  retreat  of  St.  Agata,  refreshed  my  memory 
and  my  wish  to  see  you;  and  it  was  hard  for  me, 
dearest  friends,  during  the  greater  part  of  the  evening 
to  realize  whether  I  was  at  Eome  or  at  Venice.  In 
the  meanwhile  came  the  hour  for  supper,  which  was 
no  less  beautiful  and  well  arranged  than  copious  and 
well  provided.  Besides  the  most  delicate  viands  and 
precious  wines,  there  were  all  those  pleasures  and 
amusements  that  are  suited  to  the  season,  the  guests 
and  the  feast.  Having  just  arrived  at  the  fruit,  your 
letters  came,  and  because  in  praising  the  Latin  Ian- 
guage  the  Tuscan  was  reproved,  Aretino  became 
exceedingly  angry,  and,  if  he  had  not  been  prevented, 
he  would  have  indited  one  of  the  most  cruel  invec- 
tives in  the  world,  calling  out  furiously  for  paper  and 
inkstand,  though  he  did  not  fail  to  do  a  good  deal  in 
words.     Finally  the  supper  ended  most  gaily/'  * 

Whatever  the  relations  of  the  humanists  with 
Titian  may  have  been  in  the  earlier  part  of  the 
century,  it  is  clear  that  those  which  existed  now  were 
cordial  and  honourable  to  the  painter.     The  story  of 


*  The  letter,  printed  in  fnU  in 
Tioozzi  (Vecelli,  note  to  p.  79),  is 
in  PtiBcianese's  '*  Ghramatica  La- 
tina,"  of  which  there  is  a  copy  in 
the  library  of  San  Marco,  with 
the  foUowiog  imprint:  "Stam- 
pato  in  Venezia  per  Bartolommeo 
Zanetti  nel  mese  di  Agosto 
MDXL."  (Compare  Beltrame's  Ti- 
ziano  Vecellio,  p.  64.)  Aretino, 
in  a  letter  of  Nov.  28,  1540,  to 
Piiscianese  at  Borne,  gives  him 


news  of  the  successfal  introduc- 
tion of  his  grammar  into  some 
Venetian  schools.  (Lettere  di  M. 
P.  A.  ii.  p.  173'.)  Jacopo  Nardi, 
who  was  one  of  Titian's  guests, 
dedicated  his  translation  of  LiTy 
to  the  Marquis  of  Vasto,  and 
Aretino  congratulates  him  on  the 
publication  of  the  book  in  1545. 
See  Lett,  di  M.  P.  A.  i.  p.  187 ; 
and  ii.  p.  268. 


42 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  H. 


Priscianese's  visit  to  Titian  recalls  an  episode  which 
illustrates  a  brilliant  and  in  some  respects  celebrated 
circle  at  Kome.  It  enables  us  to  contrast  the  social 
disposition  of  the  greatest  of  Venetian  masters  with 
the  solitary  habits  of  Michaelangelo  Buonarroti.  Pris- 
cianese's letter  is  addressed  to  Lodovico  Becci  and 
Luigi  del  Kiccio,  and  introduces  us  to  the  company 
immortalised  in  the  Dialogues  of  Donato  Gianotti. 
Del  Eiccio,  a  poet  who  frequently  corrected  and  often 
transcribed  Michaelangelo's  sonnets,  is  walking  in 
company  with  Antonio  Petreo,  and  meets  Buonarroti 
coming  out  of  the  Capitol  in  Donato'a  company.  The 
latter  appeals  to  the  sculptor  as  a  "  Dantist  "  to  settle 
a  dispute  as  to  the  time  spent  by  Dante  in  visiting 
the  infernal  regions  and  purgatory.  A  debate  ensues 
in  which  Michaelangelo  disclaims  the  knowledge  re- 
quired to  answer  so  intricate  a  question,  but  shows 
his  profound  study  of  early  Florentine  literature. 
The  hour  grows  late,  and  del  Riccio  proposes  an 
adjournment  to  dinner  and  a  fresh  meeting  at  supper 
in  the  rooms  of  Priscianese.  Michaelangelo  asks,  is 
this  the  man  whom  he  has  heard  commended  for 
writing  in  Tuscan  the  rules  of  Latin  grammar ;  and 
del  Eiccio  answers  in  the  aflirmative,  pressing  the 
sculptor  to  join  the  party.  Buonarroti  refuses,  on  the 
plea  that  society  is  a  burden  involving  a  loss  of  power 
which  is  better  employed  in  creating  original  works.* 


*  See  "  De*  Giomi  che  Dante 
consumo  nel  cercare  V  Infemo/' 
&o,  Dialogo  di  Messer  Donato 
Gianotti,  republished  at  Florence 


in  1859;  or  extracts  from  the 
Dialogue  in  Cesare  Giiasti'» 
<'Bime  di  M.  Buonarroti,"  4to, 
Florence,  1863,  pp.  xxyii. 


Chap.  U.] 


INSIDE    BIEI    GEANDE. 


43 


The  pleasaDt  amenities  of  convivial  meetings  which 
seem  a  pastime  and  a  reUef  to  Titian,  are  branded  by 
Michaelangelo  aa  a  mistake ;  and  two  artists  of  the 
highest  genius  at  opposite  ends  of  the  peninsala  are 
found  to  stand  at  opposite  poles  of  thought  and  of 
feeling.  In  one  respect  Priscianese's  letter  excites 
surprise.  He  ought,  we  should  think,  to  have  known 
and  settled  the  dispute  as  to  the  Bacchanals  of  Ferrare 
Agosto,  which  are  but  the  Christian  substitute  for  the 
Ferine  Augustse,  celebrated  since  the  fall  of  Paganism 
as  the  festival  of  the  chains  of  St.  Peter,  in  the  church 
of  San  Pietro  in .  Vinculis,  at  Rome.  Even  now  the 
Ist  of  August  is  familiar  to  the  Romans  as  the  feast 
of  "  Ferrare  Agosto.''  • 

Those  who  should  wish  to  visit  the  house  of  Titian 
in  our  day  wiU  find  considerable,  if  not  insurmount- 
able  difficulties  in  their  way.  Some  years  ago  it  was 
still  shown  to  the  public,  and  was  minutely  examined 
by  the  authors  of  these  pages,  though  even  then  it  was 
impossible  to  recognise  the  original  distribution  of  the 
apartments,  subdivided  and  whitewashed  for  modem 
purpo8e&  But  now  the  garden-staircase  and  loggia 
are  thrown  down,  and  the  dwelling,  which  was  once 
isolated,  is  gradually  disappearing  into  the  dull  uni- 
formity of  a  row.t    Mr.  Gilbert,  in  his  charming 


*  C!onipare  QregoroYias'  Ges- 
chichte  der  Stadt  Bom.,  2nd  ed. 
Sto,  Stuttgardt,  1869,  toL  i.,  notes 
to  p.  206. 

t  On  entering  the  door  in  the 
loggia,  to  which  there  was,  as 
stated,  an  ascent  by  a  flight  of 


steps  from  the  garden,  there  was 
another  staircase  to  ascend,  lead- 
ing  to  the  upper  story  first  in- 
habited by  Titian.  The  principal 
room,  which  was  of  very  large 
size,  was  subdivided  at  the  north 
end  into  several  smaU  chambers. 


44 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  n. 


book  on  Cadore,  has  justly  remarked  "that  after 
giving  a  gondolier  a  deal  of  trouble  to  find  that  part 
of  the  parish  of  San  Canciano  called  Biri,  and  still 
more  that  part  of  Biri  called  *Campo  Tiziano/  the 
traveller  will  only  discover  a  narrow  court  lined  by 
small  new-looking  houses  on  one  side  and  closed  at 
the  end  by  a  garden  door  bearing  the  number  5,526. 
Let  any  one,"  adds  Mr.  Gilbert,  "  enter  there  who  can. 
But  if  he  cannot,  let  him  subsidise  a  friendly  artisan 
in  one  of  the  tall  houses  overlooking  the  garden  wall. 
The  view  from  this  man's  window  will  discover  that 
probably  nothing  that  was  familiar  to  the  eye  of  the 
great  painter  is  now  visible,  excepting  the  stone  cor- 
nice, which,  running  round  the  house  and  continued 
all  the  length  of  the  row  of  houses,  shows  that  it  was 
formerly  one  habitation,  the  upper  story  of  which 
formed  the  roomy  studio  of  Titian.  Since  his  time," 
Mr.  Gilbert  continues,  "the  prospect  that  once  ex- 
tended far  over  sea  and  land  has  been  hopelessly 
blocked  out  by  a  pUe  of  buUdings,  of  which  our 
artisan's  dwelling  is  one,  erected  between  the  garden 
and  the  shore,  if  not  covering  great  part  of  the  garden 
itself,  which  must,  from  the  descriptions,  have  been 
rather  extensive,  and  once  certainly  reached  to  the 
water's  edge."  * 


There  is  no  view  towards  Murano 
except  through  the  lane  called 
CaUe  Colombina.  The  way  to 
Titian's  house  from  the  church  of 
San  Canciano  is  through  the 
"  Calle  Widman  "  to  the  "  Campo 
Eotto," 


*  Cadore,  or  Titian's  country, 
u.  8.  pp.  3-5 ;  and  compare,  for  the 
yarious  leases  of  Titian's  house, 
Cadorin,  DeUo  Amore,  u,  «.  pp. 
83,  and  foil'.  Mr.  Gilbert  re- 
publishes  Cadorin's  drawing  of 
Titian's  house,  as  it  existed  in  1 833. 


Chap,  n.]  EMBANKMENT   OF  VENICE.  45 

The  taruth  is,  that  many  changes  occurred  in  Venice 
after  1540,  which  contributed  to  alter  the  topography 
of  the  north-eastern  suburbs  of  the  city ;  and  under 
the  influence  of  these  changes,  the  waters  of  the  lagoons 
receded  from  Titian's  garden  as  the  sea  withdrew  from 
Pisa  and  Eavenna.  The  banks  were  originally  cut  up 
into  creeks  of  varying  depths,  and  the  approaches  by 
land  were  insecure,  and  these  evils  outweighed  the 
charms  which  struck  Priscianese.  In  1546,  Cristo- 
foro  Sabbadini,  a  friend  of  Sansovino,  proposed  to  the 
Senate  to  embank  the  whole  of  the  land  from  Santa 
Giustina  in  the  south-east,  to  Sant'  Alvise  on  the 
north-west.  But  the  scheme  was  so  vast  that  it  met 
with  serious  opposition,  and  even  when  reduced  to 
more  modest  dimensions,  and  confined  to  the  region 
between  San  Francesco  della  Vigna,  and  the  Creek  or 
Sacco  della  Misericordia,  it  failed  to  find  support. 
In  158 8,  however,  the  water  bailiff^,  Girolamo  Eighetti, 
suggested  to  the  Senate  to  undertake  the  embankment 
from  a  point  between  Santa  Giustina  and  San  Fran- 
cesco, to  the  church  of  Santa  Catherina;  and  this 
project  was  approved  by  a  public  decree  of  February, 
1589.  Several  sections  of  the  quay  were  finished 
before  1593.  Most  of  the  creeks  were  filled  up  suc- 
cessively. A  roadway  was  made  along  the  waterside. 
Houses  lined  the  roadway,  and  thus  Titian's  dwelling, 
the  chief  attraction  of  which  had  been  its  garden  and 
its  view,  was  gradually  enclosed,  and  lost  most  of  its 
charms.*     Yet  it  remained  for  many  years  a  favourite 

*  MS.  lecoids  in  the  arduTes  of  Venice,  coUated  in  a  MS.  at 
Oadore  by  the  Abate  Cadorin. 


46 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  H. 


haunt  of  artists.  After  its  sale  in  1581,  by  Fomponio, 
the  worthless  son  of  a  great  father,  it  was  let  to 
Francesco  Bassano,  who  put  an  end  to  his  life  by 
throwing  himself  from  the  upper  windows  in  a  fit  of 
frenzy.*  Leonardo  Corona  subsequently  lived  and 
died  there  ;t  and  it  is  not  without  interest  to  note 
that  Bassano  was  the  man  who  repainted  the  "  Battle 
of  Cadore,"  on  the  ceiling  of  the  Hall  of  Great  Council 
at  Venice,  and  Corona  who  copied  Titian's  original 
composition  for  that  subject  J 

To  the  glimpse  of  Titian's  leisure  hours  which 
Priscianese  affords,  we  add  another  from  a  letter 
written  by  Aretino  to  the  canon  in  posse,  Pomponio 
Yecelli.  In  1530  Titian  had  taken  his  sister  Orsa 
to  live  with  him.  In  the  years  that  followed,  his 
children,  Pomponio,  Orazio,  and  Lavinia,  grew  apace, 
and  the  letter  which  Aretino  wrote  on  the  26th  of 
November,  1537,  shows  how  these  children  shared  the 
luxury  with  which  their  father  had  surrounded  his 
home.  "Pomponio  Monsignorino ! "  Aretino  says, 
"your  father  Titian  has  given  me  the  compliments 
which  you  sent  me.  .  .  .  and  in  order  to  show  you 
my  liberality,  I  send  a  thousand  in  return,  on  con- 
dition that  you  give  the  least  of  them  to  your  pretty 


*  Jtdy  28,  1591.  (See  Verci. 
Pitt.  BassaneBe,  8vo,  Yen.  1775, 
p.  157. 

t  Bidolfi,  MaravigHe,  ii.  297. 

t  Leonardo  Corona  also  painted 
the  outer  walls  of  the  house  in 
fresco,  but  his  work  has  disap- 
peared.   Inside  the  house  there 


were  paintings  on  canyas,  attri- 
buted to  Titian,  which  represented 
a  frieze  of  cupids.  They  were 
whitewashed  and  then  sold  by 
one  of  the  tenants  at  the  beginninjg 
of  the  present  century.  See  Oa- 
dorin,  DeUo  Amore,  u.  a,  p.  32. 


Chap.  H.]  TITIAN  BUYS  AN   ORGAN.  47 


• 

little  brother  Orazio,  who  forgot  to  let  me  know  what 
he  thinks  of  the  difference  between  this  world  and  the 
next.  ...  It  is  time  that  you  should  return  from  the 
country,  where  there  is  no  school.  ...  So  come  home, 
and  now  that  you  are  twelve  years  old,  you  shall  write 
some  exercises  in  Hebrew,  in  Greek,  and  in  Latin, 
that  will  astonish  the  doctors,  as  the  pictures  astonish 
the  artists  of  Italy  which  are  painted  by  Messer  your 
father.  So  no  more,  but  keep  yourself  warm  and  in 
good  appetite."* 

"  Monsignorino,"  we  shall  see,  became  fonder  of 
pleasure  than  Greek,  and  instead  of  astonishing  the 
doctors,  shocked  an  indulgent  world  by  the  vices  of  a 
spendthrift  cloaked  by  the  dress  of  a  priest  But 
Orazio  was  put  by  his  father  to  the  easel,  and  lived 
with  tis  sister  Lavinia  to  be  a  solace  and  support  of 
Titian's  old  age. 

To  the  luxurious  surroundings  which  made  the 
painter's  abode  so  remarkable,  an  organ  was  added  in 
•  April,  1540.  The  "  canny"  Titian  was  not  a  man  to 
buy  such  an  instrument  with  ready  money ;  he  pro- 
posed to  Alessandro  "  da  gli  Organi,"  to  exchange  the 
instrument  for  a  portrait  of  himself,  and  he  punctually 
performed  his  part  of  the  contract.t  Another  portrait 
of  the  time  is  that  of  Vincenzo  Capello,  appointed  in 
1540  to  high  command  in  the  Venetian  fleet,  whose 
figure,  encased  in  burnished  armour,  long  adorned  the 
collection  of  the  Euzzini  family. J 


*  Lettere  di  M.  P.  A.  i.  20o. 
+  1540,  April  7,  from  Venice. 
Areiino  to  Alessandro  da  gli  Or- 


gani,  Lettere  di  M.  P.  A.  ii.  140', 
and  Bidolfi,  Maray.  i.  252. 
t  1540,    Dec.  25,    Aretino   to 


48 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  IL 


In  contrast  with  it,  a  likeness  of  Elizabeth  Quirini 
displayed  the  features  of  a  plump  and  youthful  dame, 
sister  to  Girolamo,  patriarch  of  Venice,  dear  to  Bembo 
for  her  brother's  sake,  and  celebrated  in  the  sonnets  of 
Giovanni  della  Casa.  AR  that  remains  of  that  cele- 
brated picture  is  the  copper  plate  of  Jos.  Canale, 
representing  the  lady  in  a  rich  dress  of  silks,  and  lace 
with  fair  hair  curled  into  short  locks  over  a  high  and 
vaulted  forehead.* 

But  the  most  honourable  commission  with  which 
Titian  was  entrusted  in  this  year,  was  that  of  painting 
Federico  Gonzaga  and  his  wife  for  Otto  Henry,  Count 
Palatine  of  the  Ehine  and  Duke  of  Bavaria.  Federico 
and  the  Count  corresponded  in  Latin — that  being  the 
only  language  which  they  both  understood ;  and  we 
still  possess  the  letter  which  the  Mantuan  prince 
addressed  in  June,  1540,  to  his  German  colleague. 

"  Meam  et  uxoris  meae  imagines  curabo  fieri  manu 
Titiani  pictoris  Ex""*  qui  Venetiis  moratur,  ut  quam 
simillimas  eas  habere  possit."  t 


Molino,  with  a  sonnet  in  praise 
of  Oapello's  portrait,  Lett,  di 
M.  P.  A.  ii.  190;  Eidolfi,  Marav. 
i.  161. 

*  The  portrait  of  Elizabeth 
Qtdrini  as  engrayed  by  Canale,  is 
turned  J  to  the  right.  Her  hair 
is  plaited  and  curled;  her  silk 
bodice  laced  oyer  a  yery  fuU 
form;  the  bosom  coyered  -with 
lace  in  square  patterns ;  the  puff 
sleeyes  are  of  stuff  trimmed  with 
silk.  Bound  the  neck  a  collar  of 
pearls ;  in  the  right  hand  a  pair 
of  gloyes.    The  plate  is  inscribed, 


EUSAB.  QVIB.  A  FILaSCLAS.  TIRIS 

CEi^BRATA,  MDLX.  Titiano  Ye- 
ceUio  da  Cad.  pinzit ;  Jos.  Canale, 
del.  and  scul.  The  original  was 
in  the  Collection  of  Gioyanni 
della  Casa  in  1544.  (See  Bembo  to 
Girolamo  Quirini,  Aug.  3,  1544, 
in  Bembo,  Op.  n.  s.  yi.  p.  339 ;  or 
in  Bottari's  Baccolta,  5,  213.) 
Della  Casa's  sonnet  to  it,  begin- 
ning, "  Ben  yegg'io,  Tiziano,  in 
forme  nuoye,"  is  reprinted  in 
Ticozzd's  YeceUi,  u,  s,  143.  See 
also  Yasari,  ziii.  43. 
t  Copied   from    the   original. 


Chap.  IL]      DEATH  OP  FBDEEIOO  GONZAQA.  49 

In  November  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  sent  to  remind 
the  Hantaan  court  of  these  portraits,  but  in  the  mean* 
while  Federico  Gonzaga  had  been  carried  oflF,  leaving 
the  Mantuan  possessions  to  his  son  Francesco. 

It  is  impossible  to  look  back  upon  the  life  of  this 
prince  without  perceiving  that  he  did  more  than  any- 
other  to  foster  the  arts  and  keep  up  the  dignity  of  the 
artists  of  his  time.  He  will  always  be  remembered 
as  the  patron  of  Giulio  Eomano,  Titian,  and  a  host  of 
miBor  craftemen.  The  galleries  which  he  formed,  the 
palaces  which  he  adorned,  were  second  to  none  but 
those  of  Florence  and  Kome.  Nor  is  it  to  be  credited 
that  Titian  would  ever  have  gained  the  protection  of 
Charles  the  Fifth  but  for  his  countenance  and  intro- 
dnctios.  Titian  was  grateful  to  him  for  his  steady 
patronage  and  his  generous  requital  of  pictorial 
labours,  and  when  Federico  was  buried  in  the  last 
days  of  June,  the  painter  went  to  Mantua  to  attend 
the  Duke's  funeral  and  pay  court  to  his  successor.* 

Hardly  a  year  had  elapsed  since  Don  Diego  de 
Mendozza  succeeded  Don  Lope  de  Soria  at  Venice; 
yet  he  had  akeady  sat  to  Titian ;  and  Aretino,  with 
becoming  zeal,  had  penned  a  sonnet  in  which  he 
praised  the  talent  of  the  limner,  and  sang  of  the  old 
head  on  young  shoulders  which  distinguished  the  high- 


dated  June  17,  in  fhe  Arduyes  of 
Mantua,  by  Canon  Braghirolli. 

*  In  a  letter  dated  Venice, 
Not.  20,  to  the  Marquis  of  Yasto, 
Aretino  excnses  Titian's  delay  in 
finishing  the  picture  of  the  ^'  Al- 

you  XL 


locution"  (the  Marquis  addressing 
his  soldiers),  by  his  necessary  ab- 
sence at  Mantua  (Lett,  di  M.  P. 
A.  iL  165^).  But  he  does  not  say 
when  Titian's  yisit  to  the  Goix 
zagas  took  place. 


60 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap. 


bom  Spaniard.  Mendozza  was  by  connection  and 
office  a  man  of  considerable  influence.  He  followed 
the  fashion  set  by  his  master  in  patronizing  Titian, 
and  was  the  first  nobleman  who  received  Vasari  on  his 
arrival  at  Venice.*  His  wealth  was  impartially  spent 
on  art  and  the  fair  sex ;  and  the  lady  of  his  devotion, 
also  portrayed  by  Titian,  had  the  fortmie  to  be  smig 
by  Aretino  in  the  lines  : 

**  FurtiTamente  Titiano  et  amore 
Preai  a  gara  i  pennelli,  e  le  quadrella 
Duo  essempi  ban'  fatto  d'  una  Donna  bella 
E  sacrati  al  Mendozza  aureo  Signore 
Ond'  egli  altier  di  si  diyin  fayore 
Per  segoir'  ootal  Dea,  come  sua  Stella ; 
Con  cerimonie  apartenenti  a  qnella, 
L'  una  in  camera  tien,  V  altro  nel  oore."t 

Vasari  describes  Titian's  Mendozza  as  a  fuUJength 
of  the  greatest  perfection.  J  But  nothing  is  known  of 
it  now,  except  that  it  shared  th^  fate  of  its  companion^ 
the  lady  of  Mendozza's  ajBfections.  An  attempt  to 
connect  it  with  a  full-length  imder  Titian's  name  at 
the  Pitti  deserves  but  little  commendation,  since  if  it 
were  proved  that  this  imperfect  production  was  once 
a  fine  creation  of  Titian,  it  would  also  prove  that 
modem  restorers  can  utterly  destroy  the  masterpieces 
of  a  great  painter.  § 


•  Vas.  (i.  20)  tells  how  Men- 
dozza gave  him  200  ducats  for  two 
pictures  painted  from  Michael 
Angelo's  cartoons. 

t  Lettere  di  M.  P.  Aret^  t/.  s., 
ii.  314. 

t  Vas.  xiii.  33. 

§  Pitti,  No.  215,  canvas,  full 


length,  of  life  size.  The  figure  is 
that  of  a  man  of  forty,  in  hlack 
silk  Test,  short  doak,  and  hose; 
the  right  hand  on  the  hip,  the 
left  holding  the  doak.  In  the 
background  of  the  room  is  a  bas- 
relief.  The  head  is  totally  re- 
painted,   the  rest  iU  preserved. 


Chap,  n.] 


THE  ALLOCUTION. 


51 


Having  taken  his  usual  autumnal  trip  to  Cadore, 
during  which  he  appointed  his  kinsman  Yincenzo 
Vecelli  to  the  office  of  a  notary,*  Titian  settled  down 
to  work  for  the  winter  at  Venice,  and  began  labouring 
seriously  at  the  "Allocution"  for  the  Marquis  of 
Vasto.  He  had  promised  that  picture  early  in  the 
previous  year,  but  had  only  made  a  large  sketch  of  it 
when  the  marquis  wrote  to  complain  of  the  painter's 
delays.  Aretino  too  had  promised  to  write  the  life  of 
St  Catherine  for  the  marchioness,  but  had  not  done  it. 
Excusing  his  procrastination  on  the  score  of  private 
disappointments,  Aretino,  in  November,  penned  a 
letter  to  Davalos,  explaining  that  Titian's  want  of 
punctuality  was  due  to  an  unforeseen  visit  to  Mantua. 
But  he  had  already  made  up  for  lost  time  by  drawing 
in  Del  Vasto  and  his  soldiers  with  a  figure  of  the  boy 
Francesco  Ferrante  holding  his  father's  plumed  helmet. 
The  likeness,  he  went  on  to  say,  was  already  admirable, 
the  armour  dazzling  in  its  reflections,  the  boy  like 
Phoebus  at  the  side  of  Mar&t  But  aU  this  was  mere 
word  painting.  The  picture  was  not  nearly  so  far 
advanced  as  Aretino  said;  and  in  December,  whilst 
sending,  on  his  own  account,  the  life  of  St.  Catherine 
and  a  bronze  statue  of  the  saint  by  Sansovino,  **  the 


To  say  that  the  execution  recalls 
Cesare  Yecellio  or  Schiavone,  is 
equiyaleiit  to  saying  that  the 
picture  is  not  by  Titian.  Yet 
some  bits,  sach  as  the  hand  on 
the  hip  and  the  bas-relief,  are 
almost  good  enongh  for  Titian. 
*  Memoxia  di  alcnne  persone 


da  Tiziano  create  notai;  MS. 
Jacobi  of  Cadore.  Yincenzo  Ye- 
oelli  was  enroUed  as  a  iiotary  by 
order  of  the  Gooncil  of  Cadore 
on  the  15th  of  September,  1540. 

t  Aretino  to  Del  YastOjYenice, 
Nov.  20,  1540,  in  Lett,  di  M.  P. 
Aretino,  iL  p.  165. 

b2 


62 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  n. 


Scourge'*  also  despatched  Titian's  original  sketck  in 
order  to  silence  Del  Vasto's  complaints.*  In  February, 
1541,  we  find  Titian  negotiating  with  Girolamo 
Martinengo  of  Brescia,  and  promising  to  paint  that 
nobleman's  portrait  if  he  would  but  send  a  complete 
suit  of  armour  to  figure  in  the  "  Allocution,  "t  The 
picture  was  doubtless  finished  soon  after,  for  when 
exhibited  at  Milan  it  made  quite  a  sensation  amongst 
the  crowds  which  Davalos  invited  to  see  itj  Its 
despatch  to  Spain,  and  subsequent  transfer  to  the 
Alcazar  of  Madrid,  remain  unexplained  ;  unexplained, 
likewise,  the  existence  of  a  similar  picture  in  the 
Mantuan  collection  which  passed  into  the  gallery 
formed  at  Whitehall  by  Charles  the  First. §  Even  the 
sketch  has  disappeared,  though  it  may  still  perhaps  be 
identified  as  that  which  Charles  the  First  purchased 
during  his  visit  to  Spain.j|  Unhappily  the  Spanish 
edition  of  the  picture  which  adorned  the  Alcazar  in 
the  reign  of  Philip  the  Fourth  (1621),  was  irretrievably 
injured  by  fire  and  subjected  to  repainting ;  and  it  is 
only  with  considerable  difficulty  that  we  discover  a 
touch  of  Titian's  brush.     StiU  the  composition  is  clear. 


*  Aretino  to  Del  Vasto,  Venice, 
Deo.  22,  1540 ;  and  the  same  to 
Sansoyino,  Venice,  January  13, 
1541,  in  Lett,  di  M.  P.  Aret^,  ii. 
pp.  189—191. 

t  Aretino  to  Oapitan'  Palazzo, 
Venice,  Feb.  15,  1541,  in  Lett,  di 
M.  P.  A.  ii.  193\ 

X  Maroolini  to  Aretino,  in  Let- 
tei*e  a  M.  P.  A.,  vol.  ii.,  eztr.  in 
Ticozzi's  Vecelli,  p.  122. 

§  Bathoe's  Cat.,  u.  «.,  p.  96. 


The  marquis  here  caUed  Yangona 
may  be  Guido  Bangone.  The 
canyas  measored  7  ft.  4  in.  by 
5  ft.  5  in.  high. 

II  Bathoe's  Catalogue  registers 
this  as  follows :  "  Done  by  Titian, 
the  picture  of  the  Marquis  Guasto, 
containing  five  half  figures  so  big 
as  the  life  which  the  king  bought 
out  of  an  'Almonedo/"  whi<di 
means,  that  the  picture  was  pur- 
chased at  an  auction. 


Chap.  II.] 


CHAELBS  V.  AT  MILAN. 


63 


The  marquis  stands  on  a  low  plinth  in  burnished  and 
damasked  armour.  With  one  hand  he  holds  the  baton, 
with  the  other  he  gesticulates  as  he  speaks  to  a 
company  of  halberdiers  on  the  ground  to  the  right. 
A  red  mantle  falls  from  his  shoulders,  his  cropped  hair 
and  beard  are  black.  Near  him  his  son  Francesco 
stands  in  a  green  coat  and  buskins,  and  holds  his 
Other's  plumed  helmet.  But  for  the  daubs  on  the 
faces  we  might  perhaps  recognize  Aretino,  who  is 
described  by  a  contemporary  as  a  spectator  under  the 
garb  of  a  soldier.*  The  likeness  of  del  Vasto  and  his 
son  is  lost  under  copious  retouches.t  Titian's  reward 
is  said  to  have  been  an  annual  pension  of  fifty  scudi 
on  one  of  his  patron's  estates.  J  Titian  had  good 
reasons  for  showing  zeal  in  del  Vasto's  behalf,  since  it 
was  rumoured  that  the  emperor  was  coming  to  revisit 
the  peninsula  and  inspec;t  his  possessions  in  Italy. 
After  ineffectual  negotiation,  Charles  the  Fifth  had 
failed  to  obtain  from  the  French  king  the  cession  of 
his  claims  on  Milan.  Not  even  Burgundy  and  the 
Netherlands  which  the  Emperor  tendered  in  exchange 
had  been  found  sufficient  to  tempt  Francis  the  First. 
Equally  vain  had  been  the  effort  to  settle  religious 
differences  in  the  diet  of  Eatisbon.  Charles  had  spent 
the  spring  and  sunmier  of  1541  in  these  negotiations, 
and  now  he  was  bent  on  seeing  how  matters  stood  in 
Lombardy,  resolved  to  meet  the  Pope,  and  prepare 


*  Moroolini  to  Aretino^  u.  8, 
t  The  piotare  is  numbered  471 
in  the  Madrid  Mnseam.    It  is  on 
cttnyas,  m.  2.23  high,  by  1.65. 


See  Don  Pedro  de  Madrazo's  Ca- 
talogue. 
X  Bidolfi,  Maray.  L  223. 


54 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  U. 


the  fleet  which,  he  fondly  hoped,  would  compensate 
the  loss  of  Pesth  to  the  Turks  by  the  capture  of 
Algiers.  In  August  he  was  met  in  the  name  of  Paul 
the  Third  at  Peschiera  by  Ottavio  Famese.  Though 
travelling  without  state,  and  as  Giustiniani  remarks, 
concealing  the  majesty  of  the  Empire  under  the  shade 
of  a  bad  hat  and  threadbare  clothes,*  his  reception  at 
Milan  was  regal,  and  he  made  a  solemn  entry  into  the 
old  capital  of  the  Sforzas  with  Granvelle  and  Gaspar 
Contarini  at  his  side,  and  accompanied  by  Davalos, 
the  Prince  of  Salerno,  Lope  de  Soria,  Davila,  and  the 
crowd  of  imperial  captains,  councillors,  and  secre- 
taries.t  Aretino  had  hoped  that  he  would  be  asked 
to  join  the  solemnity,  but  having  fallen  into  some 
temporary  disfavour,  and  being  compelled,  much 
against  his  will,  to  remain  at  Venice,  he  had  the  more 
reason  for  wishing  that  Titian  should  witness  it,  and 
soothe  in  his  intercourse  with  the  Emperor  and  his 
officials  any  difficulties  that  might  have  arisen. 
Aretino  judiciously  heralded  Titian's  coming  by 
letters  to  some  of  Charles's  generals  and  secretaries. 
To  the  prince  of  Salerno,  who  was  about  to  command 
a  division  in  Algiers,  he  wrote  that  Titian  would  ask 
him  to  sit  "  for  an  outline  of  his  figure."  To  Lope  de 
Soria,  "  that  he  had  asked  Titian  to  do  him  reverence 
in  his    name."J     Davalos  was    propitiated    by  the 


*  Pietro  Giiutiniani,  Hist.  Ye- 
netiane,  4to,  Yen.  1576,  lib.  13, 
p.  271. 

t  Albicante,  Trattato  deir  In- 
trar  a  Milano  di  Carlo  Y.,  4to, 
Milan,    1541,    in    Cicogna,  Isc. 


Yen.  iv.  665. 

X  Aretino  to  the  Prince  of  Sa- 
lerno, Yenice,  Aug.  13,  1541^ 
and  Aretino  to  Lope  de  Soria, 
Yenice,  Aug.  14,  1541,  in  Lettere 
di  M.  P.  Aretino,  ii.  222^  &  223^ 


Chap.  H.]        TITIAN  AT?  OOUBT  IN  MILAN. 


55 


"  Allocution  "  which,  we  may  think,  Titian  took  with 
hun  to  Milan,  and  Gian'  Battista  Tomiello  was 
gladdened  with  the  sight  of  a  "  Nativity,"  which  for 
many  subsequent  years  formed  the  chief  ornament  of 
the  chapel  of  St  Joseph  in  the  cathedral  of  Novarra.* 
Titian  for  his  part  had  occasion  to  paint  new  portraits 
and  urge  his  claims  on  the  Emperor's  treasury.  He 
received  from  Charles  the  Fifth  a  patent  granting  him 
an  annuity  of  100  ducats  payable  out  of  the  Milanese 
treasury.t  The  length  o^  his  stay  at  Milan  has  not 
been  ascertained,  nor  has  any  detail  of  his  daily 
avocations  been  preserved.  At  home  at  Venice  in  the 
following  October,  we  find  him  enjoying  the  usual 
round  of  quiet  dissipation  attendant  on  mirthful 
company  and  fine  suppers,  the  triumvirate,  into  which 
Marcolini  the  bookseller  had  entered,  being  turned  into 
a  club  called  the  "  Academy,"  where  a  small  but  jovial 
set  of  "compeers"  met  either  in  the  rooms  at  Biri, 
or  in  Aretino's  palace  on  the  Grand  CanaL|  In 
the  workshop  at  Bin,  there  was  to  be  seen,  before  the 


*  Tomiello  liad  been  dissatis- 
fied with,  a  ''Nativity"  which 
Utian  had  done  for  him.  He  had 
sent  it  back,  and  Aretino  wrote  to 
him  on  the  6th  of  August,  1641, 
that  "Titian  had  repainted  the 
tavola,  into  which  he  had  intro- 
duced the  protector  of  his  (Tor- 
niello's)  birthplace  (St.  Gkaden- 
siua  of  Novarra)  in  armour,  and 
two  angels  in  place  of  cherubs." 
(Compare  Lett,  di  M.  P.  A.  ii. 
308*.)  The  picture  was  placed  on 
the  high  altar  of  San  Giuseppe, 
in  the  Duomo  of  Novarra,  where 


it  was  seen  and  described  by  Lo- 
mazzo.  (Idea  del  Tempio,  p.  141.) 
It  is  not  now  to  be  found. 

t  This  patent  has  not  been 
preserved,  but  Ib  recited  in  a  later 
one,  to  which  reference  will  be 
madejpoatea;  but  see  Quye,  Gar- 
teggio,  ii.  369. 

X  See  Leone  Aretino  to  P.  Are* 
tino,  Genoa,  23rd  of  March,  1541, 
in  Lett,  a  M.  P.  Aret»,  i.  357; 
and  Aretino  to  Pigna,  Oct.  11, 
1541,  in  Lettere  di  M.  P.  Ar®,  iL 
244. 


56  TITIAN:  HIS  UFB  AND  TIMES.       [Chip.  H. 

winter  closed,  a  large  altaipiece  of  the  "  Descent  of  the 
Holy  Spirit/'  ordered  by  the  canons  of  San  Spirito  in 
Isola,  the  same  religious  community  which  had 
employed  Titian  years  before,  but  was  now  desirous 
of  more  modem  masterpieces  suited  to  the  splendour 
of  a  new  church  rebuilt  by  Sansovino.*  When  the 
canons  were  invited  to  inspect  this  altarpiece,  they 
protested  their  unwillingness  to  take  it,  and  a  quarrel 
began,  which  we  shall  see  expanding  to  large  propor- 
tions, till  the  influence  of  the  Farnese  princes  put  an 
end  to  it 

Carnival  time  was  now  approaching,  aad  the  gay 
patricians  of  the  company  of  the  Calza,  led  by  the 
irrepressible  humour  of  Aretino,  planned  a  grand 
"  apparato "  or  show,  to  conclude  with  the  perform- 
ance of  Aretino's  new  comedy,  called  the  "  Talanta." 
It  is  characteristic  of  the  peculiar  form  which  art  had 
assumed  at  Venice,  that  the  pieces  required  for  scenes 
and  show  were  not  entrusted  to  Venetian  painters, 
and  the  members  of  the  Calza  deputed  Aretino  to 
engage  artists  for  this  purpose  in  Tuscany.  Aretino 
naturally  thought  of  patronising  one  of  the  craftsmen 
of  his  native  town,  and  in  this  way  Vasari  first 
made  acquaintance  with  the  city  of  the  lagoons.t  A 
couple  of  pages  in  his  autobiography  give  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  work  which  he  executed  for  the  carnival 
company ;  but  the  public  was  informed  of  the  artist's 
name  by  a  dialogue  in  the  "  Talanta,"  in  which  the 


<'  -  •  Vasari,  xiii.  33;  Sansoyino,  |      t  Vas,  i.  20,  xi.  9,  and  xiii; 

Yen.  Des.  229,  34. 


Chap,  n.] 


VASABI  AT  VENICE. 


67 


principal  character  was  ingeniously  made  to  puff  all 
the  Mends  of  the  dramatist  in  a  single  sentence. 

''  I  am  told,  am  infonned,  and  have  seen  it  written, 
says  Messer  Vergolo,  that  Messer  Giorgio  d'Arezzo, 
who  is  hardly*  thirty-five,  has  painted  a  scene  and  an 
appara^,  which  iose  dever  spirite,  Titian  and 
Sansovino,  greatly  admire."  * 

But  Vasari's  success  was  not  limited  to  the  perish- 
able canvases  of  a  public  show  or  of  theatrical  scenes. 
Since  the  days  of  the  exhibition  of  the  "Battle  of 
Cadore"  in  the  Hall  of  Great  Council,  Titian  had 
kept  up  his  connection  with  the  Comaro  family.  He 
had  even  been  painting  as  Yasari  came,  or  had  caused 
.ne  of  his  jo  Jeymen  to  paint,  a  portriut  of  Catherine 
Comaro,  the  dead  Queen  of  Cyprus,  in  the  garb  of  a 
saint,  which  numberless  artists  were  afterwards  to 
copy  and  multiply.  He  gave  the  young  Aretine  an 
introduction  to  Giovanni  Comaro ;  and  it  was  doubt- 
less not  without  his  countenance  that  Sansovino  pro- 
cured for  him  the  order  to  decorate  San  Spirito  in 
Isola.t 


*  La  Talanta  commedia  di  M. 
P.  AretLao  composta  a  petizione 
de'  xnagnifid  signori  sempiterm, 
e  lecitata  daUe  lor  pioprie  mag- 
nifioenze  con  mirabil  superbia  di 
apparato.  Yinegia  per  F.  Marco- 
]mi,  1542,  aot  L  8C.  3. 

t  The  palace  of  GioTamd  Oor- 
naco  at  San  Benedetto,  now 
Comer'Spinelii,  on  the  Grand 
Oanal,  was  that  in  which  Yasari 
laboured,  and  there  he  designed 
the  ornament  of  a  ceiling.  The 
canons  of  San  Spirito  in  Isola, 


wished  him  to  paint  the  ceiling 
canvases,  which  were  afterwards 
ezecttted  by  Titian  (Yas.  xiii.  34). 
BidolfL  (Marayiglie,  L  198)  states 
that  this  portrait  of  Catherine 
Ck)maro  was  often  copied.  The 
finest  example  asciibed  to  Titian  is 
that  exhibited  at  the  UfiQzi  in  Flo- 
rence (No.  648,  half-length  of  life 
size  on  canvas),  where  the  queen 
is  represented  standing  turned 
three-quarters  to  the  left,  her  eyes 
to  the  right,  her  left  hand  in  the 
grasp  of  her  right.    A  crown  of 


68 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  U. 


Titian  meanwhile  had  been  entering  on  new  and 
onerous  engagements.     In  May,  1542,  he  received  an 


gold,  Gtadded  with  pearls,  forms 
the  edging  to  a  tarban  of  silk. 
A  jewelled  brooch  is  fastened  at 
the  bosom  to  a  red  silk  bodice, 
the  sleeves  of  which  are  puffed 
with  green  damask.  Over  this  a 
rich  surcoat  falls,  the  border  of 
which  is  strewed  with  peai'Is.  The 
&oe  and  form  are  full,  plump, 
and  yoathfol,  but  finely  moulded 
and  of  graceful  shape;  and  the 
attitude  is  nobly  kept  and  ren- 
dered. But  the  treatment  is  cold 
and  empty,  notwithstanding  that 
some  traits  of  Titianesque  exe- 
cution are  apparent  in  it.  The 
painter  in  Titian's  school  of  whom 
we  are  most  reminded,  is  Marco 
di  Tiziano,  yet  on  the  back  of  the 
canvas,  and  re-copied,  according 
to  records  in  the  secret  archive  of 
the  Pitti  on  July  8,  1773,  are 
the  words:  "TrriAifi  opvs^imo 
1542."  The  dress  and  minutise 
are  all  retouched  in  the  lights; 
at  the  queen's  elbow  is  the  wheel, 
round  her  head  on  a  brown  back- 
ground, the  nimbus  of  St  Cathe- 
rine.   Photograph  by  Braun. 

The  same  person,  turbaned  and 
standing  in  a  room  with  an  open 
window  to  the  left,  is  fairly  de- 
scribed as  C.  Ck>maro,  by  Titian, 
in  the  Holford  Collection.  But 
the  treatment  is  feebler  here  than 
at  the  UfiOzi.  The  same  person 
again,  without  a  head-dress,  and 
holding  a  garland  of  flowers,  is 
ascribed  to  Titian  in  the  collection 
of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  in 
London.  It  is  a  copy  of  life  size 
on  canvas,  by  some  imitator  of 


Titian.  **  The  Queen  of  Cyprus,'* 
as  St.  Catherine,  with  the  palm, 
and  wheel,  was  exhibited  under 
Titian's  name  as  the  property  of 
Earl  Brownlow,  at  the  Academy, 
in  1875. 

Unlike  any  of  these  pieces,  and 
doubtless  erroneously  called  Ca- 
therine Comaro,  is  a  portrait  of  a 
lady,  more  than  half  length,  in 
possession  of  Signer  Francesco 
Biccardi,  Yia  Borgo  Fignolo  at 
Bergamo ;  a  canvas  which,  when 
in  the  Casa  Yincenzo  Martinengo 
CoUeoni  at  Brescia,  was  engraved 
in  the  line  series  of  Sala.    The 
person   represented   is   a  portly 
woman   in   a  red  dress,  whose 
chestnut  hair  is  gathered  up  into 
a  striped  bag.    She  stands  fuU 
front  at  the   side  of  a  marble 
plinth,  on  the  fiice  of  which  her 
own  profile  is  carved  in  relief. 
Her  left  hand  is  raised  to  rest  on 
the  slab,  the  right  hanging  list- 
less at   her  side.    The   reg^ular 
features  of  a  broad,  good  hu- 
moured,   and    pinguid    counte- 
nance, are  quite  the  reverse  of 
queenly.     The  homely  dress  is 
well  set  and  draped,  and  the  whole 
piece  recalls  in  its  general  aspect 
the  period  when  Titian  strove  with 
Giorgione  for  a  place  in  Venetian 
art.    But  the  canvas  is  now  too 
much  injured  to  warrant  a  posi- 
tive opinion.    The  hair  is  new, 
the  eyes   and  fiesh  are  mostly 
daubed  over,  and  there  is  much 
modem  colour  to  conceal  what 
may  in  past  times  have  been  the 
work  of  Titian. 


Chap.  H.]  TITIAN  POETRAYS  HIMSELF, 


59 


advance  of  ten  ducats  to  begin  the  votive  picture  of 
the  Doge  Lando,  which  was  to  be  pkced  in  the  Sala 
d'Oro.*  On  the  5th  of  June  he  received  a  sum 
exactly  similar,  as  an  earnest  that  he  would  furnish  to 
Domenico  Giustiniani  an  altarpiece  for  the  high  altar 
of  the  Church  of  Serravalle.t  In  the  intervals 
devoted  to  labours  of  a  lighter  kind  he  painted  the 
portrait  of  himself,  which  he  purposed  to  leave  as  a 
reminiscence  to  his  children. 

Of  the  numerous  portraits  which  might  claim  to 
be  that  produced  by  the  painter  for  his  descendants, 
history  unhappily  gives  insuJEcient  account.  Records 
show  that  a  likeness  of  Titian,  registered  as  an  heir- 
loom of  the  Vecelli  of  Cadore,  was  stolen  in  1 733,  and 
purchased  in  a  mysterious  and  unaccountable  way 
for  the  **  Duke  of  Florence."  Respectable  Cadorines, 
who  visited  the  Tuscan  capital,  declared  that  the 
picture  exhibited  in  the  gallery  of  the  Uffizi  was  the 
heirloom  in  question,  and  recent  historians  have 
repeated  the  tale  without  testing  its  truth.J  The 
fact  appears  to  be  that  there  were  several  portraits  of 
Titian  not  unlike  each  other,  which  passed  through 
the  hands  of  dealers  out  of  Italy ;  that  one  came  into 
Rubens'  possession,  §  whilst  another  changed  owners 
obscurely,  until  it  reached  the  gallery  of  M.  Solly, 
whose  treasures  now  form  the   Museum  of  Berlin. 


*  The  docninent  is  in  Lorenzi, 
tu  c,  p.  235. 

t  See  Appendix. 

t  Compare  the  correspondence 
of  1733  in  Ticozzi's  Vecelli,  pp. 
303-7,  with   the    annotators    of 


Yasari,  ziii.  p.  34. 

§  In  Bubens'  Inventory  (1640) 
we  find  "the  picture  of  Titian 
himselfe,  made  by  himseife." 
(Sainsbory,  u,  $,,  p.  236.) 


60 


TTTIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TBCES.       [Chap.  H. 


The  evidence  which  aflSrms  that  the  Duke  of  Florence 
purchased  the  stolen  portrait  of  Titian  in  1 733,  may 
be  unimpeachable,  yet  we  must  assume  that  the 
portrait,  so  stolen,  was  never  exhibited  at  Florence, 
since  the  Titian  now  at  the  Ulfizi  was  bought  at 
Antwerp  in  1677,  and  publicly  displayed  a  short  time 
after.* 

The  earliest  likeness,  or  rather  that  which  gives 
Titian  the  greatest  apparent  youth,  is  that  of  the 
Belvedere  at  Vienna.  But  %  this  is  so  altered  by 
repainting  as  now  to  deny  the  hand  of  the  master.t 
Next  in  point  of  age,  and  executed  with  surprising 
skill,  is  that  of  Berlin,  where  Titian,  with  his  own 
hand,  has  rapidly  sketched  his  manly  form,  encased 
in  a  closely-buttoned  doublet,  of  changing  stuff, 
showing  red  lake  shadows  and  lights  of  laky  white. 
His  shoulders  are  covered  by  a  wide  pelisse  of  dark 
brown  cloth,  with  a  collar  of  brown  musk,  giving  free 
play  to  arms  sheathed  in  silvery  damask.     A  broad 


*  See  the  correspondence  of  the 
Grand  Duke  Cosimo  the  Third 
and  Francis  Schilders,  February 
to  September,  1666—1677,  in 
Gnalandi's  Nuoya  Bacoolta  di 
Lettere,  8vo,  Bologna,  1845,  ii. 
pp.  306-316. 

t  This  picture,  a  bust  on  wood, 
1  ft.  7  in.  high,  by  1  ft.  4  in.,  is 
No.  48,  Boom  II.,  Ist  Floor,  of 
Italian  Schools  in  the  Belvedere 
Collection.  The  face  is  turned  to 
the  right,  the  head  covered  with 
a  black  skull-cap ;  the  fur  pelisse, 
and  knight's  chain,  are  similar  to 
those  in  other  portraits  of  Titian. 
The  flesh  parts  are  altogether  re- 


painted, and  show  at  present  no 
trace  of  Titian's  hand.  The  only 
part  which  might  do  this  is  the 
shirt  collar,  but  this  is  too  little 
to  go  by.  A  copy  of  this  portrait, 
by  Teniers,  is  at  Blenheim.  There 
is  an  engraving  by  L.  Vorster- 
man,  in  the  Teniers  Gallery,  and 
another  in  Haas's  Galerie  de 
Vienne.  It  is  a  question  whether 
this  may  not  be  the  '*  portrait  of 
Titian  by  himself"  which  be- 
longed to  the  Antiquarian  Strada 
at  Venice  in  1567.  See  Stock- 
bauer's  Kunstbestrebungen  am 
Bayrischen  Hofe,  in  Quellen- 
schnften,  u.  «.,  viii.  p.  43. 


Ceap.  IL]       POETRAIT  OP  TmAN—BEELIN.  61 

white  shirt  collar  and  a  black  skull-cap  relieve  the 
grand  block  of  a  finely  chiselled  face»  decorated  with 
beard  and  moustache  of  dubious  grey.  The  hands 
are  as  full  of  life  as  the  movement  and  the  frame. 
One  of  them  rests  with  fingers  outstretched  on  the 
green  cloth  of  a  table^  the  other  on  the  knee.  The 
&ce  is  seen  at  three-quarters  to  the  right,  divided  into 
perfect  proportions,  the  forehead  high,  the  brow  bold 
and  projecting,  the  nose  of  fine  cut,  shooting,  arched 
firom  a  powerful  base,  that  parts  a  pair  of  penetrant 
eyes  of  admirable  regularity ;  round  the  neck  are  two 
twists  of  the  chain,  which  indicates  the  painter's 
knightly  rank.  What  distinguishes  the  head  from 
the  rest  of  the  picture  is  its  finished  modelling.  The 
sleeves  are  a  mere  rubbing  of  silver  grey,  the  hands 
a  scumble  of  umber.  One  can  see  that  the  man  who 
painted  the  picture  was  of  a  tough  fibre,  and 
eminently  fitted  to  represent  himself  in  the  form  in 
which  he  is  made  to  appear.  The  eye  and  action 
reveal  the  same  headlong  fire  and  overflow  of  spirit 
that  characterised  Michaelangelo ;  and  as  we  picture 
to  ourselves  the  sculptor  hammering  out  the  chips 
with  dust  and  din,  so  we  picture  to  ourselves  Titian 
flftgliiTig  off  this  likeness  of  himself,  expressing  his 
meaning,  here  with  a  rubbed  pigment,  there  with  an 
indication  of  outline,  now  with  a  dash  of  colour, 
TTialnng  out  the  shape  in  lighter  or  darker  tone  of  red 
and  black  on  the  neutral  stretch  of  the  ground,  then 
with  a  touch,  leaving  a  little  hUl  of  light  sparkling  as 
a  diamond  in  the  eyes  and  finger  tips.  But  having 
done  this,  a  more  sober,  laborious  mood  supervenes ; 


62 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  n. 


the  face  is  kneaded  and  modelled  into  shape,  and 
finished  in  a  russet  key.' 

From  this  masterly  piece,  which  time  has  unhappily 
injured,  there  can  be  no  doubt  the  likeness  of  the 
XJffizi — whoever  painted  it — was  taken.  In  the  main 
the  features  are  the  same  as  those  of  Berlin.  The 
hands  alone  differ  ;  but  the  distinctive  quality  of  the 
Florentine  example  is  itfi  finish.  The  black  skull-cap 
of  the  study  is  exchanged  for  one  of  a  deep  but  gayer 
blue.  The  knight's  chain,  with  the  double  eagle 
pendent  from  it,  is  fully  made  out.  The  left  hand, 
holding  a  pallet,  is  well  shaped  and  finely  detached,' 
the  dress  complete.  Yet  the  surfaces  have  been 
abraded  or  changed  to  such  an  extent  by  time  and 
repainting  that  one  can  hardly  decide  whether  the 
picture  was  executed  by  Titian  or  Marco  Vecelli.t 

Many  years  later,  perhaps  in  1562,  when — Vasari 
says — Titian  again  took  a  likeness  of  himself,  the 
noble  portrait  of  the  Madrid  Museum  was  brought  to 


*  This  canvas,  a  half  length  on 
a  brown  rubbed  ground,  was  in  a 
very  bad  state  tiU  regenerated  in 
April,  1874,  by  the  Pettenkofer 
process.  It  is  now  very  bright, 
but  one  still  sees  where  it  suffered 
abrasion.  The  canvas  is  No.  163 
in  the  Berlin  Museum,  3  ft.  2  in. 
high  by  2  ft.  5  in.  Injured  by 
rubbing  off  of  its  final  glazes,  it 
shows  a  '' pentimento ''  at  the 
right  ear,  and  the  flesh  looks 
somewhat  more  monotonous  than 
we  expect  to  find  it  in  a  perfect 
Titian.  From  a  passage  in  Maier's 
Imitasdone  pittorica,  8vo,  Venice, 


1818,  p.  333,  we  gather  that  this 
picture  once  belonged  to  Oi- 
qognara. 

t  No.  384  in  the  Uffi2d ;  this 
canvas  only  shows  Titian  to  the 
waist.  There  are  strong  marks 
of  abrasion  in  various  parts,  and 
particularly  on  the  forehead, 
where  also  there  are  heavy  re- 
touches. Large  spots  of  new 
colour  disfigure  the  pelisse  and 
arm  to  the  right.  The  whole 
sur&ce  is  duUed  by  modem  tint- 
ing. Engraved  by  Agostino  Oa- 
raod. 


Chap.  H.]       POBTRAIT  OP  TITIAN— MADBJD. 


63 


perfection,  in  which  we  see  the  axtist  hoary  with  age, 
yet  still  lithe  and  erect,  and,  as  ever,  noble  in  bearing. 
The  features  have  grown  thin  and  cornered ;  the  beard 
and  hair  are  whiter  than  the  linen  of  the  collar,  but 
the  vigour  of  the  old  man's  frame  is  still  apparent  in 
the  hawk's  eye  which  glistens  from  out  of  the  hollow 
orbit,  overshadowed  by  its  silver-streak  of  brjow ;  and 
the  black  skull-cap  marks  a  contrast  not  only  with 
the  hair  on  the  temples,  but  with  flesh  full  of  pulsant 
life.     Here  Titian  is  almost  in  profile  to  the  left,  but 
wears  the  time-honoured  collar,  doublet,  and  pelisse. 
In  the  right  hand  he  holds  a  brush,  the  emblem  of 
his  art.     The   features    appear   to  have   gained  in 
dignity  what  they  have  lost  in  youth ;  and  the  face, 
though  it  is  retouched  here   and  there,  is  full   of 
character,  and  delineated  with  all  the  mastery  and 
delicacy  of  gradations  of  which  Titian's  pencil  was 
capable.* 

Once  or  twice  again  we  find  the  likeness  repeated 
in  a  "  St  Matthew "  at  the  Salute,  or  as  adjuncts  to 
larger  compositions^  in  the  ^*  Madonna "  of  Pieve,  or 
the  "  Pietii  *  of  the  Venice  Academy,  which  is  the  last 


*  This  portrait,  a  life-sized 
Inut  on  canvas,  M.  0*86  h.  by* 
0.65,  is  No.  477  in  the  Madrid 
MuBeum,  and  as  early  as  the 
reign  of  Philip  the  Fonrtii  of  Spain 
(1621 — 65),  hnng  in  the  Alcazar. 
It  is  not  free  from  retouching. 
Photograph  by  Lanrent.  In  1 542 
Alphonse  Fran9oi8  engraved  it 
from  a  repUca  (?  copy),  at  that 
time  in  possession  of  M.  Ghaix 


d'Est-Ange,  in  Paris.  Yasarisays 
(xiii.  p.  34}  that  Titian  painted 
his  own  likeness  about  the  time 
when  he  executed  the  ceiling  of 
the  Salute  (1543).  He  adds  (xiii. 
44)  that  he  painted  his  own  like- 
ness, <'  as  before  stated,"  in  1562, 
leaving  us  in  doubt  as  to  whether 
Titian  produced  one  or  two  like- 
nesses. Two  seems  more  pro- 
bable than  one. 


64 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  IL 


creation  of  the  master's  hand.     Other  artists  immor- 
talized   this    painter    also,    Paul  Veronese    in    the 
"Marriage  of  Cana"  at  the  Louvre,  Falma  Giovine  in 
the  ceiling  of  the  Oratory  of  San  Fantino ;  but  there 
are  numerous  pictures  in  addition  which  represent  the 
master  in  converse  with  a  friend,  and  these  are  every- 
where assumed  to  be  by  Titian.     There  may  have 
been  origbaJs  from  which  they  were  t^en.     In  no 
case  are  they  genuine,  nor  is  it  even  certain  that  the 
persons  represented  are  correctly  designated.     In   a 
canvas    at   Cobham  Hall,  the  well-known  form  of 
Titian  is   accompanied  by  that  of  a  bearded  man 
called  Francesco  Zuccato.*     In  a  canvas  at  Windsor 
Castle,  of  which  there  is  also  a  replica  at  Cobham 
Hall,  we  find  him  in  company  of  a  senator  miscalled 
Aretino.     It  is  natural  to  guess  at  the  names  of  men 
known  to  have  been  familar  with  Titian,  and  the 
guess  may  be  justified  as  regards  Zuccato.     The  so- 
called  Aretino  at  Windsor  is  the  counterpart  of  *'A 
Senator  "  by  Titian  in  the  collection  of  Lord  Elcho,  a 
fine   delineation  of  a  man  of  grave  aspect,  whose 
glance  is  not  less  spirited  because  coupled  with  a 
bony  shape,  dry  flesh,  and  sparse  hair  and  beard  of 
pepper  and  salt  quality.     Titian  here  threw  the  whole 


*  The  canvas  at  Cobham  HaU, 
called  '*  Titian  and  Zuccato/'  re- 
presents the  painter  at  a  table, 
with  a  bearded  man  speaking  to 
him.  The  so-called  Zuccato  is  on 
the  right  side  of  the  picture,  lay- 
ing his  right  hand  on  Titian's 
shoulder.  Titian  rests  his  right 
hand   on  the  green  doth  of  a 


table,  and  holds  a  sheet  of  paper. 
Judging  of  the  painter  from  the 
thid  pigments  and  rapid  decision 
of  brush  work,  one  might  guess 
him  to  be  Tintoretto,  or  an  imi- 
tator of  Tintoretto.  Hasty  hand- 
ling, neglected  form,  and  un- 
transparent  colour,  are  not  cha- 
racteristio  of  Titian.  y 


Chap,  n.] 


PEINTS  OP  TITIAN. 


65 


energy  of  his  talent  into  the  balance  to  produce  with 
freedom  a  life-like  presentation ;  but  the  model  was 
not  Aretino,  whose  flesh  and  fat  never  abandoned  him 
at  any  period  of  his  existence.* 

Of  one  portrait  noted  by  historians  we  have  no 
present  knowledge.  It  belonged  to  the  Benier  collec- 
tion in  the  17th  century,  and  represented  Titian 
drawing  with  one  hand  on  a  portfoUo,  and  a  pencU  in 
the  other ;  in  the  background  the  Venus  of  Medici. 
The  description  equally  suits  the  picture  and  an 
engraving  by  Giovanni  Bello,  for  which  Aretino  wrote 
a  sonnet  in  1550,t  It  gives  a  less  characteristic  view 
of  Titian  than  the  later  print  of  Odoardo  Fialetti,  or 
that  miscalled  "  Titian  and  his  Mistress,"  in  which 
the  grey-bearded  artist  is  sho^vn  laying  his  hand  on 
the  waist  of    his    daughter,   a    copper-plate    which 


*  The  canvas  at  Windsor  Castle 
is  stated  to  have  been  in  the  col- 
lections of  Charles  I.  and  James  II. 
It  represents  Titian  in  his  pelisse 
tamed  to  the  right,  and  a  bearded 
man  to  the  right  showing  Titian 
a  sheet  of  paper.  This  man  (who 
is  now  supposed  to  be  the  Chan- 
oeUor  Eranceschi)  is  dressed  in 
red,  is  bare-headed,  and  wears  the 
stole  of  a  Venetian  senator.  Both 
men  are  of  life  size,  and  seen  to 
the  waist.  They  coincide  with 
BidolE's  description  of  figures  in 
a  picture  in  the  collection  of  Do- 
menico  Huzzini  at  Venice,  repre- 
senting, as  Bidolfi  affirmed  (Ma* 
rav.  i.  261),  Titian  and  Francesco 
del  Mosaico  (Zuocato).  But  here 
the  execution  is  that  of  a  painter 

VOL.  II. 


of  the  17  th  century,  whose  style 
recaUs  Odoardo  Fialetti.  See 
Bathoe*s  Catalogue,  u,  «.,  where 
the  picture  is  numbered  11.  The 
counterpart  of  this  canvas  at 
Cobham  Hall  is  also  a  work  of 
the  17th  century. 

Lord  Elcho's  portrait,  a  life- 
size  bust,  in  red  vest  and  stole, 
bears  remnants  of  an  inscription 
which  has  become  illegible  from 
abrasion. 

t  Sansovino,  Ven.  Desc.,  p. 
377 ;  Campori,  Cataloghi,  pp.  442, 
443 ;  and  Lettere  di  M.  P.  Are- 
tino, V.  288. — In  the  Canonioi 
Collection  at  Ferrara  in  1632, 
there  was  a  "portrait  of  Titian," 
a  drawing  from  Titian's  own  hand. 
(Campori^  Cataloghi,  p.  126.) 


66 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  H. 


probably  dates  after  1555,  when  Lavinia  Vecelli  was 
maxried  to  Comelio  Sarcinelli.* 

Portraits  of  himself  were  not  more  than  Titian's 
pastime.  His  serious  labours  were  the  votive  picture 
in  honour  of  Doge  Lando,  for  which  payments  were 
registered  as  late  as  May  31,  1543;  portraits  of 
Kanuccio  Famese,  and  the  daughter  of  Koberto 
Strozzi ;  and  —  eminent  as  works  of  mark  in  the 
master's  career — the  ceiling  canvases  of  the  church  of 
San  Spirito. 

The  votive  picture  of  Doge  Lando  perished  in  the 
fire  of  1577,  and  no  description  of  it  survives,  t 
It  is  still  doubtful  whether  the  portrait  of  Kanuccio 
Famese  was  preserved.  That  of  the  daughter  of 
Koberto  Strozzi  now  adorns  the  palace  at  Florence, 
which  the  Strozzi  at  the  period  of  which  we  are 
treating  were  precluded  from  inhabiting.  Filippo 
Strozzi  is  remembered  in  Florentine  history  as  the 
great  party  chieftain  who  went  into  exile  with  those 
of  his  countrymen  who  refused  to  acknowledge  Ales- 
sandro  de'  Medici.  He  led  the  gallant  but  ill-fated 
band  of  patriots  which  strove,  in  1537,  to  prevent  the 
accession  of  Duke  Cosimo.  He  took  his  own  life  in 
prison  when  informed  that  Charles  the  Fifth  had  given 
him  up  to  the  vengeance  of  the  Medici.  His  sons 
Piero  and  Leo  fought  with  the  French  for  Italian 
supremacy,  whilst  Koberto  spent  his  life  partly  at 
Venice,  partly  in   France  and  at  Kome,  consuming 


*  See  postea.  Odoardo  Fia- 
letti's  print  is  attached  as  a  fron- 
tispiece to  Titianello*B  anonymous 


Life  of  Titian. 

t  The  records  are  in  Lorenzi, 
u.  «.,  pp.  235,  238—241. 


Chap.  H.]     DAUGHTEE  OF  EOBEET  STEOZZI. 


67 


some  of  the  wealth  of  "  the  richest  family  "  in  Italy  in 
patronising  painters  and  men  of  letters.  *  His  daughter 
was  a  mere  child  when  she  sat  to  Titian ;  but  the 
picture  which  he  produced  is  one  of  the  most  spark- 
ling displays  of  youth  that  ever  was  executed  by  any 
artist,  not  excepting  those  which  came  from  the  hands 
of  such  portraitists  as  Rubens  or  Van  Dyke.  The 
child  is  ten  years  old,  and  stands  at  the  edge  of  a 
console,  on  which  her  faithful  lapdog  rests.  Her  left 
hand  is  on  the  silken  back  of  the  favourite.  Her  right 
holds  a  fragment  of  the  cake  which  both  have  been 
munching.  Both,  as  if  they  had  been  interrupted, 
turn  their  heads  to  look  straightway  out  of  the  pic- 
ture— a  movement  seized  on  the  instant  from  nature. 
It  is  a  handsome  child,  with  a  chubby  face  and  arms, 
and  a  profusion  of  short  curly  auburn  hair ; — a  child 
dressed  with  all. the  richness  becoming  an  heiress  of 
the  Strozzi,  in  a  frock  and  slippers  of  white  satin, 
girdled  with  a  jewelled  belt,  the  end  of  which  is  a 
jewelled  tassel,  the  neck  clasped  by  a  necklace  of 
pearls  supporting  a  pendant.  The  whole  of  the  re- 
splendent little  apparition  relieved  in  light  against  the 
russet  sides  of  the  room,  and  in  silver  grey  against  the 
casement,  through  which  we  see  a  stretch  of  landscape, 
a  lake  and  swans,  a  billowy  range  of  hills  covering  the 


*  Francesco  Sansovino  dedi- 
cated to  Eoberto  8trozzi  his  trans- 
lation of  Beiosns,  for  which  Eo- 
berto made  him  a  present  of  a 
gold  cap,  which  he  left  by  will  to 
his  widow.  See  Cicogna,  Isc.  Ven. 
iv.   39.     Strozzi  was   also   well 


known  to  Michaelangelo,  and  ne- 
gotiated with  him  for  an  eques- 
trian statue  of  Henry  II.  of 
France,  in  the  name  of  Catherine 
de'  Medici.  See  Catherine  to  Qxii- 
ducci,  Oct.  1560,  in  Gaye,  Carteg- 
iii.  40. 

F  2 


68 


TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  IL 


bases  of  more  distant  mountains,  and  a  clear  sky  be- 
decked with  spare  cloud.  The  panelled  console  against 
which  she  leans  is  carved  at  the  side  with  two  little 
figures  of  dancing  Cupids,  and  the  rich  brown  of  the 
wood  is  made  richer  by  a  faU  of  red  damask  hanging. 
One  can  see  that  Titian  had  leisure  to  watch  the  girl, 
and  seized  her  characteristic  features,  which  he  gave 
back  with  wonderful  breadth  of  handling,  yet  depicted 
with  delicacy  and  roundness  equally  marvellous.  The 
flesh  is  solid  and  pulpy,  the  balance  of  light  and 
shadow  a«  true  aa  it  is  surpming  in  the  subtlety  of  it« 
shades  and  tonic  values,  its  harmonies  of  tints  rich, 
sweet,  and  ringing;  and  over  all  is  a  sheen  of  the 
utmost  brilliance.  Well  might  Aretino,  as  he  saw 
this  wondrous  piece  of  brightness,  exclaim :  "  K  I  were 
a  painter  I  should  die  of  despair  .  .  .  but  certain  it  is 
that  Titian's  pencil  has  waited  on  Titian's  old  age  to 
perform  its  miracles."* 

Equal  in  technical  skill,  but  superior  to  the  Strozzi 
heirloom  as  embodying  higher  laws  of  the  pictorial 
craft,  the  ceiling  canvases  of  San  Spirito,  to  which  we 
may  add  the  four  Evangelists  and  the  four  Doctors, 
and  the  later  "  Descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  executed 


•  Aretino  to  Titian,  from  Ve- 
nice, July  6,  1542,  in  Lett,  di  M. 
P.  Aret«,  ii.  p.  288'.  The  picture 
is  on  canvas;  the  figure  of  life 
size.  On  a  tablet  high  up  on  the 
wall  to  the  lefb  we  read,  aknob  x. 
MBXLn,  and  on  the  edge  of  the 
console  to  the  right,  titiaitvs  f. 
Old  varnish  covers  and  partly 
conceals  the  beauty  of  this  pic- 


ture, which  is  retouched  on  the 
girl's  forehead  and  elsewhere; 
but  the  surface  generally  is  woU 
preserved.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century  the  portrait 
was  in  the  palace  of  Duke  Strozzi 
at  Borne.  (Bottari,  Baccolta,  voL 
iii.  p.  107.)  It  was  engraved  by 
Dozn.  Gunego  at  Borne  in  1770. 


Chap.  H.]  CEILINGS  OP  SAN  SPIETTO.  69 

for  the  same  church,  remain  ix>  us  as  representative 
examples  of  the  development  of  Venetian  art  in  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century.  All  these  pictures 
are  striking,  either  as  individual  displays  of  thought 
or  as  compositions.  All  ore  remarkable  for  boldness 
of  conception  and  handling;  none  more  so  than  the 
ceiling-pieces,  which  convey  a  sense  of  distance  as 
between  the  spectator  and  the  object  delineated  quite 
beyond  anything  hitherto  attempted  by  Venetian 
artists.  Where  Abraham  prepares  to  sacrifice  Isaac, 
and  is  stopped  by  the  angel,  the  whole  group  is  fore- 
shortened, as  if  the  scene  were  presented  on  an 
eminence  to  which  we  necessarily  look  up.  But 
Titian  is  too  clever  to  foreshorten  the  group  without 
foreshortening  the  ground  ;  and  this  he  indicates  by  a 
perspective  view  of  a  mound  on  which  Abraham's 
altar  stands,  the  projection  of  which  partly  conceals 
the  patriarch's  legs,  hides  all  but  the  head  of  an  ass, 
and  leaves  an  interlace  of  lines  to  be  seen  upon  the 
blue  of  the  sky.  Poised  in  this  space  the  angel  checks 
with  lightning  speed  the  stroke  that  is  about  to  fall 
on  Isaac.  The  full  swing  of  the  blow  is,  as  it  were, 
magnetically  arrested;  and  Abraham  turns  sharply, 
nay,  angrily,  towards  the  messenger  of  heaven,  his 
hand  still  lying  heavy  on  the  head  of  Isaac,  bound  and 
kneeling  on  the  altar.  The  breeze  blows  freshly  the 
while  over  the  range  and  throws  the  drapery  into 
picturesque  surges.* 


*  A  large  drawingi  pen  and  I  is   supposed  to  be  the  original 
flepia,  in  the  Alberiina  at  Vienna,  I  sketch  for  this  picture.    It  ia  not 


70  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  H. 

Cain,  in  a  scant  dress  of  hides,  tramples  with 
tremendous  force  on  the  hip  of  Abel,  who  falls  with 
outstretched  arms  as  the  murderer  wields  the  club 
over  the  stumbling  form.  The  daring  of  the  fore- 
shortening is  greater  than  the  power  to  realize  it. 
But  a  sense  of  herculean  strength  and  concentrated 
muscular  force  is  conveyed.  Though  strained  and  in 
many  ways  incorrect,  the  group  is  still  imposing,  be- 
cause where  the  contour  is  false  and  articulations  are 
loosely  rendered,  the  defects  lie  hid  under  magic 
effects  of  colour,  and  light  and  shade,  and  such  life 
and  motion  are  displayed  that  one  thinks  not  the 
artist  but  the  being  he  depicts  is  in  fault  But  not  a 
little  of  the  magic  of  this  piece  is  due  to  the  subtle 
way  in  which  a  smoke  of  livid  shades  is  driven  to 
leeward  of  the  altar  on  which  Abel's  sacrifice  is 
burning.* 

The  prostrate  form  of  Goliath  in  the  third  ceiling 
canvas  looks  gigantic  as  it  lies  in  death  on  the 
sloping  crest  seen  here  again  from  below.  David, 
slightly  further  back,  in  his  green  shepherd's  tunic 
gathers  himself  together,  lifts  his  arms  in  thanks- 
giving ;  and  the  sky  seems  to  open  and  shed  its  light 
on  him  as  he  strains  with  his  whole  being  towards 
heaven.  The  body  lies  headless  but  grandiose  in  its 
strength,  an  inert  mass  disposed  with  consummate 
skill ;  the  head  hard  by,  and  near  it  the  giant's  sword 
stuck  into  the  earth.     The  whole  scene  is  illumined 


original.  Engraved  by  J.  M' 
Mitellus,  1669,  and  Lef^bre,  Qt. 
Y.  Haecht  and  Gottf .  Saiter. 


*  Engraved  by  Jos.  M«  Mi- 
tellus,  1669,  by  Lefebre,  and  re- 
versed by  Gottd^  Saiter* 


Chap.  H.]      DESCENT  OP  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  71 

weirdly  by  the  opening  in  the  sky,  the  rays  from 
which  do  not  pierce  the  gloom  on  the  horizon.* 

Though  painted  after  1543,  and  in  place  of  an  older 
canyas  which  the  canons  of  San  Spirito  had  refused ; 
though  executed  at  a  time  when  Titian's  pencil  was 
wielded  with  more  facility  than  in  1542,  the 
*'  Descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit "  is  less  interesting  than 
the  "  Cain,''  the  *'  David,"  or  the  "  Sacrifice/'  because 
it  is  tamer  in  subject,  and  has  suflFered  more  from 
time  and  repainting.  The  "Marys"  and  "The 
Twelve  "  are  in  a  vaulted  room,  the  panellings  of  which 
are  radiant  from  the  light  shed  by  the  dove  that  hovers 
over  the  scene,  and  the  cloven  tongues  of  fire  that  rest 
on  the  heads  of  the  elect  In  the  centre  the  Virgin 
with  strongly  marked  gesture  gives  thanks,  the  Apostles 
and  others  round  her  displaying  their  feelings  with 
demonstrative  eagerness  in  various  ways,  kneeling, 
sitting,  or  standing.  In  no  eaxHer  work  of  the  ma^r 
is  the  impression  more  fully  conveyed,  that  nature  has 
been  caught  in  a  quick  and  instant  manner  and  trans- 
ferred to  the  canvas  with  sweeps  of  pastose  pigment, 
and  broad  stretches  of  light  and  shade. '  No  contours 
are  seen.  Everything  finds  its  limit  without  an  outline, 
by  help  of  rich  and  unctuous  tone,  rare  modelling,  and 
subtlest  gradations  of  colour.  Bold,  free,  and  expres- 
sive, with  the  boldness  and  freedom  which  Tintoretto 
and  Schiavone  admired  and  envied;  the  handling 
betokens  a  mastery  altogether  unsurpassable.t     In 


*  Engraved  by  Jos.  M*  Mi- 
teUus,  1669,  by  Lef&bre,  and  re- 
Yeiaed  by  Gottf .  Salter. 


t  A  composition  much  in  the 
spirit  of  this  at  the  Salute  is 
drawn  in  pen  and  sepia  on  a 


72 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  n. 


their  more  limited  sphere  again,  the  "Four  Doctors* 
and  "Four  Evangelists"  are  worthy  complements  of  a 
series  which  would  be  remarkable  at  any  time  and  in 
any  place.  Models,  or  imitations  of  objects,  are  no 
longer  in  question.  Titian  is  an  independent  creator, 
whose  art  realizes  beings  instinct  with  a  life  arid 
individuality  of  their  own.  His  figures  are  not  cast 
in  the  supernatural  mould  of  those  of  Michaelangelo, 
at  the  Sixtine,  they  are  not  shaped  in  his  sculptural 
way,  or  foreshortened  in  his  preternatural  manner. 
They  have  not  the  elegance  of  Raphael,  nor  the  con- 
ventional grace  of  Correggio,  but  they  are  built  up  as 
it  were  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  illumined  with  a  magic 
effect  of  light  and  shade  and  colour  which  differs  from 
all  else  that  was  realised  elsewhere  by  selection,  outUne, 
and  chiaroscuro.  They  form  pictures  peculiar  to 
Titian,  and  pregnant  with  .  his — ^and  only  his — grand 
and  natural  originality.* 


fiheet  asoribed  to  Titian  in  the 
Museum  of  Florence,  but  the  exe- 
cution is  obviously  more  modern 
than  that  of  Titian.  The  picture 
is  engraved  by  N.  B.  Cochin. 

*  Compare  Scanelli  (Micro- 
cosmo,  216),  who  places  Titian 
here  above  Michaelangelo;  Ya- 
saii  (ziii.  34),  who  calls  the  ceiling 
pieces  **  bellissime ; "  and  Bidolfi 
(Marav.  I  227-8).  The  **  Cain," 
the  "  Abraham,"  and  *'  David," 
are  now  in  the  ceiling  of  the  great 
Sacristy  of  the  Church  of  the 
Salute;  the  doctors  and  evange- 
lists in  the  ceiUng  of  the  choir 
behind  the  high  altar,  St.  Mat- 
thew being  a  portrait  of  Titian 


himself  with  a  brush  in  his  hand* 
The  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on 
the  altar  of  chapel  4  is  greatly 
damaged,  especially  in  the  upper 
part,  by  repainting.  That  it  was 
executed  after  all  the  others  in 
the  church  is  clear  from  the  style. 
In  the  ceiling-pieces,  which  are 
large  rectangular  canvases,  the 
figures  are  above  life  size.  In 
the  sacrifice  of  Abraham,  the 
patriarch  is  dressed  in  an  orange 
tunic  and  green  mantle,  the  angel 
in  yellow  and  violet,  Isaac  in 
lake.  The  angel's  left  foot  is  in- 
jured. In  the  ''David  and 
Gk>liath,"  the  giant  lies  with  his 
shoulders  to  the  spectator,  in  a 


Chap,  n.] 


TITIAN  LITIGATES. 


73 


Writing  in  1544,  to  Cardinal  Famese,  Titian  allucles 
-with  some  pride  to  the  canvases  of  San  Spirito,  and 
claims  in  the  following  letter  countenance  and  pro- 
tection. 

TITIAN  TO  CAEDINAL  PAENESE. 

"  I  have  an  action  pending  before  the  Legate*  here 
against  the  brothers  of  San  Spirito,  of  whom  I  hear 
that  they  mean  to  tire  me  out  by  delays.  Their 
purpose  is  to  obtain  a  commission  or  brief,  by  which 
my  cause  shall  be  transferred  to  another  judge,  who 
is  their  friend.  I  beg  your  Reverend  Lordship,  in 
remembrance  of  my  services,  and  in  view  of  the 
importance  of  the  case,  to  give  Monsignor  Gxddiccione 
to  understand  that  he  may  not  pass  anything  contrary 
to  me,  but  trust  to  the  goodness  and  sufficiency  of 
Monsignor  the  Legate,  so  that  the  brothers  shall  not 
have  it  in  their  power  to  ill-use  me,  and  create  delays 
contrary  to  duty  and  justice ;  the  matter  being  public 
at  Venice,  where  everyone  knows  that  these  brethren 
are  old  and  certain  debtors  to  me  for  my  works. 
"  Your  Rev*  and  111*  Lordship's  servant, 

"  From  Vewicb,  December  11,  1544.  "  TlTIANO.^t 

Titian  was  either  himself  litigious  in  his  old  age,  or 
he  had  to  do  with  litigious  people.  A  ducal  letter  of 
April  20,  1542,  exists,  in  which  execution  is  issued  in 


brown  toned  panoply;  Dayid  is 
in  yellow  and  green.  The  whole 
canyas  is  much  injured,  especiaUy 
in  the  npper  part.  Bat  all  the 
compositions  are  damaged  more 
or  lees  by  old  yamishes,  which 
have   dimmed    and   dnlled   the 


colours,  and  taken  away  their 
freshness. 

*  The  legate  was  Titian's  Mendy 
Oiovanni  della  Casa. 

t  From  the  original  in  Eon- 
chini's  Belazioni,  u.  $.,  note  to 
p.  6. 


74 


TITIAN:   mS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  H. 


his  name  against  one  Giovanni  Battista  Spinelli,  who 
had  been  cast  in  an  action  for  debt,  and  ordered  to 
pay  him  forty-eight  ducats,  and  five  grossi,  and  costs 
of  ten  lire  and  some  soldi  *  Sharp  in  the  recovery  of 
his  dues,  Titian  was  equally  clever  in  directing  his 
worldly  affairs,  and  laying  out  his  money  at  interest. 
A  contract  of  March  11,  1542,  determines  the  sale  of 
a  share  in  a  miQ  at  Ansogne  of  Cadore,  the  seller 
being  Vincenzio  Vecelli,  the  buyers  Titian  and  Fran- 
cesco Vecelli.t  The  com  stores  of  Cadore  were  low 
in  1542.  Titian  obtained  a  concession  of  import  from 
Ceneda  and  other  places;  and  stored  the  Cadorine 
Jbndachi  with  grain,  for  which  he  received  payment 
in  acknowledgments  of  interest-bearing  debt  from  the 
community  of  CadorcJ 

As  he  came  down  from  his  native  hiUs  at  the  close 
of  autumn,  he  met  at  Conegliano  Alessandro  ViteUi, 
the  gaoler  of  Filippo  Strozzi,  the  servant  of  the  Medici, 
now  a  general  of  the  king  of  the  Romans,  returning 
from  the  Turkish  war  in  Hungary.  The  condottiere 
sent  greetings  through  Titian  to  Aretino,  who  sent  in 
return  a  letter  not  less  laudatory  nor  less  full  of 
incense  than  one  written  a  few  months  before  to  Piero 
Strozzi.  Titian,  who  shortly  before  had  painted  the 
daughter  of  Roberto  Strozzi,  is  now  put  forward  as 
eager  to  portray  the  hereditary  foe  of  the  Strozzi 
family.§ 


*  M.  S.  Jacobi  of  Oadore. 
t  Ibid.      X  Oiani,u.  «.,  ii.  271. 
§  Aretino    to   Alessandro  Yi- 
teUi,  from  Yenice,  Dec.  1542,  in 


Lettere  di  M.  P.  Aretino,  ill.  20 ; 
and  Aretino  to  Pietro  Strozsd, 
from  Yenice,  March  11,  1542. 
Ibid.  ii.  252\ 


CHAPTER  m. 

Titian  and  the  Famese  Family. — ^Portrait  of  Bannccio  Famese. — 
Offer  of  a  Benefice  and  proposals  of  seryice  to  Titian. — ^History 
and  policy  of  the  Famese  Princes. — Cardinal  Alessandro. — ^Titian 
accepts  the  invitation  of  the  Famese. — ^Visits  Ferrara,  Bologna, 
and  Bnss^. — He  refuses  an  offer  of  the  Piombo. — His  Portraits  of 
Paul  III.,  Pier  Luigi,  and  Alessandro  Famese. — ^Family  of  Danna, 
and  the  great  £cce  Homo  at  Vienna. — The  Assunta  of  Verona. — 
Benewed  correspondence  -with  Cardinal  Famese. — Letter  of  Titian 
to  Michaelangelo. — Altar-piece  of  Boganzuolo. — Portraits  of  the 
Empress,  and  Duke  aod  Duchess  of  Urbino. — Court  of  Urbino, 
and  Sperone*s  Dialogues. — Portraits  of  Daniel  Barbaro,  Morosini, 
Sperone,  and  Aretino. — Titian's  relations  with  Quidubaldo  II.-— 
Guidubaldo  opposes  !Gtian*s  Journey  to  Borne,  which  is  favoured 
by  (Hrolamo  Quirini. — Guidubaldo  gives  Titian  escoi*t  to  Borne. 
— Meeting  of  Titian  with  Sebastian  del  Piombo,  Vasari,  and 
Michaelangelo.— Jealousy  of  Boman  Artist& — Pictures  executed 
at  Bome :  Danao. — Contrast  between  Titian  and  Correggio,  and 
Titian  and  Buonarroti. — ^Titian  and  the  Antique. — Portraits  of 
Paul  in.,  Ottavio,  and  Alessandro. Famese. 

Ranuccio  Fabnese,  whose  portrait  Titian  painted 
in  1542,  was  the  third  son  of  Pier  Luigi,  the  natural 
child  of  Paul  the  Third.  Pier  Luigi  married, 
at  the  age  of  sixteen,  Gerolima  Orsini,  daughter  of 
Luigi,  Count  of  Pitigliano,  and  by  her  had  five 
children:  —  Alessandro,  bom  October  7th,  1520, 
made  a  cardinal  in  1534 ;  Vittoria,  married  June 
4tli,  1547,  to  Guidubaldo,  the  second  Duke  of 
Urbino ;  Ottavio,  married  to  Margaret,  a  child  of 
Charles  the  Fifth,  and  widow  of  Alessandro  de' 
Medici;  Orazio,  married  in  1547,  to  Diana,  natural 


76  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IH. 

daughter  of  Henry  the  Third  of  France  ;  and 
Kanuccio,  bom  1531,  Archbishop  of  Naples  in  1544, 
and  Cardinal  in  1545.  Though  Ranuccio  was  but  a 
boy  when  he  first  came  to  Venice,  he  was  already 
prior  in  commendam  of  St.  John  of  the  Templars, 
and  being  a  youth  of  parts,  was  sent  through  a  course 
of  classics  at  the  University  of  Padua.  His  departure 
from  Rome  was  duly  announced  by  Cardinal  Bembo 
to  his  friends  the  Quirinis ;  *  and  he  was  guided  or 
accompanied  at  Venice  by  Marco  Grimani,  patriarch 
of  Aquileia,  Andrea  Cornaro,  Bishop  of  Brescia  ;  and 
Gian-Francesco  Leoni,  the  humanist  who  belonged  to 
the  Academy  of  "  Virtu  "  founded  at  Rome  by  Claudia 
TolomeL  Bembo  and  Quirini — it  is  probable — in- 
duced Ranuccio  to  visit  Titian,  who  thus  acquired  the 
patronage  of  the  powerful  house  of  Famese.t  Ra- 
nuccio's  likeness  was  finished  about  midsummer  of 
1542,  and  was  thought  the  more  admirable  because 
the  young  "prior"  had  not  been  able  to  give  the 
painter  long  or  frequent  sittings.t  We  might  plausibly 
assume,  since  no  trace  of  such  a  work  has  been  found 
in  the  inventories  of  Parma  and  Naples,  that  the  like- 
ness was  cast  away  at  an  early  period,  and  hopelessly 
lost;  yet  if  we  should  venture  on  a  conjecture,  it 
may  be  that  Ranuccio's  features  have  been  handed 
down  to  us  in  the  portrait  of  a  "  young  Jesuit,'' 
now  praserved  in  the  Gallery  of  Vienna.  This  curious 
picture  represents  a  boy  in  a  dark  silk  dress,  with  one 


*  Card.  Bembo  to  Lisbetta  Qui- 
rini, from  Eome,  Aug.  27,  1541, 
in  Bembo.     Op.  yol.  yiii.  p.  132. 


Girolamo  Quirini  was  at  this  time 
patriarch  of  Venice. 
t  Bonchini  Belazioni,  u.  s,  p.  2. 


Chap.  HI.]    POETRAIT  OF  EANUCCIO  FAENESE.  77 

hand  on  his  breast,  and  the  other  holding  a  glove  and 
a  couple   of  arrows.     The  head  is  raised,  the   eye 
turned  towards  heaven ;  and  the  impression  created 
is  that  of  a  childish  ecstasy,  produced  by  causes  to 
which  the  figure  itself  gives  no  clue.     On  close  exami- 
nation it  appears  that  Very  little  of  Titian's  work, 
except  some  parts  about  the  ear  and  cheek  of  the  boy, 
has  been  preserved ;  a  large  piece  has  been  added  to 
the  left  side  of  the  canvas,  and  the  hand  and  arrows 
look  like  modem  repaints.     Some  mysterious  agency 
has  thus  apparently  changed  the  original  form  of  the 
piece.    By  a  fortunate  combination  of  circumstances  the 
key  to  the  mystery  has  been  furnished  in  a  curious  and 
unforeseen  manner.     The  "  young  Jesuit "  of  Vienna 
reappears  without  the   arrows  in  a  picture   of  the 
Berlin  Museum,  where  he  is  seen  standing  at  a  table, 
on  which  some  books  are  lying,  and  the  cause  of  his 
ecstasy  is  explained  by  the  attitude  and  gesture  of  a 
bearded  man   near  him,  who  points  with  the  fore 
finger  of  his  right  hand  towards  heaven.     We  have 
thus  at  Vienna  the  fragment    of  a  composition   of 
which  the  whole  is  displayed  in  a  copy  at  Berlin.     If 
we  find  a  second  fragment  to  match   the  first,  the 
mystery  is  cleared    up.      But  the  second   fragment 
exists.     The  figure  of  the  bearded  man  hangs  in  the 
Grallery  of  Vienna,  under  the  name  of  *'  St  James  the 
Elder,  by  Titian  ;'*  and  as  in  the  one  case  a  hand 
and  arrow  have  been  introduced  to  deceive  the  specta- 
tor, so  in  the  other  the  hand  which  should  merely 
point  to  heaven  is  made  to  grasp  a  staff:     We  may 
presume  that  before  these  two  fragments  were  parted 


78 


TTTIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  HI, 


they  represented  Ranuccio  Farnese  taking  a  lesson 
from  his  preceptor  Leoni.* 

'  The  patriarch  of  Aquileia,  Comaro,  and  Leoni  were 
all  so  pleased  with  the  work  that  they  gave  Titian 
a  formal  invitation  to  the  papal  court,  which  they 
renewed  with  pressing  insistence  in  the  following 
September.  Knowing  that  the  painter  was  hard  to 
move,  but  aware  that  he  was  accessible  to  offers  of 
church  preferment  for  his  son,  Leoni  set  the  only  bait 
which  he  thought  Titian  would  be  likely  to  take,  and 
tendered  the  interest  of  the  house  of  Farnese  to  obtain 
for  Pomponio  a  new  benefice.  Titian  eagerly  caught 
the  proffered  morsel,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to 
induce  Leoni  to  believe  he  would  take  service  with 
Cardinal  Alessandro.t 


*  The  two  canvases  at  Yienna 
—"The  Young  Jesuit,"  No.  30, 
in  the  2nd  room,  1st  floor,  Italian 
Schools;  **  St.  James  the  Elder," 
No.  18,  in  the  same  room — were 
both  of  the  same  size,  but  have 
been  changed  by  patching  and 
piecing.  The  Jesuit  in  profile  to 
the  left,  is  patched  at  the  left  side ; 
St.  James  at  three-quarters  to  the 
right,  is  patched  at  the  base  and 
right  side.  The  first  is  2  ft.  9^ in. 
by  2  ft  1  in.;  the  second,  2  ft. 
8  in.  by  1  ft.  10^  in.  Both  are 
rubbed  down,  weather-beaten, 
discoloured,  and,  in  many  parts, 
repainted ;  but  bits  here  and  there 
reyeal  the  hand  of  Titian.  St. 
James  shows  traces  of  a  nimbus 
of  rays  in  the  background  about 
the  head.  He  wears  a  red  vest 
and  a  dark  pelisse,  with  a  collar 


originally  of  fur.  The  black  silk 
of  the  Jesuit's  dress  is  relieved  at 
the  neck  by  a  linen  -  collar.  A 
copy  of  the  St.  James,  by  Teniers, 
is  at  Blenheim.  The  figure  itself, 
engraved  by  L.  Yorstermann,  is 
in  the  Teniers'  GtiUery.  The  Je- 
suit is  engraved  as  **  St.  Louis  of 
Gonzaga,"  by  J.  Troyon.  Photo- 
graph by  Miethke  and  Wawra. 

The  picture  at  Berlin,  No.  170 
of  the  Catalogue,  is  a  canvas  2  ft. 
9  in.  high  by  3  ft.  4  in.,  bought 
at  the  sale  of  the  Solly  Collection, 
attributed  to  Bernardino  Porde- 
none,  and  much  repainted.  Bo- 
hind  the  boy  is  the  sky,  seen 
through  a  square  opening,  in 
which  the  bough  and  large  leaves 
of  a  tree  are  seen.  The  painter 
seems  to  be  Cesare  Yecellio. 

t  ScQpoiftea, 


Chap.  HL]    POLICY  OF  THE  FAENESE  PBINCES.  79 

None  of  the  Popes  of  the  16th  century  are  free 
jfrom  the  charge  of  nepotism,  and  when  nepotism  of 
the  worst  form  is  in  question  the  name  of  Alexander 
the   Sixth  naturally  suggests  itself.     But  Paul  the 
Third  was  hardly  less  remarkable  in  this  respect  than 
Rodrigo  Borgia,     His  eldest  son  Pier  Luigi,  though 
guilty  of  many  crimes,  was  endowed  successively  with 
the  duchies  of  Castro,  Parma,  and  Piacenza.     Pier 
Luigi's    sons    Alessandro    and    Ranuccio,    and    his 
nephew  Guid'-Ascanio  Sforza,  were  all  made  cardinals 
at  fourteen,   and   Ottavio,  who    married    early    the 
widow  of  Alessandro  de'   Medici,  would  have  been 
invested  with  the  duchy  of  Milan,  but  that  Ferrando 
Gonzaga,  who  hated  the  Fameses,  and  Diego  Men- 
dozza,   who    disliked    them,    dissuaded    Charles   the 
Fifth  ftom  taking  so  dangerous  a  step.    At  the  very 
time  when  Ranuccio  was  sitting  to  Titian  at  Venice, 
the  eddies  of  politics  had  brought  the  family  policy  of 
the  Famese  princes  to  the  surface.     The  old  struggles 
of  France  and  Austria  had  been  renewed,  and  the 
adverse  and  irreconcilable  claims  of  Protestants  and 
Catholics  had  become  a  subject  of  grave  and  states- 
manlike meditation.     Charles  the  Fifth  having  failed 
in  his  expedition  against  Algiers  in  1541,  had  also 
suflfered  a  check  from  the  Turks  at  Pesth  in  1542. 
In  the  spring  of  1543  he  was  in  the  perilous  posi- 
tion of  having  to  repel  a  French  and  Turkish  inva- 
sion of  Italy,  without  being  sure  of  adequate  support 
from  the  Pope.     Paul  the  Third,  a  trimmer  at  this 
time,  had  one  grandson  at  the  Emperor's  court,  another 
in  the  camp  of  the  French  king.     He  was  watching. 


80  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  m. 

catlike,  for  an  occasion  to  aggrandize  his  house.     His 

policy  as  Pope,  was  to  favour  Francis  the  First,  who 

was  distant,  and  not  pledged  to  the  Protestants.     But 

I     he  would  have   sacrificed  his  policy  had    it    been 

\     necessary  to  the  promotion  of  his  children,  and  on  this 

^  point  he  was  prepared  to  negociate. 

His  anxiety  to  meet  the  Emperor  was  as  great  as 
the  Emperor*s  wish  to  meet  him ;  and  he  left  Rome 
early  in  April  for  Piacenza,  that  he  might  be  near 
Charles,  who  was  coming  from  Spain,  and  intended  to 
land  at  Geneva ;  on  the  1 5th  of  April,  Paul  went  to 
Castell'  Arquato  on  a  visit  to  his  daughter  Constanza, 
whose  son  Guid'-Ascanio  he  had  raised  to  the  purple. 
From  thence  he  rode  to  Brescello,  where,  on  the  22nd, 
he  found  barges  to  float  him  down  to  Ferrara.     Here 
he  stayed  but  a  short  time,   returning  quickly  to 
Bologna,  from  whence  he  dispatched  Pier  Luigi  to 
Gtenoa  to  meet  Charles  the  Fifth.     But  Charles  was  in 
an  ill-humour,  grumbled  at  Paul's  trimming,  refused 
to  proceed  to  Bologna,  and  proposed  to  meet  the  Pope 
at  Parma.     A  secret  intimation  was,  in  the  meanwhile, 
given  that  a  large  sum  of  money  might  induce  the 
Emperor  to  transfer  the  Duchy  of  Milan  to  Ottavio 
Farnese,  and  on  this  basis  Paul  determined  to  treat 
Ottavio,  on  the  one  hand,  was  ordered  to  Pavia  to 
meet  his  wife,  Margaret  of  Austria ;  Pier  Luigi  was 
sent  out  of  the  way  to  Castro,  whilst  the  Pope,  leaving' 
Bologna,  proceeded  to  Parma,  and  made  his  entry  into 
that  city   with    twenty-one  cardinals  and  an   equal 
number    of   bishops  on    the    15th    of   June.      The 
Emperor  on  that  day  lay  at  Cremona.     On  the  20th 


Chap,  m.] 


CARDINAL  FAENESE. 


81 


Paul  rode  to  Busseto,  and  there  he  was  joined  by 
Charles  on  the  21st  The  whole  suite  of  Pope  and 
Kaiser  lodged  in  the  narrow  castello  governed  by 
Girolamo  PallavicinL  Granvelle  as  usual  presided  at 
the  negociations.  He  proposed  to  cede  Milan  to 
Ottavio  Famese  for  300,000  scudi,  on  condition  that 
Charles  should  keep  the  castles  of  Milan  and  Cre- 
mona. After  five  days'  haggling  the  potentates  failed 
to  agree.  The  Pope  turned  his  face  to  the  South,  and 
Charles,  in  dudgeon,  passed  on  towards  Germany.* 
In  the  period  which  elapsed  between  the  arrival  of 
Paul  the  Third  at  Ferrara  and  Busseto,  and  his  depar- 
ture from  Bologna,  Titian  was  the  guest  of  Cardinal 
Famesa 

Of  the  wealth  and  splendour  of  this  young  and 
influential  prelate  when  he  resided  at  Rome,  we  have 
a  notion  from  Yasari,  who  states  that,  on  numerous 
occasions,  he  went  to  look  at  the  illustrious  Cardinal 
Famese  supping,  attended  by  Molza,  Annibal  Caro, 
Messer  Gandoltb,  Messer  Claudio  Tolomei,  Messer 
Bomolo  Amaseo,  Giovio,  and  other  literary  and  gal- 
lant gentlemen  who  formed  his  court.t  It  was  at  one 
of  these  suppers  that  the  Cardinal  asked  Yasari  to 
sketch  the  lives  of  the  painters  which  Giovio,  Caro, 
and  others  were  to  write.  To  him  Leoni  addressed 
himself  in  matters  relating  to  Titian  as  follows  : 


*  For  the  facts  in  the  text,  oon- 
solt  the  general  histories  of  the 
period:  Banke's  Deutsche  Ge- 
schichte,  yoL  iy. ;  and  Affo's  Life 
of  Pier*  Lnigi  Famese,  edited  by 
yoL.  II. 


Pompeo  Litta,  Syo,  Milan,  1821 , 
pp.  45-50. 

t  Yasari :  His  own  Life,  i.  £9» 
30. 


82 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  m. 


LEONI  TO  CAEDINAL  FAENESE. 

"  Titian  was  prevented  by  some  interruption  [from 
continuing  a  discourse  as  to  his  visit  to  the  Fameses], 
and  as  I  had  to  leave  Venice  on  the  following  morning, 
he  begged  I  would  visit  him  on  my  return  and  resume 
the  subject,  upon  which  he  wished  to  enter  fiiUy. 
Now,  in  so  far  as  I  can  form  an  opinion,  I  think  from 
the  words  that  were  used  between  us,  he  would  resolve 
to  come  and  take  service  in  the  house  of  your  Reverend 
and  Illustrious  Lordship ;  and  I  think,  too,  he  would 
trust  entirely  to  your  courtesy  and  liberality,  if  you 
should  acknowledge  his  talents  and  labours  by  the 
promotion  of  his  son.  It  has  not  been  in  my  power 
to  visit  Venice  since,  and  I  thought  it  good  to  give 
your  Lordship  notice  that  this  man  is  to  be  had,  if  you 
wish  to  engage  him.  Titian,  besides  being  clever, 
seemed  to  us  all  mild,  tractable,  and  easy  to  deal  with, 
which  is  worthy  of  note  in  respect  of  such  exceptional 
men  as  he  is. 

*' September  22,  1642  "  •  [probably  from  Padua]. 


An  invitation  to  join  the  Fameses  in  their  progress 
from  Rome  was  issued  to  the  painter  early  in  April, 
1543.  Aretino  wrote  to  Cosimo  de' Medici  on  the 
10th  that  the  Pope  had  sent  for  Titian^t  Agostino 
Mosti  saw  him  on  the  22nd  at  the  festivities  of  Paul's 
entrance  into  Ferrara-J     He  accompanied  the  Court  to 


*  From  the  original  in  Bon- 
chini,  Belazione,  u.  0.,  p.  2. 

t  Aretino  to  Cosimo  I.,  April 
10, 1543.   Gaye  Carteggio,  ii.  311. 


t  "  In  Piazza  (at  Ferrara)  tro- 
yammo  uno  infinito  nnmero  di 
gente  ...  da  Venezia  ne  ho  oonO" 
sduto  una  gran  parte,  non  pur 


Chap,  m.]     TITIAN  EEFUSES  THE  PIOMBO. 


83 


Busseto^  where  Charles  the  Fifth  gave  him  a  likeness 
from  which  he  was  to  paint  a  portrait  of  the  Empress.* 
He  then  went  on  to  Bologna,  where  he  stayed  till 
the  middle  of  July.  As  usual  the  marvellous  resem- 
blance and  beauty  of  his  portraits  were  the  subject  of 
every  conversation.  Aretino  had  been  sent  with  a 
deputation  of  the  Signoria  to  greet  the  Sovereign  on 
his  arrival  at  Verona.  He  first  wrote  a  piteous  letter 
to  Titian,  bewailing  his  hard  fate  at  being  forced  to 
exchange  the  repose  of  a  gondola  for  the  jolt  of  a  horse, 
urging  Titian  to  rid  himself  of  "  the  priests''  and  come 
home  to  Venice,  which  he,  for  his  part,  would  never 
leave  again.t  He  subsequently  wrote  in  better  spirits, 
charmed  by  the  Emperor's  reception,  who  condescended 
to  shake  hands  xvith  him,  allowed  him  to  ride  at  his 
side,  and  praised  the  pictures  of  Titian.  J  "  Fama,"  he 
further  observed,  "took  pleasure  in  publishing  the 
miracle  which  the  painter  had  performed  in  producing 
the  Pope's  portrait,  though  fame  still  valued  at  a 
higher  figure  his  generosity  in  rejecting  the  Pope's 
ofier  of  the  Piombo,"  §  The  truth  is  that  whilst 
Cardinal  Famese  was  luring  Titian  With  a  benefice 


Hessor  Tmano,  ma  infiniti  altri." 
Moeti  in  Oitadella.  Notizie,  u.  «., 
p.  599. 

*  Aretiiio  to  Montese,  from  Ve- 
rona, July,  1M3,  in  Lettere  di  M. 
P.  Aret*,  iii.  36^.  A  fresco  repre- 
senting Charles  Y.  and  Paul  m. 
meeting  was  painted  on  the  front 
of  a  house  at  Busseto,  and  tradi- 
tion assigned  this  work  to  Titian. 
It  has  perished.    Compare  £el- 


trame's  Titian,  u,  $,,  pp.  45  and  65, 
and  P.  Yitali,  Pitture  di  Eusseto, 
Busseto,  1819. 

t  Aretino  to  Titian,  July,  1543, 
from  Verona,  in  Lettere  di  M.  P. 
Aretino,  iii.  350. 

t  Aretino  to  Montese,  July, 
1543,  from  Verona.     lb.  ib.  p.  36^. 

§  Aretino  to  Titian,  July,  1543, 
from  Verona.     Ib.  ib.,  p.  36. 

o  2 


84  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Ohap.  HI. 


which  it  appeared  was  not  within  his  gift,  the  Pope 
had  also  proposed  to  bestow  on  him  an  oflSice  at  Rome 
which  had  long  since  been  conferred  on  another.  At 
the  death  of  Fra  Mariano,  the  court  fool  of  Leo  the 
Tenth,  the  "  seal  of  the  papal  buUs "  had  been  given 
to  Sebastian  Luciani  for  life,  on  condition  that  he 
should  pay  a  yearly  pension  of  80  ducats  to  Giovanni 
da  Udine.*  The  offer  made  to  Titian  involved  nothing 
less  than  that  he  should  deprive  two  artist  friends  of 
their  livelihood.  He  naturally  revolted  against  the 
proposition  and  refused  to  entertain  it.  But  he  was 
the  more  eager  to  secure  the  benefice,  which  was  held 
by  an  archbishop  certain  to  receive  ample  compensa- 
tion from  Cardinal  Famese.  The  sinecure  of  which 
so  much  had  been  said,  and  so  much  was  still  to  be 
written,  was  the  abbey  of  San  Pietro  in  Colle,  in  the 
diocese  of  Cen^da,  already  held  in  commendam  by 
Giulio  Sertorio,  abbot  of  Nonantola  and  archbishop  of 
San  Severina.  The  archbishop,  when  pressed  to  give 
up  his  interest  in  this  abbey,  had  sent  his  brother 
Antonio  Maria  to  represent  him  at  Bologna ;  and  with 
him  Famese  had  come  to  terms  which  he  afterwards 
urged  on  Sert;orio  by  letter ;  but  before  it  was  possible 
that  an  answer  to  this  missive  should  come,  the 
Cardinal  suddenly  felt  the  first  symptoms  of  an  attack 
of  fever,  and  hurriedly  left  Bologna,  without  notice  to 
Titian.  Bernardino  Maffei,  the  Cardinal's  secretary, 
paid  a  visit  to  the  painter  to  communicate  this  unwel- 


•  Mamago,  Storia  deUe  beUe  Arti  Friulane,  Syo,  Udine,   1823, 
2Qd  ed.,  p.  355. 


Chap.  III.] 


BENEFICE  OF  COLLE. 


85 


come  intelKgence,  but  added  consolation  by  aflSrming 
— what  he  knew  to  be  false — that  Monsignor  Julio 
,  had  already  consented  to  transfer  the  benefice  of  CoUe. 
On  his  return  to  Venice,  Titian  gave  vent  to  his 
feelings  in  a  letter  to  the  Cardinal  dated  the  27th  of 
July,  1543,  in  which  he  said  **that  the  sudden  de- 
parture of  his  Eminence  had  caused  him  to  spend  a 
bad  night,  which  would  have  been  followed  by  a  bad 
day  and  a  worse  year  (*  MoHanno^  an  untranslatable 
pun)  if  Maffei  had  not  come  next  morning  to  say  that 
Monsignor  Julio  had  ceded  or  promised  to  send  the 
cession  of  the  benefice.''*  But  months  elapsed  and  no 
news  of  the  cession  came,  and  Titian  had  ample  leisure 
to  ponder  over  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune  which  caused 
him  to  undertake  long  and  wearying  journeys,  to  exe- 
cute the  most  powerful  of  his  works  for  no  profit  what- 
ever.  His  first  likeness  had  been  that  of  the  Pope,  liis  ' 
second  that  of  Pier'  Luigi.  Both  were  then  painted 
together  on  a  canvas  which  has  not  been  preserved.t 
These  were  followed  by  a  replica  of  the  Pope  for  Car- 
dinal Santafiore,  and  a  likeness  of  Cardinal  FarnescJ 


*  The  letter  in  ftiU,  with  a  state- 
ment of  the  facts  in  the  text,  is 
in  Bonchini's  Belazione,  u.  «.»  pp. 
3-4. 

f  **  Paul  HL  in  a  crimson  chair, 
his  feet  on  a  red  stool  resting  on 
a  Levantine  carpet.  To  the  right 
Her  Luigi  in  black  embroidered 
with  gold,  a  sword  at  his  side,  and 
one  hand  on  his  hannch.''  Far- 
nese  inyentory  in  Campori,  Bac- 
colta  de'  Oataloghi,  p.  239. 

;[  As  to  this  Yasari,  as  nsiml, 
is  contradictory,  ».  e.— *<  Tiziano 


.  .  ritrasse  il  Papa ;  che  fu  opera 
bellissima :  e  da  qneUo,  un  altro 
al  Cardinale  Santa  Fiore :  i  qoali 
ambidue,  che  gU  furono  molto 
bene  pagati  dal  Papa"  (xiii.  p. 
31). 

*<  Tiziano  .  .  ayendo  prima  ri- 
tratto  Papa  Paolo,  quando  S.  8. 
ando  a  Bnss^,  e  non  avendo  re- 
munerazione  di  qnello  ne  d'alcuni 
altri  che  ayeya  fatti  al  Cardiualo 
Famese  ed  a  Santa  Fiore"  (lb.  z, 
171). 


86  TrUAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  HI- 


When  we  contemplate  the  wondrous  finish  of  the 
first  of  these  pictures  as  it  hangs,  perfectly  preserved, 
in  the  museum  of  Naples,  when  we  study  the  skilful 
handling  of  the  second  as  it  stands  in  the  rooms 
of  the  royal  palace  of  the  same  sunny  city,  we 
can  understand  the  master's  chagrin.  These  were 
simply  the  best  and  most  remarkable  creations  of 
a  period  in  which  all  that  Titian  did  waa  grand  and 
imposing. 

The  pontiflF's  likeness  is  that  of  a  strong  man,  gaunt 
and  dry  from  age.  His  lean  arm  swells  out  from  a 
narrow  wrist  to  a  bony  hand,  which  in  turn  branches 
off  into  fingers  portentously  spare  but  apparently 
capable  of  a  hard  and  disagreeable  grip.  His  head 
looks  oblong  from  the  close  crop  of  its  short  grey  hair, 
and  the  length  of  its  square  deep  hanging  beard.  A 
forehead  high  and  endless,  a  nose  both  long  and  slender, 
expanding  to  a  flat  drooping  bulb  with  flabby  nostrils 
overhanging  the  mouth,  an  eye  peculiarly  small  and 
bleary,  a  large  and  thin-lipped  mouth,  display  the 
character  of  Paul  Farnese  as  that  Df  a  fox  whose 
wariness  could  seldom  be  at  fault.  The  height  of  his 
frame,  its  size  and  sinew,  stiU  give  him  an  imposing 
air,  to  which  Titian  has  added  by  drapery  admirable 
in  its  account  of  the  under  forms,  splendid  in  the 
contrasts  of  its  reds  in  velvet  chair  and  silken  stole 
and  rochet,  and  subtle  in  the  delicacy  of  its  lawn 
whites.  One  hand  is  on  the  knee,  another  on  the  arm 
of  the  chair,  the  face  in  full  front  view,  the  body 
slightly  turned  to  the  right  and  relieved  against  a 
brown  background.     The  quality  of  life  and  pulsation 


Chap,  in.]    POETBAIT  OP  PAUL  THE  THIRD. 


87 


80  often  conveyed  in  Titian's  pictures  is  here  in  its 
highest  development.  It  is  life  senile  in  the  relaxation 
of  the  eyelids  and  the  red  humours  showing  at  the  eye 
comers,  life  of  slow  current  in  the  projecting  veins 
which  run  along  the  backs  of  the  hands  or  beneath 
the  flesh  on  the  bony  projections  of  face  and  wrists, 
but  flashing  out  irresistibly  through  the  eyeballs. 
Both  face  and  hands  are  models  of  execution,  models 
of  balance  of  light  and  shade  and  harmonious  broken 
tones.  Here  and  there  with  the  butt  end  of  the 
brush  a  notch  has  been  struck  into  the  high  lights  of 
flesh  and  hair,  but  that  is  the  only  trace  of  technical 
trick  that  human  ingenuity  can  detect  Never,  it  is 
clear,  since  the  days  of  the  "Christ  of  the  Tribute 
Money,"  had  Titian  more  imperiously  felt  the  necessity 
of  finishing  and  modelling ;  never  was  he  more 
successful  in  combining  the  detail  of  a  Fleming  with 
the  softness  of  Bellini  or  the  polish  of  Antonello, 
combining  them  all  with  breadth  of  plane,  fi'eedom  of 
touch,  and  transparence  of  shadow  peculiarly  his 
own.* 

Was  he  thinking,  when  he  produced  a  masterpiece 
thus  instinct  with  life  and  motion,  of  Michaelangelo 
who  was  to  see  and  criticise  his  work  at  Eome  ?  Did 
he  remember  the  illustrious  dead,  the  noble  Raphael 
whose  grandest  creation  had  been  a  portrait  of  Leo  1 
Did  it  strike  him  that  he  had  painted  countless  doges, 


*  This  picture  is  of  life-size  to 
the  knees,  and  on  canyas.  It  is 
numbered  8  in  the  Gorreggio 
Saloon  of  the  Naples  Museum, 


and  is  in  perfect  preservation. 
We  find  it  in  the  Parmese  in- 
yentory  of  1680  (Campori,  u,  a., 
Baooolta  de*  Oataloghi,  p.  233). 


88 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IH. 


dukes,  and  senators  and  statesmen,  and  never  a  Pope 
before,  that  it  behoved  him  to  do  his  best  for  a 
potentate  whose  palaces  were  filled  with  the  marvels 
of  the  Eevival  1  Had  not  Clement  the  Seventh  heard 
of  him  at  Bologna  and  left  him  unheeded ;  *  and 
should  he  not  endeavour  to  wring  praise  from 
Paul  the  Third?  After  the  picture  was  finished 
it  was  varnished  and  set  to  dry  on  the  terrace 
of  Titian's  lodging,  and  the  passing  crowd  stopped 
to  look  and  doffed  their  hats  as  they  thought  to  a 
living  Pope^t 

With  greater  speed  but  not  less  skill  Titian  painted 
Pier'  Luigi  Farnese,  the  worthy  son  of  an  astute  and 
imscrupulous  father.  But  as  Titian  depicts  him,  the 
Duke  of  Castro  looks  more  grandly  base  and  possessed 
of  less  than  his  father's  share  of  that  cunning  which 
he  required  to  keep  his  person  from  the  daggers  of  his 
foes.  Though  given  to  every  form  of  vice,  his  striking 
presence  was  not  marred  at  this  time  by  any  lurking 
sickness.  Caro,  his  confidential  agent  and  adviser, 
says  he  was  then  in  better  looks  and  spirits  than  he 
had  ever  known  before.^  His  figure  stands  out 
grandly  in  front  of  a  pillar  and  a  fall  of  green  drapery. 
His  flesh  is  smooth  and  oily,  his  nose  long  and  of 
meandering  curve,  but  in  the  main  aquiline,  his  short 
hair  and  copious  beard  deeply  black,  his  eyebrows  full 


•  A  portrait  of  Clement  VII. 
ascribed  to  Titian  in  the  Bridge- 
water  Collection  is  not  original, 
but  recalls  the  style  of  the  dis- 
ciples of  Schiavone  and  Tintoretto. 

t  Vasari  to  Benedetto  (?  Varchi) 


Bottari,  Baccolta,  i.  p.  57. 

X  Ann].  Caro  to  Claudio  Tolo- 
mei,  from  Castro,  July,  1543,  in 
Lettere  familiari  del  Commen- 
datore  A.  Caro,  8vo,  Yen.  1574. 
Vol.  i.,  p.  167. 


Chap.  HI.]   LIKENESS  OF  CAEDINAL  FAENESB. 


89 


and  sharply  pencilled,  his  eyes  dose  to  each  other, 
large,  treacherous,  and  of  jet ;  his  lips  sensual  and 
blood-red.  A  black  velvet  toque  with  gold  buttons 
and  a  white  feather,  a  tippet  of  brown  fiir  over  a 
slashed  silver  silk  damask  doublet,  furs  at  the  wrist, 
the  ducal  staff  to  rest  the  right  hand,  the  left  on  a 
sword.  All  this  is  blocked  out  with  sweep  of  brush 
and  swift  lightness  of  touch,  making  up  a  picture 
surprising  for  the  ease  with  which  it  is  thrown  off,  and 
full  of  the  most  wonderful  accidents  of  surface.* 
At  the  Naples  Museum  Cardinal  Alessandro 
robes  and  cap,  holding  a  glove  in  his  right  hand,  looks 
tame  when  compared  with  his  splendid  father.  His 
fece  is  youthful ;  his  hair  of  chestnut  colour ;  his  beard 
downy ;  a  violet  curtain  falls  in  the  background,  over 
a  wall  of  brownish  tint.  The  tameness  is  doubtless 
due  to  time,  abrasion  and  neglect,  from  which  the 
canvas  has  suffered  almost  irretrievable  injury.  So 
bad  indeed  is  the  preservation,  so  dry  the  pigment, 
that  we  fail  to  recognise  the  hand  of  Titian.t  The 
same  Cardinal,  a  bust  turned  to  the  right,  in  the 
Corsini  palace  at  Eome,  is  still  more  difficult  to  judge 


■  ^ 

m  ms 


*  This  picture,  in  tbe  Palazzo 
Beale.  at  Naples,  is  described  in 
the  Famese  inyentory  of  1680 
(Campori,  Oat.  u. «.,  p.  230).  It  is 
on  panel  to  the  knees,  large  as 
life,  and  weU  preserved. 

t  Naples  Museum,  No.  18. 
Knee  piece,  on  canyas,  of  life- 
size.  On  the  back  we  find  the 
seal  of  the  Famese,  a  lily  in  wax, 
and   the  words:    0.[ardinal]  S. 


AiTGLO.  This  picture  would  gain 
much  if  stretched  on  a  new  can- 
yas. It  is  registered  in  the  Parma, 
inyentoiy  of  1680  (Camp.  Cat.» 
u. «.,  p.  230).  Another  portrait  in 
the  same  inyentory  has  not  been 
traced, — Cardinsd  S.  Angelo,  cap 
on  head  and  gloyes  in  his  left 
hand,  and  his  right  hand  in 
shadow  (Camp.  Catal.  p.  234). 


90 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  HI. 


of,  though  bits  of  it  might  point  to  the  authorship  of 
Titian.* 

Vasari  observes  that  the  portrait  of  Paul  the 
Third,  of  which  a  replica  was  made  for  Cardinal 
Guidascania  Santafiore,  was  preserved  in  Rome,  and 
that  both  original  and  replica  were  frequently  copied. 
We  naturally  infer  from  this  statement  that  the  replica 
dijQfered  from  the  original  at  Naples,  and  it  is  to  be 
presumed  that  this  was  so,  because  the  portraits  of 
Paul  the  Third,  exhibited  under  Titian's  name  in 
numerous  English  and  continental  galleries,  are  mostly 
in  two  forms ;  one  of  which  shows  the  Pope  bare- 
headed with  his  left  hand  on  the  a^m  of  his  chair,  and 
his  right  hand  on  his  knee ;  the  other  with  the  red 
cap  on  the  head,  and  the  right  hand  at  least  on  the 
arm  of  the  chair.  The  finest  example  in  the  second 
form  is  that  of  the  Barbarigo  collection  now  at  Peters- 
burg, where  both  hands  are  on  the  arms  of  the  ponti- 
fical seat;  but  Titian  in  this  instance  worked  hurriedly, 
and  was  probably  helped  by  assistants,  and  the  result 
is  an  aged  look  in  the  Popcf    Those  in  the  second 


*  The  bust  of  Cardinal  Famese 
in  the  Corsini  Gallery  at  Rome, 
represents  the  prelate  in  his  cap 
and  robes  in  front  of  a  green  cur- 
taiU)  of  life-size,  and  on  panel. 
Of  the  original  little  more  is  seen 
than  in  the  half  shades  of  the  fore- 
head, part  of  the  neck  and  ear,  and 
neighbouring  cheek.  The  eyes,  the 
hair,  the  dress,  and  ground,  are 
all  repainted.  The  older  frag- 
ments suggest  the  handling  of 
Titian.    There  is  a  print  of  this 


portrait  by  Gtirolamo  Bossi. 

t  This  is  a  canvas,  with  the 
Pope  seen  to  the  knees,  numbered 
101  in  the  Gallery  of  the  Hermit- 
age, and  in  size  3  ft.  8  in.  English 
h.  by  2  ft.  11^  in.  The  colours 
are  slightly  dimmed  by  time  and 
old  yamish,  and  partial  retouch- 
ing is  not  to  pass  unobserved,  ex. 
gr.  in  the  neck  and  left  hand. 
But,  besides,  a  piece  has  been 
added  to  the  canvas  on  the  right 
side  of  the  picture. 


CiiAP.  m.]     UEPLICAS  OF  PAUL  THE  THIED. 


91 


form  are  either  copies  or  injured  to  such  an  extent 
that  an  opinion  on  them  would  not  be  justified. 
They  are  to  be  found  in  the  catalogues  of  the  North- 
wick,  Pitti  and  Spada  collections,  at  the  Belvedere  in 
Vienna,  in  the  Museum  of  Turin,  or  in  the  Castle  of 
Alnwick* 

Not  till  he  returned  to  his  home  in  Bin  was  it  in 
Titian's  power  to  attend  to  more  lucrative  commissions 
than  those  which  he  had  carried  out  for  the  Famese. 
No  doubt  there  was  less  honour  to  be  had  by  working 


*  The  Northwick  example, 
vhich  changed  hands  at  the  sale 
of  that  collection,  was  a  counter- 
part of  the  bare-headed  original 
at  Naples ;  it  was  so  much  re- 
painted that  it  was  difBcult  to 
decide  whether  Titian  was  the 
painter  or  one  of  his  pupils  (No. 
870  of  Lord  Northwick's  Cata- 
logue). 

The  Pitti  copy  (No.  297),  as- 
cribed to  Paris  Bordone,  is  a  re- 
production of  that  of  Naples  by  a 
painter  of  the  17th  ceutmy. 

The  Spada  copy  is  not  by  a 
Yenetian,  but  by  an  artist  of  the 
Italian  Schools  of  the  18th  cen- 
tury. 

That  of  the  Turin  Museum  (Na 
129),  formerly  ascribed  to  Titian 
and  now  thrown  back  into  the 
school,  is  in  the  manner  of  a  late 
disciple  of  the  last  Bassanos. 

A  more  faithful  imitation,  on  a 
small  scale  (half  life-size)  and  on 
panel,  is  that  of  Lord  Northum- 
berland at  Alnwick,  originally  in 
the  Cammucdni  and  Altieri  Col- 
lections at  Borne. 

Other  varieties  are  a  knee-piece. 


No.  24  in  the  Museum  of  Naples, 
in  which  the  right  hand  of  the 
Pope  is  closed  oyer  a  paper,  and 
a  landscape  is  seen  through  a 
window  to  the  right.  This  canvas 
appears  to  have  been  one  of  the 
Parmese  heirlooms,  and  is  regis- 
tered as  an  original  Titian  in  the 
Inventory  of  Parma  of  1680.  It 
is  greatly  damaged;  but  if  we 
judge  from  a  fragment  of  the  left 
hand  on  the  arm  of  the  chair 
which  has  escaped  injury,  the 
portrait  may  haye  been  originally 
Titian's. 

At  the  Belvedere  of  Vienna  the 
Pope  is  represented  sitting,  with 
his  right  hand  on  the  arm  of  his 
seat.  He  wears  the  purple  cap, 
and  his  left  arm  hangs  to  his 
knees.  This,  however,  is  a  Vene- 
tian canvas,  of  a  period  subsequent 
to  Titian's  death  (photograph  by 
Miethke  and  Wawra). 

One  of  the  copies  above  noted 
may  be  that  registered  in  the 
Farnese  inventory  as  done  by 
Gatti  (Soiaro),  Oampori,  Baccolta 
de'  Cataloghi,  «.  a.,  p.  29*1. 


92 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  HI. 


for  merchants  or  provincial  nobles  than  for  Roman 
prelates,  but  for  less  labour  a  higher  reward  was 
probably  secured.  Early  in  the  year  1529,  Ferdinand, 
King  of  Bohemia,  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  noble  Martin 
van  der  Hanna,  a  citizen  of  Brussels,  whose  money- 
bags had  done  good  service  in  the  cause  of  Charles  the 
Fifth,  Martin  settled  shortly  after  at  Venice,  called 
himself  D'Anna,  and  bought  the  palace  of  the  Talenti, 
at  the  ferry  of  San  Benedetto  on  the  Grand  Canal* 
Here  he  engaged  Pordenone  to  paint  the  walls  of  his 
dwelling  inside  and  out.*  Here  he  resided  with  his 
sons  Giovanni  and  Daniel,  who  followed  their  father's 
business  of  general  merchants.  In  1543,  Giovanni 
d'Anna  became  the  friend  and  compare,  as  well  as  the 
patron  of  Titian,  and  Titian  completed  for  him  the 
great  "Ecce  Homo"t  which  hangs  in  the  gallery  of 
Vienna.  When  Henry  the  Third  passed  through 
Venice  on  his  way  to  Paris  in  1574,  he  saw  this  mas- 
terpiece in  the  house  of  the  d'Annas,  and  oflFered  eight 
hundred  ducats  for  itj  But  when  Sir  Henry  Wotton 
was  English  envoy  at  Venice,  in  1620,  he  bought  the 
canvas  for  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  ;  and  a  few  years 
later  that  superb  favourite  refused  £7000  for  it 
from  Thomas,  Earl  of  ArundeL  To  the  wealth  and 
splendour  of  the  days  of  James,  the  troublous  time 


*  Vasari,  ix.  36;  Sansovino, 
Ven.  desc.  212;  Dolce,  Dialogo, 
62;  Cicogna,  Iso.  Yen.,  iii.  198. 
This  palace  is  now  called  Palazzo 
Martinengo.  There  are  fragments 
of  Pordenone's  frescos  on  the 
canal  front. 


t  Vasari,  ziii.  20.  Titian  also 
painted  Giovanni's  portrait ;  and, 
later  stiU,  he  composed  for  him 
a  crucifixion.  lb.  ib.,  xiii.  43. 
Both  pictures  are  missing. 

X  Anonimo,  ed.  Morelli,  p.  89. 


Chap,  m.]        "ECCB  HOMO"  AT  VIENNA. 


93 


of  the  Eevolution  succeeded  The  son  of  the  mur- 
dered Villiers  was  glad  to  sell  by  auction  the  gallery 
of  his  father,  glad  to  get  as  many  hundreds  for 
the  "  Ecce  Homo "  from  Canon  HiUewerve  of  Ant- 
werp, as  Buckingham  had  refused  thousands  to 
Arundel.  Archduke  Leopold  bought  the  picture  from 
the  canon  for  his  brother  the  Emperor  Ferdinand  the 
Third.  It  came  to  Prague,  and  was  taken  from 
thence,  in  1688,  to  Vienna  by  the  Emperor  Charles 
the  Sixth.* 

In  this  large  canv&,;wfiich  iSeasures  little  less  than  ^ 
twelve  feet  by  eight,  Titian  again  transforms  a  gos- 
pel subject  into  a  modem  episode ;  merging  religious 
feeling  into  familiar  realism,  and  transforming  the 
sublime  sacrifice  of  Christ  into  a  display  of  ordinary 
suflfering.  On  the  same  general  lines  as  the  "  Presenta- 
tion in  the  Temple  "  the  composition  is  set  partly  on 
steps  leading  down  from  a  palace,  and  partly  in  the 
square  fronting  the  palace.  On  the  top  of  the  steps, 
and  before  the  door,  the  Saviour  is  presented  to  the 
people.  The  gaoler  behind  looks  on  as  Pilate,  in  the 
semblance  of  Aretino,  points  to  the  Captive,  and  asks 
the  crowd,  "What  evil  hath  he  done?"  The  chief  priests, 
the  ciders  and  multitude,  are  shouting,  "  Let  him  be 
crucified. ''  Two  of  the  number  stride  up  the  steps  to 
claim  the  victim,  others  show  their  arms  and  hands 
above  the  press,  two  guards  advance  with  halberds,  in 


♦  "Advertisement"  to  tbe  Oa- 
taloguo  of  tlie  CoUection  of  Qeorge 
Yilliers,  Duke  of  Buckmgham,  by 


Brian  Fairfax,  8yo,  London,  Ba- 
thoe,  1786;  Krafft,  Hist.  Krit. 
Catalog.,  u.  8.,  p.  38.' 


94  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  m. 

rear  of  them  a  young  mother  grasps  the  shoulders  of  a 
boy  who  clings  to  her  in  terror.  A  prelate  in  red 
robes  moves  gravely  on.  A  standard-bearer  waves  his 
colours,  and  two  horsemen — ^a  Turk,  the  counterfeit  of 
Sultan  Soliman,  in  a  white  turban,  and  a  knight  in 
steel  armour — ^bring  up  the  rear.  To  the  left,  at  the 
foot  of  the  steps,  a  man  in  working  dress  chides  his 
barking  dog,  and  a  reclining  soldier  sets  his  hand  on 
his  shield  as  he  turns  to  look  up  at  the  Saviour.  The 
whole  scene  is  laid  in  the  open  air,  in  front  of  a 
palace  of  solid  and  dungeon-like  appearance,  yet 
finely  decorated  with  statues ;  and  it  is  surprising 
how  Titian,  in  this  confined  space  and  with  only 
twent}''-seven  figures,  effectively  realises  the  idea  of  a 
multitude. 

Though  handled  with  great  freedom  and  facility, 
and  coloured  with  richly  contrasted  tones,  this  picture 
betrays  more  than  Titian's  habitual  neglect  of  contour, 
whilst  it  displays  less  of  his  usual  elevation  of  charac- 
ter. The  palet  is  varied  in  tint,  the  brush  stroke  solid 
and  broad.  The  shades  of  colour  are  strong  and 
decided,  and  a  pleasing  warmth  of  brown  spreads 
evenly  over  the  canvas,  but  effect  produced  by  dark 
bituminous  shadow  reminds  us  of  habits  peculiar  in 
after  years  to  Schiavone  and  Tintoretto;  and  it  is 
scarcely  to  be  doubted  that  whilst  Titian  was  enjoying 
the  society  and  the  flattering  attentions  of  the  papal 
court,  his  ablest  assistants  were  laboriously  employed  in 
the  workshop  at  home.  To  this  distribution  of  labour 
we  perhaps  owe  the  comparative  insignificance  of  the 
figure  of  Christ,  whose  shape  is  as  mean  as  His  bear- 


Chap,  m.] 


AEETINO  AS  PILATE. 


95 


ing  is  humble;  to  the  same  cause  also,  the  violent 
plebeian  action  of  some  of  the  crowd,  which  differs  so 
greatly  from  the  devotional  calm  impressed  on  the 
"  Presentation  in  the  Temple/'  But  even  with  these 
defects  such  a  picture  naturally  appealed  to  the  feel- 
ings of  the  Venetian  public,  not  merely  because  it 
illustrated  Scripture  in  a  striking  way,  but  because  it 
gave  a  quaint  and  startling  prominence  to  some  noted 
individuals  of  the  time.  It  must  have  been  amusing 
to  those  who  knew  Aretino  to  see  him  represented  in 
the  garb  of  Pilate,  though  Aretino  himself  might  have 
wished  that  his  face  had  shown  somewhat  less  of  the 
vulgar  licentiousness  habitually  impressed  on  his 
features.  It  was  natural  again  that  Soliman,  whose 
likeness  Titian  had  so  often  taken  from  medals,  should 
be  numbered  amongst  those  who  asked  for  the  blood 
of  Christ.  Strange  is  the  tradition  which  described 
the  armed  rider  at  Soliman's  side  as  an  equestrian 
portrait  of  Charles  the  Fifth,  equally  strange  that  the 
features  of  this  rider  should  be  those  of  Alfonso  of 
Este.* 


•"  J 


*  Bidolfi,  Marayiglie,  i.  225, 
properly  described  the  Pilate  as  a 
portrait  of  Aretino,  and  the  tnr- 
baned  Turk  as  Soliman.  The 
luiight,  whom  he  caUs  Charles  Y., 
is  not  in  the  least  like  that 
monarch.  The  picture  in  the 
Belyedere  at  Vienna,  is  No.  19 
in  the  2nd  room  of  the  Ist  floor. 
It  is  on  canvas,  with  figures  as 
large,  or  nearly  as  large,  as  life. 
On  a  scroll  of  paper  at  the  foot  of 
the  steps  we  read : 


TITIANV 

s 

EQVES 

0E8. 

P 

1543. 

The  bituminous  pigment  used 
in  the  colours  contributed  greatly 
to  make  the  canyas  dark  as  it 
now  is.  Besides  this,  the  surfiEU)e 
has  been  unequally  cleaned,  was 
much  retouched  in  yarious  places, 


96 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IH. 


About  the  time  of  the  completiou  of  a  picture  thus 
fitted  to  rouse  the  envy  and  admiration  of  Paolo 
Veronese,  Titian  probably  finished  the  "  Ascension  of 
the  Virgin"  which  now  hangs  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Verona.  Without  the  majestic  grandeur  of  the 
Assunta  of  the  Frari,  this  fine  composition  is  striking 
for  its  masterly  combination  of  light  and  shade  and 
harmonious  colours  with  realistic  form  and  action. 
Mysterious  gloom  lies  on  the  Virgin's  face  as  she  sits 
in  a  corona  of  light  on  the  clouds  above  the  tomb. 
The  very  inception  of  thankful  feeling  is  shown  in 
the  movement  of  the  hands  which  rise  to  join  each 
other  in  prayer.  Serene  joy  marks  the  features 
looking  down  at  the  apostles.  A  fine  contrast  is 
produced  by  the  standing  St.  Peter  on  the  left,  and 
the  kneeling  apostle  to  the  right  of  the  canvas ;  a 
contrast  equally  fine  by  the  motion  of  the  two  men 
who  look  down  into  the  sepulchre  whilst  their  com- 
panions glance  upwards  at  the  radiant  apparition  in  the 
sky.  St.  Thomas  in  the  middle  of  the  background  has 
caught  the  Virgin's  girdle  as  it  fell  from  heaven.  The 
system  of  dark  shading  which  marks  the  "  Ecce  Homo 


99 


and  is  at  present  somewhat  out  of 
focus  in  consequence.  What  re- 
minds us  here  of  Schiayone  is  the 
scumbled  bituminous  tone  and  the 
realism  of  the  forms,  and  an  evi- 
dent vulgarity  in  action.  A  fine 
photograph  from  the  original  was 
publie^edbyMiethke  and  Wawra. 
Hollar  engraved  the  piece  in  1650. 
A  copy  of  this  piece  hangs  high 
up  in  the  sacristy  of  the  church  of 
San  Gaetano  at  Padua,  and  bears 


an  inscription  similar  to  the  above, 
except  that  the  date  is  1574.  The 
colours  are  much  dimmed,  and 
the  canvas  hangs  so  high  that  the 
question  of  originality  must,  for 
the  present,  remain  undecided. 

The  same  subject  by  Titian  is 
noted  in  a  picture  once  in  the 
Correr  Palace,  near  Santa  Fosca 
of  Venice,  by  Boschini.  Pref.  to 
the  Bicche  Miniere. 


Chap.  HI.]    TITIAN  WHITES  TO  MICHAELANGELO.         97 


recurs  again,  and  shows  to  some  advantage  in  union 
with  a  bold  free  touch  and  sweep  of  brush.  But 
there  is  more  concentration  in  the  composition,  more 
character  in  the  faces,  a  finer  cast  of  drapery  and 
peater  dignity  than  in  th,  piC^  of  the  iJZ. 

Meanwhile  Titian  and  the  Academy,  with  Aretino 
at  its  head,  were  setting  levers  in  motion  to  stir  the 
Fameses  into  some  acknowledgment  of  the  services 
rendered  by  Titian  at  Bologna  and  Buss^.  In  March 
the  painter  himself,  at  Aretino's  dictation,  penned  a 
letter  to  the  Cardinal's  secretary  Maffei,  to  urge  the 
nature  of  his  claims.  ^^The  fame  of  the  great 
Alexander,  he  wrote,  was  as  wide  as  the  world,  ex- 
duding  all  other  themes  of  praise  or  conversation. 
To  hear  this  praise  was  like  a  return  of  youth,  and 
not  less  refreshing  than  it  would  be  to  hear  that  his 
Eminence  had  kept  the  vow  made  by  the  holy 
clemency  of  the  Pope  in  respect  of  the  benefice,  "t 

Banuccio  Famese,  no  less  diligently  canvassed  in 
the  same  direction,  was  made  to  address  his  brother 
in  April  as  f oUows : 


*  Bosai  (Gfins.  Mar.)  in  the 
Ntioya  Ghiida  di  Yerona  (8yo, 
Yerona,  1854,  p.  25),  states  that 
the  "  Aasmnptioii "  was  placed  on 
an  altar  onoe  belonging  to  the  Ye- 
Toneee  fiimily  of  Cartolariy  but 
afterwards  rebuilt  on  a  design  of 
Sansorino  for  the  family  of  Ni- 
chesola.  This  is  confirmed  by 
Bidolfi,  Maray.,  L  229.  The  can- 
TB8  is  arched  at  top.  Its  fore- 
groond  figures  are  large  as  life. 
It  was  carried  to  France  at  the 
dose  of  last  century,  and  was 

TOL.  II. 


subsequently  returned.  Heayy 
layers  of  yamish  and  some  re- 
touches disfigure  the  surface, 
which  has  lost  much  of  its  fresh- 
ness in  consequence.  There  are 
line  engrayings  of  this  piece  by 
Gaetano  Zancon  and  0.  Normand. 
It  was  copied  by  Bidolfi  for  an 
altar  in  a  church  at  Boyeredo 
(Bidolfi,  Maray.,  i.  229). 

t  Titian  to  Maffei,  from  Yenice, 
March  20,  1544,  in  Bonchini,  Be- 
lazioni,  u,  «.  p.  5. 


98 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IH. 


"  I  came  to  Venice  to  thank  the  Signoria  for  giving 
me  quiet  possession  of  the  Abbey  of  Bosazzo ;  and 
there  I  received  a  visit  from  M^  Ticiano  who  begged 
I  would  ask  your  B,\  I/,  to  hasten  the  grant  of  the 
benefice  for  his  son.  Titian  being  a  most  estimable 
person,  I  beg  to  recommend  him  most  earnestly.  I 
leave  to  morrow  for  Padua."* 


Mindful  of  the  high  favour  in  which  Michaelangelo 
stood  with  Paul  the  Third,  for  whom  he  had  painted 
the  "  Last  Judgment,"  Titian  also  wrote  in  April  to 
the  great  Florentine  asking  him  as  a  brother  of  the 
craft  to  favour  his  suit  at  Rome  ;  t  and  this  letter  was 
seconded  by  one  from  Aretino  to  the  same  master, 
telling  him  of  the  honours  received  from  the  Emperor 
at  Verona,  praising  the  "  Last  Judgment "  at  the 
Sixtine,  which  he  had  not  seen,  and — commingling 
duhe  cum  utile — begging  for  drawings,  which  he 
valued  more  than  all  the  cups  and  chains  of  princes.J 
To  Carlo  Gualteruzzi,  a  friend  and  translator  of  Bembo, 
and  secretary  to  Ottavio  Farnese,  communications  of 
a  similar  character  were  made  in  June,  when  Aretino 
suggested  an  appeal  to  Bembo  to  use  his  influence 
with  Michaelangelo.§  In  November,  finally  Aretino 
sent  a  personal  and  most  flattering  missive  to  Ottavio 
Farnese, II  and  in  order  to  keep  in  view  the  talents 


*  Banucdo  to  Cardinal  Far- 
neee,  Yenice,  April  25, 1544.  lb. 
ib.  ib. 

t  Aretino  to  Buonarroti,  from 
Venice,  April  1544,  in  Lettere  di 
M.  P.  A.  iii.  45-6. 


X  Ib.  ib.  ib. 

§  Aretino  to  Carlo  Qualtemzzi, 
Venice,  Jnne,  1544,  in  Lett,  di 
M.  P.  A.  iii.  51;  and  compare 
Sansovino,  Ven.  Descritta,  p.  597. 

Jl  The  same  to  Ottavio  Earnese^ 


Chap.  HI.]    AEETINO  DESCEIBES  A  EEGATTA.  99 


of  the  painter  whose  interests  were  thus  persistently 
put  forward,  he  published  a  note  to  Titian,  in  which 
he  shows  a  true  feeling  for  the  sublime  in  nature  and 
art: 

"Having  dined,  contrary  to  my  habit,  alone,  or 
rather  in  company  of  the  quartan  fever  which  jobs  me 
of  all  taste  for  the  good  things  of  the  table,  I  looked 
out  of  my  window  and  watched  the  countless  passing 
boats,  and  amongst  them  the  gondolas  manned  by 
celebrated  oarsmen  racing  with  each  other  on  the 
Grand  Canal.  I  saw  the  crowd  that  thronged  the 
bridge  of  Rialto  and  the  Riva  to  witness  the  race, 
and  as  it  slowly  dispersed  I  glanced  at  a  sky  which 
since  the  days  of  the  creation  was  never  more 
splendidly  graced  with  lights  and  shadows.  The 
air  was  such  as  an  artist  would  like  to  depict  who 
grieved  that  he  was  not  Titian.  The  stonework  of 
tiie  houses,  though  solid,  seemed  artificial,  the  atmo- 
sphere varied  from  clear  to  leaden.  The  clouds  above 
the  roofs  merged  into  a  distance  of  smoky  grey,  the 
nearest  blazing  like  suns,  more  distant  ones  glowing 
as  molten  lead  dissolving  at  last  into  horizontal 
streaks,  now  greenish  blue,  now  bluish  green,  cutting 
the  palaces  as  they  cut  them  in  the  landscapes  of 
Vecelli.  And  as  I  watched  the  scene  I  exclaimed 
more  than  once,  *  0  Titian,  where  art  thou,  and  why 
not  here  to  realize  this  scene V"  * 


Yenioe,  Nov.,  1544,  in  Lett,  di 
M.  F.  A.  iii.  68. 
*  This  is  a  free  paraphrase  of 


Aretino's  letter,  dated  Venice, 
May,  1544,  in  Lettere  di  M.  P.  A, 
iii.  p.  48. 

H  2 


100  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  HI. 


Where  Titian  was  at  this  moment  is  uncertain, 
perhaps  far  away  on  a  trip  to  his  native  mountains, 
perhaps  lingering  on  the  borders  of  the  Alpine  land, 
near  the  canonry  of  CoUe,  which  he  was  claiming  for 
Pomponio,  Early  in  the  year  he  signed  a  contract 
with  the  people  of  Castel  Eoganzuolo,  whose  church 
belonged  to  Colle  by  Ceneda,  to  paint  an  altar-piece 
in  three  parts,  and  deUver  it  in  the  following  Sep- 
tember for  200  ducats ;  and  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  he  performed  hLs  part  of  the  agreement. 
He  was  indeed  much  more  punctual  with  the  delivery 
of  his  work  than  the  churchwardens  with  the  settle- 
ment of  their  dues ;  for  in  1546  it  was  arranged  that 
the  debt  should  be  cancelled  by  instalments,  the  people 
of  Castel  Eoganzuolo  undertook  to  pay  an  annual  sum 
on  account  for  eight  years  in  kind,  and  furnish  the 
stones  and  the  labour  for  the  building  of  a  cottage, 
planned  by  Titian  on  the  neighbouring  slope  of  Manza. 

"  Fortunate  Titian,"  says  Josiah  Gilbert,  "  to  possess 
a  resort  like  this,  which  no  Venice  garden  could  rival 
in  attraction.  A  mile  or  two  of  high  road  and  as 
much  of  a  winding  lane  through  hedges  of  acacia,  once 
brought  me  from  Ceneda  to  Castel  Eoganzuolo,  a  poor 
and  scattered  village  at  the  foot  of  a  bare  knolL  To 
one  edge  of  this  clung  a  forlorn  looking  little  church, 
and  a  few  yards  oflf,  upon  an  out-cropping  rock,  stood 
its  attendant  tower.  But  what  a  view  1  An  expiring 
thunderstorm  was  moaning  along  the  terraces  of  Alpine 
hills,  rising  into  mist  and  blackness  on  the  north ;  but 
under  a  ragged  canopy  of  cloud,  the  distant  Julian 
Alps  stood  out  in  opal  clearness,  and  a  flood  of  golden 


Chap.  HI.]    ALTAIUPIECE  OF  EOGANZUOLO. 


101 


light  was  poured  over  the  plain,  which  spread  bound- 
less beneath  the  eye — east  and  west,  and  south,  a  sea 
of  verdure,  whose  purple  distance  might  have  been  the 
sea  itself,  as  the  shining  campaniles,  dotting  it  all 
over,  might  have  been  the  sails  of  innumerable  ships. 
One  of  the  most  distant,  due  south,  was  pointed  out 
as  that  of  St.  Mark's.  .  .  . 

"  Inside  the  little  church  (the  key  of  which  must  be 
obtained  from  the  canonica  a  short  distance  off)  a 
single  glance  at  the  altar-piece  showed  that  if  Titian's 
hand  had  been  there  much  of  his  work  had  been 
coarsely  painted  over,  and  much  had  perished."  * 

The  truth  is,  the  people  of  Koganzuolo  who  com- 
missioned the  picture  of  Titian  in  1 544  also  ordered 
and  obtained  a  church  standard  from  his  son  Orazio 
in  1575,  and  there  is  some  ground  for  thinking  that 
the  first  was  disposed  of  or  lost,  whilst  the  second 
was  set  up  in  its  place.  Orazio's  contract  stipulated 
that  the  standard  should  comprise  a  figure  of  St.  Peter 
on  one  side,  and  St.  Paul  on  the  other.  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Paul  are  the  two  saints  on  the  side  canvases  of  the 
composite,  altar-piece  now  in  the  church  of  Eoganzuolo. 
They  are  painted  in  Orazio's  well  known  style,  whilst 
the  central  Virgin  and  Child  is  a  coarse  production  in 
the  fourth-rate  manner  of  Fiumicelli,  or  Peccanisio  of 
Treviso.t 


m 

*  Gilbert's  Cadore,  u,  a.  pp.  29- 
31. 

t  For  leoords  conoeming  Ti- 
tian's and  Orazio's  dealings  with 
the  men  of  Castel  Boganzuolo,  see 
Appendix.     The  canyasee,  with 


their  life-size  figures,  are  in  a 
stately  gilt  screen,  with  pilasters 
and  pediment  and  base.  St.  Peter 
stands  to  the  right,  holding  the 
keys  and  reading  from  a  book. 
St.  Paid  holds  a  yoliune  in  his 


102 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  HI. 


During  1544,  and  the  greater  part  of  1545,  Titian's 
eflforts  to  obtain  a  reward  for  his  services  to  the 
Famese  princes  were  altogether  fruitless.  But  this 
neglect  was  due,  not  so  much  to  meanness  or  avarice, 
as  to  the  vicissitudes  of  politics.  The  Pope  and  his 
clan  were  much  too  busy  with  temporal  cares,  and  the 
cardinal  was  too  frequently  away  on  distant  missions  to 
think  of  the  claims  of  a  painter  so  far  away  from  Eome 
as  Titian  was.  Francis  the  First  had  sent  an  army 
into  Italy  in  spring,  and  won  the  battle  of  Cerisole, 
giving  a  death  wound  there  to  Titian's  old  patron  del 
Vasto.  Charles  the  Fifth  had  put  an  end  to  cam- 
paigning  in  Italy  by  invading  France,  and  Cardinal 
Alessandro  had  been  acting  as  legate  at  the  tail  of 
the  contending  armies.  After  the  peace  of  Crespi, 
signed  by  Charles  and  Francis  in  September,  Titian's 
hope  of  deriving  advantage  from  the  papal  connexion 
may  have  increased.  He  certainly  showed  no  distrust 
of  it  when  he  wrote  in  December  to   engage  the 


left  hand  and  points  downward 
with  the  Bword  in  his  right.  The 
Virgin  stands  at  the  side  of  an 
ornamented  plinth,  on  which  she 
supports  the  naked  form  of  Christ. 
At  her  feet  is  a  lemon  and  a  basket 
of  flowers.  Each  of  the  three  can- 
vases is  arched  at  top.  The  tech- 
nical treatment  of  the  saints  is 
Titianesque,  but  Titianesque  only 
in  the  form  of  Titian's  pupils,  and 
especially  of  Orazio  in  his  old  age ; 
and  this  is  easily  observable,  in 
spite  of  the  fiEiding  of  the  colours, 
the  scaling  of  the  flesh  tints,  and 
a  general  dimness  of  sui&ce.  The 


pigments  are  thin,  yet  opaque  in 
tone;  drawing,  modelling,  and 
light  and  shade  are  aU  too  feeble 
for  Titian.  The  Virgin  is  less 
skilfully  handled  than  the  saints, 
being  heavy  and  squat  in  shape, 
and  strained  in  movement.  The 
colours  are  sharp,  and  the  touch 
rapid  and  loose.  Besides  the  dam- 
age done  by  time,  we  may  notice 
the  scaling  of  the  blue  mantle, 
which  is  changed  to  green.  If 
Orazio's  standard  should  not  have 
been  used  to  make  up  the  altar- 
piece  it  has  disappeared. 


Chap.  IIL]      POETEAITS  OF  THE  EMPEESS.  103 

Cardinal's  interest  in  his  quarrel  with  the  canons  of 
San  Spirito.* 

Pending  results  at  the  court  of  the  Pope,  it  would 
have  been  impoKtic  to  neglect  the  older  and  more 
c^i;ain  patronage  of  Charles;  and  early  in  October 
Titian  wrote  a  letter  all  his  own,  and  free  from  the 
turgid  style  of  Aretino,  to  tell  the  Emperor  that  he 
had  finished  two  portraits  of  the  deceased  Empress 
Isabella. 

TITIAN  TO  THE  EMPEEOE. 
"YOUE  CiESAEEAN  MaJESTY, 

"  I  consigned  to  Senor  Don  Diego  di  Men- 
doza,  the  two  portraits  of  the  most  Serene  Empress,  in 
which  I  have  used  all  the  diligence  of  which  I  was 
capable.  I  should  have  liked  to  take  them  to  your 
Majesty  iu  person,  but  that  my  age  and  the  length 
of  the  journey  forbade  such  a  course.  I  beg  your 
Majesty  to  send  me  word  of  the  faults  or  failings 
which  I  may  have  made,  and  retum'the  pictures  that 
I  may  correct  them.  Your  Majesty  will  not  permit 
anyone  else  to  lay  hand  on  them.  For  the  rest  I 
refer  to  what  &^'  Don  Diego  will  say  respecting  my 
affairs,  and  I  embrace  the  feet  and  hands  of  your 
Majesty,  to  whose  grace  I  beg  most  humbly  to  be 
recommended. 
"  Your  Majesty's  most  humble  and  constant  servant, 

"  TiTIANO. 

'*  To  His  CsBsarean  Majesty,  the  Emperor  my  Seiior.'* 
"^iw»Vkniok,  Oct.  6,  1644."t 


*  See  aniea,  I  ohives  of  Simancas  by  Mr.  Ber- 

t  This  letter,  copied  in  the  Ar-  I  genroth,  bears  the  date  of  1546 


104 


TITIAN:  HIS  UFB  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IIL 


The  messenger  who  took  this  letter  no  doubt 
earned  another,  which  Aretino  published  for  the 
benefit  of  his  contemporaries,  referring  at  length  to  the 
points  which  Titian  had  left  to  Charles'  ambassador. 
It  was  the  old  complaint  breaking  out  afresh.  Nine 
years  had  elapsed  since  Titian  had  received  a  grant  to 
import  com  from  Naples,  and  nothing  had  come  of  it ; 
months  had  gone  by,  and  the  pension  on  Milan  re- 
mained unpaid.*  The  portraits  were  sent  to  Brussels, 
where  they  remained  till  Charles  the  Fifth's  final  re- 
tirement into  Spain,t  when  they  were  taken  to  Tuste, 
and  registered  in  the  inventory  drawn  up  after  the 
Emperor's  death.  The  first  perished,  the  last  still 
hangs  in  the  museum  of  Madrid.;]; 

The  original  of  these  portraits  is  supposed  to  have 
been  by  a  Fleming,  but  Titian,  as  usual,  is  careful  not 
to  betray  the  absence  of  his  model  The  Empress 
had  been  dead  some  time  when  he  painted  her  like- 
ness.    Yet  no  one  would  think  that  she  had  not  sat 


(see  Bergenroth  MS.  in  the  Bri- 
tish Museuzn);  but  it  is  dear  that 
it  Mna  written  in  1544,  because 
Aretino  sent  a  letter  to  Charles 
the  Fifth  in  October  of  the  latter 
year,  to  say  that  Titian's  portrait 
of  Isabella  was  finished  (Letters 
di  M.  P.  A.  iii.  p.  77),  and  be- 
cause Titian  in  October,  1545, 
was  not  at  Venice,  but  in  Borne. 
The  original  letter  wiU  be  found 
in  Appendix. 

*  Aretino's  letter  to  the  Em- 
peror, anteay  forwarded  under 
oover  to  the  Venetian  enroy 
in    Charles   the   Fifth's    camp. 


Bernardo  Navagero. 

t  **Item,  La  resemblance  de 
rEmpereur  et  de  TLnp^trioe 
faict  sur  toille  par  Tisiane. 

'  *  Item,  La  resemblance  de  Tlm- 
pdratrice  faict  sur  toille  par  Ti- 
siane."— ^Liventory  of  Aug.  1556, 
in  Gachard,  Betraite  et  Mort  de 
Charles  V.,  8vo,  Brux.,  Oand,  et 
Leipzig,  1855,  vol.  ii  p.  93. 

X  Stirling,  Cloister  Life  of 
Charles  V.  Both  canvases  were 
copied  by  Bubens  at  Madrid  in 
1605.  See  Sainsbury's  Papers, 
4i.  a.,  pp.  3  &  237. 


Chap.  HE.]      POETBATTS  OF  THE  EMPBE8S. 


105 


for  it  She  rests  on  a  chair  near  a  window,  in  front 
of  a  rich  faU  of  brocade.  Her  red  hair  is  strewed 
with  pearls,  her  neck  bound  by  a  pearl  necklace, 
supporting  a  pendant  of  emeralds  and  rubies.  The 
bodice  is  red  velvet,  the  sleeves  lined  with  crimson 
satin, 'slashed  and  looped  wiih  jewels,  the  habit-shirt 
and  puflfed  foresleeve  muslin  with  gold  fillets.  The 
left  hand  holds  a  book,  and  through  the  window  is  a 
view  of  a  mountain  landscape.  The  picture  was  never 
sent  back  for  correction.  Kendering  gravely,  even 
sadly,  the  features  of  a  woman  turned  of  twenty-four, 
it  remained  very  dear  to  Charles  the  Fifth,  who  took  it 
to  Yuste,  and  asked  to  see  it  as  he  lay  on  his  death- 
bed.* 

'.  During  this  and  most  of  the  following  years  Titian 
was  chiefly  occupied  with  portraits.  Just  about  this 
time,  the  most  distinguished  resort  of  men  eminent  in 
politics,  literature,  and  art,  was  the  palace  of  the  Duke 
of  Urbino  at  Venice,  where  Guidubaldo  and  his  wife 
Julia  Varana  frequently  held  court,  when  public  business 
or  the  vicissitudes  of  the  seasons  failed  to  keep  them 
at  Pesaro.  Here  the  Duke  was  fond  of  assembling  his 
friends  and  such  persons  as  might  help  to  further 
his  purpose  of  acquiring  supreme  command  of  the 


*  This  picture,  numbered  485 
in  the  Madrid  Mnfieom,  is  on 
Gonyas,  m.  1.17  h.  by  0.98.  In 
1582  it  was  in  the  palace  of  Pardo, 
in  1686  in  the  Alcazar  of  Madrid. 
See  D.  Pedro  de  Madrazo's  Gata- 
logae»  in  which  it  is  suggested 
that   the    original   from    which 


Titian  painted  was  by  Anthony 
Moro,  probably  a  baseless  con- 
jecture. See  Mignet's  Charles  Y . , 
8to,  Paris,  1854,  2nd  ed.  p.  412. 
An  engraving  by  D.  de  Jode  re- 
presents the  empress  with  her 
right  hand  on  a  table,  and  flowers 
in  her  left. 


106  TITIAN:  HIB  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  HI. 

Venetian  forces.  Here  the  essayist  Sperone  was  sure 
to  be  found  in  company  of  the  Emperor's  envoy, 
Mendozza,  the  Duke's  agent,  Gian-Jacomo  Lionardi, 
Trissino,  Aretino,  Bernardo  Navagero,  Marcantonio 
and  Domenico  Morosini,  Daniel  Barbaro,  Federico 
Badoer,  and  Domenico  Venier,  all  of  whom  paid  court 
to  the  lord  and  lady  of  the  mansion.  The  whole  of 
the  company  may  be  found  in  colloquy  in  Sperone's 
dialogue  of  Fortune,  where  the  Duke  hears  his  guests 
discuss  the  failure  of  Charles  the  Fifth  before  Algiers,* 
and  as  in  Castiglione's  "Cortigiano,''  the  most  exceUent 
painter,  adored  by  patron  and  clients,  is  Raphael,  so 
here  the  popular  idol  is  Titian.  On  one  occasion, 
when  the  dialogue  is  confined  to  TuUia,  Bernardo 
Tasso,  Mccolo  Gratia,  and  Molza,  and  the  theme  is 
all-absorbing  "  Love,"  TuUia  talks  very  loftily  of  the 
world  "  as  an  image  of  God  created  by  Nature,'^  and 
with  some  contempt  contrasts  that  "  image "  with  the 
portraits  of  painters,  which  give  of  man's  life  but  the 
outer  skin.  *'  You  are  unjust  to  Titian,"  cries  Tasso 
enthusiastically,  "No,"  exclaims  Tullia,  "I  hold  Titian 
to  be  not  a  painter — ^his  creations  not  art,  but  his 
works  to  be  miracles,  and  I  think  that  his  pigments 
must  be  composed  of  that  wonderful  herb  which  made 
Glaucus  a  god  when  he  partook  of  it;  since  his 
portraits  make  upon  me  the  impression  of  something 
divine,  and  as  Heaven  is  the  paradise  of  the  soul,  so 
God  has  transfused  into  Titian's  colours  the  paradise 
of  our  bodies,  "t 


*  DialogludelSig.SperonSpe-  I      t  Sperone,  Dialogo   d'Amore, 
xone,  8vo,  Yen.  1596,  p.  610.  |  8vo,  Aldua,  Ven.  1542,  pp.  24, 25, 


Chap,  m.] 


SPEEONE'S  DIALOGUES. 


107 


Of  all  the  persons  who  figure  in  these  dialogaecf, 
five  at  least  were  portrayed  by  Titian  in  1545,  after 
an  obscurer  sitter,  a  friend  of  Friscianese,  called 
Alessandro  Corvino,  had  been  introduced  and  des* 
patched.*  In  February  the  portrait  of  Daniel  Bar- 
baro  was  sent  to  Bishop  Jovius,  whom  Charles  the 
Fifth  habitually  called  his  liar,  whilst  Titian  called 
him  Ms  ccmiare.^  Though  not  as  yet  appointed 
envoy  to  Edward  the  Sixth,  nor  patriarch  of  Aquileia, 
Barbaro  was  a  doctor  in  the  faculty  of  Arts  at  Padua^ 
and  a  patron  of  Titian  preparatory  to  acting  Mec«nas 
to  PaUadio,  Vittoria  and  Paolo  Veronese. 

A  likeness  of  Guidubaldo  the  Second,  completed  in 
March,  was  followed  later  in  the  year  by  one  of  Julia 
Yarana  ;  whilst  that  of  Marcantonio  Morosini  was  deli- 
vered in  July.  J  It  is  not  quite  certain  whether  a  similar 
canvas  representing  Sperone  was  done  at  this  time.§ 


*  Aretdno  to  Priscianese,  Ye- 
nice,  Feb.  1545,  in  Lettere  di  M. 
P.  A.  iii.  97^.-98. 

t  Aretino  to  (Hovio  at  Borne, 
Ven.,  Feb.  1545,  Lett,  di  M.  P. 
A.  iii.  p.  104.  A  portrait  of  Da- 
niel Barbaro,  resting  his  band  on 
a  book,  was  in  the  collection  of 
Hans  Van  Uffel,  at  Antwerp,  in 
Bidolfi's  time.  (See  Marayiglie,  i. 
p.  259.)  It  corresponds  altoge- 
ther with  a  portrait  engraved 
by  HoUar,  inscribed :  ' '  Titianus 
pinxit.  Hollar  fedt,  1649.— Bi- 
tratto  di  Monsignor  della  Gasa. — 
Front  &oe  of  a  man  with  short 
hair  and  long  beard,  with  the 
fingers  of  his  left  hand  on  a 
book." 


X  Aretino  to  the  Duke  of  XJr* 
bino,  Venice,  March,  1545.  The 
same  to  the  Dnchess  of  Urbino, 
Venice,  Oct.  1545.  The  same  to 
Marcantonio  Morosini,  Venice, 
July,  1545 ;  in  Lettere  di  M.  P. 
Aretino,  iii.  114,  198,  and  161. 
The  portraitof  Q-nidubaldo  passed, 
with  other  heirlooms,  to  Florence 
in  1631,  but  is  now  missing.  See 
Ghiayacd's  Pitti  Catalogue  of 
1859,  p.  245. 

§  Sperone's  likeness  was  seen 
by  Bidolfi  at  Padua,  in  possession 
of  a  canon  Conti ;  on  a  coyer  oyer 
the  picture  a  child  was  painted 
playing  with  a  lion.  Bee  also  a 
fragment  of  a  letter  £rom  Sperone 
in  Ticozzi,  Veoelli,  v.  a.,  note  to 


108 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES,     [Chap.  HI. 


But  we  measure  the  labour  which  still  awaits  the 
student  of  Titian's  works  when  we  note  that  of  all 
these  portraits  none  can  be  traced  or  identified.  One 
and  one  only  remains  to  tell  of  the  master's  industry 
in  these  days,  and  that  is  the  picture  in  which  Titian 
immortalized  the  features  of  the  now  bloated  Aretino, 
In  a  letter  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  the  "Barbaro," 
Jovius  had  asked  for  a  sketch  of  Aretino.  His  Mend 
replied  that  he  would  give  him  a  copy  of  the  "  terrible 
marvel/'  just  brought  to  completion  by  Titian*  A 
few  months  later  the  painter  sent  the  canvas  home ; 
and  Aretino  despatched  it  to  the  Duke  of  Florence  with 
a  sarcastic  letter,  saying  that  the  satins,  velvets,  and 
brocades  would  perhaps  have  been  better  if  Titian  had 
received  a  few  more  scudi  for  working  them  outt  In 
a  similar  strain  he  wrote  to  Titian  himself,  then  absent 
at  Kome,  upbraiding  him  for  having  left  his  portrait  a 
sketch  instead  of  a  finished  picture  ^  and  yet,  when 
we  look  at  the  masterpiece  as  it  hangs  in  the  museum 
of  the  Pitti  at  Florence,  it  strikes  us  as  a  marvel  of 
finish.      In    the   "Ecce  Homo"  at  Vienna,   where 


p.  223.  But  oousnlt  also  Bartoli 
Fitture,  &c.,  di  Bovigo,  8vo,  Ven. 
1793,  p.  164,  wlio  describes  in  the 
bishop's  palace  a  portrait  of 
Sperone,  "  aged  22,  by  Titian." 
But  Bartoli  adds  that  Sperone 
holds  in  his  hand  the  book  of  his 
Dialogues,  and  these  Sperone  only 
began  to  write  at  the  age  of 
thirty.  (See  Sperone,  Apologia 
dei  Dialoghi,  in  Dialoghi,  u,  «., 
p.  621.) 
•  Gioyio    to    Aretino,     from 


Borne,  March  11,  1545,  in  Bot- 
tari's  Baooolta,  5,  230;  and  Are- 
tino to  Gioyio,  Venice,  April, 
1545,  in  Lettere  di  M.  P,  A.  iii. 
121. 

t  Compare  Gaye,  Carteggio,  ii. 
331,  345-7;  and  Aretino  to  the 
Duke  of  Florence,  Oct.  1545,  in 
Lett,  di  M.  P.  A.  iii.  238. 

X  Aretino  to  Titian,  from  Ve- 
nice, Oct.  1545,  Lett,  di  M.  P.  A. 
iii.  236. 


Chap.  IIL]  POETEAIT  OF  AEETINO.  109 

flLretino  acts  the  part  of  Pilate,  the  features  are  low 
and  the  expression  conmion.     At  the  Fitti,  the  face 
seems  disengaged  from  an  atmosphere  of  corruption, 
and — as  far  as  such   a   thing  is    possible — appears 
idealized  and  ennobled.     Of  short  stature  originally  ' 
and  of  great  strength,  Aretino  still  looks  lusty,  though 
beginning  to  age.     There  is  power  in  the  solid  arch  of 
the  brow,  power  in  the  scantling  of  the  forehead.    Fire 
is  in  the  large  dark  eye,  and  something  that  tells  of 
strength  too  in  the  pepper  and  salt  of  the  hair  and 
streaks  of  grey  in  the  full,  weU-famished  beard.    The 
model  has  not  lost  his  characteristic   cunning  and 
audacity ;  the  type  of  the  blusterer  and  bully  is  not 
completely  effaced,  nor  has  the  natural  effrontery  of 
the  scribe  entirely  disappeared ;  but  the  worst  points  are 
cleverly  toned  down,  and  more  prominence  is  given  to  . 
an  air  of  sharpness  than  to  mere  bloat  and  fat.     AVhat 
Aretino  calls  a  hozzo  is  a  miracle  of  modelling  in  solid 
impast  of  rich  coloured  pigments.     There  is  no  trace 
here  of  quartan  fever,  no  sallow  toning  of  flesh,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  a  ruddy  flush  of  health,  and  some- 
thing of  that  warmth  and  depth  of  tinge  which  we  find 
recurring  in  Rembrandt.    The  livid  shades  beneath  the 
eyes  tell  not  so  much  of  dissipation  as  of  a  bilious  and 
irascible  temper.    Freedom  and  spirit  are  shown  alike 
in  the  motion  and  colours  of  a  head  slightly  raised  and 
turned  to  the  right,  and  in  the  action  of  the  body,  one 
arm  of  which  is  behind  the  back,  the  right  across  the 
breast,  as  the  gloved  hand  grasps  and  holds  together 
the  stuff  pelisse  which  covers  a  brown  doublet.     Con- 
spicuous is  the  chain  of  knighthood  thrown  brightly 


110 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  HI. 


acrcNSS  the  chest*  Cosimo  never  thanked  Aretino  for 
this  portrait,  which  reminded  him  of  mipleasant  rela- 
tions  said  to  have  existed  between  his  own  father  and 
his  secretary.  To  the  repeated  and  perfectly  insolent 
letters  of  Aretino,  he  answered  at  last  with  the  present 
of  money,  which  was  all  that  Aretino  cared  for.t 

The  Duke  of  Urbino,  at  whose  court  Titian  fomid 
encouragement  in  these  years  was  not  the  richest, 
though  he  was  certainly  the  most  profuse  in  his 
expenditure  of  all  the  north  Italian  princes.  He  was 
a  soldier  who  never  led  large  armies  in  the  field,  nor 
fought  a  general  action.  As  commander  of  the  Vene- 
tian forces  after  1545,  he  foimd  no  opportunity  to 
signalize  his  powers.  As  chief  in  succession  of  the 
troops  of  the  Church  and  Philip  the  Second,  his 
duties  remained  administrative  rather  than  active  in  a 
military  sense.  His  reign  was  remarkable,  too,  for 
disturbances  caused  by  arbitrary  taxation;  and  he  put 
down  those  disturbances  with  an  iron  hand,  and  spent 
the  money  he  obtained  right  regally.  But  he  was  a 
man  of  taste,  with  literary  and  artistic  sympathies, 
and  peculiarly  fitted  to  play  the  part  of  Mecsenas  to 
a  man  of  the  genius  of  Titian,  at  a  time  when  peace 
had  been  restored  to  Italy  and  a  great  part  of  Europe. 


*  The  portrait,  on  a  dark  brown 
ground,  is  numbered  54  at  the 
Htti.  The  figure  ia  seen  to  the 
-waist,  is  of  life  size,  on  canyas, 
and  weU  preserved.  Photograph 
by  Alinari,  Of  other  portraits 
supposed  to  represent  Aretino 
something  was  said  (see  antea, 
p.  319).   Another  portrait,  with  a 


forged  inscription,  at  Dresden 
shall  be  noted  at  its  proper  time 
and  place.  A  fine  engraving  of 
the  Pitti  portrait  reversed,  is  by 
P.  Petruoci  and  T.  Ver  Cruys, 
who  also  engraved  a  portrait  of  a 
younger  man,  under  the  name 
of  Aretino. 

t  Oaye,  «.  «.,  ii,  345-7« 


Ceap.  nL]    CHiiELES  V.  AND  THE  FAENESB.  Ill 


The  causes  favourable  to  the  exercise  of  a  generous 
patronage  by  a  small  chieftain  of  the  rank  of  Guidu- 
baldo,  were,  however,  as  potent  at  the  court  of  the 
Pope  and  Charles  the  Fifth  as  at  the  court  of  Pesaro  ; 
and  we  shall  find  an  eager  competition  taking  place 
between  these  unequal  but  rival  powers  as  to  who 
should  monopolize  the  services  of  Titian. 

Charles  the  Fifth,  who  had  settled  his  differences 
with  France,  and  signed  a  truce  with  the  Moslems, 
had  also  negotiated  a  league  with  the  Famese  princes 
to  put  down  the  Protestants,  and  the  first  result  of 
this  league  had  been  a  general  council,  which  met  with 
great  solemniiy  at  Trent,  in  December,  1545.  The 
Pope  was  triumphant.  He  had  just  made  Pier  Luigi 
Duke  of  Parma  and  Piacenza  against  the  Emperor's 
wilL  His  grandson  Ottavio  was  expecting  an  heir 
fix)m  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  the  Emperor.  Cardinal 
Alessandro  no  longer  required  to  lead  the  wandering 
life  of  an  itinerant  envoy.  Most  of  the  Famese 
femily  was  in  Kome,  and  concentrated  —  socially 
speaking — in  the  Palace  of  Belvedere.  No  wonder, 
under  these  circumstances,  that  whilst  the  Duke  of 
Urbino  was  striving  to  secure  the  talents  of  Titian  for 
himself,  the  Famese  should  have  renewed  their  efforts 
to  attract  him  to  Kome.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the 
painter  would  have  had  courage,  after  so  many  dis- 
appointments, to  accept  the  invitation,  in  the  face  of 
determined  opposition  from  Guidubaldo,  had  not 
Girolamo  Quirini  urged  upon  him  the  advantages  of 
such  a  step  at  this  particular  juncture.  It  was  to  him 
no  doubt  that  Titian  was  indebted  for  an  arrangement 


/ 


112 


TITIAN:  mS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  HI. 


by  which  the  Duke  of  Urbino  contented  himself  with 
a  temporary  stay  of  his  favourite  master  at  Pesaro,  and 
allowed  him  to  proceed  from  thence  to  Bome,  on 
condition  that  once  in  the  capital  he  should  not  forget 
the  commissions  for  which  he  had  pledged  himself.* 

Under  this  arrangement,  Guidubaldo  took  Titian 
imder  his  own  personal  protection  at  Venice,  in 
September,  1545,  caused  him  to  journey  with  Orazio, 
now  his  assistant,  in  the  ducal  suite  through  Ferrara  to 
Pesaro,  and  after  a  stay  in  that  city,  gave  him  an 
escort  through  the  whole  of  the  Papal  States  to 
Eome.t  Never  had  a  painter  since  the  days  of 
Apelles  been  treated  more  royally.  "Titian,"  says 
Aretino  writing  to  Guidubaldo  in  October,  "  bids  me 
adore  the  Duke  of  Urbino,  whose  princely  kindness 
was  never  equalled  by  any  sovereign,  and  he  bids  me 
do  this  in  gratitude  for  the  escort  of  seven  riders,  the 
pajrment  of  his  journey,  the  company  on  the  road,  the 
caresses,  honours,  and  presents,  the  hospitality  of  a 
palace  which  he  was  bid  to  treat  as  his  own."t  "  Your 
Titian,  or  rather  our  Titian,''  Bembo  writes  to  Girolamo 
Quirini  from  Kome,  "  is  here,  and  he  tells  me  that  he 
is  under  great  obligation  to  you  for  having  been  the 
main  cause  of  his  coming  hither,  and  encouraging  him 
by  the  kindest  words  to  make  the  trip,  of  which  he  is 
more  contented  than  he  can  say.      He  has  already 


*  Bembo  to  Quirini,  from  Borne, 
Got.  ID,  1545,  in  Opere,  v.  «., 
yol.  yi.  p.  316 ;  Vasari,  ziii.  36. 

t  Ibid.  Also  Aretino  to  Mo- 
danese,  from  Venice,  in  Oct. ;  and 


Aretino    to    Duke   Goidubaldo, 
same  place  and  date,  inLettere 
di  M.  P.  A.  iii.  217  &  223. 
X  Aretino  to  Qnidubaldo,  u,  «• 


.  Chap.  IIL]      PAUL  HI*  WELCOMES  TITIAN.  113 

seen  so  many  fine  antiques  that  he  is  filled  with 
wonder,  and  glad  that  he  came.  The  Duke  of  Urbino 
was  most  kind,  taking  him  personally  as  far  as  Pesaro, 
and  sending  him  from  thence  with  horse  and  company, 
so  as  he  confesses  to  be  greatly  bounden  to  him.''* 

Not  only  did  Bembo  receive  Titian  cordially,  but 
Paul  the  Third  gave  him  a  Mendly  welcome^f  and 
Cardinal  Famese  deputed  Yasari  to  act  as  his  guide  to 
the  artistic  treasures  of  the  city,  and  then  gave  him 
rooms  in  the  Belvedere  Palace,  where  he  had  easy 
access  to  the  Pope  and  his  family,  whose  portraits  he 
was  now  to  paint.|  Yasari  doubtless  took  him  first 
into  the  galleries  of  antiques,  of  which  he  very  soon 
made  particular  use.  He  showed  him  the  tapestries 
of  Eaphael,  from  which  sketches  were  probably  made 
on  the  spot.§  He  went  with  him  to  the  Famesina, 
where  Titian  would  scarcely  believe  that  the  mono- 
chromes of  Peruzzi  were  not  carved  in  stone  rather 
than  painted  in  monochrome.  ||  He  visited  the  Stanze 
of  the  Yatican  in  company  of  Sebastian  del  Piombo, 
who  blushed  to  confess  that  he  was  the  "barbarian 
who  had  dared  to  restore  the  frescoes  of  Raphael.''l[ 
f  Full  of  enthusiasm  at  his  reception  by  Bembo  and 

the  Pope,  he  wrote  to  Aretino  regretting  that  he  had 
not  come  to  Bome  twenty  years  before,  giving  his 
friend  occasion  to  remind  him  that  caresses  were  the 


*  Bembo  to  Qtiiriiii,  u.  s. 

t  Aretino  to  Bembo,  from  Ve- 
nice, Oct.  1M5 ;  Aretino  to  Titian, 
from  Venice,  Oct.  1545,  in  Lettere 
di  M.  P.  A.,  iii.  220  &  236» 


X  Yasari,  ziii.  34. 
§  See  the  proof  of  this,  poOea, 
in  an  altar-piece  at  Seirayalle. 
II  Vas.  Yiii.  223. 
IT  Dolce  Dialogo,  u. «.,  p.  9. 


VOL.   IL  I 


114  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IH. 

current  coin  of  the  Famese.  "  I  long  for  your  return/^ 
continued  Aretino  in  reply,  "that  I  may  hear  what 
you  think  of  the  antiques,  and  how  far  you  consider 
them  to  surpass  the  works  of  Michaelangelo.  I  want 
to  know  how  far  Buonarroti  approaches  or  surpasses 
Raphael  as  a  painter ;  and  wish  to  talk  with  you  of 
Bramante's  ^Church  of  St.  Peter,'  and  the  master- 
pieces of  other  architects  and  sculptors.  Bear  in  mind 
the  methods  of  each  of  the  famous  painters,  parti- 
cularly that  of  Fra  Bastiano  and  Perino  del  Vaga; 
look  at  every  intaglio  of  Bucino.  Contrast  the  figures 
of  Jacopo  Sansovino  with  those  of  men  who  pretend 
to  rival  him,  and  remember  not  to  lose  yourself  in 
contemplation  of  the  *  Last  Judgment,'  at  the  Sixtine, 
lest  you  should  be  kept  all  the  winter  from  the 
company  of  Sansovino  and  myself."* 

How  little  did  Aretino  really  know  of  Titian  if  he 
thought  he  could  now  learn  anything  from  Sebastian 
del  Piombo  or  Perino  del  Vaga.  From  cartoons  or 
casts  of  statues  by  Michaelangelo  at  Venice  he  might 
in  earlier  days  have  derived  some  notions  of  the  pecu-* 
liar  way  in  which  nature  and  the  models  of  earlier 
generations  of  artists  should  be  consulted  for  the 
attainment  of  a  monumental  ideal.  Now  that  Titian's 
practice  and  method  had  set  hard  into  a  shape  from 
which  they  could  never  again  escape,  comparisons  of 
the  antique  and  Buonarroti  would  necessarily  have 
little  effect  on  the  further  expansion  of  his  style.  Not 
that  Titian's  mind  was   closed  at  this  time  to  all 


•  Aretino  to  Titian,  u.  «.,  Lettere  di  M.  P.  A.,  iii.  236. 


Chap.  HI.]  TITIAN'S  AET  ANALYZED.  115 

improving  influences.  We  shall  presently  see  that  old 
as  he  was  he  still  showed  readiness  to  assimilate  the 
good  that  he  found  in  the  antique  or  in  Michael- 
angelo  >  but  it  was  idle  to  think  with  Michaelangelo 
that,  had  he  learnt  to  draw  better  in  his  youth,  and 
added  to  the  gifts  which  he  possessed  by  nature  the 
further  gift  of  correct  design,  he  would  have  been  a 
paragon  ;*  idle  to  suppose,  as  Del  Piombo  affected  to 
believe,  that  had  Titian  come  to  Rome  when  he 
published  the  "  Triumph  of  Faith,'*  and  then  studied 
the  works  of  Michaelangelo  and  Raphael  together  with 
antique  statues,  he  would  have  produced  master- 
pieces.t  Titian  himself  was  well  aware  of  the  danger 
of  mere  imitation,  and  we  saw  he  once  told  Vargas, 
the  Spanish  envoy,  that  he  purposely  avoided  the 
styles  of  Raphael  and  Michaelangelo  because  he  was 
ambitious  of  higher  distinction  than  that  of  a  clever 
imitator.J  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  the 
education  which  he  had  received  was  one  that  enabled 
him  to  produce  acknowledged  masterpieces ;  and  it  is 
quite  impossible  that  the  study  which  Michaelangelo 
and  Del  Piombo  regretted  to  have  found  neglected 
should  have  made  Titian  greater.  We  look  in  vain 
throughout  the  annals  of  art  for  a  man  who  combined 
all  the  excellencies  discemable  singly  in  Lionardo  and 
Raphael,  or  in  Michaelangelo,  Correggio,  and  Titian. 
To  paint  like  Titian  required  Titian's  peculiar  talents 
and  means ;  it  required  that  colour  should  be  made  a 


*  Vasari,  xiii.  35. 

t  lb.  21. 

t  Yicos,  Be  studiorum  raiione, 


u,  a,  p.  109;  and  see  antea,  vol.  i. 

p.  r329. 


I  2 


116  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  m. 

speciality.  To  draw  and  render  form  chastened  and 
select  as  that  of  the  Florentines  demanded  an  educa- 
tion of  another  kind,  which  should  make  colour 
subordinate  to  design.  Light  and  shade,  as  pitted 
against  each  other  by  Correggio,  were  only  attainable 
by  one  who  gave  himself  exclusively  to  their  produc- 
tion. There  never  was  a  genius  more  universal  than 
Raphael,  or  one  more  fitted  by  nature  to  combine  all 
the  highest  and  be^st  elements  of  art,  yet  Raphael  is 
not  a  colourist.  Del  Piombo,  who  came  to  Rome  with 
the  impress  of  Venice  in  his  manner,  gradually  lost 
to  ori^ty  in  a  grand  but  palp.Ueimit.hL  of 
Raphael  and  Michaelangelo.  His  opinion  was  trans- 
planted to  Venice  with  that  of  Buonarroti  and  set  up 
as  a  text  over  the  door  of  Tintoretto,  but  it  failed  to 
produce  the  expected  ideal ;  and  it  would  have  been 
utterly  vain  to  hope  that  colour  after  the  Venetian 
fashion  or  design  in  the  grandiose  style  of  the  classics 
and  Tuscans  could  amalgamate;  the  base  and  elements 
of  both  being  altogether  different  and  incapable  of 
assimilation.  The  trial  was  finally  made  by  the 
eclectics  of  the  school  of  Bologna,  and  every  tyro 
knows  with  what  result. 

That  Titian  himself  thought  he  might  have  gained 
something  from  an  earlier  visit  to  Rome  is  obvious 
from  his  correspondence  ;  that  he  afterwards  confessed 
to  have  improved  by  his  stay  there  in  1545  and  1546, 
is  clear  fix)m  a  confession  made  by  himself  to  the 
painter  Leoni;*  but  it  is  a  moot  point  whether  he 

♦  Giovanni  Battista  Leoni  to  I  August   6,    1589:    "I  recollect 
Erancesco  Montemezzano,  Home,  I  hearing  Messer  Titian  say,  when 


Chap,  m.]    MICHAELANGELO  VISITS  TITIAN. 


117 


would  have  acquired  more  in  1525  than  in  1545  ; 
and  all  that  a  genius  of  his  class  could  obtain  from  a 
stay  in  the  capital  was  enlarged  experience^  and  that 
sort  of  superiority  which  a  travelled  man  has  over  one 
who  has  not  travelled. 

If  Titian,  however,  could  not  hope  to  procure  more 
solid  advantages  from  a  residence  at  Eome  than  en- 
larged experience,  he  might  expect  that  some  material 
improvement  of  his  social  position  would  result  from 
the  patronage  of  the  Pope  and  his  friends  ;  and  there 
is  evidence  that  some  of  the  artists  who  were  best 
employed  at  the  Vatican  became  very  jealous  of  him 
,  on  that  account.  Perino  del  Vaga,  whom  Aretino 
had  asked  Titian  to  study,  trembled  at  the  very 
prospect  of  Titian's  stay,  not  because  he  feared  com- 
petition as  a  fresco  painter,  but  because  he  feared  he 
might  lose  the  decoration  of  the  King's  Hall  at  the 
Vatican,*  and  Vasari,  or  Sebastian  it  may  be,  nourished 
secretiy  some  sentiments  of  a  similar  kind.  They 
were  too  clever,  however,  to  display  these  feelings, 
whilst  Michaelangelo,  who  in  by-gone  times  had 
praised  the  portraits  of  the  great  Venetian  master, 
was  civil  enough  to  pay  him  a  visit  in  his  rooms  of 
Belvedere.t 

The  first  picture  to  which  Vaaari  refers  as  a  work  of 
Titian  at  Home   is  the  likeness  of  Paul  the  Third, 


I  Tisited  his  house  in  1x17  child- 
hood to  leani  something  of  paint- 
ing, that  he  had  greatly  improved 
his  works  after  having  heen  at 
Home.*'    See  Lettere  familiare  di 


G.  £.  Leoni,  8to,  Yen.  1600^ 
p.  15,  in  Bottari,  Baoeolta^  u,  s. 
y.  p.  53. 

♦  Vasari,  x.  17U 

t  lb.  xiii.  35. 


118  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  HI. 

with  Cardinal  Alessandro  and  Ottavio  Farnese,  "  exe- 
cuted with  great  skill,  and  entirely  to  the  satisfaction 
of  those  concerned."*  The  canvas  which  contains 
these  three  personages  was  left  to  the  very  last  un- 
finished, and  we  may  think  that  the  cause  of  this 
inishap  lay  in  the  dislike  of  the  Pope  to  sit.  Though 
the  palace  of  the  Belvedere  had  been  chosen  as  Titian's 
habitation  because  it  was  likely  to  facilitate  his  inter- 
course with  the  pontiflf,  Paul  was  too  old,  too  ailing, 
and  too  peevish  to  visit  the  painter's  room  frequently. 
TitiaD  finished  the  heads  of  Cardinal  Alessandro  and 
Ottavio  Famese  carefully,  he  left  that  of  the  Pope 
incomplete.  But  in  his  leisure  hours  he  produced 
other  works,  which  were  quite  as  important  as  this, 
Some  unhappily  destroyed,  others  fortunately  pre- 
served. Amongst  the  former  is  a  likeness  of  the 
Pope  in  company  of  his  son.  Pier  Luigi ;  "  Mtogaret  of 
Austria,"  with  a  white  veil  on  her  head  and  a  double 
necklace  of  pearls ;  t  "  Clelia  Famese,"  the  Cardinal's 
illegitimate  daughter;  a  Venus,  ordered  by  Ottavio 
Famese;  a  Magdalen,  and  an  "Ecce  Homo,"  con- 
sidered at  the  time  below  the  master's  mark.J  The 
canvases  which  remain  to  show  the  impress  of  Rome 
on  Titian's  mind  are  the  Pope  with  his  grandsons,  of 


*  Vasari,  xiii.  35. 

t  Campoii,  Famese  Inventory 
in  Eacoolta  de'  Cataloghi,  pp.  208, 
227 ,  234, 237.  The  picture  of  the 
Pope  and  his  son  is  tiius  de- 
scribed: "Paul  m.  in  a  red 
yelvet  chair,  his  feet  on  a  red 
stool  fringed  with  gold,  standing 


on  a  Levantine  carpet;  to  the 
right  the  Seren**  Pier  Luigi,  fuU 
length  standing,  in  black,  em- 
broidered with  gold,  with  a  sword, 
and  a  hand  on  his  haunch:  by 
Titian." 
X  Yas.  xiii.  35;  Bidolfi,  i.  231 « 


Chap,  m.]  DANAE  AT  NAPLES.  119 

which  mention  has  been  made,  and  "Danae  receiving 
the  Golden  Eain,"  both  in  the 'museum  of  Naples. 

It  seems  curious  that  the .  Farneses  should  have  1 
employed  Titian  to  illustrate  the  fable  of  Jupiter  and 
Panaea  When  he  began  that  composition,  the  Council 
ct  Trent  was  on  the  eve  of  meeting  to  put  down 
corruption,  simony,  and  protestantism.  But  Titian 
we  saw  had  faUed  in  the  "  Ecce  Homo,"  his  incon- 
stant sitters  would  not  always  attend,  and  Ottavio 
Famese,  a  layman,  a  man  of  the  world,  and  son-in- 
law  to  the  Emperor,  did  not  disapprove  of  sensualism 
if  it  was  veiled  with  delicacy  and  clad  in  peerless 
forms. 

In  Titian's  version  of  the  subject  we  find  him 
triumphing  over  every  difficulty  of  art,  and  marking 
— at  sixty-eight — a  progress  in  the  development  of 
his  style.  Danae  lies  on  a  couch  scantily  covered 
with  a  veil,  the  upper  part  of  her  form  raised  on 
snow-white  cushions.  A  muslin  sheet  partially  con- 
ceals the  red  silk  of  a  drapery  falling  in  graceful  folds 
from  the  sides  of  an  alcove.  In  the  gloom  behind, 
made  gloomier  by  the  livid  cloud,  from  which  the 
golden  rain  is  falling,  a  pillar  rears  its  shaft  on  a 
dark  grey  phnth,  cutting  strongly  on  the  pure  blue 
of  a  bright  and  sunny  sky,  and  a  distance  of  hills  and 
trees  bathed  in  haze.  Cupid,  a  full  grown  boy  in 
beautiful  movement,  glides  away  to  the  right,  with 
outstretched  wings  and  a  gesture  of  surprise,  looking 
curiously  as  he  goes  at  the  dropping  of  the  pieces, 
and  holding  with  a  steady  grasp  his  unstrung  bow. 
The  light,  which  scarcely  illumines  the  features   of 


120  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  HI* 

the  maid,  whose  forehead  lies  under  the  shade  of  the 
cloud,  strikes  brightly  on  her  frame  and  arm,  and 
especially  on  the  hand.  A  braxjelet  glistens  on  her 
wrist,  a  ring  on  one  of  the  fingers  that  play  with 
the  muslin  sheet.  The  glow  of  day  seems  to  fade 
as  it  rests  on  the  boy,  and  is  quenched  in  the  dark- 
ness behind;  but  the  gradations  are  so  delicate  as 
to  escape  detection,  and  even  the  mass  of  projected 
shadow  is  mild  and  warm,  whilst  blended  tones  are 
spread  in  gentle  waves  over  the  canvas.  Such  per- 
fectly balanced  chiaroscuro,  modelling  so  finished, 
such  admirably  painted  flesh,  are  hardly  to  be  found 
again;  yet  looking  into  the  picture  closely  we  see 
how  spacious  breadths  of  light  are  massed  on  the 
prominent  places  and  illumined  with  decisive  touches 
of  still  lighter  quality,  whilst  pearly  half  tints  of  great 
tenderness,  and  transparent  strata  of  a  deeper  value, 
are  broken  and  rejoined  by  rubbings  and  glazings 
I  with  a  skill  quite  incomparable. 

It  was  some  sixteen  years  before  this  time  that 
Correggio,  according  to  a  current  tradition,  had 
composed  the  "Danae,"  which  waa  to  pass  into  the 
collection  of  Charles  the  Fifth.  Was  Titian  acquainted 
with  this  masterpiece,  which  had  gone  through  the 
hands  of  Federico  Gonzaga  ?  Could  he  foresee  that  the 
creator  of  it  would  be  accounted  the  most  ideal  of 
those  artists  who  concealed  sensualism  under  perfect 
loveliness  of  female  shape  ?  No  doubt  the  "  Danae  " 
of  Correggio  strikes  us  even  now  as  a  splendid  solution 
of  the  difficult  problem  of  balancing  light  and  shade 
in  exquisitely  blended  proportions ;  as  a  delicate  display 


Chap,  m.] 


LEDA  AND  DANAB. 


121 


of  sUver-toned  flesh ;  as  a  picture  of  the  greatest 
brightness  executed  with  the  utmost  sensitiveness  of 
feeling.  But  it  pales  when  compared  with  the  "Danae" 
of  Titian,  in  which  similar  allurements,  and  an  equally 
subtle  application  of  the  laws  of  chiaroscuro  are  com- 
bined with  colour  not  to  be  surpassed,  and  a  grand 
breadth  of  form  recalling  the  preternatural  strength  of 
Michaelangelo. 

Buonarroti  also  had  tried  to  illustrate  one  of  the 
pagan  legends.  Though  it  was  never  carried  out  pic- 
tOTially  by  himself,  the  Leda  had  been  painted  from 
his  cartoon  by  Pontormo  and  other  Florentines.  To 
this  wonderful  creation  peculiar  character  had  been 
given  by  perfect  shape  in  every  part,  united  to 
scientific  accuracy  of  rendering  in  the  framework  and 
contours.  It  was,  so  to  speak,  the  triumph  of  the 
plastic  over  the  pictorial  element  of  colour.  Titian 
could  not  vie  with  the  great  Florentine  in  modelled 
accuracy  or  purity  of  outline,  but  the  charm  which 
Michaelangelo  disdained,  the  tints  for  which  he  had 
no  eyes,  were  added  by  Titian  to  his  picture,  and 
enabled  him  to  realize  what  no  one  finds  in  Michael- 
angelo, that  is,  nature  in  flesh  and  blood. 

Vecelli's  pleasure  at  sight  of  antiques  with  which  he 
was  previonsly  miacquainted.  was  described  by  Bembo. 
We  can  fancy  the  interest  with  which  he  looked  at  the 
Cupid  "  of  Praxiteles,"  of  which  there  were  replicaa  in 
the  galleries  of  the  Vatican.*     He  noted  the  move- 


•  This  Oapid,  in  the  Vatican 
OoUection  (Mub.  Chiaramonti), 
stands  winged,  with  his  two  anna 


raised,  as  if  he  had  just  used  his 
bow.  He  looks  as  it  were  in  the 
direction  of  the  arrow  which  he 


122' 


TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  m. 


ment  of  the  god,  who  seems  to  look  out  after  dis- 
charging his  arrow.  With  a  power  of  assimilation 
which  is  truly  marvellous,  he  mastered  the  laws  of 
motion  illustrated  in  the  statue,  divined  the  classic 
method  of  interpreting  form,  committed  to  memory  its 
grand  disposal  of  lines,  and  reproduced  them  in  his 
own  peculiar  way  in  the  boy  at  the  feet  of  Danae.  He 
did  this  by  reversing  the  action  of  the  legs  and  frame, 
and  altering  the  turn  of  the  head,  and  thus  produced 
something  original  that  reminds  us  of  the  Greeks. 
And  so  Titian,  verging  on  seventy,  went  on  adding  to 
the  store  gathered  during  a  long  and  industrious  life, 
and,  never  satisfied,  never  still,  but  always  novel,  he 
preserved  an  unflagging  energy  and  power,  which 
enabled  him  to  live  and  to  work  till  he  nearly  com- 
pleted a  century  of  existence.* 


has  shot.    A  replica  is  in  the 
Museum  of  the  Capitol. 

•  The  "  Danae,"  now  No.  6  in 
the  Correggio  Saloon  of  the  Naples 
Museum,  was  painted  for  Ottavio 
Parnese  (Bidolfi,  Marav.  i.  231). 
It  was  in  the  Farnese  Collection 
till  after  1680.  (Campori,  Bac- 
colta  de'  Cataloghi,  p.  212.)  Its 
BiEO  is  2  brae.  2^  oncie  h.,  by  3  b. 
1 1  o.  The  whole  picture  has  been 
unevenly  cleaned,  and  in  many 
parts  retouched ;  it  is  out  of  focus 
in  consequence.  But  these  are 
old  injuries,  as  the  surface  is  stiU 
covered  with  old  and  yellow  var- 
nish. The  parts  retouched  are 
the  head  of  Danae,  in  those  por- 
tions which  lie  under  the  shadow 
of  the  cloud,  the  hair  having  lost 
its  shape,    and  the  shadows  of 


Cupid,  which  are  wealcened  by 
stippling.  See  the  engraving  by 
Strange. 

A  replica  called  '*  Danae,  with 
a  boy,  by  Titian,"  is  catalogued 
in  an  inventory  of  pictures  be- 
longing to  Pruioe  Fio  of  Savoy, 
at  Some,  in  1776.  (Citadella, 
Notizie,  u.  «.,  p.  556.) 

Copies  of  the  picture  were  fre- 
quently made,  one  of  which,  by 
Francesco  Quattro  Case,  was  in 
the  Farnese  Collection  (Campori, 
Cataloghi,  p.  280)  in  1680. 

Of  extant  reproductions  the 
following  are  to  be  noted : 

Nostitz  Collection  at  Prague, — 
Under  the  name  of  Paul  Veronese 
we  have  here  a  cold  and  not  un- 
injured work  on  canvas,  executed 
with  care,  but  feeblyi  and  appa- 


Chap,  m.]     PAUL  IH.  AND  HIS  GRANDSON. 


123 


During  the  days  which  Titian  spent  in  carrying  out 
this  picture,  the  Famese  princes  were  deep  in  secret 
intrigues  for  the  promotion  of  their  dynastic  interests. 
As  it  often  happens  in  families  whose  members  are 
jealous  and  unscrupulous,  there  was  no  love  lost 
between  the  relatives.  Pier  Luigi  had  been  made 
Duke  of  Parma  and  Piacenza  in  August,  1545. 
Ottavio,  Margaret  his  wife,  and  Charles  the  Fifth, 
were  the  more  disgusted  at  hia  success,  as  the  Emperor 
Lad  instructed  Andelot,  his  envoy  at  Rome,  to  urge 
the  claims  of  his  son-in-law  with  the  greatest  persis- 
tence. But  Paul  rebuked  the  seLBshness  of  the  son 
who  envied  his  father's  elevation,  and  both  he  and 
Luigi  were  satisfied  that  Charles  would  accept  the 
appointment,  when  made,  in  remembrance  of  the 
dangers  that  might  accrue  from  a  breach  with  the 
Pope  at  the  opening  of  a  general  coxmcil,  and  on  the 
eve  of  a  war  with  the  protestants  of  Germany.  Little 
did  Paul  or  the  Duke  know  how  deeply  Charles  would 
resent  the  trick,  and  how  terrible  his  revenge  would 
be.     He  dissembled,  but  iiever  acknowledged  the  title 


rently  by  a  stranger  wlio  stodied 
Yenetian  masterpieoes  after  Ti- 
tian's time. 

Dudley  House. — This  is  smaller 
than  the  foregoing,  by  an  artist 
of  the  Venetian  School  in  its 
decline.  The  background  here  is 
all  dark. 

Venice  Academy  J  No.  347. — ^Here 
is  a  copy,  with  yarieties,  assigned 
to  Contarini. 

A  fourth  reproduction  is  that 
which  formerly  belonged  to  Lord 
Korthwick. 


We  shall  see  that  the  subject 
was  repeated  in  later  yearj  by 
Titian,  and  multiplied  exces- 
sively. 

A  "  sketch  for  a  larger  picture 
in  the  Naples  Museum,"  assigned 
to  Titian,  in  the  collection  of  ^ir 
Bichard  Wallace,  No.  316  of 
Bethnal  Qreen  Exhibition,  is  not, 
as  it  purports  to  be,  executed 
before,  but  after  Titian's  great 
original)  and  is  clearly  not  by 
Titian. 


124  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  HL 

of  Pier  Luigi,  and  he  even  forgot  that  Ottavio  had 
acquired  his  father's  discarded  dignity,  and  insulted 
the  Duke  of  Parma  by  calling  him,  in  public  dispatches^ 
Duke  of  Castro. 

In  Titian's  portraits  of  the  Pope,  the  Cardinal,  and 
Ottavio,  some  of  the  passions  roused  by  these  events 
appear  distinctly  reflected  Paul,  in  his  arm-chair  in 
one  of  the  rooms  of  the  Vatican,  sits  deep  and  bent  as 
an  old  man  of  eighty  would  necessarily  sit  whose  frame 
is  worn  by  anger  and  care.  His  body  is  turned  to 
the  left ;  the  red  cap  is  pressed  down  over  his  fore- 
head so  as  to  touch  the  brows,  and  the  red  cape  is 
buttoned  closely  down  the  breast,  whilst  both  it  and 
the  white  silk  robe  that  falls  to  the  toes  of  his  red- 
slippered  feet  are  lined  with  fur.  On  the  red  cloth  of 
the  table  upon  which  the  right  hand  rests,  an  hour- 
glass symbolizes  the  shortness  of  even  a  pontiflF's  life. 
At  the  back  of  the  chair,  and  with  one  hand  on  the 
ball  of  it,  Cardinal  Famese,  in  robes  and  cap  of  office, 
stands  musing  as  he  looks  at  the  spectator.  To  the 
right,  and  more  in  front,  Ottavio  comes  in  bareheaded, 
and  obsequiously  bowing,  a  black-plumed  hat  in  his 
gloved  hand,  his  fingers  on  the  sheath  of  a  rapier. 
Doublet,  mantle,  and  slashed  sleeves  are  coloured  in 
various  shades  of  brown.  His  sleeves  are  worn  over 
long  tight  hose ;  and  behind  him  a  curtain  of  orange 
stuflf  hangs  in  grand  festoons.  At  his  grandson's 
approach,  and  notwithstanding  the  humility  of  his 
obeisance,  the  Pope  turns  his  head  with  a  quick  and 
irritable  motion,  and  grasps  with  force  the  arm  of  his 
chair  as  he  looks  round  sharply,  even  angrily,  to  chide. 


€hap.  HL]     PAUL  nL  AND  HIS  GEANDSON.  125 

Though  sketchy,  Paurs  features  are  all  life,  the  glance 
is  penetrant,  the  motion  rapid.     The  ear  is  a  mere 
stroke  of  paint,  the  beard  blocked  in  with  grey.    The 
cap  is  a  rubbing  of  crimson,  like  the  rochet  on  which 
the  lights  are  thrown  in  white  dashes,  whilst  the  darks 
are  thick  with  lake,  and  the  right  hand  is  indicated 
with  clear  flake  on  the  bright  undertone  of  the  table- 
cloth.     The    Cardinal's    face,   more    modelled    and 
-finished,  is  turned  to  the  right,  and  full  of  freshness, 
the  nose,  the  eyes,  and  mouth  admirable  in  regularity, 
the  beard  and  hair  dark  chestnut.     Ottavio,  tall,  thin, 
almost  cringing,  is  in  profile,  with  thick  cropped  hair 
of  brownish  hue,  and  a  slight  moustache.    His  nose  is 
slightly  hooked,  his  chin  small  and  bare.    The  body 
and  legs  are  mere  splashes  of  paint,  the  rapier  a  line  or 
two  of  pigment     "  White,  red,  and  black,  these  are 
all  the  colours  that  a  painter  needs ; "  but,  as  Titian, 
according  to  a  tradition  still  preserved,  v(Si&  heard  to 
say,  "  one  must  know  how  to  use  them ; "  and  in  this 
the  master's  power  Jay.     Nothing  can  be  more  simple 
than  the  means,  but  what  mastery  they  show  in  the 
application.     Singularly  good  as  a  composition,  the 
group  is  varied  with  such  skill,  the  movements  are  so 
natural  aud  instantaneous,  the  life  in  the  sitters  is  so 
cleverly  concentrated  in  a  single  moment,  that  the  effect 
is  overpowering ;  and  it  is  probably  impossible  to  point 
out  a  finer  set  of  contrasts  than  those  produced  by  the 
measured  bend  of  Ottavio,  the  instant  turn  of  the 
Pope,  and  the  steady  calm  of  the  Cardinal.     One  can 
fancy  Paul  surprised  at  the  coming  of  Ottavio,  chargino* 
him  with  intriguing  against  his  father,  Alessandro 


126 


TTTIAN:  HIS  LIPB  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  HI. 


looking  on  at  the  lesson ;  and  it  may  be  that  Titian 
was  a  witness  of  the  scene,  whilst  the  cleverness  with 
which  he  reproduced  it  afterwards  irritated  the  chief 
actor,  and  caused  the  canvas  to  be  set  aside,  and  left 
incomplete.  As  it  is,  we  have  a  rare  opportunity  of 
observing  how  Titian  worked,  how  easy  he  could  fed 
in  competing  with  Michaelangelo  or  Del  Piombo,  how 
well  Venetian  art  could  repose  on  its  own  laurels,  with 
what  facility  grand  form  could  be  allied  to  rich  and 
vivid  colour.  Laid  on  first  with  broad  sweeps  of  brush 
in  the  thinnest  of  shades,  the  surfaces  appear  to  have 
been  worked  over  and  coloured  more  highly  with 
successive  layers  of  pigment  of  similar  quality,  and 
modelled  in  the  process  to  a  delicate  finish.  The 
shadows  were  struck  in  with  the  same  power  as  they 
were  struck  out  in  chips  in  the  statues  of  Michael- 
angelo. The  accessories  were  all  prepared  in  well- 
marked  tints,  subject  to  toning  down  by  glazing, 
smirch,  or  scumble.  White  in  light,  dark  in  shadow, 
indicate  forms,  the  whole  blended  into  harmony  by 
transparents,  broken  at  last  by  flat  masses  of  high 


U 


light,  and  concrete  touch. 


*  This  picture,  on  canvao*  is 
No.  17  in  the  Grand  Saloon  of  the 
Naples  Museum.  It  is  noted  in 
the  Famese  inrentory  (Campori, 
Bacoolta  de'  Cataloghi,  p.  237)  as 
an  *'ahhozzo.'*  The  figures  are 
fuU  length  and  of  life  size.  The 
colours  are  scaling  in  several 
places;  and  there  are  repainted 
bits  in  the  left  eye  and  forehead, 
and  the  white  robe  of  the  pontiff, 


as  weU  as  in  the  gloved  right 
hand  and  legs  of  Ottavio.  A 
small  copy  on  canvas,  in  the 
Academy  of  San  Luca,  passes 
erroneously  for  an  original  sketch. 
It  was  bequeathed  to  the  Academy 
by  the  painter  Pellegrini,  and  is 
an  old  Venetian  picture,  in  which 
the  parts  left  unfinished  in  Titian's 
original  are  cleverly  completed  by 
a  more  modem  hand. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Sanaofvino  meets  inth  a  misliap  at  Venice. — ^Hie  imprisonment — He 
is  liberated  by  Titian's  interest. — ^Negotiations  for  the  Benefice  of 
Colle. — Doge  Donate  succeeds  Doge  Lando,  and  allows  Titian  to 
remain  at  Borne. — Portraits  executed  for  the  Duke  of  TJrbino. — 
Titian's  return  to  Venice. — ^He  visits  Florence,  and  paints  again 
the  Portrait  of  Pier  Lnigi  Famese. — ^Portraits  of  Doge  Donate, 
GKoyanni  de'  Medici,  and  Layinia. — Cardinal  Pamese  yisits 
Venice. — ^Miarriage  of  Giudubaldo  11. — ^Marriage  of  Orazio  Ve- 
oellL — ^Titian  asks  for  the  Piombo,  and  receives  the  promise  of  it. 
— ^Altar-piece  of  SerraTalle.— ^Titian  and  Baphael. — ^The  Cartoons, 
and  especially  the  "Miraculous  Draught." — *'  Venus  and  Adonis. *' 
— ^Disciples  at  Emmaus. — *'  Becumbent  Venus  and  Cupid "  at 
Plorenoe. — *'  Venus  and  the  Organ-player  "  at  Madrid. — ^Replicas 
and  Copies. — ^The  "Ecce  Homo"  at'Madrid. 

Whilst  Titian  was  enjoying  honours  and  hard 
work  at  Some,  Sansovino  was  meeting  with  serious 
misfortune  at  Venice.  Being  architect  of  St  Mark, 
Sansovino  had  for  some  time  been  engaged  in  erecting 
the  library  in  which  it  was  proposed  to  deposit  the 
books  bequeathed  to  the  State  by  Petrarch  and 
Cardinal  Bessarion,  The  great  hall  of  this  building, 
which  still  lines  the  Piazzetta  and  Grand  Canal,  had 
been  greatly  advanced  in  autumn,  and  arched  over  in 
winter.  On  the  18th  of  December,  1545,  it  fell  in 
with  a  crash,  burying  in  the  ruins  the  money  of  the 
republic  and  the  fame  of  the  builder.*     Sansovino 


*  Temenza's  SansoTino,^  u,  «.  p.  30. 


128 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IV. 


had  scarcely  heard  of  the  disaiSter  when  he  was  arrested 
and  imprisoned  on  a  charge  of  culpable  negligence. 
Aretino  wrote  to  Titian  in  despair  at  this  mishap^ 
which  deprived  his  friend  of  liberty,  and  threatened 
his  very  existence.*  The  utmost  eflForts  were  made 
by  Bembo,  Mendozza,  and  Aretino  himself  to  mitigate 
the  blow  ;  t  but  Titian's  interest  appears  to  have  been 
most  efficacious.^  Francesco  Donato,  an  old  and 
tried  friend  of  the  "Academy,"  had  just  succeeded 
Pietro  Lando  as  Doge,§  he  had  been  sitting  to  Titian 
as  Titian  started  for  Rome ;  other  friends  were  members 
of  the  Council  of  Ten.  By  a  judicious  use  of  this 
interest  Sansovino  was  liberated,  and  a  few  months 
later  reinstated,  the  fine  of  a  thousand  pieces  in  which 
he  was  mulcted  having  been  remitted.  || 

Francesco  Donato  might  have  required  the  instant 
return  of  Titian  from  Rome,  where  it  was  not  possible 
that  he  could  perform  the  duty  of  taking  a  ducal 
portrait,  but  being  favourably  inclined  to  the  master, 
he  merely  sent  a  greeting  and  compliments  by  Aretino. 
It  was  of  good  omen,  the  latter  thought,  that  Titian 
should  not  have  finished  "  Donato  as  a  Senator."  It 
was  clearly  preordained  that  he  should  represent  hinl 
in  a  diadem.     Titian  sent  his  respects  to  the  Doge  in 


*  Aretino  to  Titian,  in  Lettere, 
u,  9,  iii.  360. 

t  Temenza,  p.  31 ;  Bembo  to 
SansoTino,  Borne,  Oct.  23,  1546, 
in  Bembo,  Op.  ix.  488. 

X  Beltrame  (u.  «.  p.  46)  says 
that  it  was  entirely  due  to  Titian 
that  Sansovino  was  released.   His 


statement  apparently  rests  on 
public  records;  but,  unhappily, 
they  are  not  quoted. 

§  No.  8,  1545,  Doge  Lando 
died. 

II  Aretino  to  Sansovino,  Let- 
tere,  iy.  167. 


Chap.  IT.]  BENEFICE  OF  COLLR  129 

December,  and  the  Doge  returned  the  compliment  in 
January  without  imperiously  commanding  the  painter's 
presence.* 

Thus  encouraged  to  prolong  his  absence,  Titian  con- 
tinued his  labours  for  the  Famese,  and  urged  with  his 
usual  persistence  the  claim  of  his  son  to  the  benefice 
of  Colle.  Sertorio,  Abbot  of  Nonantolo,  had  long 
since,  as  we  observed,  consented  to  cede  the  abbey  for 
a  consideration ;  but  behind  Sertorio  there  were  two 
powerful  persons  with  jealous  interests  to  conciliate, 
and  Cardinal  Famese,  though  he  had  the  will  had 
not  as  yet  found  the  way  to  satisfy  these  persons. 
In  May,  1546,  the  Abbot  wrote  to  Famese  to  say  that 
whilst  his  Eminence  was  asking  for  the  benefice  for 
Titian,  the  Duke  of  Ferrara  and  Cardinal  Salviati 
were  coveting  it  for  some  of  their  friends.  "He 
(Sertorio)  would  be  well  content  to  accept  compensa- 
tion, but  he  could  not  part  with  the  sinecure  without 
the  consent  of  Ferrara  and  Salviati."t  So  the  dajrs 
went  by  and  the  benefice  was  not  obtained,  and  Titian 
was  forced  to  leave  the  papal  court  without  the  solid 
advantages  which  he  had  expected  to  reap.J 

In  his  leisure  hours  he  had  found  time  to  complete 
several  portraits  for  the  Duke  of  Urbino.§  These  he 
doubtless  sent  direct  to  their  destination,  his  own  ro§id 


*  Azetmo  to  Titian,  Lettere  iii. 
309,329. 

t  See  the  letter  in  Boncliini's 
Belazioni  di  Tiziano  coi  Famesi, 
«t.  8.  p.  6. 

t  YaMzi  and  Bidolfi  both 
thoo^t  that  Titian  now  got  a 
Tou  n« 


benefioe,  and  Bidolfi  even  speaks 
of  a  bishoprick;  but  this  is  an 
error.  See  potUa,  and  compare 
Yas.  ziii.  36,  and  Bidolfi,  Mara- 
TigUe,  i.  233. 
§  Yasaii,  ziiL  36. 


130  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [ChjLP.  17. 


lying  througii  Florence,  where  he  wished  to  make 
farther  acquaintance  with  the  masterpieces  of  Tuscan 
art.  On  the  12th  of  June,  1546,  Aretino  wrote  to 
Duke  Cosimo  to  say  that  if  Titian  came  to  visit  him 
he  should  at  least  say  that  he  had  seen  the  likeness  of 
Aretino.*  The  Duke  hardly  vouchsafed  to  answer 
this  appeal  He  received  Titian  about  mid-June  at 
Poggio  a  Caiano,  and  refused  to  sit  to  him,  mindful 
perhaps  of  the  claims  of  Florentine  artists  to  commis- 
sions of  this  sort,  possibly  disinclined  to  admire  a 
style  so  different  from  that  of  Pontormo,  Bronzino,  and 
AUorLt  Titian  consoled  himseJf  by  looking  round 
the  churches  and  palaces  of  Florence,  and  admiring 
their  contents.^  After  a  short  stay  he  proceeded  to 
Venice,  taking,  it  may  be,  on  his  way  Piacenza,  where 
Pier  Luigi  Famese  waa  vainly  striving  to  consolidate 
his  vacillating  throne.  Historians  tell  us  that  this 
prince,  previous  to  his  death  by  violence  in  1547,  was 
80  reduced  in  body  by  disease  that  he  looked  like  a 
walking  corpse.§  In  this  form,  and  lean  from  sick- 
ness, we  find  him  represented  in  a  picture  at  Naples 
ascribed  to  Titian.  Injured  as  this  canvas  appears  to 
have  been  by  time,  neglect,  and  ill-treatment^  it  stOl 
looks  as  if  it  might  have  been  executed  by  the  great 
Venetian  to  whom  it  is  assigned,  and  if  this  be  so  there 
are  but  two  hypotheses  that  will  bear  to  be  stated 
respecting  it  Pier  Luigi  was  not  at  Rome  during 
the  time  of  Titian's  stay.     The  portrait  was  therefore 


•  Gaye  Carteggio,  ii.  p.  351.       I      J  lb.  ib. 

-f  Vas.,  ziii.  36.  |      $  Affo.,  u^  «.  p.  193. 


Chap.  IV.]    POBTRATT  OP  THE  DUKE  OP  FABMA.         131 

painted  from  a  sketcli  taken  at  Piacenza,  or  from  a 
sketch  sent  to  Titian  at  Venice.  The  characteristic 
feature  is  the  leanness  of  the  Duke,  who  stands  bare- 
headed  in  armour,  Witt  a  dagger  in  one  hand  and  a 
baton  in  the  other,  near  a  hehneted  soldier  whose  arm 
supports  the  standard  of  Parma.  One  sees  that  the 
features  are  those  depicted  three  years  earlier  at 
Bologna ;  but  that  care  haa  worn  the  flesh  of  the  face 
down  to  the  bone.  The  hoUows  of  the  temples,  cheeks, 
and  eyes,  are  marked ;  the  eye  has  lost  its  fire,  the 
lip  its  colour.  Besides,  the  surface  is  worn  to  a  raw 
dryness  of  substance  wherever  it  is  not  covered  with 
new  paint  or  lost  in  abrasions.  Another  year  was  to 
pass,  and  then  Pier  Luigi  was  to  fall  before  the  daggers 
of  assassins  suborned  by  Charles  the  Fifth  and  his 
general  Ferrante  Gronzaga.* 

In  his  old  haunts  at  Venice,  Titian  found  no  change 
to  notice.  Aretino  as  usual  kept  open  house  on  the 
Orand  Canal.  Sansovino  had  recovered  from  his 
misfortunes,  and  was  making  a  new  ceiling  to  the 
hall  of  the  library.  The  Papal  Legate  Giovanni  deUa 
Casa,  a  close  adherent  of  the  Famese,  and  an  old 
friend  of  Bembo  and  the  Quirinis,  welcomed  the 
painter  to  his  palace,  and  there  Titian  was  soon  asked 
to  meet  Count  Cesare  Boschetti,  and  Galeazzo  Paleotti, 
relatives  of  Sertorio,  Abbot  of  Nonantola. 


*  This  pictore,  No.  83  in  the 
Miueum  of  Naples,  is  on  oanyas» 
of  life  size,  and  seen  to  the  waist. 
It  is  registered  in  the  Famese 
inyentory  of  1680  as  an  original 


Titian  (Campori,  Baocolta  de*  Ga- 
taloghi,  p.  233).  The  standard  in 
the  soldier's  hand  is  of  a  reddish 
yellow;  the  ground  behind  dark 
brown. 

x  2 


132  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IV. 

TITIAN  TO  CAEDINAL  EAENESE  AT  EOME. 

"  On  reaching  Venice,  I  found  Galeazzo  Paleotti  in 
the  house  of  the  Kight  Keverend  the  Legate,  who 
spoke  of  the  benefice  of  Ceneda  as  reported  to  him  by 
the  Archbishop  of  Santa  Severina ;  and  as  your 
Eminence,  he  said,  had  heard  by  his  letters  and  those 
of  the  Archbishop.  All  that  remains  to  be  done,  now 
that  matters  are  in  train,  is  to  keep  the  thing  going, 
and  obtain  from  Cardinal  Salviati  and  the  Duke  of 
Ferrara  the  licence  which  Monsignor  requires.  The 
Archbishop  willingly  gives  way  to  your  Eminence's 
pleasure,  whom  I  now  beg  to  provide  for  his  Reve- 
rence's  satisfaction.  And  so  I  hope  to  enjoy  content- 
ment in  old  age,  and  obtain  for  the  rest  of  my  life 
wherewithal  to  work  upon  and  toil  in  your  Lordship's 
service  without  further  thought  of  care. 

«*  From  Venice,  June  19,  1546."  ♦ 

When  the  painter  wrote  this  letter  he  seemed 
clearly  under  the  impression  that  sooner  or  later  he 
would  enter  the  household  of  Famese.  But  as 
regards  the  benefice  and  his  chance  of  getting  it,  he 
was  wide  of  the  mark.  At  home  and  at  ease  in 
Kome,  the  Cardinal  might  have  worked  with  effect  on 
the  Duke  of  Ferrara  and  his  coUeague  Salviati ;  but 
he  was  no  longer  at  home,  or  if  so,  no  longer  at 
case.  Charles  the  Fifth  had  broken  with  the  Pro- 
testant princes.  The  Pope  and  his  allies  had  entered 
into  a  league  with  the  •  Emperor.     Ottavio  Farnese 

*  See  the  original  letter  in  Bonchini,  Belazioni, «.  «.  p.  8. 


Chap.  IV.]        POETEAIT  OF  DOGE  DONATO. 


133 


was  raising  Italian  troops  to  pass  the  Alps  into  the 
valley  of  the  Danube,  and  Alessandro  was  preparing 
to  cross  into  Germany  as  legate.  It  was  obvious  that 
under  these  circumstances  the  patronage  of  the  Famese 
princes  must  dwindle  to  nothing,  and  Titian  looked 
round  for  other  supporters. 

Now  no  doubt  he  composed  afresh  the  "  Descent  of 
the  Holy  Spirit "  for  the  canons  of  San  Spirito,  now 
he  began  the  altarpiece  of  Serravalle,  produced  for 
Aretino  the  long-desired  picture  of  Giovanni  de' 
Medici,*  and  took  sittings  from  the  Doge  for  his 
official  likeness. 

Francesco  Donato  was  specially  pleased,  we  may 
think,  to  be  portrayed  by  the  hand  of  Titian,  but  his 
portrait  was  not  preserved,  t 

The  profile  of  Giovanni  de'  Medici,  after  hanging 
for  some  years  in  the  palace  of  Aretino,  was  presented 
to  Duke  Cosimo,  and  is  now  exhibited  in  the  gallery 
of  the  Uffizi.| 

We  may  remember  that  when  Aretino,  late  in  1526, 
was  called  upon  to  tend  the  couch  of  his  master  at 
Mantua,  the  young  but  already  celebrated  leader  of 
the  "black  bands ^'  was  suffering  from  a  gunshot 
wound  which  made  an  operation  necessary.  Amputa- 
tion of  the  shattered  limb  took  place,  and  of  this  the 
wounded  man  died.     Ab   Giovanni  lay  dead  on  his 


*  Aretino  to  Dnke  CoBimo» 
Dec.  30,  1546,  in  Bottari,  Bac- 
oolta,  iii.  67. 

t  The  payment  in  Lorenzi, 
u.  «.  p.  259.  The  canvas  perished 
by  fire  in  1577.    But  Bidolfi  (Mar. 


i.  263)  notes  a  second  portrait  of 
Doge  Donato  in  the  Procuratie  at 
Yenice,  which  is  also  missing. 

X  Aretino  to  Oosimo,  Bottari, 
Baccolta,  i.  67. 


134 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IV, 


bed,  Aretino  sent  for  Oiulio  Eomano,  and  had  a  cast 
taken  of  the  chieftain's  face.*  This  cast  was  sub- 
sequently lent  to  numerous  artists,  and  amongst 
others,  to  Titian,  who  now  revived  with  its  assistance 
the  form  of  the  "  Condottiere/'t  Like  many  earlier 
pieces  produced  under  similar  conditions,  this  looks  as 
if  it  had  been  done  from  life.  The  chieftain  stands,, 
beardless,  in  profile  to  the  left,  and  is  seen  to  the 
waist  in  armour,  with  his  hand  on  a  helmet  on  which 
the  blow  of  a  sword  is  apparent.  A  red  hanging  acts 
as  a  foil  to  the  cold  surface  of  the  canvas,  as  well  as  to 
a  face  of  regular  shape,  with  lineaments  indicative  of 
strength  and  determined  purpose ;  and  the  bold  freedom 
with  which  the  flesh  is  painted  is  only  equalled  by  the 
skill  with  which  the  polish  of  the  breastplate  is  repre- 
sented. With  difficulty  we  note  that  the  warm  flesh 
tones  are  more  blended  and  more  uniformly  rounded 
than  they  might  have  been  had  the  Medici  been 
sitting  to  Titian.  But  this  impression  is  almost 
obliterated  when  we  look  at  the  studied  reflexes  of 
the  panoply,  which  were  certainly  copied  with  un- 
exampled fidelity  from  nature.^ 

In  quiet  hours,  when  undisturbed  by  any  but  purely 
artistic  considerations,  Titian  threw  more  soul  and  feel- 
ing into  his  work,  and  this  is  more  particularly  true 


*  Aretino  to  Anichiiu,  Leitere 
11182. 

t  The  same  to  Sansovino  and 
Faraaio,  Lettere  iiL  137,  and  y. 
176. 

X  ThlB  canyas,  now  No.  614  at 


the  TJffizi,  gires  the  likeness  of 
(Hovanni  de*  Medici  to  the  waist* 
The  figure  is  life  size.  An  en- 
graving of  it  is  in  the  **  OaUeria 
di  Firenze.'* 


Chap.  IV.]  LAVINIA  YECELLI.  135 


of  a  contemporary  portrait  in  the  Dresden  Museum, 
the  features  of  which  are  apparently  those  of  Lavinia 
Vecelli  Scanelli,  the  author  of  the  Microcosmo,  has 
preserved  the  substance  of  a  letter  in  which  Titian 
annoimced  to  Alfonso  of  Ferrara  the  despatch  of  a 
picture  "representing  the  person  dearest  to  him  in 
all  the  world."  He  then  describes  "the  figure  of  a 
young  girl,  of  life  size,  gracefully  walking  with  her 
&ce  at  three  quarters,  and  looking  out  brightly  as 
she  waves  her  fan — the  time,  a  summer  afternoon, 
when  the  girl,  one  might  think,  was  courted  by  her 
exalted  lover.''**  The  portrait  admired  by  Scanelli 
is  no  doubt  that  of  the  young  girl  in  white  at  the 
Dresden  Museum.  But  it  would  be  a  mistake  to 
suppose  that  this  lovely  maid  was  painted  for  Alfonso, 
a  fortiori  a  mistake  to  believe  that  she  was  the  mistress 
of  a  prince  who  died  in  1534,  nor  can  we  believe  that 
Titian  portrayed  the  person  dearest  to  the  duke,  since 
it  is  apparent  that  he  meant  to  immortalize  the  face 
and  form  of  his  own  daughter.  We  shall  presently 
see  that  he  often  painted  Lavinia,  whose  real  name 
was  curiously  changed  to  Cornelia  by  writers  of  a 
later  age.t  Though  unfortunate  in  his  eldest  son 
Pomponio,  who  disgraced  the  priest's  cassock  and 
squandered  his  father's  means  in  debauchery,  Titian 
was  happy  in  the  affection  of  two  children  worthy  of 
his  love,  Orazio,  who  accompanied  him  to  Rome  and 
gave  numerous  proofs  of  pictorial  skill,  and  Lavinia, 
a  beauty  who  married  Comelio  Sarcinelli  of  SerravaUe 


*  IGctooosmo,  «. «.  p.  222.  f  Bidol£»  Mar.  i  253,  2^« 


136  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IV. 

in  1555.  Eidolfi  refers  to  Lavinia  when  he  describes 
"  a  maiden  carrying  a  basket  of  fruit,"  by  Titian,  in 
possession  of  Niccold  Crasso,  and  "  sl  girl  holding  a 
basin  with  two  melons,*'  by  the  same  hand,  in  the 
collection  of  Giovanni  d'  UflFel  of  Antwerp.  Of  both 
he  writes,  "that  they  were  said  to  represent  the 
painter's  daughter  Cornelia."*  We  remember  the 
adventures  of  Covos  with  the  lady  in  waiting  of 
Countess  Pepoli,  and  pardon  the  error  which  con- 
founded the  maid  of  Bologna  with  that  of  Biri 
Grande.  The  girl  with  the  fruit  is  still  preserved 
in  the  Museum  of  Berlin,  and  is  probably  that  which 
was  claimed  as  a  portrait  of  Lavinia  by  Argentina 
Eangone  in  1549.  There  were  relations  of  friendship 
between  the  Eangones  and  Titian  in  that  year,  and 
Argentina  proposed  to  the  painter  to  take  one  of  her 
dependents  as  an  apprentice  into  his  workshop  at 
Venice.  In  the  letter  which  she  wrote .  upon  this 
matter  she  refers  to  Lavinia's  portrait,  which  she  begs 
Titian  to  complete ;  and  we  can  easily  fancy  that  the 
master  instantly  attended  to  the  wish  of  a  lady  who 
was  godmother  to  one  of  his  children.!  The  counter- 
parts of  the  canvas  at  Berlin  are  the  portrait  of  a 
lass  with  a  casket  in  Lord  Cowper  s  collection,  and 
"Salome"  in  the  gallery  of  Madrid,  both  of  which 
display  with  more  or  less  resemblance  the  features  of 
the  girl  at  the  Dresden  Museum. 

Titian  at  eighty-two  wrote  to  Philip  the   Second 
begging  him  to  accept  the  portrait  of  a  lady  whom 


•  lb.  ib.  t  The  letter  is  in  Qaye's  Carteggio,  u.  «.  ii.  p.  375. 


Chap.  IV.]  LAVINIA  WITH  THE  FAN.  137 

he  described  as  ''  absolute  mistress  of  his  soul,  ''*  but 
Gaicia  Hernandez,  the  Spanish  Secretary  at  Venice, 
explains  in  another  letter  that  the  mistress  of  Titian's 
soul  is  *' a  fanciful  representation  of  a  Tm-kish  or 
Persian  girL^'t  Yet  what  Titian  described  so  fondly 
to  the  Duke  and  to  the  King  may  have  been  the  face 
of  Lavinia,  in  the  first  case  portrayed  from  nature, 
in  the  second  idealized  to  suit  the  fancy  of  Philip. 
Scanelli,  it  is  more  than  probable,  erred  in  stating  that 
Titian  wrote  to  Alfonso,  when  it  is  obvious  that  the 
girl  with  the  leaf-fan  at  Dresden  is  a  creation  of  the 
time  when  Titian  returned  from  Eome.  From  the 
first  stroke  to  the  last  this  beautiful  piece  is  the  work 
of  the  master,  and  there  is  not  an  inch  of  it  in  which 
his  hand  is  not  to  be  traced.  His  is  the  brilliant  flesh 
brought  up  to  a  rosy  carnation  by  wondrous  kneading 
of  copious  pigment,  his  the  contours  formed  by  texture 
and  not  defined  by  outline ;  his  again  the  mixture  of 
sharp  and  blurred  touches,  the  delicate  modelling  in 
dazzling  light ;  the  soft  glazing,  cherry  lip,  and  spark- 
ling eye.  Such  a  charming  vision  as  this  was  well 
fitted  to  twine  itself  round  a  father's  heart. 

Lavinia's  hair  is  yellow  and  strewed  with  pearls, 
.h«™.g  .  prefy  we  a.d  irrepre«ble  JL  in 
stray  locks  on  the  forehead.  Earrings,  a  necklace  of 
pearls,  glitter  with  grey  reflexions  on  a  skin  incom- 
parably fair.  The  saMze  on  the  shoulders  is  li&;ht  as 
L,  .nd  contact,  Im,  tte  stiff  riehne«  of  a  white 


*  Titdan  to  Philip  11.,  Sept.  22,  I      t  Garcia  Hemandez  to  Philip 
1569,  in  Appendix.  I  II.,  Ang.  3,  1559,  in  Appendix. 


138 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IV. 


damask-silk  dress  and  skirt,  the  folds  of  which  heave 
and  sink  in  shallow  projections  and  depressions, 
touched  in  tender  scales  of  yellow  or  ashen  white. 
The  left  hand,  with  its  bracelet  of  pearls,  hangs  grace- 
fully as  it  tucks  up  the  train  of  the  gown,  whilst  the 
right  is  raised  no  higher  than  the  waist,  to  wave  the 
stiff  plaited  leaf  of  a  palmetto  fan.  Without  any 
methodical  strapping  or  adjustment  of  shape, — ^nay 
with  something  formless  in  the  stiff  span  and  lacing 
of  ihe  bodice,-the  figure  is  the  very  reverse  of  supple, 
and  yet  it  moves  with  grace,  shows  youth  and  life 
and  smiling  contentment,  and  a  striking  grandeur  of 
carriage,  combined  with  ladylike  modesty.* 

When  the  master,  in  more  advanced  years,  painted 
the  well-known  picture  of  which  Van  Dyke  made  an 
etching — a  picture  in  which  the  lady's  interesting 
situation  and  Titian's  gesture,  as  well  as  the  death's 
head  in  the  left  foreground,  suggest  philosophical 
reflections  as  to  the  contrast  between  life  and  death ; 
when  Titian,  we  say,  was  producing  a  master-piece,  o^ 
which  but  a  copy  has  been  preserved,  he  presentee- 
anew,  it  may  be  thought,  the  form  of  his  daughter. 


*  This  portrait  came,  with  the 
reet  of  the  Dresden  pictures,  from 
Modena,  and  is  an  heirloom  of  the 
Estes.  Oh  canvas,  3  ft.  8  in.  h. 
by  3  ft.  1  in.,  it  was  transferred 
to  a  new  cloth  in  1827,  and  looks 
feurlj  preserved.  The  brown 
gronnd  is  darker  on  the  left  than 
on  the  right  side.  Photograph  by 
the  Photographic  Co.,  engraved  by 
Basan.  A  free  copy  on  canvas, 
ascribed  to  Titian,  is  No.  21  in 


the  Gassel  Mas.  But  the  feature  " 
are  not  the  same  as  those  of  th<9 
Dresden  canvas,  and  the  hand  is 
not  that  of  Titian,  though  the 
copyist  may  have  been  an  Italian* 
More  Flemish  in  type  is  a  copy 
by  Bubens  in  the  Museum  of 
Vienna.  A  study  for  the  original 
at  Dresden,  in  black  and  red 
chalk,  is  in  the  Albertina  OoUec- 
tion  at  Yienna. 


C?HAP.  IV.] 


LAVINIA  WITH  FBUIT. 


13^ 


whose  face,  with  slight  modifications,  is  no  other  than 
that  of  the  Dresden  portrait ;  whose  figure  is  that  of 
Lavinia  grown  to  be  a  matron,  but  still  youthful  in 
features,  and  of  extreme  beauty.*  Subsequent  repeti- 
tions of  the  same  person  as  a  girl  bearing  fruit  and 
flowers,  or  as  Salome  raising  on  high  the  head  of  the 
Baptist,  merely  served  to  fix  a  type  which,  whether  it 
issued  from  Titian^s  own  hands  or  those  of  his  disciples^ 
preserved  always  the  aspect  of  youth. 

As  depicted  in  the  broad  manner  characteristic  of 
Titian  about  1550,  Lavinia,  at  Berlin,  is  full-grown 
but  of  robust  shape,  dressed  in  yellowish  flowered  silk 
with  slashed  sleeves,  a  chiselled  girdle  round  her 
waist,  and  a  white  veil  hanging  from  her  shoulders. 
Seen  in  profile,  she  raises  with  both  hands,  to  the 
level  of  her  forehead,  a  sUver  dish  piled  with  fruit  and 
flowers.  Her  head  is  thrown  back,  and  turned  so  as 
to  allow  three-quarters  of  it  to  be  seen  as  she  looks 
firom  the  comers  of  her  eyes  at  the  spectator.  Auburn 
hair  is  carefully  brushed  off  the  temples,  and  confined 
by  a  jewelled  diadem,  and  the  neck  is  set  off  with  a 
string  of  peark  A  deep  red  curtain  partly  concealing 
a  brown-tinged  wall  to  the  left,  to  the  right  a  view  of 
hilk,  seen  fix)m  a  balcony  at  eventide,  complete  a 
picture  executed  with  great  bravura,  on  a  canvas  of 


*  The  copy  to  wHch  aUusion  is 
Itere  made  is  that  which  Waagen, 
in  his  Treasures  (Bapplement, 
p.  110),  has  described  in  the  col- 
lection of  Mr.  James  Morrison,  in 
London,  as  betraying  in  part  the 
hand  of  a  scholar.    The  picture 


was  not  seen  by  the  authors.  The 
engraying  was  mentioned  in  notes 
to  an  earlier  chapter  of  this  yo- 
lume,  and  exists  in  two  different 
impressions,  with  inscriptions 
which  will  be  found  in  Oadorin's 
Dello  Amore,  p.  79. 


140 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IV. 


coarse  twilL  Fully  in  keeping  with  the  idea  that 
Titian  had  before  him  the  image  of  his  child,  is  the 
natural  and  unconstrained  movement,  the  open  face 
and  modest  look.  The  flesh,  the  dress,  are  coloured  with 
great  richness,  yet,  perhaps,  with  more  of  the  blurred 
softness  which  the  French  call  flou^  than  is  usual  in 
pure  works  of  Titian.  It  may  be  that  excessive 
blending  and  something  like  down  or  fluff  in  the 
touch  was  caused  by  time,  restoring,  or  vamisL  It 
may  be  that  these  blemishes  are  due  to  the  co-opera- 
tion of  Orazio  Vecelli,  who  now  had  a  share  in  almost 
all  the  pictures  of  his  father,  as  he  had  his  confidence 
in  all  business  transactions.  But  in  the  main  this  is 
a  grand  creation  of  Titian.* 

Of  equal  richness  in  tone,  but  inferior  in  modelling, 
and  too  marked  in  its  freedom  to  be  entirely  by 
Titian,  Lavinia  with  the  casket,  in  Lord  Cowper's 
London  collection,  is  still  interesting  as  showing  the 
well-known  features  of  the  painter's  daughter  in  fuller 
bloom  than  at  Berlin.  The  casket  here  also  lies  on  a 
silver  dish,  there  is  a  distance  of  landscape  too,  but 
the  balcony  is  wanting,  the  dress  is  green,  the  veil 
yellow,  and  the  face  is  cut  into  planes  of  more  decided 


*  This  example  of  Layinia  is 
No.  166  in  the  Berlin  Museum, 
and  measures  3  ft.  3^  in.  high,  by 
2  ft.  7}  in.  The  figure  is  seen  to 
the  hips.  A  tawny  film  of  old 
varnish  lies  over  the  whole  sur- 
face, and  there  are  clear  signs  of 
retouching  in  the  shadows  of  the 
face,  the  wrists,  and  right  hand. 


and  the  sky.  A  strip  of  canvas 
has  been  added  to  the  right  side 
of  the  picture,  whidb  was  bought 
in  1832  from  Abbate  Celotti,  at 
Plorenoe,  for  5000  thalers.  The 
Abbate  affirmed  it  was  identical 
with  that  mentioned  by  Bidolfi, 
as  painted  for  Nicoolo  Crasso. 


Chap.  IV.]        THE  "  SALOME "  OF  MADBID. 


141 


setting,  whilst  the  frame  is  stronger  and  more  de- 
veloped than  before.  There  is  more  ease  of  hand,  but 
also  more  laxity  in  the  rendering  of  form  than  we  like 
to  welcome  in  a  picture  all  by  Titian.  But  again  in 
this,  as  in  the  Berlin  example,  much  of  the  impression 
produced  may  be  caused  by  restoring.* 

Younger  again,  but  with  naked  arms,  a  white  veil 
and  sleeve,  and  a  red  damask  dress,  the  "  Salomfe  "  of 
Madrid  carries  the  head  of  the  Baptist  on  a  chased 
salver.  But  this  piece  is  by  no  means  equal  in  merit 
to  the  girl  with  the  casket,  and  is  certainly  painted 
by  one  of  Titian^s  followers,  from  the  Lavinia  of 
Berlin.t 

An  accident  which  occurred  about  this  time  revived 


*  This  canyas,  with  a  figure  of 
life  size,  is  retouched  in  the  hands, 
and  disfigared  by  a  patch  of  re- 
storing on  the  shoulder.  It  was 
in  the  Orleans  Gkdlery  before  it 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Lord 
Ck>wper,  and  was  noted  in  the 
coUections  of  Lady  Lucas  and 
Lady  de  Ghrey.  (Waagen,  Trea- 
sures, ii.  497.)  Engraved  by 
Guibert. 

One  of  HoUar's  prints  (1650), 
taken  from  a  picture  in  the  Van 
Veerle  Collection,  of  which  we 
know  nothing  at  present,  shows 
Lavinia  with  a  dish  on  which 
there  are  three  melons. 

t  This  picture.  No.  461  in  the 
Madrid  Museum,  has  been  weU 
photographed  by  Laurent.  It  is 
on  canvas,  m.  0.87  high,  by  0.80, 
and  ill  preserved,  being  repainted 
in  several  places,  and  particularly 


in  the  cheek  and  near  the  elbow 
of  the  right  arm.  The  back- 
ground is  a  dark  walL  A  copy 
of  this  picture,  by  Padovanino,  is 
No.  288  in  the  Municipal  (tilery 
at  Padua. 

A  copy  of  the  head  of  the 
Berlin  picture  (erroneously  sup- 
posed by  Waagen  —  Gemiilde 
Sammlung  der  Ermitage,  u,  «., 
p.  62 — to  be  a  fragment  of  a  can* 
vas  of  the  Barbarigo  Collection 
by  Titian)  is  No.  104  in  the 
Gkdlery  of  the  Hermitage  at  St. 
Petersburg,  and  not  original.  It 
has  been  supposed  that  the  Ma- 
drid '*  Salom^  "  is  the  picture  de- 
scribed in  the  catalogue  of  Charles 
the  First's  collection  as  by  Titian. 
(Waagen,  Treasures,  ii.  480.)  But 
this  is  enly  a  surmise,  and  if  an 
unfounded  one,  the  '*  Salomd"  of 
Charles  the  First  is  missing. 


142 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IV. 


the  hope  which  Titian  had  long  entertained  of  per- 
manent  aid  from  the  Famese  princes.  Cardinal 
Alessandro  had  crossed  the  Alps  in  July,  1546,  with 
the  troops  of  his  brother  Ottavio,  and  found  himself 
in  August  at  Ingoldstadt,  where  the  Emperor  was 
facing  the  Protestants  of  the  league  under  John 
Frederick  of  Saxony.  During  the  marches  and 
counter-marches  of  the  contending  armies  the  light 
forces  of  the  Italians  and  Spaniards  were  active  and 
fortunate.  As  autumn  set  in,  and  a  standing  camp 
was  pitched  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ulm,  the  cold 
reacted  severely  on  the  soldiers  of  the  South,  who 
perished  in  vast  numbers  of  dysentery.  Cardinal 
Famese  was  attacked  by  a  tertian  fever,  which  made 
it  advisable  that  he  should  seek  the  warmer  climate 
of  his  own  land;  and  he  returned  on  the  22nd  of 
November  to  Venice  to  find  his  brother  legate  and 
client,  Giovanni  deUa  Casa,  suffering  from  a  violent 
attack  of  gout.*  During  the  intervals  in  which  he 
was  free  from  ague  the  Cardinal  visited  Titian,  who 
showed  him  pictures  in  various  stages  of  progress  on 
the  walls  of  his  house ;  and  he  asked  the  painter  to 
finish  one  of  these  pictures  for  him.t  Titian  was  but 
the  more  ready  to  make  this  promise,  as  Famese  was 
going  to  Eome,  and  he  hoped  would  again  take  steps 
to  obtain  for  him  the  benefice  of  Colle.     Other  events 


*  Bonohini,  Lettere  d'uomim 
illnstri,  u,  $,  pp.  155 — 163.  Titian 
to  Farnese,  Dec.  24,  1547,  in 
Eonchini's  Bdlazioni,  u.  s,  p.  10, 
and  Bankers  Deutsche  Geschichte 


im  Zeitalter  der  Bafonnation,  Sto, 
Berlin,  1843,  vol.  iy.  p.  438. 

t  Titian  to  Famese,  Dec  24, 
anUa, 


Chap.  IV.]     TITIAN  ASKS  FOB  THE  PIOMBO.  143 

took  place  aihordy  after,  which  seemed  calculated  to 
be  fruitful  of  further  consequences.  On  the  18th  of 
February,  1547,  Julia  Varana  died  and  left  the  Duke 
of  Urbino  a  widower.  With  indecent  haste  Guidu- 
baldo  entered  into  negotiations  for  a  new  matrimonial 
alliance,  and  on  the  4th  of  June  he  espoused  at  Borne 
Vittoria^  the  daughter  of  Pier  Luigi  Famese.  Hardly 
a  fortni^t  after  the  celebration  of  the  nuptials,  Sebas- 
tian del  Piombo  also  died,  leaving  the  seals  of  the 
papal  bulls  in  the  hands  of  Paul  the  Third.  Titian, 
who  had  maiiied  and  settled  his  second  son,  Orazio, 
in  April,*  was  not  slow  to  perceive  that  a  change  of 
residence  would  now  give  him  a  place  as  well  as  the 
joint  interest  of  the  Boveres  and  Fameses.  He  accord- 
ingly wrote  to  the  Cardinal  to  offer  his  services  and 
beg  for  the  heritage  of  Sebastian. 

TITIAN  TO  OAEDINAL  FAENESE,  AT  BOME. 

<<  Though  he  has  had  no  message  and  no  em- 
bos^  to  press  him  to  furnish  the  picture  of  your 
Beverend  Lordship,  Titian,  your  humble  and  most 
devoted  servant,  has  not  fEiiled  to  bring  it  to  that 
ultimate  perfection  of  which  his  pencil  is  capable,  and 
keeps  it  ready  for  an  expression  of  your  Lordship's 
desire.  As  I  should  acquire  the  greatest  praise  and 
immortal  honour  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  if  it  should 
be  known  for  certain  to  all  as  it  is  known  to  myself, 
that  I  Uve  imder  the  shadow  of  the  high  bounty  and 


*  Aietino  to  Orazio  Yeoelli,  Venice,  April,   1547,  in  Lettere  di 
M.  P.  A.  iv.  79\ 


144  TTTIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IV. 


courtesy  of  your  Reverend  and  Illustrious  Lordship, 
I  would  beg  your  Lordship,  in  order  that  I  may  remain 
in  this  credit,  and  now  that  I  am  free  from  every  care 
that  might  reach  me  here,  to  prepare  to  employ  me 
and  give  me  commands ;  and  I  am  ready  to  obey 
these  commands  even  though  your  Lordship  should 
impose  on  me  for  the  third  time  the  acceptance  of 
the  cowl  of  the  late  Fra  Bastiano.  And  so  I  bow 
most  humbly  and  kiss  your  Lordship's  hands. 
"  Your  Most  Eev.  and  IlL  Lordship's 

perpetual  servant, 
"TrriANO.* 

"  Fnm  VsiaCE,  June  18,  1547." 

A  fortnight  later  Giovanni  della  Casa  wrote  to  the 
Cardinal  to  say  that  the  Duke  of  Urbino  had  arrived 
at  Venice  in  perfect  health,  that  Titian  had  been 
informed  that  the  seals  of  the  Piombo  were  reserved 
for  his  acceptance,  and  that  he  had  already  asked 
whether  anything  had  been  done  in  respect  of  this 
promotion.  "  It  seems  to  me,''  Della  Casa  concluded, 
"  that  Titian  is  more  inclined  to  accept  the  place  now 
than  he  was  on  former  occasions,  and  it  would  be 
very  desirable  that  your  Lordship  should  acquire  such 
an  ornament  as  he  is  for  the  court  of  his  Holiness."  t 

How  well  we  mark  in  this  the  canny  nature  of  the 
painter,  a  bom  negotiator,  who  begged  the  patron 
direct  for  a  vacancy,  yet  pretended  to  his  agent  to 
be  only  inclined  to  take  it  if  oflFered. 


*  Bonchini,    Belanoni,    u.   «.  |      f  Bonchim,  Lettere  d'oomini 
pp.  8,  9.  I  illuBtri,  u.  «,  i.  pp.  191- 


<^HAV.  IV.]      ALTAE-PIECE  OP  SBRRAVALLE.  145 

Months,  as  we  see,  went  by  in  the  course  of  these 
transactions,  but  Titian  during  those  months  finished 
the  altar-piece  of  Serravalle  and  other  works,  of  which 
we  have  uncertain  or  incoherent  notices. 

The  people  of  Serravalle  had  not  at  first  intended 
to  ask  Titian  for  an  altar-piece.  But  Francesco 
VeceUi,  to  whom  they  had  originally  applied,  had 
produced  a  sketch  which  they  did  not  approve ;  and 
when  they  withdrew  their  oifer  he  suggested  an  appli- 
cation to  his  brother  which  found  their  willing  sup- 
port.* In  1547,  Titian  wrote  to  the  council  of  the 
church  of  Serravalle  to  say  that  he  had  finished  and 
wished  them  to  send  for  the  picture.  At  their  request, 
— he  subjoined — ^the  figure  of  St  Peter  had  been  sub- 
stituted for  that  of  St.  Vincent,  and  this  had  caused 
a  surcharge  of  25  ducats.  The  council  protested 
.against  this  claim,  asked  Titian  to  defiver  the  canvas 
at  Semvalle,  and  bargained  for  the  payment  of  the 
stipulated  price.  The  quarrel  which  ensued  was  not 
s^ed  till  1 553,  but  the  picture  was  not  subsequently 
^tered,  and  though  injured  still  gives  account  oi  the 
progress  which  the  master's  art  had  made  after  it  felt 
the  influence  of  the  Florentine  and  Boman  sch<K)ls. 

A  massive  and  eddying  cloud  seiirves  as  a  throne 
to  the  Virgin  and  Child,  both  of  whom  are  looking 
down  towards  the  earth,  surrounded  by  cherubim 
floating  in  the  brilliant  haze  of  a  glory.  An  angel  to 
the  right  bends  to  single  out  St.  Peter  below.  Another 
stoops  to   support  with  his  hand  the  foot  of  Mary. 


I 


*  See  Appendix,  anno  1M2,  and  Oiaxii»  Storia,  ic.  «.,  li.  294. 

VOL.    II.  L 


146  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IV. 

St  Peter,  grey-bearded,  on  the  right  foreground  raises 
his  head  and  lifts  the  keys  towards  heaven,  his  &ame 
enwrapped  in  a  cinnamon  cloth  twisted  over  a  peach- 
tinted  robe ;  St.  Andrew,  opposite  to  him,  stands  with 
sandaled  feet,  clad  in  an  olive-green  dress  and  red 
mantle,  and  supports  with  both  arms  the  heavy  beam 
of  a  tall  cross,  looking  roimd  as  he  does  so  with  stern 
majesty  at  the  spectator.  In  the  distance  between 
the  two,  Christ,  in  the  bow  of  a  fishing  boat,  calls 
Peter  and  Andrew  from  their  nets.  Light  emanates 
from  the  Virgin  and  radiates  from  her  head  into  the 
vaulted  sky  beyond.  The  distance,  of  few  but  superb- 
lines  brushed  in  with  quick  sweeping  strokes,  presents 
a  view  of  mountains  with  a  coast  bathed  by  a  dark 
lake,  whose  waters  are  stirred  by  a  breeze,  before 
which  a  sail  or  two  are  running,  and  a  marvellous 
current  of  atmosphere  flows  over  the  water  and  the 
shore.  Forms  more  muscular  and  fleshy  than  any 
produced  at  an  earlier  time  are  conceived  with 
fiublimer  grandeur  and  delineated  with  more  than 

m 

usual  force  and  ease  in  resolute  and  natural  move- 
ment Draperies  are  cast  in  a  monumental  mould. 
A  masterly  division  of  light  and  shade  accompanies 
iin  equally  masterly  definitioD  of  parts.  The  force 
of  the  touch  is  only  equalled  by  its  spaciousness, 
which  neither  excludes  modelling  nor  delicate  blend- 
ing, whilst  a  pulpy  pastose  substance  is  produced  that 
rivals  the  flesh  and  bone  and  muscle  of  nature. 

Little  did  the  council  of  Serravalle  know,  whilst 
quarrelling  over  a  few  ducats,  that  this  picture  re- 
sumed the  art  of  Titian  as  embodied  in  the  "Peter 


CnAP.  IV.]       ALTAE-PIECE  OP  SEERAVALLE.  147 

Martyr  ^  and  "  St.  John  the  Almsgiver/'  and  marked 
a  step  in  advance  of  all  the  master's  previous  works. 
Powerful  as  Michaelangel6  in  the  strength  and  serenity 
of  the  principal  figures,  it  recalls  the  tempered  and 
dainty  grace  of  Eaphael  and  Correggio  in  the  golden 
sheen  of  its  glory,  and  unites  the  sprightly  elegance 
of  the  Madonna  of  San  Niccol6  to  the  breadth  and 
style  of  a  later  age.     More  than  this,  it  shows  the 
ingenuity  of  the  painter  in  taking  stock  of  the  ideas 
of  his  contemporaries  and  adapting  some  of  them  in 
a  novel  and  picturesque  way.     In  the  distance  we  ob- 
served is  the  miraculous  draught  of  fishes.     Eaphael 
in  1516  finished  the  great  set  of  cartoons  in  which 
he  illustrated  the  life  of  Christ  and  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.     On  St.  Stephen's  day  the  tapestries  worked 
from  these  cartoons  were  exhibited  for  the  first  time 
in  the  Sixtine  chapel.     From  this  time  forward  the 
cartoons  were  in  the  main  lost  to  Italy,  but  the  arras 
for  which  they  were  made  remained  a  treasure  closely 
guarded  in  the  papal  palace,     A  notice  embroidered  on 
the  cloth  of  the  Conversion  of  St.  Paul  at  the  Vatican 
tells  that  this  piece  was  stolen  at  the  sack  of  Kome  in 
1527  and  restored  to  Julius  the  Third  in  1553  by 
Anne  de  Montmorency,  and  this  notice  is  supposed  to 
refer  to  the  theft  and  restitution  of  all  the  tapestries 
made  from  Eaphael's  designs.     But  it  is  difficult  to 
reconcile  this  version  with  history,  which  declares  that 
the  tapestries  were  hung  in  front  of  St.  Peter's,  at  the 
festivals  of  Corpus  Christi,  by  Paul  the  Third.* 


*  Compare  Passayant's  Life  of  Baphael,  1st  ed.,  ii.  p.  233. 

L  2 


148  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES..     [Chap.  TV. 

Titian  apparently  saw  them  at  Rome,  where  his 
disciple  Andrea  Schiavone  possibly  made  the  draw- 
ings for  the  plates,  of  which  impressions  are  still 
preserved ;  *  or  he  saw  Raphael's  original  sketches, 
of  which  he  made  use  in  the  altar-piece  of  Serra- 
valle*  The  "  Miraculous  Draught "  by  Raphael  exists 
in  two  different  forms.  The  cartoon  at  Kensington 
shows  Christ  sitting  to  the  right  in  the  stem  of  a 
boat,  with  St  Peter  on  his  knees  before  him,  and  St 
Andrew  stepping  down  from  the  thwart  behind.  In 
the  second  boat  to  the  left,  two  men  bend  to  the  nets 
which  they  are  hauling  out  of  the  water,  whilst  a 
bearded  rower  sits  and  steers.  On  the  bank  in  front 
of  th6  barks  three  cranes  are  standing.  An  earlier 
v«™n  of  the  subject  is  d.t  p^e/in  a  dra^g 
at  the  Albertina  of  Vienna,  which  though  heavily 
retouched  seems  an  original  by  Raphael.  Here  the 
composition  is  reversed,  and  three  apostles  wait  on 
the  shore  near  a  group  of  women  and  a  child.  On 
the  back  of  the  sheet  the  skiffs  and  figures  are  repeated 
with  varieties,  St  Peter  kneeling  before  the  Saviour 
as  before,  but  St.  Andrew  giving  the  course,  and  the 
second  crew  in  reax  to  the  right.  The  idea  of  placing 
Christ  in  the  middle  distance  and  apostles  in  the 
foreground  was  abandoned  almost  as  soon  as  formed 
by  Sanzio,  but  Titian  took  it  up  and  ^worked  it  out 
with  success,  feeling  that  there  was  nothing  inap- 
propriate in  making  the  miraculous  draught  an 
episode  in  a  picture  sacred  to  St.   Peter  and  St, 


*  Faaaayant's  life  of  Baphael,  1st  ed.  ii.  p.  233,  and  Bartsohy  xvi. 
p.  M. 


Chap.  IV.]   EAPHAEL'S  « MIRACULOUS  DRAUGHT."        14» 

Andrew.  He  modified  Raphael's  design  in  so  far  that 
he  represented  Christ  erect  in  the  bows  to  the  left, 
and  St.  Peter  kneeling  before  him  on  one  knee  to 
the  right.  The  steersman  of  the  second  boat  to  the 
right  he  placed  in  a  standing  attitude  guiding  the 
skiflF  with  his  oar,  as  one  sees  the  gondoliers  at  Venice 
doing.  St.  Andrew  stepping  down,  the  two  men 
bending  to  the  nets,  he  took  bodily  as  he  found 
them.  He  thus  created  something  that  was  original 
out  of  Raphael's  design,  adding  to  the  scene  the 
colour,  the  movement  of  the  waters,  and  the  scud 
of  the  wind  favourable  to  fishing,*  He  took  from 
one  of  the  greatest  masters  of  the  revival  a  thought 
which  he  assimilated  and  gave  back  in  a  new  shape. 
He  treated  Baphael  as  he  had  previously  treated  the  ' 
antique.  ^J 

It  is  a  punishment  of  which  Tantalus  would  have 
been  worthy  to  study  Titian's  letters  and  read  of  the 
pictures  which  he  showed  to  patrons,  and  to  find 
these  works  vanishing  before  us  in  the  attempt  to  de- 
termine their  subject  We  know  that  Cardinal  Famese 
chose  a  canvas  out  of  the  master's  stock  in  1546,  and 


*  The  altar-piece,  on  canvas, 
arohed  at  top,  is  14  ft.  high  by 
7  ft.  broad.  The  figures  are  large 
as  life.  The  whole  picture  was 
cleaned  and  thrown  out  of  fooas, 
and  then  in  part  retouched.  The 
Virgin's  dress  has  lost  its  shape 
in  this  process,  and  there  are 
smirches  of  new  pigment  on  parts 
of  the  dresses.  The  halo  with  the 
angels  is  more  dishannonized  than 


the  rest  of  the  picture.  On  a 
stone  on  the  foreground  we  read 
the  word  "  Titian,'*  with  a  frag- 
ment of  an  8,  which  now  looks - 
like  a  note  of  interrogation.  The 
canvas  is  on  the  high  altar  of  the 
church  of  Serravalle,  the  patron 
of  which  is  St.  Andrew.  For 
records  referring  to  this  piece, 
under  date  of  1548-53,  see  Ap- 
pendix. 


150  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IV. 

■  ■         ■       » - 

that  Titian  repeatedly  declared  his  intention  of  finish- 
ing and  sending  it  home.  The  will  was  not  followed 
by  performance^  and  time  slipped  past  before  the 
promise  was  fulfilled,  though  it  was  realized  at  last, 
we  hardly  tell  how.  There  is  only  probability  in 
favour  of  assuming  that  the  "Venus  and  Adonis" 
which  long  adorned  the  Famese  collections  at  Parma 
and  Kome,  was  one  of  the  masterpieces  of  this  period. 
Few  compositions  of  Titian  were  more  frequently 
repeated,  or  exist  in  more  numbers,  yet  none  of  the 
finished  repetitions  are  equal  to  the  original  sketch 
which  is  now  preserved  at  Ahiwick.  Though  smaU  in 
scale,  and  not  free  firom  patching,  this  is  a  noble 
instance  of  the  cleverness  with  which  the  great 
Cadorine  treated  pagan  fable.  The  scene  is  laid  in  a 
landscape  of  splendid  tone  and  lines.  The  couch  of 
the  goddess,  a  deep  red-brown  cloth  on  a  raised 
mound  overshadowed  by  trees,  is  set  in  the  comer 
of  a  glade,  where  Venus,  half  lying,  half  sitting,  with 
her  back  to  the  spectator,  turns  and  clutches  at  the 
form  of  Adonis,  who  has  risen  and  strides  away  to  the 
field.  The  youth  is  already  fully  equipped,  his 
feathered  spear  in  one  hand,  a  leash  of  three  dogs  in 
the  other ;  over  his  red  hunting  shirt  a  horn  at  his 
waist  is  boimd  with  a  striped  cloth  ;  red  buskins  are 
on  his  legs,  and  a  winged  cap  like  that  of  Mercury  on 
his  head.  He  looks  at  Venus  as  she  clings  to  him, 
but  is  not  the  less  bent  on  departing,  for  the  sun  is 
up,  Apollo  in  his  car  is  riding  across  the  heavens,  and 
beneath  him  a  pure  morning  sky  sheds  its  light 
mysteriously  over  a  deep-toned  landscape.     Far  away 


<Jhap.  IV.] 


"VENUS  AND  ADONIS. 


>» 


lot 


the  tale  of  death  is  told  after  the  mediaeval  fashion,  by 
a  distant  episode,  and  in  a  grove  to  the  right  the  boar 
attacks  and  wounds  the  hunter.  Rich  tones,  harmo- 
nious colours,  and  a  balmy  atmosphere  give  additional 
charms  to  figures  in  themselves  charming,  for  Venus 
is  perfect  in  shape,  Adonis  lithe  and  finely  propor- 
tioned, and  both  are  well  drawn,  whilst  the  rapid 
action  caused  by  quick  volition  is  rendered  with  equal 
trath  and  fire.*  In  other  versions  of  this  theme, 
derived  no  doubt  from  this  one  original,  varieties  are 
iniroduced  to  express  a  fuller  embodiment  of  the 
painter's  thought.  Amor  carries  a  dove,  Cupid  sleeps 
under  a  tree,  a  rainbow  is  seen  in  the  sky.  In  the 
first  of  these  forms  the  Famese  example,  of  which 
there  are  copies  at  Leigh  Court,  Cobham  Hall,  and  the 
Belvedere  of  Vienna,  was  created.t     The   second  is 


*  Ubis  canvas,  3  ft.  4  in.  long 
by  2  ft.  6^  in.,  was  once  in  the 
Casunuccini  and  Barberini  Col- 
lections. There  are  patches  of 
re-|ainting  in  the  back  and  hip 
of  Venns,  and  the  throat  and 
wiist  of  Adonis.  It  may  be  that 
this  is  one  of  the  sketch  pictures 
of  Titian  which  came  into  the 
haids  of  Tintoretto ;  or  it  may  be 
^ihflt  which  was  presented  to  Yin- 
oeiBO  VeceUi  by  Titian  in  1562 ; 
see  Appendix  under  that  date. 
Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  270 ;  and  Ticozzi 
Yeoelli,  note  to  p.  64. 

j-  The  Famese  example  is  noted 
by  Bidolfi,  Maray.  i.  232-3.  It 
is  registered  in  the  Parmese  in- 
ventory of  1680  as  foUows :  **Un 
quadro  alto  br.  1,  on.  11  largo, 
k.  2,   on.  4.    Una  Venere  che 


siede  sopra  di  un  panno  oremesi, 
abbracda  Adone  che  con  la  si- 
nistra tiene  duoi  leyrieri  et  un 
Amorino  con  una  colomba  in 
mano,diTiziano."  (Oampori,£ac- 
colta  di  Cataloghi,  p.  211.) 

The  canvas  at  Leigh  Court, 
seat  of  Sir  William  Miles,  5  ft. 
10  in.  h.,  by  6  ft.  8  in.,  belonged 
to  Sir  Benjamin  West.  Here 
Amor  sleeps  with  a  doye  in  his 
hands;  Adonis, bare-headed,  leads 
two  dogs;  ApoUo  rides  on  the 
clouds;  and  in  the  distance  the 
boar  attacks  the  hunter.  On  a 
tree  to  the  left  the  quiyer  of  Amor 
is  hanging,  and  on  the  ground  a 
yase.  This  copy  is  by  some  old 
Yenetian  follower  of  Titian. 

The  copy  of  Cobham  Hall,  half 
life  size,  was  originally  in  the 


152 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Cblu*.  IV^ 


found  in  a  repetition  made  for  Philip  the  Second  when 
Prince  of  Spain,  and  in  minor  imitations  of  that  work. 
Unhappily  the  Famese  example  is  not  to  be  traced. 

In  a  letter  to  Chancellor  Granvelle,  Aretino*  de- 
scribes the  great  excitement  of  the  Venetian  public 
when  Titian  was  called  to  Augsburg,  in  1547,  by  the 
Emperor.  Crowds  besieged  his  house  with  demands 
for  canvases  and  panels,  or  anything  else  that  ndght 
serve  to  display  the  talent  of  the  master. 

Alessandro  Contarini,  a  patrician  and  poet,  was- 
probably  one  in  the  crowd.  He  bought  a  "  Christ  at 
Emmaus/'  and  found  it  so  beautiful  that  he  presented 
it  to  the  Signoria,  which  accepted  the  gift,  and  huig 
the  picture  in  the  public  palace,  where  it  remained  lill 
the  close  of  last  century .t    But  Titian  had  finishec  a 


Marisootti  OoUection  at  Bologna, 
and  is  a  moderate  imitation  of 
Titian  by  a  later  artist.  Here 
again  Amor  slee|>8  with  the  dove 
in  hifl  hand;  Adonis  is  bare- 
headed, and  has  two  dogs  in  a 
leash;  instead  of  ApoUo  in  his 
car  there  is  a  rainbow  in  the  sky. 
Another  copy,  fnuch  injured,  of 
this  piece  is  Ko.  91  in  the  Venice 
Academy ;  but  here,  though 
Adonis  wears  the  winged  hat, 
Cupid  sleeps  under  the  trees  to 
the  left.    Photograph  by  Naya. 

The  school  replica,  No.  54  in 
Ist  room,  first  floor,  of  the  Bel- 
Tedere  at  Yienna,  is  perhaps  that 
which  belonged  to  the  Archduke 
Leopold  William,  at  Brussels,  in 
the  seventeenth  century.  It  was 
engraved  as  by  Schiavone  in 
Teniers'  gallery  work,  and  there 


we  stiU  see  Amor  flying  away  mth 
the  dove,  which  is  no  longer  to 
be  seen  in  the  picture;  the  8K>t 
on  which  that  figure  stood  heiig 
patched  with  canvas  and  painied 
over  of  the  colour  of  the  grouid. 
This  canvas,  now  iU  preserved  (S 
ft  high  by  3  ft.  9),  is  extensivily 
re-painted  and  cut  down  at  tie 
sides.  It  is  a  school  piece,  with 
some  traces  left  of  the  hand  of 
Schiavone.  Whether  any  one  or 
the  foregoing  is  the  copy  whoh 
Titianello's  Anonimo  describesas 
belonging  to  Gio.  Carlo  Doria,  it 
is  impossible  to  say.  (Anon.  p.  $.) 

*  Aretino  to  Granvelle,  Joi. 
1548,  in  Lettere  di  M.  P.  A.,  iv. 
136. 

t  Yasari,  ziii.  p.  29,  saw  it 
above  the  door  in  a  room  of  tie 
public  palace ;  and  this  room  is- 


Chap.  IV.]        THE  *'  CHRIST  AT  EMMAUS."  15^ 

replica,  which  he  sent  to  Mantua,  and  this  passcc^ 
with  the  Gonzaga  Collection,  into  the  hands  of 
Charles  the  First,  and  came  with  other  Whitehall 
treasures  into  the  gallery  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth. 

Like  many  of  Titian's  Scripture  scenes  this  is  a 
hnmble  iiicident  in  monumental  surroundings.  The 
house  in  which  Christ  "  tarried  "  with  Cleopas  and 
Luke  is  a  palace  adorned  with  pillars.  The  table  at 
which  the  Bedeemer  sits  with  his  disciples  is  laid  in  a 
marble  court,  from  which  the  view  extends  to  the 
woods  and  dolomites  of  Cadore.  In  other  respects 
there  is  something  of  the  domestic  and  familiar  in  the 
way  in  which  events  are  recorded.  Christ  is  seated 
with  Luke  behind  a  table  covered  with  a  snowy  damask 
clothe  the  diaper  of  which  is  given  with  surprising 
skill.  He  blesses  the  bread,  whUst  Cleopas,  to  the 
right — 'his  bare  and  close-shorn  head  reverently  bent, 
and  his  elbows  on  the  board, — joins  hands  and  repeat* 
a  silent  prayer,  Luke,  on  the  other  side,  is  lost  in 
wonder,  a  display  of  feeling  which  quite  escapes  the 
stolid  servant  serving  with  turned  up  sleeve,  and  the 
page  with  feathered  hat,  to  the  left,  who  brings  in  the 
tureen.  A  dog  under  the  table  growls  at  a  cat.  The 
whole  composition  commingles  homeliness  and  gran- 
deur, in  the  form  familiar  in  after  days  to  Paolo 
Veronese.  Turning  from  this  masterpiece  of  Titian's 
old  age  to  the  works  of  his  earlier  time,  and  compar- 
ing the  *'  Christ  at  Emmaus  "  with  the  "  Christ  of  the 


deecribed  by  Boschini,  B.  M.  S. 
di  S.  Marco,  p.  18 ;  Bidolfi,  Ma- 
rav.  i.  216;    and  Zanettd,  Pitt. 


Ten.   16d,  as  contiguous  to  the- 
chapel  of  the  Pregadi. 


154 


TITIAN:   HIS  LITE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IV. 


Tribute  Money,''  we  gauge  the  changes  which  Venetian 
painting  underwent  in  the  course  of  years.  We  note 
the  progress  of  realism  at  the  same  time  that  we  ob- 
serve how  much  more  bold  and  natural  the  conception 
of  the  artist  has  become,  with  what  ease  he  has  learnt 
to  work,  and  what  magic  results  his  facile  hand  pro- 
duces. Experience  has  given  him  complete  command 
in  every  branch.  He  composes  with  skill,  compact- 
ness, and  simplicity.  He  disposes  masses  of  colour, 
light  and  shade  with  lively  boldness,  and  in  masterly 
contrasts.  His  hand  is  quick  yet  not  careless,  and  his 
modelling,  where  it  requires  finish  and  rounding,  is 
still  smooth  and  polished.  His  stuflFs,  again,  have 
texture  and  tone  of  surprising  variety,  and  everything, 
principal  and  accessory,  contributes  to  a  gorgeous 
tinted  picture.* 

It  is  possible  that   Titian  was  more  than  once 


*  This  canyas,  eigned  '*TiGi- 
AMTJS,  F.,"  No.  462  at  the  Louvre, 
measures  m.  1.69  h.  by  2.44.  It 
is  registered  in  Charles  the  First's 
Collection  (Bathoe*s  Cat%  p.  96} 
as  ''a  Mantua  piece  .  •  .  where 
Christ  is  sitting  at  the  table  at 
Emaus  with  his  two  disciples, 
and  a  boy  and  the  host  standing 
by."  The  figures  are  under  life- 
size;  Christ  in  red  and  blue, 
Cleopas  in  a  coffee-coloured  dress 
with  a  red  mantle,  oyer  which  a 
hat  is  hanging ;  Luke  bearded,  in 
profile  in  a  deep  green  coat,  and 
white  and  blue  check  scarf.  The 
jseryant  between  Luke  and  Christ 
wears  a  red  cap  and  black  yest. 
The  page  has  a  blue  cap,  yellow 


doublet,  and  red  sleeyes.  A  shield 
on  the  wall  aboye  the  page's 
head  bears  the  double-headed  im- 
perial eagle.  The  picture  was  en- 
grayed,  '*in  ^dibus  Jabachiis," 
by  F.  Chauyeau,  in  1656;  later 
by  Lorichon,  Masson,  andDuth^. 
A  plate  of  it  is  in  Landon's  work; 
photograph  by  Braun.  A  copy 
of  the  Louyre  canyas  is  No.  209 
in  the  Turin  Museum,  but  is  not 
original.  Another  copy,  No.  237 
in  the  Dresden  Museum,  looks 
like  the  work  of  Sassoferrato. 
Yet  another  was  sold  at  the  sale 
of  the  GaUery  of  WilHam  the 
Third  of  the  Netherlands  in  1850, 
to  Mr.  Boos. 


Chap.  IV.]    BECUMBENT  VENUS  AND  CUPID. 


155 


required  to  repeat  this  composition.  But  the  only 
extant  repetition  preserved  by  Lord  Yarborough 
proves  that  the  labour  of  multiplication  was  left  to 
disciples,  and  more  particularly  to  Orazio  or  Cesare 
Vecelli,  who  modified  at  will  the  types,  the  faces,  and 
the  dress  without  coming  near  to  attain  the  grandeur 
and  perfection  of  their  relative  and  master.* 

Titian  did  not  part  with  his  best  treasures  to  those 
who  fancied  that  once  engaged  with  the  Emperor 
beyond  the  Alps  he  would  never  return,  or  at  least 
never  find  time  to  attend  to  the  wants  of  less  exalted 
patrons.  Numerous  pieces  on  his  walls  were  only 
suited  to  adorn  the  palaces  of  the  great.  These  he 
probably  set  apart  and  prepared  to  take  with  him  to 
Augsburg,  where  we  may  believe  he  found  a  ready 
market  for  them. 

Of  all  the  masterpieces  which  mark  this  period  one  1 
such  as  the  "  Venus  "  of  Madrid  would  alone  immor- 
talize the  master ;  and  of  this  there  is  a  counterpart, 
or  rather  an  earlier  rival,  in  the  "  Venus  and  Cupid  " 
of  Florence. 


*  Lord  Yarborougli's  canvas 
is  signed  *'  Titiants  F.  ;  "  it  is 
therefore  a  school  piece,  but  very 
inferior  to  the  Louvre  example. 
Here  Ohrist  wears  the  green  man- 
tle of  a  pilgrim.  The  dress  of 
Cleopas  is  red,  that  of  St.  Luke 
yeUow;  the  cap  of  the  page  is 
grey,  his  doublet  red ;  the  vest  of 
the  servant  olive  green.  The 
Leads  all  differ  from  those  at  the 
Louvre,  that  of  Gleopas  being 
f)earded.    Behind    Cleopos,    and 


intercepting  a  landscape  of  dif- 
ferent lines,  is  a  pillar  not  to  be 
found  at  the  Louvre.  It  is  not 
to  be  denied  that  this  picture 
exactly  coincides  with  that  de- 
scribed by  Zanetti  in  the  public 
palace  at  Venice.  (Pitt.  Ven.  165.) 
It  is  much  dimmed  by  vamiBh 
and  grime,  and  has  been  re- 
touched in  various  parts.  In  so 
far  the  present  opinion  held  re- 
specting it  may  be  subject  to 
revision. 


156  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IV. 

The   Greeks    were    acknowledged  from  time    im- 
memorial as  the  most  perfect  creators  of  form,  plastic 
in  its  development,  regular  in  its  proportions,  and 
ideal  in  its  parts.     Titian  never  attempted  to  storm 
the  heights  occupied  by  these  heroes ;  justly  thinking^ 
that  such  a  giddy  elevation  was  not  to  be  climbed 
more  than  once.     But  Titian,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
the  only  painter  of  his  age  who  ^  gave  to  the  nude,  as 
we  commonly  see  it,  the   colour  and  flexibility  of 
nature.     If  the  earlier  "  Venus  ^'  of  Florence  leaves  us 
in  doubt  whether  Titian  meant  to  represent  a  goddess, 
the  later  one  suggests  no  such  reflections.     She  lies 
on  a  couch  of  burnt  lake-like  velvet,  the  cloth  of  which 
she  holds,  together  with  a  bimch  of  flowers,  in  her  left 
hand.     Her  elbow  rests  on  the  lawn  of  the  pUlows  on 
which  her  frame  reposes.     Her  right  arm  follows  and 
lies  on   the  imdulations  of  waist  and  hip,  and  she 
turns  to  listen  to  Cupid,  who  whispers  as  he  looks 
over  her  shoulder,  and  puts  his  tiny  hand  on   her 
throat.     The  calm  and  passionless  character  of  the 
scene  is  indicated  by  the  harmless  arrow  lying  near 
the  quiver  at  the  end  of  the  couch — a  little  dog  at  the 
goddess*  feet  snifis  at  an  owl  perched  on  the  balustrade 
which  parts  the  bower  from  the  gardens  beyond.     A 
vase  on  a  table  contains  roses  and  pinks.     Behind  the 
balustrade,  where  curtains  of  stufl*,  sparkling  with  the 
redness  of  wine,  close  in  the  space,  a  picturesque  tree 
shows  its  broad  leafy  vegetation  and  stimted  branches 
against  a  clouded  sky,  and  a  scolloped  lake  bathing 
rocks  or  distant  shore.     Far  away  the  blue  mountains 
of  a  Cadorine  upland  are  faintly  seen  in  the  twilight 


Ohap.  IV.]    VENUS  AND  THE  ORGAN-PLAYEE.  157 

of  eventide,  which  covers  more  or  less  the  whole 
picture.  We  see  that  the  sun  is  going  down  in  light 
grey  mist  without  streaking  the  heavens  with  his 
gleam.  In  the  dusk  at  a  fair  distance  the  eye 
gradually  catches  objects  which  become  more  and 
more  distinct  as  we  look  longer  a£  them. 

Venus  not  only  looks  at  Amor,  but  hears  his 
whkperiBg.  The  boy  is  arch  and  handsome  and 
typical  of  Titian,  as  an  angel  in  the  Sixtine  '^ Madonna" 
is  typical  of  Raphael.  His  eyes  are  like  his  mother's, 
speaking.  The  group,  simple  as  in  the  antique,  is 
living  and  warmly  coloured  in  a  soft  brown  tone. 
The  lines  of  the  goddess's  frame  sweep  with  rounded 
modelling.  Every  flexion  of  it  is  given,  and  every 
inch  of  it  is  throbbing  flesh.  Not  the  slender  youth- 
ful maid,  of  Darmstadt  lies  before  us,  not  the  budding 
growth  of  the  girl  at  Florence,  but  a  shape  of  larger 
scantling  and  more  dapple  fulness.* 

The  "V«ius"  of  Madrid,  in  some  respects  a  repetition 
of  that  of  Florence,  shows  the  same  lie  of  the  body 
and  limbs,  with  a  different  face  and  more  womanly 
figure.  Cupid  has  vanished,  and  the  girl  no  longer 
plays  with  flowers,  but  pats  the  back  of  a  cinnamon- 
coloured  lap-dog,  the  bark  of  which  disturbs  a  man 
playing  an  organ  at  the  foot  of  the  couch,  who  turns 
to  chide  as  his  hands  press  the  kejs  of  the  instrument. 


*  This  iJtotoTe,  No.  1108  at  the 
Uffizi,  is  one  of  the  heirlooms 
ficom  TJrbiBO.  ThB  figures  are  of 
1i£b  size,  on  oanyas,  and  not  free 
torn,  damage  by  cleaning  and 
Appling.     !Qm  fftoe  of  V«ins 


shows  a  general  resemblanoe  to 
that  of  a  woman's  portrait  in- 
scribed with  Lavinia's  name  in 
the  Gallery  of  Dresden,  of  which, 
more  hereafter.  Photograpb  by 
Braon,  engrayed  by  Massaid. 


138 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IV. 


Behind  the  balcony  we  see  a  long  shaded  walk, 
sheltering  a  couple  of  hunters  with  a  dog,  a  deer,  and 
a  peacock  standing  on  the  edge  of  a  fountain.  Lines 
of  trimmed  trees  remind  us  of  parks  and  palaces 
rather  than  of  Cyprus  and  Naxos.  It  would  seem 
indeed  as  if  distinct  individuals  were  represented  here, 
the  girl  with  her  bracelets  and  necklace  of  pearl,  being, 
as  it  were,  the  divinity  adored  by  the  man  at  the 
organ,  whose  dress  and  rapier  indicate  birth.  But  it 
would  be  vain  to  plunge  further  into  a  mystery  which 
we  can  no  longer  fathom.*  We  shall  presently  see 
that  a  picture  very  like  this  belonged  to  the  Granvelles, 
whilst  Ridolfi  notes  the  same  subject  painted  by  Titiau 
for  Francesco  Assonica  of  Venice,  f  It  may  be  that 
Titian  was  furnished  with  limnings  of  the  persons  he 
was  asked  to  delineate.  The  spectator  is  certainly 
transported  from  the  reahns  of  fancy  to  those  of  a 
peculiar  civilization,  in  spite  of  which  he  may  stiU 
find  pleasure  in  admiring  the  master's  skiU  in  the 
painting  of  flesh,  his  art  in  treating  surface — here  a& 
at  Florence — with  a  breadth  and  power  such  as  we 
expect  from  the  great  craftsman  when  at  his  best.J 


*  There  is  some  likeness  in  the 
man  at  the  organ  to  Ottavio 
Famese,  as  painted  in  the  por- 
trait group  by  Titian  at  Naples. 

t  Ridolfi  (Mar.  i.  253-4)  says 
that  the  picture  thus  painted  for 
F.  A.  -was  taken  to  England. 

X  No.  459  at  the  Madrid  Mu- 
seum, m.  1*36  h.  by  2*30,  and  on 
canvas.  This  picture  has  been  in 
Spain  at  least  since  1665  (seeMa- 
drazo's  Catalogue).    It  is  said  to 


have  formed  part  of  Charles  tho- 
First's  Collection.  (Bathoe's  Ca- 
talogue, u,  8.,  p.  96.)  Of  its  pre- 
vious  history  something  may  be 
said  presently.  It  is  only  neces- 
sary now  to  observe  that  the 
suidface  is  damaged  by  repeated 
cleaning  and  restoring.  The  head 
of  the  Venus  is  thus  enfeebled, 
whilst  the  contours  are  either 
rubbed  down  or  altered  by  re- 
touching.   The  right  hand  of  th» 


CttAP.   IV.] 


EEOUMBENT  VENUS. 


159 


That  this  class  of  subject  should  often  have  been 
repeated  by  the  scholars  and  followers  of  Titian  was 
to  have  been  expected,  but  the  repetitions,  such  as  we 
find  them,  in  the  Galleries  of  Madrid,  Cambridge,  and 
Dresden,  are  far  beneath  his  powers.*     But  Titian 


jnsuL  at  the  organ  is  lost  in  a 
smudge.  Photograph,  by  Laurent. 
A  copy  of  this  picture,  not  an 
original  Titian,  is  in  the  Fenaroli 
Collection  at  Brescia;  another 
copy  was  sold  in  1850  at  the  sale 
of  the  GaUery  of  King  William  11. 
of  the  Netherlands,  for  1000 
francs,  the  buyer  being  Mr. 
Brondgeest. 

*  The  following  will  suffice  to 
characterize  and  determine  the 
history  of  these  works;  Madrid 
Museum,  No.'  460 ;  canyas,  m. 
1-48  h.  by  2-17.  Though  trace- 
able to  the  royal  palace  of  Madrid 
as  early  as  1665,  this  picture  is 
not  originaL  Yenus  lies  on  a 
couch  listening  to  the  whispers  of 
Amor ;  she  has  no  flowers  in  her 
hand,  and  Amor  is  in  profile.  In 
the  main  the  group  is  taken  from 
that  of  the  Florentine  "Venus." 
A  man  plays  the  organ  at  the  foot 
of  the  couch,  but  he  wears  no 
rapier ;  in  the  distance  is  a  foun- 
tain and  a  poplar  walk.  This 
part  of  the  subject  is  derived  from 
the  Yenus  aboye  described  in  the 
Madrid  Gallery.  Though  the 
name  "  Titianvs  "  is  written  on 
the  waU  near  the  man's  shoulder, 
the  picture  is  by  some  imitator  of 
the  master,  and  the  inscription  is 
necessarily  a  later  addition.  Pho- 
tograph by  Laurent. 

Cambridge:    FitzwiUiam  Mu- 


seum.— In  the  collection  of  Queen 
Christine  (Campori,  Bacoolta  di 
Cataloghi,  p.  339),   then  in  the 
Orleans  Gallery,  this  picture  was 
bought  by  Viscount  FitzwiUiam 
for  £1000.     The  foUowing  was 
the  description  of  it:   '* Picture 
of  Yenus  on  a  red  yelyet  couch, 
the  left  arm  on  a  white  doth, 
a  flute  in  her  other  hand.    In 
front  of  her  a  yiolin  and  open 
music  book.    An  amorino  crowns 
her  head ;  at  her  feet,  and  on  her 
couch,  a  man  showing  his  back 
playing  a  lute ;  distance  a  land* 
scape  by  Titian."    This  picture 
is  now  exhibited  under  Titian's 
name  at  Cambridge,  and  num- 
bered 14 ;  it  is  on  canyas.    Here 
again  we  haye  a  mixture  of  the 
figures  at  Madrid  and  Florence. 
The  forms  of  the  woman  are  heayy 
and  coarse,  the  drawing  defectiye, 
and  the  painter  is  probably  an 
imitator    of   the    early   part   of 
the  seyenteenth  century.     On  the 
music  book  we  read   the  word 
**  Tenoe."    The  surface  is  much 
injured,  the  red  hanging  behind 
the  girl  being  all  repainted.  Amor 
much  retouched,  and  the  whole 
canyas  grimed  with  old  yamish. 
Sir  A.  Hume  (Life  of  Titian,  p.  96) 
notes  a  copy  of  the  Cambridge 
example  at  Holkham. 

Dresden:    Museum,  No.   225, 
5  ft.  1  in.  high,  by  7  ft.  3  in.  This 


160 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IV. 


was  not  content  with  taking  profane  subject  pictures 
to  the  Court  of  Charles,  he  required  to  touch  another 
•chord,  if  he  wished  to  satisfy  the  Emperor.  He 
therefore  finished  the  "  Ecce  Homo,''  or  Christ  bound 
and  suffering  from  the  crown  of  thorns,  and,  ^  he 
worked  it  out  on  slate  after  the  fashion  of  Sebastian 
•del  Piombo,  he  gave  it  necessarily  some  of  the  polish 
which  marked  the  "  Christ  of  the  Tribute  Money." 

The  **  Ecce  Homo ''  now  hangs  in  the  Museum  of 
Madrid,  but  the  master  who  boasted  in  his  youth  that 
he  could  finish,  like  Diirer,  without  losing  the  breadth 
of  Venetian  art,  is  no  longer  the  patient  and  minute 
craftsman  of  those  early  days.  The  type  which  he 
created  was  as  fine  in  its  way  as  any  that  he  had 
previously  conceived.  It  was  realistic,  expressive,  and 
speaking  in  its  moumfulness ;  it  was  modelled  with 
breadth,  yet  with  blended  gciftness  and  rounding. 
The  gradations  of  its  lights  and  half  tints  were 
delicate  as  they  could  be,  the  colour  rich  as  ever,  light 
and  shade  was  grandly  balanced.  But  the  mould  of 
the  face  was  not  as  ideal  or  perfect  as  it  might  have 
been,  and  in  so  far  the  "Christ"  of  Madrid  is  less 
elevated  in  feeling  than  that  of  Dresden.* 


is  a  Tariety  of  the  foregoing, 
softly  and  oLererly  painted  by  a 
late  Yenetian,  whose  treatment 
aappEoximates  very  mneh  to  that 
<n  Andrea  Celesti. 

At  the  Hague  and  Dresden  the 
copies  were  caUed  *<  Philip  the 
Second  and  his  mislzess.'' 

•  Madrid  Museum,  No.  467,  on 
elate,  m.  0.69  h.  hy  0.56.    This 


pietore  is  no  doubt  that  whkh 
Titiaa  took  to  Charles  the  Fifth 
at  Augsburg.  It  answers  to  ihe 
description  of  Aretino  in  letters  to 
Titian  and  SansoTino,  of  January 
and  February,  1548.  (Letters,  iv. 
Id4&144.)  The  fijg^ure  is  a  half- 
length  turned  to  the  right;  tibe 
arms  being  bound  in  front  of  the 
body,  aitd  the  left  arm  partly 


Chap.  IY.] 


THE  "ECCE  HOMO. 


» 


161 


coTored  with  a  red  doth.  The 
head  ia  bent,  the  hair  parted  in 
the  middle,  and  tears  of  blood 
drop  from  the  ponctures  of  the 
crown  of  thorns ;  on  the  ground 
to  the  left,  "TiTiANVS."  With 
the  exception  of  some  abrasion 
from  cleaning,  the  surface  is 
fairly  preeeryed. 

Aretino  describes,  in  his  letter 
of  January,  1548,  a  copy  of  this 
piece  giTen  him  by  Titian,  which 
differs  in  no  respect  from  that 
of  Madrid.  It  is,  perhaps,  that 
which  came  into  the  Averoldi 
Collection  at  Brescia,  where  it 


was  engraved  by  Sala,  and  after- 
wards passed  into  the  gallery  of 
the  Duke  d'Aumale.  This  piece, 
m.  0.72  h.  by  0.58,  was  exhibited 
at  Leeds  in  1868  (No.  254),  and  in 
Paris  in  1874  (No.  503  of  Exhi- 
bition for  the  Belief  of  Alsace 
Lorraine),  but  has  not  been  seen 
by  the  authors. 

Yermoyen  made  a  copy  of  the 
original  * '  Ecce  Homo"  for  Charles 
the  Pifth  at  Brussels  in  1555. 
See  the  original  record,  printed  in 
BoTue  Univ.  des  Arts,  u.  a.,  iii. 
p.  138. 


-   / 


VOL.   II. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Pope  and  the  Empeiur. — Titian  has  to  choose  between  them; 
gives  up  the  Seals  of  the  Piombo,  and  goes  to  Court  at  Augsburg. 
— ^He  visits  Cardinal  Madruzzi  at  Ceneda. — ^Augsburg,  the 
Fuggers.— Titian's  Beception  by  Charles  the  Fifth,— His  Pension 
on  Milan  doubled. — He  promises  a  Likeness  of  the  Emperor  to 
the  Governor  of  MDan. — Sketch  of  Charles  the  Fifth,  and  how  he 
rode  at  Miihlberg  with  Maurice  of  Saxony  and  Alva. — His  Court 
at  Augsburg.— King  Ferdinand. — ^The  Granvelles,  John  Frederick 
of  Saxony,  and  other  Princes  and  Princesses  portrayed  by 
Titian.— Likenesses :  of  Charles  as  he  rode  at  Miihlberg;  as  he 
sat  at  Augsburg;  of  the  captive  Elector,  with  and  without 
Armour;  of  Chancellor  and  Cardinal  Granvelle,  and  Cardinal 
Madruzzi. — ^The  "  Prometheus  and  Sisyphus." — Likeness  of  King 
Ferdinand  and  his  Infant  Children. — Titian  returns  to  Yenice ; 
proceeds  to  Milan,  where  he  meets  Alva  and  the  Piince  of  Spain. 
— ^Portrait  of  Alva  and  his  Secretary. — Boplicas  of  Charles  the 
Fifth's  Portrait  for  Cardinal  Famese  and  Fitincesco  Gonzaga. — 
Betrothal  of  Lavinia. — Death  of  Paul  the  Thii'd. — Plans  for  the 
Succession  of  Philip  of  Spain. — Charles  the  Fifth  again  sends  for 
Titian  to  paint  the  Likeness  of  his  presumptive  Heir.— Projected 
Picture  of  the  "  Trinity."— Close  Eelations  of  Titian  with  the 
Emperor,  and  surprise  caused  by  it. — Melanchthon.— Court  of  the 
captive  Elector. — Cranach  paints  Titian's  Likeness. — Philip  of 
Spain  sits  to  Titian. — ^Numerous  Portraits  are  the  result. 

At  the  time  when  Titian  entered  into  engagements 
with  the  Famese  princes  to  take  the  seal  of  the  papal 
bulls  which  had  dropped  from  the  hands  of  Sebastian 
del  Piombo,  Paul  the  Third  and  Charles  the  Fifth 
were  on  the  worst  of  terms,  and  there  was  reason 
for  thinking  that  the  Pope  would  enter  into  a  league 
with  Venice  and  France.     After  the  fight  of  Miihlberg 


Chap.  V.]        THE  POPE  AND  THE  EMPEEOR.  163 

in  which  John  Frederick  of  Saxony  lost  his  liberty 
and  possessions,  the  policy  of  Charles  had  acquired 
a  natural  ascendency  which  the  subsequent  surrender 
of  Wittenberg,  the  submission  and  imprisonment  of 
Philip  of  Hesse,  and  the  reduction  of  all  the  cities  of 
South  and  Central  Germany  naturally  increased. 
But  as  the  power  of  the  Emperor  revived,  the  aversion 
of  Paul  the  Third  returned.  He  cursed  the  ilUuck 
of  the  Protestants,  wished  they  had  won  at  Miihlberg 
as  they  won  before  at  Eochlitz,  and  reverted  speedily 
to  his  old  system  of  trimming.  Paul's  negotiations, 
the  coquetting  of  his  son  Pier  Luigi  with  the  French 
King,  and  the  marriage  of  Orazio  Famese  with  Diana 
the  daughter  of  Henry  the  Second,  are  all  attributable 
to  the  same  cause.  But  when  Paul  determined  to 
reopen  the  Council  at  Bologna,  and  Charles  insisted 
on  its  return  to  Trent,  the  papal  and  imperial  power 
were  clearly  in  opposition,  and  this  opposition  was 
not  soothed  when  the  Pope  was  informed  that  Pier 
Luigi  Famese  had  been  murdered,  and  Piacenza 
occupied  by  Ferrando  Gonzaga.  As  Cardinal 
Madruzzi  entered  Rome  in  November,  and  sum- 
moned the  Pope  in  the  Emperor's  name  to  transfer 
the  Council  to  Trent,  it  must  have  been  evident 
to  any  one  acquainted  with  politics  in  these 
days,  that  Paul  was  weak  and  the  Emperor  strong. 
At  this  very  moment  Charles  the  Fifth  ordered 
Titian  to  Augsburg.  Titian,  under  promise  to  pro- 
ceed to  Rome,  obeyed  the  Emperor's  bidding,  and 
wrote  to  Cardinal  Famese  the  following  letter  of 
excuse : 

M  2 


164  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.         [Chap.  V. 

TITIAN  TO  CABDINAL  FAENESE  AT  EOME. 

"Most  Illustrious  Lord, 

"  I  should  be  acting  the  part  of  an  ungrate- 
ful servant,  unworthy  of  the  favours  which  unite  my 
duty  to  your  great  kindness,  if  I  were  not  to  say  that 
though  his  Majesty  forces  me  to  go  to  him  and  pay& 
the  expenses  of  my  journey,  I  start  discontented., 
because  I  have  not  fulfilled  your  wish  and  my 
obligation  in  presenting  myself  to  my  Lord  and 
yours,  and  working  in  obedience  to  his  intentions, 
also  because  I  have  not  been  able  as  yet  to  send 
the  work  which  your  Rev^  Lordship  saw  here  and 
ordered  of  me.  But  I  promise  as  a  true  servant 
to  pay  interest  on  my  return  with  a  new  picture 
in  addition  to  the  first.  Meanwhile  I  supplicate 
the  good  spirit  which  always  prompts  you  to  do 
good, — and  for  which  I  adore  you, — not  to  with- 
draw your  favour  in  respect  of  the  benefice  of 
Colle,  than  which  I  have  nothing  more  at  heart, 
since  that  person  has  shown  a  wish  to  possess  it, 
who  as  a  boy  deprived  wives  of  their  husbands, 
and  now  that  he  is  a  man  takes  the  sons  from 
their  fathers  ;  and  these  sorts  of  vices  ought  not 
to  weigh  against  my  devotion.  I  trust  so  entirely 
to  your  sincere  kindness  that  I  shall  certainly 
be  consoled  at  last  in  the  measure  of  my  present 
despair.  So  with  your  licence,  Padron  mio  ttnicOy 
I  shall  go,  whither  I  am  called,  and  returning  with 
the  grace  of  God,  I  shall  serve  you  with  aQ  the 
strength  of  the  talents  which  I  got  from  my  cradle. 


Chap.  V.] 


HOME  OE  AUGSBUBG? 


165 


and  meanwhile  I  kiss  the  hands  of  your  Rev"^.  and 
Illastrious  Lordship. 

"  Your  Eev^.  Lordship's  perpetual  servant, 

"  TiTIANO/'  * 
"  From  Venicb,  2^th  Decemher,  1547." 


That  Titian  should  have  been  attracted  to  Rome 
by  promises  of  a  benefice  on  the  one  hand,  and  a 
prospect  on  the  other  of  the  seals  of  the  Piombo  was 
natural  enough.  There  was  nothing  to  be  expected 
from  the  Emperor  so  long  as  he  remained  at  war. 
That  Titian  again  should  be  flattered  by  the  offer 
of  a  stay  at  the  court  of  Augsburg  when  all  the  world 
seemed  willing  to  bow  down  and  worship  Charles  the 
Fifth  was  pardonable.  It  is  not  probable  that  the 
Fameses  would  have  treated  the  painter  as  royally 
as  he  was  treated  by  the  Emperor.  What  they  held 
out  as  an  incentive  was  something  distant  and  un- 
certain. Charles  sent  Titian  ready  money  and  an 
outfit,  well  knowing  from  experience  the  superior 
attraction  of  gold,  and  Titian  was  not  inclined, 
perhaps  not  in  a  condition,  to  resist  the  temptation. 
His  letter  to  Famese  is  clever,  but  might  have  roused 
the  anger  of  the  Cardinal  if  it  had  come  alone.  He 
therefore  enclosed  it  to  the  Duke  of  Urbino  and  asked 
him  to  send  it  on  with  a  friendly  line  of  his  own. 
Possibly  he  joined  to  the  missive  some  of  his  pictures. 


*  The  original,  in  Bonclunrs 
Belazione,  u.  «.»  pp.  9-10,  may  be 
compared  with  a  letter  from 
Aietino  to  Guidubaldo,  Duke  of 


Urbino,  dated  Dec.  1547,  in  Let- 
tere  di  M.  P.  Aret«»,  iv.  131-2 ; 
and  Aretino  to  Titian,  of  a  similar 
date,  Ibid.  133. 


166  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.         [Chap.  V 


perhaps  the  Venus  and  Cupid  of  the  Uffizi.  It  is 
a  proof  of  the  prince's  regard  for  the  painter  that 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  accede  to  his  wishes,  but 
forwarded  the  letter  w^ith  the  following  covering 
despatch : 

GUIDUBALDO,   DUKE   OF   TJEBINO,   TO   CAEDINAL 

FAENESE. 

"Most  Illustrious  and  Reverend  Sionor,  and 
most  respected  brother- in-law. 

'*  I  greatly  love  Messer  Tiziano,  because  of 
his  rare  qualities,  as  well  as  because  he  has  particular 
claims  on  my  friendship.  He  communicates  in  the 
enclosed  his  wishes  and  desires  to  your  Illustrious 
Lordship ;  and  I  beg  you  to  be  convinced  that  the 
matter  in  question  is  quite  as  much  desired  by  me  as 
it  is  by  him,  and  not  more  grateful  if  in  the  interest 
of  Titian  than  it  would  be  if  for  my  own  convenience. 
I  therefore  beg  you  to  deign  to  do  us  both  this  favour, 
for  which  I  shall  be  obliged  as  much  as  he,  and  I  kiss 
your  hands. 

"Servant,  and  Brother-in-law, 

"The  Duke  op  Urbino.*'* 

**  Frcni  Pesako,  January  8,  1548." 

The  patronage  of  the  Duke  was  perhaps  of  less 
service  to  Titian  in  his  relations  with  Cardinal  Farnese 
than  the  evident  inclination  of  the  Emperor.  The 
nimbus  which  surroilnded  the  painter  had  gained  new 


*  Ronchini*s  Belazione,  p.  10. 


Chap.  V.]  TITLVN  AT  CENEDA.  167 

—  — — ■    -    —       —  I        ■         ■       ■   ■  ■         ■■■■  -    ■    ■■  11      ■      ■  l■^^■■■■■  ■■     ■  ■     »■    ■  1.     ■    i^^p— < 

radiance.  It  dazzled  the  prelate,  who  hastened  to 
perfonn  one  at  least  of  his  numerous  promises.  The 
benefice  of  CoUe  we  may  believe  was  given  to  Titian, 
whilst  the  seals  of  the  Piombo  were  handed  to 
Guglielmo  della  Porta ;  and  Titian,  in  February, 
received  the  compliments  of  AretiQO  on  the  successful 
attainment  of  his  wishes.* 

It  was  on  Christmas  Day  in  1547  that  Aretino 
received  the  **Ecce  Homo,"  which  was  a  replica  of 
that  taken  by  his  friend  to  Augsburg.  On  the  sixth 
of  the  following  January  Titian  was  at  Ceneda  where 
Count  Girolamo  della  Torre  gave  him  a  letter  of  intro- 
duction to  Cardinal  Madruzzi.  We  left  that  prelate  a 
short  time  before  bearing  the  Emperor's  summons  to 
the  Pope  to  translate  the  Council  from  Bologna  to 
Trent. 

"  I  hear,'*  says  Della  Torre  "  that  your  Lordship  has 
left  Rome  and  returned  to  the  court  of  his  Majesty. 
I  therefore  take  this  opportunity  of  presenting  to  your 
Lordship  Titian  the  painter,  the  first  man  in  Christen- 
dom, whom  I  ask  you  to  treat  as  you  would  treat 
myself,  and  who  is  coming  at  the  Emperor's  bidding 
to  do  work  for  his  Majesty.""}' 

We  are  not  informed  as  to  the  particulars  of  Titian's 
journey,  but  let  us  picture  to  ourselves  an  old  man  of 
seventy  setting  out  on  a  long  and  tiring  ride  in  the 
heart  of  winter,  crossing  the  Alps  in  January  to  take 
up  his  residence  in  one  of  the  coldest  cities  of  Southern 


*  See  Aretino  to  Quidubaldo,  I  andYaaarifXii.  233;  andxiii.  120. 
in  Lettere  di  M.  F.  A*^,  iy.  146 ;  I      f  The  oiiginal  in  Appendix* 


168  TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V. 

Germany.  Ceneda,  Trent,  Innspruck,  the  finest  of 
Alpine  towns,  charm  us  in  summer  or  in  spring. 
But  who  amongst  us  would  now  undertake  Titian's 
journey  and  visit  them  in  winter  ? 

Augsburg,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  was  an  Imperial 
city,  surrounded  with  wall  and  bastion,  but  larger  and 
more  airy  than  Nuremberg,  to  which  it  was  inferior  in 
the  character  of  its  architecture.  At  Nuremberg  every 
church  was  a  carved  shrine,  every  house  a  jewel,  every 
fountain  a  miracle  of  fretwork.  At  Augsburg  churches 
and  monasteries  were  imposing  for  their  size  and 
extent,  and  the  age  of  some  of  their  parts,  they  were 
not  monuments  worthy  of  any  special  admiration. 
What  might  strike  Titian  would  be  the  breadth  and 
length  and  the  quaint  aspect  of  the  principal  street, 
the  numerous  houses  covered  with  frescos,  and  a 
certain  medley  of  tints  which  might  remind  him  of  the 
painted  fa§ades  of  Verona  or  Treviso.  There  was 
nothing  really  imposing  at  Augsburg  except  the  bril- 
liant Imperial  Court  with  its  suite  of  dukes  and 
electors,  the  diet  presided  over  by  Granvelle  and  the 
patriciate  which  hid  its  head  at  the  reformation,  and 
now  stood  defiant  round  Charles's  throne.  The  courtiers 
were  well  known  to  Titian,  the  merchant  princes 
equally  so,  many  of  them  having  acquired  their  wealth 
at  the  Fondaco.  It  was  difficult  to  name  a  single 
member  of  the  house  of  Fugger  that  had  not  resided 
in  Titian's  vicinity  :  Jacob  Fugger,  who  built  the  alms- 
houses still  known  as  the  Fuggerei ;  Anton  Fugger, 
who  negotiated  the  capitulation  of  Augsburg  in  1547, 
owned  a  palace  at  Venice,  and  Anton's  sons,  John^ 


Chap.  V.]    CHABLES  THE  FIFTH  EECEIVES  TITIAN.      169 


James,  and  Geoige,  were  traders  whose  money  bags 
had  often  been  opened  for  the  benefit  of  Arctino.* 

Titian's  stay  with  Charles  the  Fifth  was  contem- 
porary with  the  suppression  of  the  liberties  of  Augs- 
burg. It  was  then  that  Charles  took  the  religious 
movement  in  hand,  imposed  the  compromise  called  the 
interim,  suppressed  the  guilds  and  restored  the  patri- 
cians to  power.  Titian  wrote  of  all  this  to  Aretino, 
told  him  at  once  of  the  gracious  reception  which  the 
Emperor  had  given  him  ;  and  of  Charles'  intention  to 
give  a  dowry  to  "  Austria,"  the  "  Scourge's ''  daughter  ; 
and  in  April  communicated  the  grateful  intelligence 
that  his  Majesty  had  sat  to  him,  and  would  be  repre- 
sented in  the  armour,  and  on  the  horse  which  had  been 
at  Miihlberg.t  To  Lotto  he  also  sent  his  compliments 
in  April,  wishing  he  were  with  him,  so  good  a  painter 
and  judge  being  invaluable  as  a  critic.  In  May  he 
had  exhausted  part  of  his  supply  of  colours,  and 
begged  Aretino,  cum  instantia,  to  ti*ansmit  half  a 
pound  of  lake  by  the  first  Imperial  messenger.  J 

On  the  10th  of  June,  Charles  the  Fifth  signed  a 
patent  doubling  Titian's  pension  on  the  treasury  of 
Milan ;  Natale  Musi,  the  faithful  agent  of  Ferrando 
Gonzaga,  then  governor  of  Milan,  hastened  to  inform 
his  master  "  that  the  Emperor  really  meant  Titian's 
pension  to  be  paid   regularly  at  Venice,  and  Titian 


*  Lettere  di  M.  F.  Aretino,  iii. 
239,258;  iy.  52  &  169. 

t  Aretino  to  Titian,  Feb.  1548 ; 
Aretino  to  the  Prince  of  Salerno, 
of  the  same  date ;  and  Aretino  to 
Titian,  April,  1548,  in  Lettere  di 


M.  P.  A.,  iv.  153,  155  &  202. 

X  Aretino  to  Lorenzo  Lotto, 
April,  1548.  The  same  to  Lo- 
renzetto  Ck>rriere,  May,  1548,  in 
Lettere,  iy.  215  &  252.' 


170 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V. 


prayed  he  would  do  so,  and  accept  a  portrait  of 
the  Emperor.*  From  Speyer,  in  August,  Giovanni 
Battista  Cattani  wrote  to  promise  that  he  would  duly 
solicit  the  Bishop  of  Arras  (Anthony  Granvelle)  in 
favour  of  Titian.  He  added  that  nothing  had  caused 
him  more  pain,  except  the  parting  with  "Signora 
Marina,"  than  the  parting  with  the  painter  at  Augs- 
burg. The  portrait  of  "  Pirrovano,"  he  continued, 
had  suffered  some  injury  in  the  face,  he  begged 
that  his  might  be  well  packed  before  being  sent,  and 
suggested  as  a  change  the  previous  lengthening  of  the 
beard.f  The  scantiness  of  the  news  contained  in 
these  few  sentences  is  compensated  by  a  brilliant 
picture  of  artistic  industry,  and  a  noble  series  of 
historical  portraits. 

When  the  Emperor,  forgetting  his  gout  and  asthma, 
and  neglecting  his  doctor's  advice,  rode  to  the  Saxon 
frontier  in  March,  1547,  to  encounter  his  enemies,  he 
was  described  by  the  Protestants  as  little  better  than 
a  mummy  or  a  ghost,  yet  there  was  "a  will  and  a 
way "  in  the  worn  frame  of  the  Kaiser ;  and  a  spring 


•  The  patent  is  in  Gaye,  Car- 
teggio,  ii.  3G9 ;  the  letter  of  Musi, 
dated  Augsburg,  June  12,  1548, 
in  Bonchini,  Relazioni,  n.  .s.,  pp. 
11—12. 

t  G.  B.  Cattani,  from  Speyer, 
August  30,  1548,  to  Titian  at 
Augsburg,  in  Gaye,  Carteggio,  ii. 
372.  Sandrart  says  (Academia 
Artis  pictorise),  **  Augusts©  Vin- 
delicorum  .  .  .  pro  familia  Pe- 
ronnasorum,  qui  mercatores  erant 
opus  elaborabat  magnum  in  quo 
scenographice  quinque  architec- 


turso  ordines  exhibuerat."  Is 
there  any  connection  between  the 
family  noted  by  Sandrart,  and 
Oattani's  Pirrovano  ?  But  again 
let  us  compare  the  above  passage 
&om  Sandrart  with  the  following 
from  Vasari  (xiii.  50):  **In  Au- 
gusta fece  (Paris  Bordone)  per  i 
Priueri  un  quadrone  grande  dove 
in  prospettiva  mise  tutti  i  cinque 
ordini  d*architettura."  Bordone's 
picture  is  now  in  the  Gallery  of 
Vienna.  Did  Titian  also  paint 
this  subject  P 


Chap.  V.]    CHAELES  THE  FIFTH  AT  MUHLBEEG.  171 


of  freshness  rose  to  the  surface  when  the  monarch  was 
roused  to  revenge  or  assured  of  victory.  Charles  came 
into  the  field  on  the  day  of  Miihlberg,  in  burnished 
armour  inlaid  with  gold,  his  arms  and  legs  in  chain 
mail,  his  hands  gauntletted,  a  morion  with  a  red 
plume — but  without  a  visor — on  his  head.  The  red 
scarf  with  gold  stripes — cognizance  of  the  House  of 
Burgundy — hung  across  his  shoulders,  and  he  brand- 
ished with  his  right  hand  a  sharp  and  pointed  spear. 
The  chestnut  steed,  half  hid  in  striped  housings,  had  a 
head-piece  of  steel  topped  by  a  red  feather  similar  to 
that  of  its  master.  In  full  panoply  Charles  dashed 
across  a  dangerous  ford  of  the  Elbe,  his  pale  and 
colourless  face  stUl  marked  by  hooked  nose,  large 
mouth  and  projecting  chin,  and,  if  possible,  thinner, 
more  hollow,  and  not  less  blenched  than  of  old.  One 
great  change  marked  his  appearance.  The  red  hair  of 
earlier  days  had  turned  to  a  chestnut  brown  com- 
mingled with  copious  grey."' 

At  the  Emperor's  side  rode  Ferdinand,  his  brother, 
a  short  figure  with  short  brown  red  hair,  and  bushy 
eyebrows,  high  cheek  bones,  and  sunken  cheeks,  his 
eagle  nose  more  prominent  than  ever  since  the  thick 
and  protruding  lips  had  beei^  covered  by  a  new  growth 
of  beard.t    Both  saw  the  Elector  as  he  came  a  prisoner 


•  A  description  of  Charlee's 
appearance  is  in  the  Belation  of 
Mocenigo,  the  Venetian  envoy, 
in  F.  B.  von  Bucholtz's  Oeschichte 
der  Begierung  Ferdinands  des 
Ersten,  8vo,  Wien,  1835,  vol.  vi. 
pp.  498— -501. 


t  Belazione  of  B.  Navagero, 
Venetian  envoy  at  the  Court  of 
King  Ferdinand  (1547),  in  Bu- 
choltz  [F.  B.  von],  Geschicht^ 
der  Begierung  Ferdinands  des 
Ersten,  u,  «.,  vol.  vi.  p.  493. 


172  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V. 

escorted  by  Ippolito  da  Porto,  bending  his  head  for 
shame,  th^  blood  flowing  fiom  a  gash  in  his  cheek. 
He  had  been  riding  in  plain  sable  annour,  which 
made  his  fat  and  unwieldy  frame  look  fatter  and  more 
unwieldy  than  ever.  As  he  approached  the  "  ghost  of 
a  kaiser  "  and  the  wiry  king, — the  latter  assailed  him 
with  a  torrent  of  abuse,  the  former  called  out :  "  Do 
you  now  acknowledge  me  as  Koman  Emperor,"  on 
which  John  Frederick  with  dignity  rephed:  "I  am 
to-day  but  an  unfortunate  prisoner,  and  beg  your 
Imperial  Majesty  will  treat  me  as  a  bom  prince,'^ 
which  his  Majesty  would  not  promise  to  do.  Maurice 
of  Saxony,  at  that  time  twenty-eight  years  of  age, 
rode  twenty  hours,  and  came  home  to  find  the  father 
of  his  house  a  captive,  and  his  own  claims  to  the 
electorate  secure.  The  Duke  of  Alva,  who  led  the 
army,  was  the  first  to  receive  the  submission  of  John 
Frederick  after  he  had  yielded — ^rescue  or  no  rescue — 
to  his  own  vassal,  Thilo  von  Trotha.  It  was  he  who 
led  the  van  after  the  surrender  of  Wittenberg,  to  him 
that  Charles  entrusted  John  Frederick  and  Philip  of 
Hesse  after  the  conference  of  Halle.  It  was  a  weary 
journey  for  the  two  electors,  Philip  of  Hesse  more 
particularly  feeling  the  irksomeness  of  imprisonment. 
On  the  23rd  of  July,  1547,  whilst  PhiKp  was  detached 
to  Donauwerth,  John  Frederick  was  taken  to  Augs- 
burg, where  he  spent  a  year  in  comparative  quiet 
He  was  lodged  in  a  roomy  house  opposite  the  palace 
of  the  Fuggers,  where  the  Emperor  resided,  and  a 
bridge  was  thrown  across  the  street^  to  allow  the 
Kaiser's  seeing  his  prisoner.    He  had  his  own  servants 


Ghap.  v.]        JOHN  FBEDEBICK  OP  SAXONY. 


173 


and  liberty  to  ride  out  for  exercise.  The  Spanish 
guard  was  nominaUy  forbidden  to  enter  his  drawing- 
room  and  bedroom,  but  it  is  said  the  soldiers  often 
showed  him  for  money.  From  a  window  of  his  house 
he  was  forced,  in  February,  1548,  to  witness  the  solemn 
entry  of  his  kinsman  Maurice,  when  he  received  invest- 
ment of  the  Saxon  electorate.  Meanwhile,  Charles 
the  Fifth  had  assembled  the  Diet.  There  was  high 
company  in  the  palaces  of  Augsburg,  and  the  king 
and  princes  of  the  Empire  brought  their  ladies  to 
grace  the  ceremonies  with  their  presence.  Charles, 
notoriously  saturnine  and  moody  at  this  period,  saw 
nobody,  sat  alone  at  dinner,  and  ate  enormously  as 
he  received  the  dishes  from  pages  whose  worn  dress 
and  patches  did  not  escape  the  observant  eye  of  the 
Venetian  Mocenigo.  In  the  early  morning  his  valet 
Adrian,  who  could  neither  read  nor  write,  would  go 
quietly  to  the  residence  of  the  Granvelles,  and  return 
with  a  slip  of  paper  containing  the  instructions  set 
down  for  hia  political  conduct  by  the  Chancellor.*^ 
No  minister  had  ever  inspired  his  master  with  so 
much  confidence — ^not  even  Cardinal  Gattinara,  nor 
the  bold  but  clever  Covos.  But  if  guests  were  not 
frequent  at  the  Emperor's  table,  his  brother  Ferdi- 
nand, who  willingly  undertook  the  duties  of  hospi- 
tality, often  attended  with  pleasure  the  numerous 
balls  and  dinners  that  were  given  at  this  festive  time. 
The  Welsers,  Baumgartners,  and  Fuggers,  who  owned 


*  Mocenigo,  Belazione  in  Bu- 
dioltz,  Gescihiclite  der  Begiemng 


Ferdinands  des  Ersten,  vol.  yi. 
p.  517. 


174  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.         [Chap.  V. 

seven  millions  of  gold  gulden  between  them,  were 
but  too  glad  to  lend  their  money  to  King  and  Emperor, 
and  the  former  kept  regal  court  for  himself  apart  firom 
his  sons  Maximilian  and  Ferdinand,  whilst  a  fourth 
establishment,  with  all  the  paraphernalia  of  state,  was 
maintained  at  Innspruck  for  the  benefit  of  the  King's 
daughters.  Besides  these  royalties,  there  were  present 
at  Augsburg,  during  the  sittings  of  the  diet,  Mary, 
Queen  Dowager  of  Hungary,  for  whose  person  and 
advice  both  Charles  and  Ferdinand  had  always  the 
greatest  respect ;  Christine,  widow  of  two  husbands ; 
Francesco  Sforza  and  Francis  of  Lorraine ;  Anna, 
daughter  of  King  Ferdinand,  with  her  husband  Albert 
the  Third,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  and  four  of  her  sisters  ; 
Dorothy,  sister  to  Christine,  and  wife  of  the  Count 
Palatine  Frederick  the  Second ;  Nicole  Bonvalot,  the 
wife  of  Chancellor  Granvelle ;  Philibert  Emmanuel  of 
Savoy,  betrothed  to  one  of  the  King's  daughters,  whom 
he  never  married ;  Maurice  of  Saxony,  the  Duke  of 
Alva,  the  Prince  of  Salerno,  the  Granvelles,  Gaztelii 
Figueroa,  Vargas,  Alexander  Vitelli,  Giovanni  Cas- 
taldo,  and  numerous  Spanish  and  Italian  captains. 

According  to  the  testimony  of  Mocenigo,  the 
Venetian  envoy  at  the  diet  of  1547-8,  Nicholas 
Granvelle  had  once  been  lowly  and  poor,  but  was 
now  rich  and  likely  to  be  richer.*  About  sixty 
years  old  and  sickly,  but  still  courtly  and  supple, 
he  was  reputed  to  understand  affairs  of  state  better 
than  any  man  living.*     Charles  the  Fifth  called  him 


*  Belazione  of  M.  Mocenigo,  in  Bucholtz,  toI.  vi.  p.  516. 


Chap,  V.] 


THE  GBANVELLES. 


175 


his  "  bed  of  rest/'  *  because  he  was  fertile  in  ex- 
pedients and  seldom  at  a  loss  for  ways  of  doing 
things.  Though  it  was  openly  said  that  he  received 
presents,  it  was  stated  with  equal  openness  that 
Charles  the  Fifth  was  aware  of  the  fact  and  connived 
at  it.  Anthony  Granvelle,  the  son  of  Nicholas  did 
not  require — though  he  possibly  did  not  disdain — ^this 
source  of  income,  being  in  receipt  of  14000  ducats  from 
benefices  and  sharing  with  his  father  the  confidence 
of  the  Emperor. 

One  of  the  most  graphic  passages  in  the  voluminous 
work  of  Hortleder  is  that  in  which  the  two  Granvelles 
are  described  as  proceeding  on  a  hot  day  in  July,  1548, 
to  the  lodging  of  John  Frederick  of  Saxony  and  try- 
ing by  cajolery  and  threats  to  make  him  accept  the 
interim. t  The  Chancellor,  a  tall  man  in  a  black  robe, 
wearing  the  order  of  the  Golden  Fleece  is  conspicuous 
by  h:s  white  beard  falling  forked  from  a  heavy  under- 
jaw.  The  upper  lip  is  fringed  with  a  mere  stripe  of 
moustache,  and  commanded  by  a  heavy  fleshy  nose, 
the  high  and  vaulted  forehead  lost  in  sj^arse  and 
downy  hair  of  doubtful  colour;  but  the  eyebrows 
are  bushy  as  they  overhang  an  eye  shai-p  in  glance 
but  lying  shallow  under  a  broad  pair  of  Uds.  Intel- 
lect and  shrewdness  were  the  qualities  which  spoke 
out  of  this  statesman's  face.  The  bishop  his  son  was 
almost  the  counterpart  of  his  father,  but  his  forehead 


♦  Chailes  the  Fifth  to  PhUip, 
in  Weiss  (C.)i  Papiers  d'Etat  du 
Cardinal  de  Granvelle,  4to,  Paris, 
1843,  i.  pp.  ii. — vi. 


t  Hortleder,  Eomisch.  Xeyser 
HandlungeD,  &c,  fol.,  Gota,  1645; 
ii.  940,  and  following. 


176  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V. 


was  less  high,  his  nose  and  eyes  were  smaller,  the 
beard  and  hair  shorter,  more  copious,  and  curly. 
Both  men  were  burly,  but  neither  showed  the  plethoric 
stoutness  peculiar  to  the  elector. 

John  Frederick  was  so  fat  that  the  confinement 
which  he  endured  in  the  heat  of  summer  was  most 
irksome  to  him.  His  habit  was  so  portly  that  riding 
necessarily  distressed  both  man  and  horse.  Looking 
at  the  black  armour  which  he  wore  at  Miihlberg  as 
it  stands  in  the  Ambras  Museum  at  Vienna,  we  can 
easily  imagine  that  none  but  a  weighty  Frisian 
stalKon  could  carry  it  and  its  wearer.  John  Frederick 
had  a  favourite  charger  of  this  muscular  race;  and 
Charles  the  Fifth  recognised  the  Elector  on  the  battle- 
field by  his  horse,  because  he  bestrode  the  same  animal 
at  the  Diet  of  Speyer  in  1544.  Both  Cranach  and 
Titian  have  immortalized  the  features  and  figure  of 
John  Frederick  as  they  immortalized  those  of  the 
Emperor  and  his  family.  He  had  fat  sides,  fat 
cheeks,  fat  hands,  a  bull  neck,  out  of  which  the  head 
rose  like  a  truncated  cone.  The  eye  was  large,  blood- 
shot and  apoplectic,  the  eyebrow  spare,  the  forehead 
sharply  marked  at  the  centre  by  a  black  "cow's-lick." 
The  skull  was  displayed  by  dark  close  shorn  hair,  whilst 
the  beard  clung  short  and  frizzy  to  the  hanging  jaws. 

This  obese  yet  choleric  apparition  was  very  cool 
under  the  threats  and  arguments  of  the  Granvelles. 
John  Frederick  was  prepared  for  the  worst,  which  in 
his  case  would  be  closer  seclusion  and  restraint.  He 
refused  to  surrender  the  Confession  of  Augsburg ;  and 
wandered  with  Charles  the  Fifth  in  August  1548  to 


Chap.  V.]  POETRAITS  AT  AUGSBUEG.  177 

Ghent  and  Brussels,  from  whence  in  course  of  time 
he  wandered  back  again  to  Germany. 

It  is  characteristic  of  the  activity  of  Titian  that  he 
portrayed,  during  his  stay  at  Augsburg,  not  only  the 
Emperor  and  his  captives,  but  most  of  the  royal  and 
princely  persons  who  attended  on  Charles  the  Fifth. 

Mary,  Queen  Dowager  of  Hungary,  who  lived 
alternately  at  Brussels  or  in  the  country  residence  of 
her  brother  in  the  Netherlands,  was  one  of  the  most 
exalted  of  the  painter's  sitters.  She  was  represented 
in  "  every-day  dress  "  on  canvas.  Her  two  relatives, 
Christine  and  Dorothy,  followed;  then  came  Mary 
Jacqueline  of  Baden,  widow  of  William  the  First  of 
Bavaria ;  Anna,  Consort  of  Albert  the  third  Duke  of 
Bavaria,  and  her  four  sisters,  each  of  whom,  as  daughter 
of  King  Ferdinand,  was  allowed  to  sit  separately. 
King  Ferdinand  himself  was  depicted  "in  armour,  but 
without  a  morion;*'  after  him,  his  sons  Maximilian 
and  Ferdinand,  then  Philibert  Emmanuel  of  Savoy, 
Maurice  of  Saxony  in  armour,  and  the  Duke  of  Alva 
with  cuirass  and  scarf  * 

All  these  portraits  were  taken  by  order  of  the 
Emperor,  or  by  command  of  Mary  of  Hungary,  to  the 
Netherlands,  where  they  were  kept  either  at  Brussels 
or  at  Binche  till  the  court  retired  to  Spain  in  1556. 
As  late  as  1582  Argote  de  Molina  saw  several  of  them 
in  the  Palace  of  Pardo,  and  it  is  presumed  that  they 
perished  in  the  fire  of  1608.t 


*  See  the  inyentories  of  Mary 
of  Hungary's  pictures,  in  Bevue 
TJniyerselle  des  Arts,  t». «.,  yol.  iii. 


pp.  127,  and  Sol, ;  and  Yas.  ziii. 
p.  38. 
t  Bevne  Univ.  iii.  p.  145. 


VOL.   II.  N 


178 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V. 


Charles  the  Fifth,  as  he  rode  at  Miihlberg,  John 
Frederick  as  he  sat  at  Augsburg  after  recovering 
from  his  wound,  Chancellor  Granvelle  and  Cardinal 
Madruzzi,  are  the  sole  extant  likenesses  which  still 
recall  this  period  of  Titian's  practice.  The  picture  of 
Charles  was  safely  taken  to  Spain,  and  subsequently 
rescued  £pom  the  fire  of  the  Palace  of  Pardo,  yet  it 
did  not  remain  unscathed,  but  hangs — a  wreck — ^in  the 
gallery  of  Madrid.  Coinciding  in  every  respect  with 
the  descriptions  of  contemporary  historians,  it  repre- 
sents the  Emperor,  cantering — large  as  life — on  a 
brown  charger,  towards  the  Elbe,  which  runs  to  the 
right,  reflectiog  the  dull  light  of  a  grey  sky,  remnant 
of  the  fog  which  at  early  mom  overhung  the  field  of 
Miihlberg.  Tall  forest  trees  form  a  dark  background 
to  the  left.  The  brightest  light  catches  the  face,  the 
white  collar  and  gorget,  and  the  polished  surface  of  the 
armour.  The  black  eye  and  bent  nose,  the  paJe  skin, 
dark  moustache,  and  short  grey  beard,  are  well  given  ; 
and  the  features,  though  blanched  and  sallow,  show 
the  momentary  gleam  of  fire  which  then  animated  the 
worn  frame  of  the  Kaiser.  That  Charles  was  not 
distinguished  by  grandeur  or  majesty  of  shape  is  very 
evident ;  nor  has  Titian  tried  to  falsify  nature  by 
importing  flattery  into  the  portrait ;  but  the  seat  of 
the  Emperor  is  natural  and  good,  his  movement  is 
correct.  The  horse  is  also  true ;  and  we  pass  over 
defects  of  hip  and  leg  to  dwell  with  the  more  pleasure 
on  the  character  and  expression  of  the  countenance.* 


•  This  canvas,  No.  457  in  the 
Madrid  Museum,  is  m.  3.32  h.  by 


2.79.    It  is  registered  in  the  in- 
ventory  of  Mary   of  Hungary 


CBARLBd  THE  FIFTH  OS  THE  FIELD  OF  UOHLBERa. 


Chap.  V.]  CHARLES  V.  AFTER  DINNER:  179 

Charles  the  Fifth  is  reported  to  have  differed  in 
many  respects  from  his  brother  Ferdinand,  but  in 
none  more  so  than  in  his  demeanour  before  company. 
When  Ferdinand  was  in  humour  he  would  make  puns 
with  the  court  fool  and  chatter  ceaselessly  with  his 
guests.  Charles  hardly  listened  to  the  jokes  of  his 
jester,  and  even  when  they  were  good,  received  them 
with  the  cold  gravity  of  a  Castilian.  Although  this 
manner  was  assumed  at  first  in  obedience  to  the 
advice  of  Covos,  who  said  that  Spaniards  required  to 
be  ti'eated  with  stiffness  and  severity,  it  became 
natural  to  Charles,  whose  sour  aspect  was  at  last  pro- 
verbial At  dinner  he  ate  copiously,  without  uttering 
a  word,  and  after  the  cloth  was  removed,  he  generally 
withdrew  to  a  corner  near  a  window,  and  sat  quite 
still  listening  to  suitors.* 

In  this  mood  and  occupation  we  may  suppose 
Titian  once  caught  him,  and  the  result  was  the 
portrait  in  the  Pinakothek  at  Munich,  where  Charles 


(Revuo  Uniyerselle  des  Arts,  u.  s,, 
iii.  139),  and  in  numerous  Spanish 
catalogues.  The  fire  of  1608  in- 
jured the  lower  part  of  the  piece, 
which  is  not  only  altered  in  con- 
tour, but  retouched  with  colours. 
The  whole  surface  is  more  or  lees 
opaque  and  dim  in  tone.  Photo- 
graph by  Laurent.  A  copy  of 
this  equestrian  portrait  was  re- 
gistered as  a  genuine  Titian  in 
the  Farnese  CoUection  in  1680, 
braccie  4  on.  5  h.  by  4  br.  6  on. ; 
another,  "  palmi  3^  h.  by  palm.  3 
e  un  dito,"  in  the  ooUection  of  |  pp.  300  &  501. 
Queen  Christine.  (Campori,  Bac-  i 

N  2 


colta  di  Cataloghi,  pp.  359  &  243 ; 
also  Scanelli's  Microoosmo,  p. 
222.)  A  clever  repetition,  on  a 
small  scale,  is  that  of  the  Bogers 
and  Baring  Collections,  where 
the  hand  of  Titian  is  aUeged,  but 
the  execution  is  more  like  that  of 
a  good  copyist,  such  as  we  have 
in  the  Spaniard,  Juan  Bautista 
Martinez  del  Maze,  the  pupil 
and  son-in-law  of  Velasquez  de 
Silva. 

*  Compare  Sasti*ow  and  Mo- 
cenigo  in  Bucholtz,  u.  $, ,  vol.  vi. 


180 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V. 


is  to  be  seen  in  black,  seated  in  an  arm  chair,  at  the 
angle  of  a  stone  court  A  gold  damask  hanging  falls 
from  a  wall  near  the  base  of  a  pillar,  and  a  screen 
of  stone  separates  the  terrace  x^here  the  Kaiser  sits 
fix)m  a  distant  landscape.  The  Emperor's  gout  re- 
quired careful  dressing.  To  sit  in  the  open  air  he 
wanted,  and  on  this  occasion  he  wore  a  black  cap, 
undressed  leather  gloves,  and  a  fur  pelisse.  The 
attitude,  the  elbows  on  the  arms  of  the  chair,  the  right 
hand  holding  the  glove,  are  set  in  Titian's  fashion,  but 
little  more  than  the  head  and  shirt-collar  are  his.  The 
rest  of  the  canvas  is  covered  with  layers  of  paint  of  a 
character  so  modern  as  even  to  exclude  the  numerous 
disciples  of  the  master.* 

Amongst  the  youths  who   accompanied   Titian  to 
Augsburg,  in  1548,  one  of  his  kinsmen  is  now  to  be 


•  This  picture  is  now  in  the 
Munich  Pinakothek,  on  canvas, 
6  ft.  4  in.  h.  by  3  ft.  9  in.,  and 
numbered  496.  It  was  abraded 
and  rubbed  down  to  such  an 
extent  that  much  of  the  detail, 
especially  in  the  background,  was 
removed.  The  surface  was  then 
covered  over,  apparently  by  a 
Fleming,  who  gave  quite  a  Dutch 
character  to  the  landscape  dis- 
tance. The  Emperor  is  seated  to 
the  left,  and  turned  to  the  right. 
The  clever  modelling  of  the  face 
and  right  hand  is  the  more  appa- 
rent since  the  final  glazings  have 
disappeared.  The  black  hose  and 
shoes,  the  rapier,  are  partly  slob- 
bered over  with  the  more  modem 
paint  of  the  waU  and  red  carpet. 
The  glove  in  the  left  hand  is  new, 


and  the  signature,   "MDXLvni, 
Titianus  F.,"  is  repainted. 

For  more  than  a  century  a 
small  replica  of  this  piece,  on 
panel,  in  the  gallery  of  Vienna 
(No.  51,  room  2,  1st  floor,  Italian 
schools,  7  in.  h.  by  6^)  passed 
for  a  sketch  for  the  canvas  at 
Munich ;  but  apart  &om  the  fact 
that  the  dress  is  differently  tinted, 
the  hose  at  Vienna  being  of  a 
brownish  yellow  instead  of  black, 
the  handling  of  the  panel  dis- 
plays none  of  the  breadth  of 
Titian  in  1548;  and  unless  we 
presuppose  a  total  alteration 
produced  by  abrasion  and  re- 
storing, the  picture  is  rather  a 
copy  by  Teniers  than  an  original 
by  Titian. 


Chap.  V.]      JOHN  PBEDEEIOK  AT  MUHLBEEG. 


ISl 


distinguished;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  the  first 
authentic  record  of  his  share  in  Titian's  labours  should 
refer  to  the  portraits  of  the  captive  Elector  of  Saxony, 
of  which  one  is  still  in  existence  :  Cesare  Vecelli  may 
have  had  a  part  in  the  detail  of  Charles'  portrait. 

He  was  the  son  of  Ettore,  own  cousin  to  Gregorio 
Vecelli,  and  assistant  to  Titian  when  he  produced  the 
portrait  of  John  Frederick  of  Saxony.  Being  struck 
with  the  Elector's  armour,  which  had  been  deposited 
for  a  time  in  his  master's  workshop,  he  made  a  draw- 
ing  of  it,  with  which  he  subsequently  illustrated  a 
book  on  costume.  In  writing  the  text  to  this  illustra- 
tion, he  not  only  observed  that  he  had  seen  Titian's 
picture  of  the  Elector,  with  the  scar  on  his  face,  rest- 
ing his  hand  on  a  baton,  but  that  the  panoply  was  that 
which  John  Frederick  wore  at  Miihlberg,  and  that  he 
was  present  as  Titian^s  pupil  when  the  portrait  was 
designed  at  the  request  of  Charles  the  Fifth.*  This 
portrait  was  one  of  those  which  Mary  of  Hungary 
took  to  Spain,  in  1556  ;  and  it  was  one  of  the  series 
which  perished  in  the  fire  of  the  Palace  of  Pardo  ;  f  a 
second  without  a  breastplate,  done  at  the  same  time, 
and  likewise  taken  to  Spain,  survived,  and  is  now 
preserved  in  the  Gallery  of  Vienna. 

At  difierent  periods  of  his  life  the  Elector  wore  his 
beard  in  different  ways.  In  the  earlier  portraits  of 
Cranach  and  his  school,  it  is  cut  short  and  brushed 


*  Cesare  Vecelli,  Degli  Abiti 
Antichi  e  Modemi,  8yo,  Yen. 
1690,  p.  61. 

t  See  the  inventory  in  Eevue 
Universelle  des  Arts,  u,  a,,  iii. 


140.  The  entry  is  as  follows: 
*  *  El  retrato  del  Duque  de  Saxonia, 
caando  fd^  preso,  armado,  y  en 
el  rostra  una  cuchiUada." 


182  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.         [Chap.  V. 

off  tlie  chin  into  the  whiskers,  giving  a  quaint  broad 
shape  to  a  face  already  very  remarkable  for  breadth. 
Almost  all  the  princes  who  signed  the  Confession  of 
Augsbm^g  wore  this  appendage,  which  is  as  character- 
istic as  cropped  hair  to  the  Puritans  of  England.  After 
the  defeat  of  the  Schmalkaldic  league,  the  Spanish 
beard,  which  is  so  remarkable  for  its  length  and  pointed 
shape,  became  fashionable,  and  John  Frederick,  in  his 
captivity,  found  it  advisable  to  conform,  thinking,  no 
doubt,  that  conformity  was  more  pardonable  in  matters 
of  dress  than  in  matters  of  religion ;  and  thus  Titian 
drew  him  with  a  pointed  and  not  with  a  swaUow- 
tailed  beard.  Like  most  productions  of  this  period, 
the  Vienna  portrait  is  a  picture  of  touch,  in  which  the 
head  and  hands  are  magnificently  laid  in  from  life, 
whilst  the  dress,  though  executed  with  care,  is  pro- 
bably done  from  memory.  Had  the  surfaces  been 
spared  by  time  and  restorers,  we  should  have  a  master- 
piece before  us.  As  it  is,  we  still  see  that  the  Elector 
sat,  and  sat  well,  and  Titian  gave  the  apoplectic  look, 
the  bloodshot  eye,  the  staring  glance,  which  are  cha- 
racteristic of  most  men  of  dark  complexion  and 
plethoric  habit.  But  where  his  mastery  is  most  ap- 
parent is  in  the  modelling  of  the  flesh,  which  displays 
the  scantling  of  bone  beneath  the  layers  of  fat  with 
a  searching  minuteness,  surprising  when  combined 
with  so  much  breadth  of  treatment.  The  features  of 
John  Frederick  have  been  described.  They  were  well 
reproduced  by  the  painter,  who  probably  had  the 
sittings  in  the  first  months  of  winter,  1548.  The 
captive  Elector  is  seated  with  his  elbows  and  hands 


Cu.\p.  v.] 


POETEAIT  OP  GRANYELLE. 


183 


at  rest,  on  the  arms  of  a  chair ;  his  coat  is  of  black- 
striped  silk,  his  black  pelisse  is  faced  with  brown  fur. 
In  his  left  he  holds  a  dark  hat.  White  linen  is 
cleverly  interposed  to  break  the  monotony  of  black  at 
the  neck  and  wrists,  and  the  scar  of  the  wound  received 
at  Miihlberg  appears  on  the  left  cheek.  Cranach  por- 
trayed the  Prince  before  and  after  Miihlberg ;  but  he 
never  ennobled  the  form  of  his  sitter.  Titian  takes 
the  fat  and  obese  figure,  sets  it  in  an  arm-chair,  and,  in 
spite  of  these  disadvantages,  imparts  to  the  shape  and 
features  a  dignified  and  princely  air.* 

Nicholas  Granvelle  was  painted  by  Titian  in  state 
dress,  with  the  chain  of  the  Golden  Fleece  round  his 
neck,  a  white  beard  falling  silken  and  abundant  to 
his  chest.  Judging  from  a  photograph  of  the  picture 
now  in  the  museum  of  Besan9on,  the  likeness  is 
speaking  and  expressive,  and  if  genuine,  one  of  the 
few  specimens  of  Titian's  art  which  remain  in  Franche 


*  Vienna  gallery,  first  floor, 
room  2,  Italian  schools,  No.  46. 
This  picture  is  3  ft.  7^  in.  h.  by 
3  ft  1  in.,  'and  painted  on  very 
fine  canTas,  to  which  a  strip  has 
been  added  at  the  top.  The  flesh 
generaUy  is  flayed  and  disco- 
loured, and  has  lost  its  glazdngs 
and  other  delicacies  of  finish.  It 
was  re-tbuched  in  the  forehead, 
in  four  fingers  of  the  right  hand, 
the  fur,  and  the  hat.  The  back- 
ground is  a  warm  grey-toned 
waU.  This  is  one  of  the  canvases 
which  only  came  to  Vienna  in 
the  eighteenth  century;  but  its 
history  after  reaching  Spain  is 
unknown.    Bubens  copied  it  to- 


gether with  that  of  the  Landgrave 
Philip,  during  his  stay  at  Madrid 
(Sainsbury  Papers,  u.  «.,  p.  237. 
Compare  also  Vasari,  xiii.  p.  38). 
That  the  portraits  were  painted 
in  1548,  rather  than  in  1550, 
seems  confirmed  by  the  entry  in 
the  inventory  of  Mary  of  Hun- 
gary's pictures  (tt.  «.),  "  Otro  ri- 
tratto  del  dicho  Duque  de  Sajonia 
cuando  estaha  preao,  hecho  por 
Ticiano.*'  There  is  a  copy  by 
Teniers  of  the  Vienna  portrait 
now  preserved  at  Blenheim.  It 
is  engraved  in  the  Teniers  GaU. 
by  L.  Vorstermann.  A  fine  pho- 
tograph by  Miethke  and  Wawra. 


184 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V. 


Comt^.*  In  earKer  days  this  province  was  greatly 
lionoured  by  the  presence  of  the  Chancellor  and  the 
Cardinal.  Both  were  pleased  to  favour  the  city  in 
which  their  ancestors  had  risen  from  obscurity.  In 
1534  Nicholas  commenced  a  palace  at  Besan9on,  which, 
he  finished  in  1540,  and  in  the  course  of  years  this 
mansion  was  filled  by  his  care  and  the  taste  of  the 
Cardinal  with  treasures  of  painting  and  sculpture. 
Here  were  several  masterpieces  by  the  greatest  artists 
of  the  revival ;  a  '*  Joconde "  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci, 
two  "  Madonnas "  and  a  "  St.  Catherine  "  by  Cor- 
reggio,  besides  a  **  Jupiter  and  Antiope"  and  the 
"Venus  and  Mercury"  of  th6  National  Gallery. 
Here  were  a  "  Venus "  by  Paris  Bordone,  the 
"Martyrs"  of  Albert  Dlirer,  a  present  from  the 
captive  John  Frederick  of  Saxony  now  at  Vienna,t 
and  numerous  canvases  by  Titian,  to  which  we  shaU 
presently  revert.^ 

At  the  death  of  Nicholas  Granvelle  the  palace  and 
collection  went  by  tail  male  to  the  Cardinal,  and 
would  have  passed  to  his  brother  Thomas,  but  that  he 
died  in  1575.  In  1586  the  Cardinal  made  a  will 
disinheriting  his  nephew  Fran9ois  the  son  of  Thomas 


*  The  canvas  in  the  Museum  of 
Be8an9on  represents  the  Chan- 
oeUor  seen  to  the  hips,  large  as 
life,  and  his  head  turned  three- 
quarters  to  the  left.  It  is  said  to 
be  the  picture  noted  in  the  G-ran- 
yelle  inventory  of  1607  (printed 
in  fall  in  A.  Gastan's  Monographie 
du  Palais  Giunvelle  k  Be8an9on, 
Svo,  Be8an9on,  1867,  p.  56),  which 
registers  t^o  likenesses  of  Ni-  I 


cholas  Gh:anvelle,  one  4  ft.  by 
3  ft.  3  in.,  the  other  3  ft.  6^  in. 
by  2  ft.  4  in.,  both  by  Titian. 

t  Soheurl,  in  G.  Sohuchardt's 
Lucas  Granach,  8vo,  Leipzig, 
1851,  p.  193. 

t  Ibid.,  and  D.  Levesque'ft 
M6m.  pour  servir  i  THistoire  du 
Gardinal  de  Gb'anvelle,  fol.,  Paris , 
1764. 


Chap,  v.]         THE  GBANVE^LE  COLLECTION. 


186 


Count  of  Cantecroix,  because  of  his  attempt  to  palm 
oflF  a  copy  of  Durer's  "Martyrs"  on  the  Emperor 
Kudolf  the  Second.  Instead  of  cutting  off  his  nephew 
with  a  shilling,  Anthony  left  him  his  portrait  by 
Titian,  and  Cantecroix,  to  show  his  contempt,  placed 
the  picture  in  a  dishonourable  part  of  his  house,  "  afin, 
disait-il,  de  lui  faire  tons  les  jours  la  grimace/^*  The 
consequence  was  the  loss  of  a  valuable  heirloom, 
without  an  equivalent  in  money.  In  1600  Cantecroix 
parted  with  several  of  the  Granvelle  pictures  to 
Eudolf  the  Second,  and  amongst  them  with  the 
**  Venus  on  a  Couch,  and  an  Organist,"  and  "  The 
Sleeping  Venus  with  a  Satyr  "  by  Titian,!  leaving  the 
portrait  of  Nicole  Bonvalot,  wife  of  the  Chancellor, 
that  of  the  Chancellor  himself  in  two  examples, 
"  Cupid  holding  a  Mirror  to  Venus,"  "  A  Golden 
Rain,"  "A  Lady  putting  on  her  Smock,"  **  A  Lady 
seated,"  "A  Colossal  Head,"  and  "A  Child,"  all  by 
Titian,  to  be  sold  or  disposed  of  by  his  heirs.  J  It  is 
hardly  necessary  to  point  out  that  the  **  Venus  with 
the  Organist''  may  be  identified  as  the  "Venus  of 
Madrid."  The  "  Venus  and  Satyr  '^  may  have  been 
the  first  form  of  the  "  Jupiter  and  Antiope,"  so  long 
called  the  "  Venus  of  Pardo  "  at  the  Louvre :  and  we 
might  thus  conclude  that  if  Titian  took  these  works  to 
Augsburg  in  1547,  they  were  sold  to  the  all-powerful 
Chancellor,  for  whom  the  master  Ukewise  painted  two 


•  L'Eyesqiie,  «,«.,!.  p.  190. 

t  Beitrage  zar  Geschichte  der 
Kmistbestrebniigen  imd  Samm- 
Inngen  Kaiser  Budolfs  II.,  von 


Ludwig  TJhrlichs,  in  Zeitsohrift 
fQr  bildende  Eunst,  tu  «.,  yol.  y.^ 
pp.  136,  and  following. 
X  Castan  u.  s. 


IS" 


•> 


TITIAX:   HIS  LII.'S  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V. 


portraits  of  himself,  a  portrait  of  his  wife,  and  one  of 
Anthony  as  Bishop  of  Arraa 

Christopher  Madmzzi,  to  whom  Titian,  as  we  saw, 
was  introduced  by  Count  della  Torre,  was  but  thirty- 
five  years  old  when  Charles  the  Fifth  sent  him  to 
challenge  the  Pope  to  translate  the  council  of  Bologna. 
There  was  a  certain  fitness  in  the  despatch  to  Rome 
on  such  an  errand  of  a  man  who  was  not  only  an 
ecclesiastical  dignitary  of  the  first  rank  but  prince- 
bishop  of  Trent.  Titian's  likeness  of  this  churchman 
is  still  preserved  at  Trent  in  the  house  of  the  Sal- 
vadori,  the  last  descendants  by  collateral  lines  of  a 
most  potent  family.  The  prelate  stood  to  the  master 
in  the  black  robes  and  hat  of  a  prince-bishop,  disdain- 
ing as  it  were  the  cardinal's  dress.  He  walks  like  a 
minister  busy  with  the  cares  of  state  over  a  red 
carpet,  a  ministerial  paper  in  his  left  hand,  his  right 
raising  the  red  curtain  which  partly  conceals  a  study- 
table  covered  with  a  green  cloth,  and  laden  with  a 
clock  and  letters.  Though  injured,  this  fine  full-length 
is  painted  quickly  and  with  a  masterly  hand.  As  if 
the  sitter  had  but  little  time  to  spare,  the  lines  of  his 
form  are  swept  on  to  the  canvas  with  rapid  strokes, 
and    modelled  with    broad    touches  without    much 


thought  of  delicate  transitions  or  glazed  tonings. 


* 


*  Christoforo  Madruzzi  was 
bom  in  1512.  His  direct  line 
expired  in  1658,  when  the  agnates 
Barons  of  Boccahruna  inherited 
the  family  dignities  and  heir- 
looms. From  these  the  property 
came  in  1837  to  the  Barons  Isidore 


and  Valentino  Salvadori  of  Trent, 
who  now  own  the  portrait.  The 
figure  of  Cardinal  Madrozzi  is  a 
fnll  length  of  life  size,  on  canvas. 
Injured  by  time  and  restoring, 
especially  in  the  flesh  parts,  it  is 
still  fine,  though  depriyed  of  the 


PliOMETHEUS. 


CiLVP.  v.]       POETRAIT  OP  KING  FERDINAND. 


18: 


In  the  intervals  that  were  not  taken  up  with  this 
form  of  pictorial  labour  Titian  varied  his  leisure,  even 
at  Augsburg,  with  the  composition  of  subjects,  and  he 
produced  for  Queen  Mary  of  Hungary  "  Prometheus,'' 
"  Sisyphus,''  "  Ixion,"  and  "  Tantalus,"  which  Calvete 
d'Estrella  saw  in  1549  at  Binche,  before  they  were 
sent  to  Spain  to  perish  by  fire  at  the  Palace  of  Pardo. 
Two  copies,  by  Sanchez  Coello,  the  "  Prometheus  "  and 
"  Sisyphus,"  in  the  Madrid  Museum,  alone  survive  to 
tell  of  Titian's  industry.* 

Though  Titian's  portrait  of  King  Ferdinand  perished 
in  Spain,  there  is  reason  to  think  that  the  original  sketch 
may  have  been  preserved-f     Amongst  the  Barbarigo 


brio  of  Titian's  touch  and  tone, 
and  opaque  in  most  of  its  sur- 
faces. This  portrait  was  known 
to  Yasari  (xiii.  p.  33). 

•  •*  Ptometheus,"  No.  466, 
"Sisyphus,"  No.  465,  in  the 
Madrid  Museum,  are  stiU  as- 
cribed, though  not  without  hesi- 
tation, to  Titian.  When  Maiy  of 
Hungary  came  oyer  to  Spain  from 
the  Netherlands  in  1556,  she  is 
recorded  to  have  taken  with  her 
two  at  least  of  these  canvases, 
the  existence  of  which  was  known 
to  Yasari  (xiii.  38-39),  and  Lo- 
mazzo  (Trattato,  u.  s. ,  676).  The 
'* Tantalus"  and  **Ixion"  (In- 
ventory of  1558  —  Simancas — 
printed  in  Beyue  TJniyerselle  des 
Arts,  «.«.,  iii.  pp.  140 — 141),  are 
described  as  "Tiejos  e  gastados 
que  estaban  en  la  Casa  de  Yinz." 
These,  and  the  ''Sisyphus"  and 
''Prometheus"  of  the  Madrid 
Museum  were  himg,  according 
to  Carducci,  in  the  Alcazar  of 


Madrid,  the  latter  being  already 
known  as  copies  by  S.  Coello. 
(See  Madrazo's  Catalogue  of  the 
Madrid  Museum.)  Since  then 
the  "Tantalus"  and  "Ixion" 
perished.  The  two  remaining 
canvases  are  fine  copies,  and 
nothing  more.  Prometheus  hangs 
downwards,  his  feet  being  chained 
to  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  his  arms 
being  thrown  abroad  wildly  as 
the  bird  pecks  at  the  breast ;  a 
snake  crawls  on  the  right  hand 
foreground.  Sisyphus  bends  under 
the  weight  of  a  rook  on  his  shoul- 
ders. Both  canvases,  but  "  Si- 
syphus" more  than  "Prome-' 
theus,"  are  greatly  injured.  The 
"  Prometheus  "  was  engraved  by 
Oort  in  1566,  by  M.  Eota  in  1570. 
"  Sisyphus  rolling  a  large  stone  " 
was  one  of  the  Titians  in  the 
Buckingham  Collection,  4  f.  6  h. 
by  3,  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
(Bathoe,  u.  «.,  p.  2). 
-f  Amongst  the  "copies  from 


188 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V. 


heirlooms,  of  which  we  remember  some  transferred 
to  the  collection  of  Count  Giustiniani  Barbarigo,  at 
Padua,  we  note  one  under  the  name  of  Morone, 
representing  Ferdinand,  with  short  cropped  chestnut 
hair  and  pointed  beard,  seated  in  an  arm-chair. 
Through  an  opening  to  the  left,  a  distance  of  sky  and 
trees  is  seen;  behind  the  chair,  a  brown  hanging. 
The  king  wears  the  obligate  pelisse  of  black  silk,  with 
a  broad  fur  collar,  and  round  his  neck  the  chain  and 
Order  of  the  Golden  Fleece.  His  hands  rest  on  the 
arms  of  the  chair,  and  the  thick  underlip  of  the  Bur- 
gundian  Dukes,  noted  by  historians  as  a  prominent 
feature  in  the  monarch's  face,  is  very  clearly  displayed. 
The  canvas,  unfortunately,  was  so  heavUy  repainted 
that  Titian's  original  touches  have  been  lost,  but  there 
is  something  Titianesque  in  the  look  of  the  piece, 
which  is  foreign  to  Morone,  and  it  may  be  that  here 
again  modem  daubing  covers  the  handiwork  of  a  great 
master. 

Titian  painted  not  only  Ferdinand,  his  two  sons 
and  five  daughters,  but  on  liis  way  from  Augsburg  to 
Venice,  in  October,  1548,  he  called  at  the  royal 
palace  of  Innspruck,  and  made  a  family  picture  of  the 
King's  children.  A  letter  which  he  wrote  after  he 
sketched  in  this  canvas  has  been  preserved,  and  proves 
that  he  put  Ferdinand  under  contribution  much  in 
the  same  way  as  Charles  the  Fifth.     Just  as  he  asked 


Titian*'  in  the  Museiixn  of  Madrid, 
is  a  portrait  of  Ferdinand  in 
armour,  with  his  right  hand  on  a 
helmet  lyiog  on  a  table,  and  his 
left  on  the  hilt  of  hiB  sword;  a 


half-length  of  life  size.  That  and 
an  engrayiDg  by  P.  de  Jode,  is 
all  that  remains  to  tell  of  Titian's 
labours  in  this  case. 


Chap.  V.]      CHILDREN  OF  KING  FERDINAND.  189 

■ 

the  Emperor  in  early  days  to  give  him  a  privilege  to 
import  com  from  Naples,  he  now  asked  Ferdinand  to 
allow  him  to  cut  timber  in  the  Tjrrolese'forests,  and  it 
is  curious  to  find  that  the  letter  written  to  press  this 
request  was  translated  into  German  in  the  King's 
Chancery ;  thus  proving  that,  however  much  his- 
torians may  boast,  Ferdinand  was  not  so  familiar  with 
the  Italian  language  as  to  read  it  currently. 

titian  to  eing  ferdinand. 

"Most    Serene    and    Powerful    King,   most 
Clement  Lord, 

"  Though  your  Majesty,  of  your  Royal 
bounty,  did  me  the  grace  to  remit  in  my  favour  one 
hundred  ...  of  the  duty  on  the  timber  which  I  am 
authorised  for  the  next  three  years  to  carry,  yet,  most 
gracious  Lord,  I  find,  whilst  soliciting  here  the  expedi- 
ting of  this  matter,  that  the  councillors  of  the  chamber 
(kammerrathe)  raise  difficulties  as  to  the  liberty  to  cut 
trees  in  the  forest  of  Rorbolt  (?),  on  the  ground  that 
your  Majesty's  order  makes  no  mention  of  cutting,  and 
that  the  wood  of  this  forest  is  reserved  for  the  use  of 
the  mines.  This  has  annoyed  me  the  more,  as  I  did 
not  fancy  that  the  said  councillors  would  resist  your 
Majesty's  order,  as  I  am  not  a  man  to  make  mer- 
chandize of  the  timber,  but  use  the  wood  for  myself 
and  my  buildings,  and  I  have  served  and  now  serve 
your  Majesty  with  all  the  diligence  and  fidelity  which 
can  be  expected  of  a  faithful  servant,  of  all  which 
these  gentlemen  can — if  they  choose — give  testimony. 
Therefore  I  beg  your  Majesty  to  order  that  I  shall  not 


190  TITIAN;   HIS  LIFB  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V. 

be  impeded  in  the  felling  of  timber  in  the  said  forest, 
the  more  as  other  persons,  in  the  year  last  past,  have 
felled  timber  there,  as  I  can  fully  prove,  and  there  are 
no  mines  within  twenty  German  miles  or  more. 
Doing  me  this  favour  your  Majesty  will  find  me  not 
imgrateful,  as  I  shall  try  to  acknowledge  by  all  the 
means  in  my  power. 

"The  portraits  of  the  serene  daughters  of  your 
Majesty  will  be  done  in  two  days,  and  I  shall  take 
them  to  Venice,  whence — having  finished  them  with 
all  diligence — I  shall  send  them  quickly  to  your 
Majesty.  As  soon  as  your  Majesty  has  seen  them,  I 
am  convinced  I  shall  receive  much  greater  favours 
than  those  which  have  been  previously  done  me,  and 
so  T  recommend  myself  humbly  to  your  Majesty. 

"  Your  Majesty's  faithful  servant, 

"TiTIANO.* 

"From  Innspruck,  20th  Oct,  1548." 

The  king's  daughters  at  Innspruck  when  Titian 
wrote  this  letter  were  Barbara,  nine  years  old,  Helena, 
aged  five,  and  Johanna,  a  baby  in  long  clothes,  whose 
birth  cost  its  mother  her  life  in  January,  1547.  If  we 
judge  from  the  portraits  which  hang  in  the  collection 
of  Lord  Cowper  at  Panshanger,  Titian's  share  in  them- 
was  slight  indeed.  It  seems  clear  fix>m  numerous 
signs  that  the  preparatory  work  at  Innspruck  was 
done  by  Cesare  Vecelli,  whose  pastose  handling  is 
discernible  by  its  emptiness  and  uniformity ;  and  that 


*  See  the  original  in  Appendix. 


Chap,  v.]         TITIAN'S  EETUEN  TO  VENICE. 


191 


the  master  himself  added  but  a  very  little  to  the 
heads  when  he  took  the  canvas  to  Venice.  The  baby 
in  a  cot  with  the  royal  arms,  Hes  on  a  green  carpet  in 
front  of  its  two  sisters,  who  sit  on  a  red  cushion 
behind.  Barbara  to  the  right  in  white-silk  damask, 
Helena  at  her  side  to  the  left,  holding  a  bird  in  her 
hand.  Time  and  restorers  have  not  quite  removed 
the  spirited  touches  of  Titian  in  the  hands  and  faces, 
but  all  the  rest  is  devoid  of  the  firmness  and  power 
characteristic  of  the  master's  own  treatment* 

Titian's  friends  awaited  his  return  to  Venice  in 
October  with  impatience,  proud  of  his  familiar  inter- 
course with  the  Emperor,  rejoicing  "that  he  should 
come  home  rich  as  a  prince  instead  of  poor  as  a 
painter. '^t  For  a  few  weeks  of  November  and 
December  Aretino's  palace  was  enlivened  with  the 
converse  and  feasting  of  the  full  academy,  when 
doubtless  Titian  quaintly  described  to  his  friends  the 
details  of  his  life  abroad.^  But  the  restless  old 
artist  was  after  all  not  to  be  detained  by  feasting 
and  company  any  more  than  by  hard  weather  from 
attending  to  his  worldly  interests.  At  Augsburg, 
toward  the  close  of  his  stay,  he  had  seen  the  Duke 
of  Alva  and  Cardinal  Madruzzi  start  to    fetch  the 


*  This  canyas,  with  figures  as 
large  as  life,  has  been  retouchedy 
particularly  in  the  left  hand  of 
the  baby,  and  the  deep  green 
coyerlet  of  the  cot.  On  the  back 
of  the  canvas  is  an  extract  from 
the  letter,  the  whole  of  which  is 
giyen  in  the  text. 


t  Aretino  to  Titian,  Venice, 
May,  1548,  in  Lettere  di  M.  P. 
A.,  iy.  p.  232 ;  and  the  same  to 
Corezaro,  Venice,  Oct.  1548,  in 
Lett.,  y.  p.  40. 

X  Aretino  in  Lettere,  y.  72,  78, 
81. 


192  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V. 

Emperor's  son  from  Spain.     Philip  had  made  his  way 
in  state  from  Valladolid  to  Barcelona,  and  from  Bar- 
celona to  Genoa,  and  thence  to  Milan.     His  progress 
was  called  by  the  comiiiers  the  ^^feltdssimo  viage." 
The  purpose   was  the  prince's  introduction   to  the 
potentates  of  Italy  and  Germany,  and  his  presentation 
to  the  states  of  the  Netherlands.     Titian  set  out  in 
December  to  meet  him,  confident  that  the  payment  of 
his  pension,  which  his  son  Orazio  was  vainly  urging 
at  the  time  with  the  Governor  and  Senate  of  Milan, 
would  be  made  the  sooner  if  his  claims  were  supported 
by  Alva  and  the  Cardinal  of  Trent.     A  portrait  of 
Alva,  which  he  then  painted,  suggested  to  Aretino  one 
of  his  most  flattering  sonnets,  whilst  a  likeness  oi 
Giuliano    Gosellini,    Gonzaga's    secretary,   proved   a 
mere  loss  of  time  in  so  far  as  the  person  whom  it  was 
to  influence  remained  proof  against  such  persuasion.* 
Early  in  1549  Titian  resumed  the  ordinary  routine  of 
his  existence  at  Venice,  where  repeated  allusions  in 
Aretino's  letters  reveal  the  popularity  of  his  presence 
amongst  a  host  of  admirers,  f     In  July  he  stood  god- 
father, with  Aretino,  Sansovino,  Marcantonio  Comaro, 
and  other  patricians,  to  Francesco  del  Monte,  a  near 
relative  to  Maria  del  Monte  of  Arezzo,  who  was  soon 
to  exchange  the  Cardinal's  hat  for  the  tiara,  and  give 
Aretino  hopes  of  ecclesiastical  preferment.}     Of  his 
professional  labours  we  have  unhappily  but  dubious 


*  Aretino  to  Alya,  Lettere,  v. 
81,  105.  Both  portraits  are  lost. 
See  also  Titian  to  Gosellini,  Augs- 
burg, Feb.  10,  1551,  in  Bonchini, 
Belazioni,  u.  «.,  p.  13. 


t  Aretino,  Lettere,  v.  98,  101, 
124. 

t  Abbate  Lancelotti's  Memorie 
di  Baniero  del  Monte,  in  Ci- 
cogna's  Ibc.  Ven.,  t*. «.,  iv.  p.  644. 


Chap,  v.]     TITIAN  AND  FEREANTE  GONZAGA.  193 


account;  and  it  is  a  mere  conjecture  to  say  that  he 
sent  to  Cardinal  Famese,  in  fulfilment  of  an  earlier 
promise,  a  copy  of  "Charles  the  Fifth  riding  at  Miihl- 
l)erg/'  which  long  adorned  the  palace  of  Parma.* 
About  the  same  time  he  despatched  to  Ferrante 
Gonzaga  another  likeness  of  Charles,  which — he  vainly 
hoped — would  procure  for  him  the  payment  of  the 
pension  so  long  delayed  on  the  Treasury  of  Milan. 

TITIAN  TO  FEREANTE  GONZAGA  AT  MILAN. 

"  I  send  to  your  Excellency  by  the  bearer 
of  this  letter  the  portrait  of  the  Emperor,  fulfilling 
my  promise  to  demonstrate  by  such  means  as  I  have 
in  my  power  my  gratitude  for  the  courteous  and 
fiiendly  way  in  which  your  Excellency  proffered 
through  Sr.  Francesco  Cortese  to  obtain  the  payment 
of  my  pension  qn  presentment  of  the  authentic  docu- 
ments. I  am  the  more  thankful  and  obliged  for  this 
kindness  as  nothing  could  be  more  opportune  than 
the  receipt  of  these  monies,  because,  having  a  mar- 
riageable daughter,  I  ventured  to  betroth  her  on  the 
faith  of  your  Excellenc/s  performance.  This  too  I 
was  desirous  of  saying  to  show  what  good  and  chari- 
table work  your  Excellency's  promise  will  have 
caused.  The  privileges  will  be  presented  with  a 
power  from  me  by  Messer  Jacomo  Fagnana,  and  I  beg 
that  your  Excellency  will  kindly  give  effect  to  the 
good  and  courteous  wishes  expressed  on  my  behalf, 


*  It  is  registered  in  the  Parmese  I  recorded  with  praise  by  Armemni 
inventory  of  16^0,  in  Camx>ori,  (p.  115)  and  Scanelli  (p.  222),  but 
£aoc  di  Cataloghi,  p.  243,  and  I  has  since  been  lost. 

vol,  II.  o 


194 


TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V. 


and  favour  my  agent  in  this  respect.  It  remains  for 
me  to  kiss  most  reverently  your  invincible  and 
honoured  hand,  and  request  that  you  will  deign  to 
command  me,  as  I  shall  deem  it  a  favour  to  serve 
your  Excellency  in  Milan  or  Venice,  or  anywhere  else 
that  your  Excellency  pleases. 

"  Your  Excellency's  most  devoted 
"  and  obliged  Servant, 

"TiTiANO  Vecellio,  Pittore.* 

"  From  Venice,  Sept.  8,  1549." 

Autumn  and  winter  passed  away,  and  the  "honoured 
and  invincible  hand  "  of  the  Governor  of  Milan  was 
never  stirred  in  the  painter's  behalf.  Nor  was  it 
without  further  pressure — we  may  think — that  he 
was  induced,  in  February  1550,  to  send  Titian's 
papers  down  to  the  Senate  of  Milan  asking  that  the 
statute  of  limitations  should  not  apply  to  his  claims.t 
Of  the  portrait,  the  present  of  which  had  been  so 
poorly  rewarded,  no  certain  record  exists.  We  know 
of  one  likeness,  a  half  length,  in  the  Naples  Museum, 
which  might  be  that  sent  to  Ferrante  Gonzaga.  It 
represents  Charles  the  Fifth  in  a  black  cap  and  dress, 
his  face  and  form  turned  three  quarters  to  the  left,  the 
collar  of  the  Golden  Fleece  round  his  neck,  a  letter 
in  his  right  hand.  The  right  eye  and  forehead,  a  bit 
of  the  upper  lip  and  hand,  are  the  parts  which  seem 
free  from  retouching;  but  the  fragments  scarcely 
allow  of  a  more  decided  opinion  than  that  the  canvas 


*  The  original  is  in  Boncliini's 
Belazioni,  u. «.,  p.  11. 


t  See  Qonssaga  to  the  Senate  of 
Milan,  in  Appendix. 


Chap.  7.]  "SUBMEESION  OF  PHAEAOH." 


195 


originally  came  from  the  easel  of  an  artist  who  painted 
in  Titian's  manner,  whilst  the  age  of  the  Kaiser  is 
that  of  the  time  when  he  came  to  visit  Pope  Clement 
at  Bologna.^ 

If  remarkable  for  nothing  more,  the  year  1549 
deserves  to  be  noted  in  the  chronology  of  Titian  as 
marking  the  publication  of  his  celebrated  print  of  the 
"Submersion  of  Pharaoh,"  a  large  and  important 
piece,  in  which  the  master's  design  was  engraved  by 
one  of  his  Spanish  pupils,  Domenico  delle  Greche.t 

At  Bin  Grande  during  the  frequent  absences  of 
Titian,  alternations  of  pain  and  pleasure  such  as  we 
expect  to  find  in  every  family  in  which  there  are 
children  contributed  to  sunshine  or  gloom  according 
as  they  came.  Comelio  Sarcinelli,  a  respefetable  youth 
of  Serravalle,  had  courted  and  won  Lavinia,  and  ob- 
tained  her  fathers  consent  to  their  marriage.  The 
only  drawback  was  the  obduracy  of  the  Milan  Trea- 
sury, which  delayed  the  settlement  of  the  dowry, 
whilst  Titian's  earnings,  which  might  have  sufficed  to 
furnish  a  portion  for  the  daughter,  were  unhappily 
drawn  upon  by  the  eldest  son,  who  not  only  spent  his 
father's  patrimony  and    got    into   debt  beside,   but 


*  Naples  Mas.,  No.  45,  canvas, 
half-length,  of  life-size,  without 
any  history  at  present. 

t  This  print  is  rare,  bat  espe- 
cially so  with  the  margin  con- 
taining the  following :  '  *  La  cradel 
persecutione  del  ostinato  re  contro 
il  popolo  tanto  da  lui  amato  con 
la  Sommersione  di  esso  Pharaone 
£^loso  del  inocente  sangue.     Di- 


segnata  x)er  mano  dil  orande  et 
immortal  Titian. 

"  In  Yenetia  p  domeneoo  delle 
greche      depentore      Venetian, 

MDXUX." 

Cicogna,  in  his  MS.  Annotations 
to  Morelli's  Anonimo,  notes  a 
complete  copy  in  possession  (1860) 
of  Abate  Cadorin. 

o  2 


196 


TTTIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.         [Chap.  V 


laughed  at  the  admonitions  of  his  sire  and  of  Aretino.* 
In  his  letters  to  Titian  on  this  subject,  Aretino  begged 
the  painter  to  remember  the  days  of  his  own  youth, 
and  temper  severity  with  indulgence.  But  writing  to 
Pomponio  he  upbraided  him.  sternly  with  spending  in 
pleasure  the  fruits  of  his  father's  labours,  journeys 
and  savings  *  Nor  was  this  the  only  misfortune 
which  weighed  on  the  painter.  In  March  he  lost  his 
sister  Orsa,  who  for  years  had  been  the  companion  and 
guardian  of  his  children  and  the  keeper  of  his  house- 
hold ;  and  the  cares  of  a  matron  devolved  on  Lavinia 
before  she  entered  into  the  married  state.t 

Meanwhile,  important  changes  had  occurred  at 
Rome.  On  the  10th  of  November,  1549,  Paul  the 
Third  died,  and  a  protracted  struggle  between  the 
partisans  of  France  and  Spain  ended  in  the  elevation 
of  Cardinal  del  Monte  to  the  papacy.  For  a  time 
Aretino,  who  flattered  himself  that  Julius  the  Third 
would  give  him  a  hat,  and  who  knew  that  del  Monte 
had  been  Paul's  right-hand  man  at  Trent,  inclined  to 
the  party  of  France.  He  wrote  letters  to  Henry  the 
Second  and  his  queen,  heaped  flatteries  on  Bonnivet 
the  French  agent  at  Venice,  and  even  induced  Titian 
to  begin  a  portrait  of  that  captain  in  armour  which 
promised  to  be  one  of  his  finest  works.J  But  the 
current,  instead  of  setting  in  the  direction  of  France, 
had  really  changed  in  favour  of  Spain ;  and  as  it  did 
so  the  Emperor  sent  for  Titian  to  Augsburg,  who 
started  to  cross  the  Alps,  leaving  his ,  friend  to  excuse 


•  Lettere,  v.  310,  313-14. 
t  Ibid.  V.  pp.  213-244. 


X  Aretino  to  Bonnivet,   Yen., 
Xov.  1550,  in  Lett.  vi.  31'. 


Chap.  V.]      TITIAN  AGAIN  VISITS  AUGSBUEG.  197 

him  as  best  he  could  with  the  French  envoy.  Seeing 
his  opportunity,  Aretino  naturally  dropped  off  from  the 
French  side,  and  wrote  letters  to  the  Emperor  urging 
his  daim  to  preferment  in  the  Church  and  begging  for 
Charles'  support.  Titian,  who  had  put  together  such  of 
his  canvases  as  >vere  finished,  took  charge  of  Aretino's 
missive  and  rode  with  his  load  to  Augsburg. 

Paul  the  Third  had  had  the  wisdom  to  dissolve  the 
council  of  Bologna^  but  had  doggedly  refused  to 
sanction  its  meeting  elsewhere.  Julius  the  Third 
yielded  on  this  important  point  to  the  will  of  the 
Emperor,  and  Charles  called  a  diet  on  the  26th  of  July 
at  Augsburg  to  revive  the  Council  of  Trent.  Other 
plans  were  in  his  mind  at  the  same  time.  Mary 
of  Hungary  shared  his  belief  that  the  welfare  of  the 
royal  and  imperial  house  required  that  the  succession 
of  the  Empire  should  fall  on  Philip  of  Spain  rather 
than  on  Maximilian  of  Austria.  Philip  accompanied 
his  father  to  Augsburg  as  heir  presumptive,  whilst 
Maximilian  was  kept  at  a  distance  in  Spain.  But  it 
was  soon  found  necessary  to  bring  all  the  members  of 
the  family  together,  and  as  Titian  came  to  Augsburg 
in  the  first  days  of  November,  the  Emperor  and  Philip, 
the  king  and  Maximilian,  and  all  the  appendages  of 
both  courts,  were  together  in  the  imperial  city. 

On  the  4th  of  November,  Titian  wrote  by  -^neas 
Vico  the  engraver  to  Aretino  to  announce  his  safe 
arrival  at  court.*  On  the  11th  he  wrote  again  to 
describe  his  reception  by  the  Emperor. 


•  Aretino  to  Titian,  Venice,  Nov.  1550,  in  Lettere,  vi.  32'. 


199  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.         [Chap.  V. 

TITIAN  TO  ARETINO  AT  VENICE. 
"SiGNOE  PlETRO,   HONOURED   GoSSIP, 

"  I  wrote  by  Messer  -^neas  that  I  kept  your 
letters  near  my  heart  till  occasion  should  offer  to 
deliver  them  to  his  Majesty.  The  day  after  the 
Parmesan's  (-^neas)  departure  his  Majesty  sent  for 
me.  After  the  usual  courtesies  and  examination  of 
the  pictures  which  I  had  brought,  he  asked  for  news 
of  you  and  whether  I  had  letters  from  you  to  deliver. 
To  the  last  question  I  answered  aflSrmatively,  and  then 
presented  the  letter  you  gave  me.  Having  read  it, 
the  Emperor  repeated  its  contents  so  as  to  be  heard 
by  his  Highness  his  son,  the  Duke  of  Alva,  Don 
Luigi  Davila,  and  the  rest  of  the  gentlemen  of 
the  chamber,  and  as  there  was  mention  of  me  he 
asked  what  it  was  that  was  required  of  him.  I  replied 
that  at  Venice,  in  Rome,  and  in  all  Italy  the  public 
assumed  that  his  Holiness  was  well  minded  to  make 
you  .  .  .  [Cardinal],  upon  which  Caesar  showed  signs 
of  pleasure  in  his  face,  saying  he  would  greatly  rejoice 
at  such  an  event,  which  could  not  fail  to  please  you, 
and  so,  dear  brother,  I  have  done  for  you  such  service 
as  I  owe  to  a  friend  of  your  standing,  and  if  I  should 
be  able  otherwise  to  assist  you  I  beg  you  will 
command  me  in  every  respect.  Not  a  day  passes 
but  the  Duke  of  Alva  speaks  to  me  of  the  'divine 
Aretino,'  because  he  loves  you  much,  and  he  says  he 
will  favour  your  interest  with  his  Majesty.  I  told 
him  tha^.  you  would  spend  the  world,  that  what  you 
got  you  shared  with  everybody,  and  that  you  gave  to 


Chap.  Y.]      EOYAL  COMPANY  AT  AUGSBURG.  199 

the  poor  even  to  the  clothes  on  your  back,  which  is 
true  as  every  one  knows.  I  gave  your  letter  too  to 
the  bishop  of  Arras,  and  you  shall  shortly  have  an 
answer.  Sir  Philip  Hoby  left  yesterday  for  England 
by  land ;  he  salutes  you  and  says  he  will  not  be 
content  till  he  does  you  a  pleasure  himself  in  ' 
addition  to  the  gjood  oflSces  which  he  promises  to  do 
for  your  benefit  with  his  sovereign.  Eejoice  therefore 
as  you  well  may  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  keep  me 
in  good  recollection,  saluting  for  me  Signor  Jacopo 
Sansovino  and  kissing  the  hand  of  Anichino. 

**  Your  friend  and  gossip, 

"  TiZIANO.* 
**  From  AuGSBUBO,  Nov,  11,  1550." 

Titian  found  with  few  exceptions  the  same  com-' 
panyat  Augsburg  in  1550  as  in  1548.  The  Emperor, 
the  King,  and  both  their  families,  Mary  of  Hungary, 
the  Electors,  John  Frederick  of  Saxony,  Chancellor 
GranveUe  and  his  son,  Alva  and  the  usual  accompani- 
ment of  courtiers  and  envoys,  were  all  residing 
together.  But  there  was  little  of  the  confidence  and 
elation  in  the  chiefs  of  the  court  party  which  marked 
the  earlier  period.  Charles  the  Fifth  was  more  sickly 
and  more  gloomy  than  ever.  Meditating  retirement 
from  the  world,  and  hoping  to  compass  the  transfer 
of  his  dignity  to  his  son,  he  doubtless  felt  that  there 
was  some  cause  for  the  anger  of  his  brother,  and  the 
choler  of  his  nephew  Maximilian,  who  chafed  at  the 


*  The  original  is  in  Lettere  a  P.  Aretino,  u.  «.,  i.  p.  147* 


200  TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V. 

prospect  of  losing  the  dignities  to  which  they  thought 
themselves  entitled.  It  was  no  doubt  in  the  gloomy 
humour  of  those  days  that  he  consulted  with  Titian 
as  to  the  composition  of  a  picture  in  which  the 
religious  struggle  of  the  time  and  his  own  longing 
for  rest  should  be  embodied.  Titian  at  his  request 
proposed  to  represent  the  radiant  realm  of  heaven 
presided  by  the  three  Persons  of  the  Trinity,  escorted 
by  the  patriarchs,  prophets,  and  Evangelists,  and  the 
Virgin  Mary  interceding  with  her  son  for  the  sins  of 
the  royal  family,  which  should  kneel  in  the  clouds 
attended  by  angels.  Foremost  in  the  group,  Charles 
himself  was  to  appear  as  a  penitent,  accompanied  by 
his  Empress,  Philip,  and  Mary  of  Hungary.  There 
must  have  been  long  and  frequent  conferences 
between  the  Emperor  and  the  artist  on  this  and 
cognate  subjects,  when  Titian  heard  his  patron  con- 
fess that  it  was  his  wish  to  get  the  picture  finished 
that  he  might  take  it  to  the  distant  convent  where 
he  proposed  to  retire  to  end  his  days.*  The  world 
observed  with  surprise  the  confidential  intercourse  of 
the  monarch  with  Titian.  Far  away  into  the  centre 
of  Germany  the  fame  of  the  master  as  a  welcome 
guest  of  Charles  was  spread,  and  Melancthon  from  his 
distant  study  at  Wittenberg,  wrote  to  Camerarius, 
"  Our  Genoese  has  been  here  and  tells  me  that  the 
Pope  is  gathering  troops  to  recover  Parma.  Titian 
the  painter  is  at  Augsburg,  whither  the  Emperor  has 
called  him,  and  he  has  constant  access  to  his  Majesty, 

*  Yasari,  3di.  p.  38;   Charles  to  Vargas,  May  31,  1553,  in  Ap- 
Dondix. 


Chap.  V.  CRANACH  AND  CHARLES  V.  201 

whose  health  is  on  the  whole  but  middling."  *  Doubt- 
less there  were  agents  enough  who  reported  the 
doings  of  Charles  to  the  Keformers,  and  the  more 
because  a  little  court  of  Protestants  had  been  formed 
^with  the  Emperor's  leave  round  the  person  of  the 
captive  Elector  of  Saxony,  and  here  amongst  others 
resided  Lucas  Cranach,  who  had  gone  from  Witten- 
berg to  share  the  privations  of  his  lord  and  master, 
and  who  was  quite  capable  of  giving  his  co-religionists 
all  the  news  they  wanted. 

But  Cranach  was  not  a  political  newsmonger.  He 
was  one  of  the  first  artists  to  whom  Charles  the  Fifth 
had  ever  sat,  and  one  of  the  few  Protestants  whom  he 
had  treated  well  after  the  battle  of  Muhlberg.  When 
encamped  before  Wittenberg  after  the  capture  of  the 
Elector,  he  recollected  Cranach's  name,  and  ordered 
him  to  appear.  "  John  Frederick,  your  prince,"  he  said, 
"  gave  me  one  of  your  pictures  when  I  was  with  him  at 
Speyer.  Tou  once  painted  a  likeness  of  me  as  a  boy 
which  I  still  keep  in  my  rooms  at  Malines,  and  I  want 
you  to  tell  me  what  I  was  like  in  those  days.'^  "  Your* 
Majesty,"  answered  Cranach,  "was  eight  years  old  when 
the  Emperor  Maximilian  took  you  by  the  hand  and 
received  the  homage  of  the  Belgian  States.  There 
was  a  teacher  with  you,  who  seeing  your  restlessness 
told  me  that  iron  or  steel  would  attract  your  particular 
attention.     I  asked  him  to  place  a  spear  against  a 


*  This  letter,  without  date,  but 
probably  of  January,  IdoO,  is  in 
Yoegelin's  '*  Liber  continens  con- 
tinua  serie  epistolas  Philippi  Me- 
lanothonis  scriptis  annis  xxxyiii 


ad  Joaoh.  Camerar.  Pabep.  (Bam- 
berg) .  .  .  ourante  .  .  .  Ernesto 
Voegelino,  8vo,  Lipsise,  mdlxix, 
pp.  614—616." 


202  TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V. 

wall  BO  that  the  point  should  be  turned  towards  you, 
and  your  Majesty's  eye  remained  fixed  on  that  point 
till  I  had  done  the  picture."  The  Emperor  was 
pleased  at  this  story,  and  promised  to  be  gracious  to 
Cranach,  whereat  the  painter  fell  on  his  knees  and 
in  earnest  words  pleaded  the  cause  of  his  prince,  for 
whom  he  bespoke  the  mercy  of  the  Kaiser.  *'  I  don't 
attach  much  importance,"  said  Charles, "  to  the  captive 
Elector,  if  I  could  but  catch  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse." 
He  then  dismissed  Cranach  with  a  present.* 

Two  years  after  this  interview,  the  Elector,  who 
followed  the  Emperor  about  like  a  muzzled  bear, 
asked  Cranach  to  meet  him  in  summer  at  Augsburg, 
and,  punctual  to  a  day,  the  old  artist  arrived  on  the 
23rd  of  July,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  the  house 
assigned  to  his  master. f  Here  Titian  found  him  five 
months  later  the  favoured  servant  of  John  Frederick, 
who  after  reading  his  Bible  for  an  hour  in  the  morn- 
ing, sent  for  Cranach  to  paint  for  him  in  the  fore- 
noon. J  In  the  lists  of  the  marshal  of  the  court, 
Cranach's  place  was  marked  for  dinner  at  the  first 
table,  whilst  his  apprentices  served  the  meals  at  the 
lower  ones,  of  which  they  received  the  remiiants.§ 
In  February  the  Elector  was  escorted  by  order  of 
Charles  to  Innspruck,  whither  Cranach  followed  him. 


*  See  MatthseuB  Gunderain*s 
contemporary  report  in  Sohu- 
chardt's  Cranach,  u.  s,,  i.  186,  and 
Banke's  Deutsche  Geechichte, 
«.  s.,  Tol.  iy.  p.  523. 

t  See  Oranaoh's  order  of  ap- 
pointment, dated  Weimar,  Oct.  8, 


1551,  in  Schuchardt,  u.  «.,  i.  p. 
195;  and  the  Elector's  letter  to 
BiUck,  in  ib.  iii.  81. 

X  Forster  of  Amstadt,  in 
Schuohardti  i.  p.  199. 

§  Ibid.  i.  p.  204. 


Chap.  V.]  TITIAN  SITS  TO  CRANACH.  203 

having  earned  the  name  of  pictor  celer  by  finishing 
thirty  pictures  in  seven  months.* 

Titian  in  early  hfe  had  had  the  chance. of  studying 
the  works  and  admiring  the  person  of  Albert  Diirer,  at 
the  period  when  German  art  stood  at  the  point  of  full 
development.  At  the  blooming  time  of  Venetian 
painting  he  marked  the  withering  of  the  German 
plant  in  the  person  of  Cranach.  Yet  he  would  natu- 
rally be  too  courteous  to  show  any  want  of  respect  to 
one  who  with  all  his  faults  was  imbued  with  a  genuine 
love  of  his  craft.  He  visited  Cranach  and  gave  him 
sittings,  and  amongst  the  portraits  which  the  captive 
Elector  took  home  was  the  "  Cunterfet  of  Thucia,  the 
painter  of  Venice,"  by  Lucas,  the  painter  of  Witten- 
berg, f  It  would  have  been  hard  to  find  two  men 
more  in  contrast  than  these.  Titian,  a  master  of  touch 
and  colour  and  effect,  reproduced  on  canvas  the  sub- 
stance as  much  as  the  semblance  of  his  sitter,  idealiz- 
ing the  features,  catching  with  quick  insight  the 
character,  the  type,  and  expression,  and  ennobUng 
them  all  in  a  grand  and  dignified  way.  Cranach, 
quick  and  clever  after  another  fashion,  but  without 
poetry  or  grace  in  his  conception  of  form,  and  without 
the  searching  power  which  made  Diirer  great,  reduced 
his  models  to  an  uniform  level  of  commonplace.  Both 
artists  in  their  respective  countries  were  representa- 
tive men.  But  if  we  compare  a  likeness  by  Cranach 
with  one  by  Titian  we  measure  a  wide  and  impassable 


*  Schuchardt  gives  Oranaoh's  I  pp.  206-8). 
own  account  for  these  pieces  (i.  |      t  Oranaoh's  acoount»  u.  5. 


204  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.         [Chap.  V. 

gulf  which  parts  the  art  of  Italy  from  that  of  the 
countries  beyond  the  Alps. 

But  the  principal  object  for  which  Titian  was  called 
to  Augsburg  was  not  to  sit  to  Cranach,  nor  to  portray 
afresh  the  Kaiser,  or  the  princes  and  nobles  around 
him.  The  whole  bent  of  Charles'  policy  and  wishes 
was  to  promote  his  son ;  to  this  end  every  considera- 
tion was  made  subordinate,  and  every  detail  was 
calculated.  As  Charles  of  old  had  had  to  put  away 
the  gossiping  and  friendly  manner  of  a  Fleming  to 
take  upon  himself  the  starched  and  haughty  air  of  a 
Spaniard,  so  Philip  now  had  to  divest  himself  of  the 
stiffness  of  a  Castilian  and — not  without  reluctance 
we  may  think — to  assume  the  friendly  Biederkeit  of  a 
German.  He  rode  German  horses,  danced  German 
dances,  and  tried  his  head  and  stomach  at  German 
drinking  parties.  But  the  days  were  past  when  his 
ancestor  Philip  of  Burgundy  drank  an  abbot  under 
the  table.  Philip  of  Spain  was  no  more  capable 
constitutionally  to  bear  the  coarse  but*  copious  fare  of 
the  north  than  he  was  able  physically  to  unbend  and 
ape  a  jovial  manner.  He  was  not  strong,  nor  fond  of 
martial  exercise.  His  chest  was  nan-ow  and  his  le^s 
were  spare,  and  his  feet  were  large  and  curiously 
ungainly.  His  eyes  lay  under  lids  like  rolls  of  flesh 
and  full  of  bilious  humour,  as  if  the  gall  which  gave  its 
olive  tone  to  his  complexion  was  anxious  to  gush  and 
show  itself.  His  projecting  under-jaw  was  poorly 
concealed  by  a  downy  chestnut  beard,  which  by  its 
paucity  gave  but  more  importance  to  a  pair  of  thick 
and  fleshy  lips,  the  chief  characteristic  of  which  was 


Chap.  V.] 


PHILIP'S  PORTRAITS. 


205 


redness.    Add  to  this  an  oily  smoothness  of  complexion, 

and  short  chestnut  hair,  and  we  have  the  face  of  the 

prince  whose  form  won  the  heart  of  Mary  Tudor; 

whose  sensualism  was  only  equalled  by  his  disregard 

for  all  that  was  good  and  kind   in  human  nature; 

whose  fanaticism  sent  hundreds  of  the  noblest  victims 

to  the  stake  or  the  block ;  whose  policy  dictated  the 

— — ? 
Armada  and  lost  the  Netherlands  to  Spain.     It  was 

for  the  purpose  of  making  a  likeness  of  this  prince,  ' 
who  was  then  twenty -four  years  old,  that  Titian  was 
called  to  Augsburg.  He  had  not  been  more  than  a 
month  at  court  when  he  finished  the  preliminary 
canvas.  In  the  following  February  he  probably  com- 
pleted the  large  full-length  which  hangs  in  the 
Museum  of  Madrid,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  suc- 
cessive years  he  sent  forth  the  long  series  of  copies, 
the  best  of  which  adorns  the  gallery  of  Naples.* 

That  we  should  enjoy  in  the  case  of  Philip  of  Spain 
both  the  original  sketch  for  which  he  sat,  and  the 
parade  portrait  for  which  he  did  not  sit,  is  an  ad- 
vantage seldom  vouchsafed  to  admirers  of  Titian. 
It  is  clear  that  the  master's  method  of  preparing 
pictures  intended  to  be  finished  was  different  from 
that  which  he  practised  in  throwing  off  work  at  one 
painting.  In  the  first  case  a  known  process  or  a  series 
of  processes  was  systematically  carried  out,  so  as  fo 
produce  substance,  impast  and  tone.     In  the  second 


*  Records  of  Dec.  1550,  and 
Feb.  1551,  in  Appendix,  proye 
that  Titian  was  employed  for 
Philip  of  Spain  immediately  on 
his    arrival    at   Augsburg.    We 


may  assume  that  the  payments 
made  to  the  painter  in  February 
are  for  the  finished  portrait  now 
at  Madrid. 


206  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  T. 

the  sole  aim  of  the  artist  was  to  determine  form 
and  expression  during  the  curt  and  rapidly  fleeting 
moments  conceded  by  a  royal  and — we  may  believe — 
impatient  sitter.  The  sketch  for  which  Philip  of 
Spain  sat  to  Titian  is  one  of  the  Barbarigo  heirlooms, 
now  in  the  house  of  Count  Sebastian  Giustiniani 
Barbarigo  at  Padua.  The  Prince  is  sitting,  large  as 
life,  near  an  opening  through  which  a  landscape  and 
sky  are  seen,  in  front  of  a  brown  curtain  damasked 
with '  arabesques  and  white  flowers.  His  face  and 
body  are  turned  to  the  left,  the  axe  of  the  eyeballs 
facing  the  spectator.  A  doublet  of  black  silk  buttoned 
up  to  the  neck  allows  the  frill  of  a  shirt  to  be  seen. 
Over  it  lies  a  pelisse  of  white  silk,  with  a  lining  and 
broad  collar  of  dark  fur,  and  sleeves  swelling  into 
slashed  puffs  at  the  shoulders.  The  chain  of  the 
Golden  Fleece  falls  over  the  breast.  Part  of  the  head 
shows  its  short  chestnut  hair  cropping  out  fix)m  a 
black  berret  cap  sown  with  pearls.  The  hands  are 
roughly  outlined  with  the  white  pigment  which  served 
to  colour  the  pelisse,  so  as  to  give  the  movement  with- 
out even  an  indication  of  the  fingers.  The  left,  on 
the  arm  of  a  chair  bound  in  dark  cloth  fastened  with 
red  buttons,  the  right  holding  what  seems  to  be  a 
baton  or  the  rudiment  of  a  sceptre.  Looking  care- 
fully at  this  canvas,  which  has  only  been  injured  in 
the  least  important  parts,  we  discern  that. the  face 
was  struck  off  from  the  life  rapidly,  almost  hurriedly, 
as  if  the  master  was  conscious  that  unless  he  lashed 
himself  into  a  fury  of  haste  he  would  not  catch  quick 
enough  the  shape,  the  action,  the  colour  and  the  charac- 


\ 


CMap.V.] 


PHILIP'S  P0ETRAIT3. 


207 


teristic  individualisui,  or  the  complexion  and  temper 
of  the  Prince.  Like  a  general  in  the  thick  of  a  fight, 
who  sees  through  the  smoke  and  hears  amidst  the  din, 
and  curtly  but  decisively  gives  the  orders  which 
secure  a  victory,  Titian  rouses  himself  to  a  momen- 
tary concentration  of  faculties,  instinctively  but  surely 
gives  the  true  run  and  accent  of  the  lines,  and  then 
subsides,  sure  of  success,  into  rest  His  whole  power 
was  brought  to  bear  on  the  head,  of  which  he  gave  the 
lineaments  and  modelling  with  spare  pigment  on  a 
very  thin  smooth  canvas,  the  sallow  flesh  light  merg- 
ing into  half  tones  of  clear  red,  the  darker  shadows,  as 
of  eye  and  nostril,  laid  on  in  black!  Who  does  not 
see  the  application  of  the  X)ld  principle,  famous  for 
having  been  enunciated  by  Titian  :  "  Black,  red,  and 
white,  and  all  three  well  in  hand  ?  "  The  sketch,  it  is 
evident,  is  not  such  as  the  master  would  have  shown 
even  to  the  Prince  if  he  could  help  it,  being  as  it  were 
his  own  private  memorandum,  his  ^^pens^e  intimej" 
meant  for  himself  and  no  other,  a  thing  that  was 
neither  drawing  nor  painting,  yet  partaking  of  both, 
and  suflicient  for  the  reproduction  of  either ; — a  sur- 
face without  the  charm  of  rich  tint  or  broken  modula- 
tion, but  masterly,  as  giving  in  a  few  strokes  the 
moral  and  physical  aspect  of  his  sitter.* 

Being  now  possessed  of  the  sketch,  Titian  leisurely 


*  The  canvas  in  the  Qiusti- 
niani  CoUeotion  at  Padua  is  a 
half  length  on  canvas,  m.  1.14  h. 
by  0.95 ;  on  a  strip  at  bottom  are 
the  comparatiTely  modem  words : 

"PHIUPVB  HISPAN.    BEX."     The 


only  parts  really  injured  are  the 
badsg;round,  which  is  dark,  and 
some  of  the  accessories.  This, 
no  doubt,  is  the  portrait  of  Philip 
seen  by  Yasari,  ziii.  37:  and 
Bidolfi,  Marav.  i.  262. 


208  TTTIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V 

used  it  as  a  groundwork  to  compose  his  show  por- 
traits of  Philip,  his  first  business  being  to  represent 
the  Prince  as  a  captain  in  damasked  steel,  and  then 
to  display  his  form  in  the  dress  of  the  court  and  draw- 
ing-room.* In  each  of  these  replicas  he  changed 
the  attitude  and  costume  whilst  the  head  remained 
the  same.  Of  the  first  the  Prince  in  armour  at 
Madrid  is  the  earliest,  and  one  to  which  an  interesting 
fragment  of  history  is  attached.  Knowing  the  type 
of  Philip's  face  and  the  blemishes  of  his  figure,  we 
should  think  it  hard  for  a  painter  to  realize  a  portrait 
of  him  true  to  nature,  yet  of  elevated  conception  and 
regal  mien.  Titian  overcomes  the  difficulty  with  ease. 
The  sallow  ill-shaped  face  may  haunt  us  and  suggest 
uneasy  forebodings  as  to  the  spirit  and  temper  of  the 
man,  but  gloom  here  is  cleverly  concealed  in  grave 
intentness,  and  every  line  tells  of  the  habitual  distinc- 
tion of  a  man  of  old  blood  and  high  station.  TTie 
head  we  saw  is  the  same  as  in  the  sketch.  It  stands 
out  from  the  gorget  relieved  by  a  frill  of  white  linen, 
beneath  which  the  handsome  collar  of  the  Golden 
Fleece  falls  to  the  chest.  A  breastplate  and  hip  pieces 
richly  inlaid  with  gold  cover  the  frame  and  arms. 
The  fine  embroideiy  of  the  sleeves  and  slashed  hose, 
the  white  silk  tights  and  slashed  white  slippers,  form  a 
rich  and  tasteful  dress.  The  ringed  left  hand  on  the 
hilt  of  the  rapier,  the  right  on  the  plumed  morion 
which  lies  on  a  console  covered  with  a  crimson  velvet 
cloth,  the  whole  figure  seen  in  front  of  a  dark  wall — 

*  See   Mary  of  Hungary  to  I  d'Etat  de  Granvelle,  u, «.,  iy.  pi 
Benard,  Nov.  19, 1553,  in  Papiers  |  150,  axid^tea. 


Chap,  v.]  PHHilP'S  POETBATT.  209 

all  this  makes  up  a  splendid  and  attractive  full  length 
standing  on  a  carpet  of  a  deep  reddish  brown.  J 

When  Charles  the  Fifth  preferred  the  suit  of  Philip 
to  Mary  Tudor  in  1553,  his  sister  Mary  of  Hungary 
sent  Titian's  masterpiece  at  the  Queen's  request  to 
Renard  the  Spanish  envoy  in  London,  teUing  him 
"  that  it  was  thought  very  like  when  executed  three 
years  before,  but  had  been  injured  in  the  carriage  from 
Augsburg  to  Brussels.  Still,  if  seen  in  its  proper 
Ught  and  at  a  fitting  distance,  Titia.n's  pictures  liot 
bearing  to  be  looked  at  too  closely,  it  would  enable 
the  Queen,  by  adding  three  years  to  the  Prince's  age, 
to  judge  of  his  present  appearance."  Benard  was 
further  directed  to  present  the  canvas  to  Her  Majesty 
with  instructions  to  have  it  returned  when  the  living 
original  had  been  substituted  for  the  lifeless  semblance.* 
Had  not  Mary  been  previously  flattered  at  the 
prospect  of  matching  herself  to  a  prince  so  much  her 
junior,  she  might  have  been  induced  by  the  mere  sight 
of  this  piece  to  entertain  the  proposal  of  Charles  the 
Fifth.  As  it  proved,  her  prepossession  was  betrayed 
to  her  courtiers  by  admiration  of  the  picture,  of  which 
Strype  reports  that  she  was  **  greatly  enamoured/' t 
After  the  marriage  in  1554  this  most  important  work 
of  art  was  faithfully  returned  to  Mary  of  Hungary, 
who  took  it  to  Spain  in  1556.1     A  school  replies. 


*  Mary  of  Hungary  to  Benard, 
Not.  19,  1553,  u.  $. 

t  Strype,  Memorials,  Lond. 
1721,  iii.  p.  196. 

X  This  picture,  to  which  a  piece 
has  been  added  all  round,  is  now 

VOL.   IJ. 


No.  454  in  the  Madrid  Museum, 
on  canvas,  and  in  size,  m.  1*93  h. 
by  1*11.  There  are  patches  of 
re-touching  on  the  right  hand 
and  thigh,  and  here  and  there  a 
flaw  in  other  parts.    But  it  is  a 


210 


TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V. 


inad«  by  Orazio  or  Cesare  Vecelli  under  Titian's 
superintendence,  is  preserved  at  Chatsworth,  of 
which  there  was  a  poor  example  in  the  Northwick 
Collection.* 

In  March  1553  Titian  sent  his  second  ve;rsion  of 
the  portrait  to  Philip,t  and  this  version — it  may  be — 
is  that  which  now  hangs  in  the  Museum  of  Naples, 
where  the  figure  is  altered  so  as  to  bring  the  right 
hand  to  the  waist,  and  show  the  left  holding  a  glove, 
whilst  the  frame  is  clad  in  a  splendid  doublet  of  white 
silk  shot  with  gold,  the  puffs  of  the  sleeves  being  braced 
with  red  bands  and  the  short  mantle  lined  with 
dark  fur.J  Of  this  fine  piece,  which  is  hardly  inferior 
to  that  of  Madrid,  numerous  repetitions  or  copies  exist. 


tine  work  in  the  best  style  of  this 
the  broad  period  of  Titian's  style. 
We  find  it  noted  in  the  inventory 
of  Mary  of  Hungary  (1558),  u,  .v., 
Heme  Uniyerselle  des  Arts,  iii. . 
132.  There  is  a  fine  photograph 
of  it  by  Laurent. 

*  This  replica,  of  life  size,  on 
canvas,  besides  being  injured  by^ 
restoring,  to  which  we  should 
attribute  a  certain  dulness  and 
opacity  in  the  colours,  is  hard 
and  raw  in  tone  if  compared  with 
genuine  pictures  of  Titian,  and 
the  contours  are  much  more 
marked  than  those  of  the  master. 
The  only  point  in  which  the  piece 
differs  from  its  original  at  Madrid 
is,  that  the  console  to  the  left 
leans  against  the  plinth  of  a 
pillar.  Beneath  the  crimson  cloth 
which  hangs  from  the  console  is 
the  foot  of  the  same. 

The    copy  in    the   Northwick 


Collection  seems  to  have  been 
made  by  a  Spaniard. 

t  Titian  to  PhiHp.  March  23, 
1553,  in  Appendix. 

t  This  fine  canvas.  No.  11  in 
the  Naples  Museum,  shows  Philip 
at  fuU  length,  his  right  hand 
playing  with '  the  tassel  at  his 
belt.  We  are  not  told  whence 
the  picture  came.  It  is  signed 
on  the  wall  to  the  right  of  the 
Prince's  feet: 


(I 


TITIANVS 


EQVES  02ES. 

The  treatment  is  more  conven- 
tional here  than  at  Madrid,  but 
the  head  is  still  like,  and  the 
features  are  given  with  masterly 
skill.  We  notice  here  and  there 
unpleasant  signs  of  stippling,  and 
over  aU  a  dull  and  embrowned 
varnish. 


Chap,  v.] 


PHILIFS  POETBAIT. 


211 


one  of  them  at  Blenheim  by  some  disciple  of  the 
master,  another  better  still  at  the  Pitti,  whilst  two  or 
three  feebler  imitations  are  shown  ^at  Castle  Howard, 
in  the  Collection  of  Lord  Stanhope  and  in  the  Corsini 
Palace  at  Rome.* 

Distant  memories  of  Titian's  occupations  at  Augs- 
burg are  recalled  by  scattered  notices  in  the  papers  of 
Eubens'  succession.  During  Rubens'  stay  at  Madrid 
he  copied  almost  all  Titian's  portraits,  and  amongst 
these  we  find  "Philip  the  II?  big  as  ye  life,  James 
the  secretarie  of  the  sayd  Kynge,  and  the  Kynge's 
dwarf."t  That  copy  and  original  of  these  pictures 
should  be  lost  is  much  to  be  regretted.  On  the  6th 
of  February,  1551,  Titian  received  from  the  treasurer 
of  Philip  of  Spain  230  ducats,J  at  sight  of  which  he 
was  doubtless  reminded  of  pensions  overdue  at  Naples 
and  at  Milan,  and  sat  down  to  write  the  following 
epistle. 


*  The  Blenheim  copy  is  exactly 
reproduced  £rom  that  of  Naples, 
on  canvas. 

The  Pitti  replica,  No.  200,  on 
canyas,  is  said  to  be  that  which, 
according  to  Yasari,  was  sent  to 
the  Grand  Duke  Cosimo  I.  by 
Titian  (Vas.  xiii.  38).  It  differs 
from  that  of  Naples  in  some  de- 
tails, the  background  being  no 
longer  plain  but  a  colonnade, 
the  ground  a  meadow  ;  the  right 
hand,  too,  is  over  the  handle  of 
a  dagger.    Engraved  by  Mogelli. 

The  copy  at  Castle  Howard,  a 
half  length,  is  much  injured  by 
restoring. 

The  copy  belonging   to  Lord 


Stanhope  (figure  seen  to  the 
knees)  was  exhibited  at  Man- 
chester. It  does  not  deserve 
the  encomiums  of  Dr.  Waagen. 
(Treasures,  Supplement,  p.  181.) 

The  half  4exigth  in  the  Corsini 
Palace  at  Home  shows  Philip  in 
a  black  doublet,  with  his  left 
hand  at  the  hilt  of  his  rapier,  the 
right  resting  on  a  table  covered 
with  a  red  cloth.  This  is  a  good 
old  copy  or  adaptation,  and  not 
an  original  Titian. 

t  From  Bubens'  Inventory  in 
Sainsbury,  u.  5.,  p.  238. 

I  See  the  payments  in  Ap- 
pendix. 

p  2 


212  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.        [Chap.  V. 

TITIAN  TO  GIULIANO  GOSELLINI  AT  MILAN. 

"  I  am  more  than  certain  that  the  good  grace  of  the 
Most  Reverend  Monsignore  (Cardinal  Gonzaga)  and  of 
the  Most  EOlustrious  Don  Ferrante,  will  not  take  eflFect 
as  I  wish  unless  it  be  aided  by  the  courtesy  of 
yourself,  to  whom  I  already  owe  so  much.  I  therefore 
beg  that  you  will  put  me  under  still  further  obligation 
by  presenting  the  two  inclosed  letters  to  your  Illus- 
trious Lord  and  to  the  President  Grasso,  and  not  only 
present  but  recommend  their  contents  so  as  I  shall  get 
my  ^  passion/  or  if  you  like  it  better,  my  pension.  I 
may  add  that  I  should  be  content  to  have  the  money 
in  your  hands  or  in  those  of  my  agent  Donato 
Fognana,  provided  it  can  be  screwed  out  of  the  grasp 
of  the  treasury.  And  this  would  facilitate  business 
greatly,  as  I  have  promised  to  his  Illustrious  Lordship, 
to  visit  him  in  satisfaction  of  the  earlier  engagement 
which  I  made  before  his  Majesty  called  me  to  this 
torrid  zone  where  we  are  aU  dying  of  cold.  When  I 
do  come  I  shall  repaint  the  head  of  your  picture,  or  if 
necessary  begin  the  whole  afresh,  as  I  already  promised 
and  arch-promise  now.  Signor  Pola  (a  captain  in 
Don  Ferrante's  service)  has  much  facilitated  this 
business  with  his  Lordship,  so  that  President  Grasso 
will  easily  have  the  word  of  the  same  so  as  to  be  able 
if  he  listens  with  a  will  to  the  Reverend  of  Arras 
(Granvelle)  to  obtain  for  me  the  payment  of  my  due. 
I  beg  of  you  as  the  Cavalier  Leone  Aretino  is  not 
there  to  give  me  further  proofs  of  the  affection  he 
bears  me,  to  take  charge  of  this  matter  for  me.     The 


Ohap.  v.] 


TITIAN'S  PENSION. 


213 


said  Cavalier  Leoni  now  kisses  your  hand  as  I  like- 
wise do,  being  more  than  ever  a  favourite  with  the 
said  Monsignore  d'Axras ;  and  without  further  words  I 
pray  that  God  may  adorn  you  with  eternal  glory. 

From  AUOSBTTBO,  Feb,  10,  1551. 

'^  Your  Signore's  Servant, 

"TrriANO."* 


(( 


Shortly  after  this  the  court  broke  up  from  Augs- 
burg, Philip  leaving  for  Spain  towards  the  close  of 
May,  Charles  the  Fifth  proceeding  to  Innspruck, 
whither  we  may  presume  he  was  followed  by  Titian. 
Here,  according  to  an  obscure  and  uncertain  tradition, 
Titian  painted  an  allegorical  composition,  in  which  the 
Iring  and  all  his  family  were  introduced.!  Parting 
with  the  master  to  see  him  no  more,  Charles  gave  him 
in  his  son's  name,  a  Spanish  pension  of  500  scudi, 
which,  like  other  grants  of  the  same  kind,  remained 
unpaid.^;  In  August  Titian  was  busy  at  his  usual 
avocations  in  Venice.§ 


*  From  the  original  in  Bon- 
chini's  Belazioni,  u,  $,,  p.  12. 

t  Bidolfi  accepts  this  picture 
as  a  reality,  because  at  Titian's 
funeral  it  was  proposed  to  repre- 
sent Titian,  on  a  large  canyas, 
working  at  it ;  but  this  is  doubt- 


ful authority.  See  Maraviglie,  i. 
240  &  281. 

t  Titian  to  Charles  the  Fifth, 
Sept.  10>  1554,  in  Appendix. 

§  Aretino  to  Frcuicesco  Tern, 
Aug.  1551,  in  Lettere  di  M.  P.  A. 
yL  p.  8*. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Alleged  reception  of  Titian  by  the  Boge  in  Council. — Hia  suspension 
from  the  Sanseria,  and  resumption  of  that  Office. — ^Life  at  Venice. 
— Portrait  of  Legate  Beccadelli.— Pictures  for  the  Prince  of 
Spain ;  "  Queen  of  Persia,'*  Landscape,  and  **  St.  Margaret." — Of 
Titian's  Landscapes  in  general. — ^Prints  and  Drawings. — ''St. 
Margaret "  at  Madrid. — Eumours  of  Titian's  Death. — He  reports 
himself  alive  to  the  Emperor. — The  **Gh:ieving  Virgin,"  the 
**  Trinity,"  and  **  Christ  appearing  to  the  Magdalen." — Pbrtrait 
of  Doge  Trevisani. — ^Vargas  and  Thomas  Granvelle.— **  Danae," 
for  Philip  of  Spain,  and  Beplicas  of  the  same. — ^Titian  and 
Philip.— The  "Venus  and  Adonis." — Philip  and  Pomponio. — 
"Virgin  of  Medole." — Portrait  of  Doge  Venier. — ^Votive  Picture 
of  Doge  Trevisani  and  "The  Fede." — Marriage  of  Lavinia. — 
Titian  sends  to  Philip  the  "  Perseus  and  Andromeda." — Decoration 
of  the  Library  at  Venice. — Paolo  Veronese. — ^The  "  Baptist "  of 
Santa  Maria  Maggiore. — Death  of  Aretino. — ^Titian,  Ferrante 
Goniotga  and  the  Milan  Pension. — "  Entombment,"  sent  to  Philip 
and  lost. 

An  anecdote  current  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth 
century  tells  how  Titian,  after  his  return  from 
Augsburg,  was  taken  before  the  Venetian  Council,  and 
in  presence  of  the  Doge  Francesco  Venier  related  his 
experiences  at  the  courts  of  Ferdinand  and  Charles 
the  Fifth.  After  concluding  his  nairative,  the  great 
master  is  said  to  have  proposed  to  complete  the 
decoration  of  the  Council  Hall.  At  Titian's  funeral  in 
1576  it  was  suggested  that  this  incident  should  be 
made  the  subject  of  a  picture,  and  the  plan  would 
have  been  carried  out  but  for  the  virulence  of  the 


Chap.  VI.]  LIFE  AT  VENICE.  215 

plague  which  was  then  raging.*  The  sober  truth  of 
history  refuses  unhappily  to  be  reconciled  with  an 
anecdote  which  places  Francesco  Venier  on  the  Ducal 
throne  in  1552.  The  privilege  conceded  to  Venetian 
envojrs  was  one  that  would  hardly  have  been  granted 
to  an  artist  even  of  Titian's  celebrity,  and  the  story  is 
probably  a  fable.  But  there  was  good  reason  why 
Titian,  if  not  in  state,  at  least  through  ordinary 
channels,  should  enter  into  communication  with  the 
Signors.  During  his  long  and  protracted  absences  the 
government  had  very  properly  suspended  him  from 
the  Sanseria,  and  now  that  he  was  home  again  he 
wisKed  that  suspension  to  be  withdrawn.  There  is 
trace  of  a  petition  to  the  Council  of  Ten  in  which  the 
painter  prays  to  be  restored  to  the  use  of  his  broker's 
patent.  A  decree  of  October  29,  1552,  orders  him  to 
be  reinstated-t  The  pictures  of  the  Council  Hall  were 
completed  in  due  course  not  by  Titian,  but  by  his  son 
Orazio,  Tintoretto  and  Paolo  Veronese. 

Foi*  the  latter  half  of  1551  and  the  first  half  of 
1552,  contemporary  letter  books  contain  much  more 
information  than  the  catalogues  of  public  or  private 
collections.  Dinners  and  suppers  in  which  Titian  and 
his  friends  are  guests,  and  delicacies  in  season, 
copiously  served  on  luxurious  tables,  are  of  frequent 
occurrence,  but  pictures  of  note  or  portraits  of  cele- 
brity are  much  more  scarce.  One  might  fancy  that  a 
period  had  arrived  in  Titian's  life  when  pleasure  alone 
had  attractions  for  him.     Niccolo  Massa,  a  well-known 


*  Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  240, 281 .         t  The  record  is  in  Lorenzi,  u.  a,  p.  276. 


216 


TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIttES.       [Chap.  VI. 


surgeon  at  Venice,  once  asked  him  what  his  expe- 
rience was  of  the  variation  in  his  capacity  to  work, 
and  Titian  answered  that  he  had  often  noticed  this 
variation,  being  eager  one  day  to  paint,  unable  the 
next  to  do  an3rthing  but  idle.     The  cause  he  cDuld 
not  explain,  though  some  people  assigned  it  to  the 
conjunction  of  certain  planets.     Massas  explanition 
was,  that  the«  variations  depended  upon  the  inner  heat 
'  or  coldness  of   the    body.*     With  Titian  we  may 
beUeve  moments  of  weariness  and  disinclination  to 
work  were  short  and  rare,  and  when  we  find  notUng 
written  as  to  his  labours,  we  may  almost  be  sure  ;hat 
historians  have  simply  neglected  to  notice  the  resilts 
of  his  unconquerable  love  of  hard  work.     Aretino,  ia  a 
letter  of  August,  1551,  to  Francesco  Terzi,  reminds  Ms 
correspondent  that  Titian  has  become  possessed  of  a 
lordly  income  by  dint  of  exertion  and  toil;  but  he 
adds,  "  I  would  not  exchange  my  ease  for  his  wealti 
on  any  consideration  ."t    Titian,   it  might  be,  wai 
laying  in  stock  or  composing  the  vast  picture  of  the 
"  Trinity '' which  was  to  be  delivered  in  1555.     We 
dimly  note  for  1552  the  completion  of  a  portrait  of 
the  legate  Beccadelli,  a  "  Queen  of  Persia^"  a  land- 
scape and  a  "  St.  Margaret "  for  the  Prince  of  Spain.J 
Beccadelli  had  been  sent  to  Venice  after  the  death 
of  Paul  the  Third  to  supersede  Giovanni  della  Casa. 
On  the  eve  of  his  arrival  both  Aretino  and  Titian  were 


*  *  *  Fadle  est  inyentis  addere/' 
by  Niccolo  Massa,  8to,  Venice, 
1556,  cit.  in  Cicogna,  Isc  Von. 
vi.,  805. 


t  Lettere  di  M.  P.  A.,  tI.  p. 

t  See  further  on,  Titian  to  the 
Prince  of  Spain,  Oct  11,  1652. 


Chap.  YI.] 


LEGATE  BECCADELLI. 


217 


speculating  as  to  his  power  to  relieve  a  common  friend 
from  unexpected  tribulation.  The  curate  of  the 
Minorites,  their  joint  confessor,  had  been  thrown  into 
gaol  for  denying  the  divine  origin  of  "confession," 
and  Aretino  could  think  of  no  better  way  to  compass 
his  liberation  than  to  await  Beccadelli's  coming.* 
Titian  finished  this  portrait,  now  at  the  UflSzi,  in 
July,  1552,  and  it  is  a  magnificent  likeness,  in  which 
the  true  grain  of  what  may  be  called  Churchman's 
flesh  is  reproduced  in  a  form  both  clear  and  fair  but 
with  the  shght  puffiness  and  tendency  to  droop  which 
is  characteristic  in  priesta  The  whole  picture  is 
painted  after  Titian's  fashion  in  these  days  with  broad 
immediate  sweeps  of  a  brush  loaded  with  plenteous 
consistent  pigment  grained  to  a  pleasant  warmth. 
The  oblong  but  regular  head  with  spacious  forehead, 
pointed  beard  and  tumid  Ups,  is  seen  to  great  advan- 
tage beneath  a  black  triangular  cap.  A  black  silk 
cape  and  lawn  sleeves  admirably  relieve  a  pair  of 
hands  of  perfect  workmanship,  holding  between  them 
a  piece  of  unfolded  paper.  The  prelate  is  seated  in  an 
arm-chair,  and  looks  up  as  if  he  was  about  to  com- 
mimicate  the  contents  of  the  paper  to  some  one  near 
him.  In  a  letter  enclosing  a  sonnet  in  honour  of  this 
picture,  Aretino — truly  for  once — said  that  as  there 
were  two  Charleses,  one  created  by  Nature  and  the 
other  by  Titian,  so  now  there  were  two  Beccadelli  to 
listen  to  Aretino's  verse.t 


*  Aretino  to  Titian,  Venice,  Oct. 

1549,  in  Lett,  di  M.  P.  A.,  t.  198. 

t  Lettere  di  M.  P.  Aretino,  yi. 


102,  Aretino  *'  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Legate,"  Venice,  Oct.  1552. 
The  picture  is  on  canyas,  num* 


218 


TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  YI. 


The  canvases  intended  for  Philip  of  Spain  were 
despatched  to  Madrid  in  the  course  of  the  same  year, 
the  last  being  the  "  Queen  of  Persia,"  which  was 
accompanied  by  the  following  letter. 

TITIAN  TO  THE  PBINOB  OF  SPAIN. 

''Most  high  and  potent  Signor, 

"  Having  recently  obtained  a  *  Queen  of 
Persia '  of  some  quality,  which  I  thought  worthy  of 
appearing  before  your  Highness'  exalted  presence,  I  had 
her  sent,  pending  the  time  when  other  works  of  mine 
were  drying,  to  take  embassies  from  me  to  your  High- 
ness, and  be  company  to  the  landscape  and  St  Margaret 
previously  sent  by  Ambassador  Vargas,  under  cover 
to  the  bishop  of  Segovia.  Meanwhile,  may  God  keep 
and  prosper  your  Highness's  high  and  potent  person 
and  state  in  all  the  prosperity  and  felicity  which  your 
Highness's  most  devoted  servant  Titian  desires. 

"  From  Venice,  nth  of  October,  1552. 

"  Most  high  and  potent  Signor's  servant,  who  kisses 
your  feet,  ,^ 

"  TiTIANO   VeCELLIO.   * 


bered  at  the  TJffizi,  1116,  and  of 
life  size.  On  the  paper,  in  the 
prelate's  hand,  we  read : 

"JTTLIVS  P.  P.  m. 

Yenerabilis  fratri  Ludoyioo  epd 
EayeUen,  apud  dominium  Yene- 
toiiim,  nostro  et  apliose  sedis 
nuntio  [cum  annum  ageret  Ln, 
Titianus  Yeoellius  faoiebat  Ye- 
netiis  mdlii,  mense  Julii]." 

In  a  later  character : 

"Translatus  deinde  mdly  die 


xvui  Septembris  a  Paulo  Quarto 
Fonte  maximo  ad  arohiepiscop^m 
Baguainum  quo  peryenit  die  ix 
Decembris  proximo  subsequente." 

The  background  of  the  picture 
is  dark  brown ;  the  whole  a  per- 
fect piece  of  harmony  in  a  pre- 
dominant warm  brownish  tone, 
and  with  aU  the  yapour  of  a  hot 
sunny  day  upon  it.  Engrayed 
by  J.  0.  Ulmer. 

*  See  the  original  in  Appendix. 


Chap.  VI.] 


TITIAN'S  LANUSOAPES. 


219 


^  Titian  once  before  wrote  to  kiss  the  feet  of  Charles 
the  Fifth,  but  he  had  been  usually  content  to  kiss  the 
hands  of  his  patrons.  His  last  stay  at  Augsburg  made 
him  better  acquainted  with  the  idol  worship  of  the 
Castilians,  and  the  canny  old  mountaineer  of  seventy- 
five  now  kissed  the  feet  of  his  prince  like  any  Spanish 
secretary.**  But  let  us  remember  these  are  the  days 
and  the  customs  which  the  satire  of  Rabelais  vainly 
strove  to  change  and  chastise,  and  Venice,  like  Spain, 
was  still  to  some  extent  under  the  influence  of  Oriental 
customs. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  annals  of  Italian  painting  we 
hear  of  a  picture  which  claims  to  be  nothing  more  than 
a  landscape ;  and  of  this  landscape  Titian  was  the 
painter.  We  look  through  the  numberless  catalogues 
of  the  1 7th  century  and  find  but  one  reference  to  a 
piece  of  the  kind  by  the  great  Venetian.  It  was  "a 
landscape  with  soldiers  and  animals,'^  in  the  collec- 
tion of  Paolo  del  Sera.f  European  galleries  may  be 
searched  almost  in  vain  for  such  productions,  and  there 
is  but  one  canvas  at  Windsor  in  which  the  figures  are 
altogether  subordinate.  Yet  it  may  be  easily  conceived 
that  Titian  often  had  such  works  on  his  easel,  though 
they  may  subsequently  have  perished,  neglected  alike 
by  the  indiflferent  or  the  religious  of  all  denominations. 
Aurelio  Luini  once  paid  a  visit  to  Titian,  and  asked 


*  In  all  the  official  corre- 
spondence of  diplomatists  with 
Philip  the  Second,  the  seoretaiies 
inyariably  kiss  the  hands  and 
feet  of  his  Majesty,  and  wish  him 


increase  of  kingdoms  and  lord- 
ships.   The  times  have  undergone 
a  radical  change  since  then, 
t  Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  262. 


220  TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  YI. 

him  how  he  connected  his  trees  with  the  ground  in 
his  compositiona  Titian  showed  him  divers  ways  of 
doing  this,  and  brought  an  admirable  landscape  from 
one  of  the  rooms  of  his  house,  which  struck  Aurelio  at 
first  as  a  daub,  till,  drawing  back  to  a  distance  he 
found  it  suddenly  light  up  as  with  the  beams  of  the 
sun.  He  left  the  workshop  declaring  that  he  never 
had  seen  anything  so  rare  in  its  way  as  this 
creation.* 

How  nobly  Titian  furnished  his  canvases  with  back- 
grounds has  often  been  noted.  The  awful  gloom  of 
mountains,  their  "fellowship  with  clouds,  their  per- 
sonality as  they  stand  sphinx-like  in  attitude  of  repose 
or  writhing  like  hooded  giants  striving  to  be  free," 
their  majesty  as  they  sit  "  like  tutelary  powera  presid- 
ing over  some  gentle  scene,"  have  been  sketched  with 
enthusiasm  by  the  pen  of  Gilbert.  "Forest  depths, 
masses  of  foliage  backed  by  banks  of  solemn  cloud, 
glinting  lights  amongst  the  boles  of  trees,''  had  as 
much  attraction  for  Titian  as  "the  domestic  charm 
of  cottage  and  farm."t  Pictures  in  which  these 
characteristic  features  exclusively  occur  have  not  as 
we  saw  been  preserved.  But  numerous  etchings  and 
drawings  show  how  fondly  Titian  would  have  given 
his  time  to  such  subjects  had  he  but  found  a  public  to 
appreciate  their  value.  There  are  quaint  and  startling 
views  of  dolomites  in  the  prints  of  Lef  febre,  forming 
backgrounds  to  homesteads  equally  quaint  and  pic- 


*  Lomazzo.  Trattato,  u.  «.,  p.  |      f  Gilbert's  Cadore,    u.8.,    pp. 
474.  I  7,  72,  &c. 


Chap.  VI.]  LANDSCAPE  PRINTS.  221 

turesque,  in  which  castellated  towers  are  roofed  with 
ragged  and  long  projecting  deals,  and  rocky  boulders 
arc  watered  at  their  bases  by  rapid  torrents.  Some- 
times it  is  but  the  outskirt  of  a  hamlet  or  town  that 
we  see,  with  the  orchards  near  it,  and  a  bridge 
defended  sometimes  by  a  keep  spanning  a  quick  flow- 
ing stream.  A  figure  or  at  most  two  figures  are 
thrown  into  the  foreground  to  give  a  name  to  the 
picture.  In  one  of  Boldrini's  woodcuts,  of  1566,  firee 
in  line  as  if  it  had  been  drawn  by  Titian  himself,  a 
charming  figure  of  Venus  is  shown  sitting  under  trees 
.i^  Cupid  Baaing  in  the  fold,  of  her  iee.  Here 
is  a  good  study  of  rocks  and  grasses  in  a  glen  over- 
shadowed by  pines.  Gnarled  trunks  and  roots  and 
broken  ground  with  weeds  and  rushes  are  striking 
accompaniments  to  some  of  the  prints  of  St.  Jerome  in 
the  wildemesa  But  more  characteristic,  and  of  more 
lasting  interest,  are  the  drawings  in  which  every  form 
to  be  found  in  inanimate  nature  is  consigned  to  paper. 
A  screen  of  beeches  near  boulders,  belonging  to  Mr. 
Malcolm  of  Poltallock,  a  clump  of  trees  in  front  of  a 
village  backed  by  Alps,  a  study  of  tree  trunks  and 
meadow  side,  before  a  range  half  covered  with  round 
or  stunted  arborescence,  or  a  solitary  group  of  twined 
stumps,  with  scant  leafage  in  advance  of  a  castle  lying 
tarn-like  in  the  gloom  of  a  mountain  cauldron,  are 
but  a  few  of  a  series  in  the  gallery  of  Florence.  A 
figure  of  a  naked  boy  or  a  woman  often  cowers  in  the 
foreground,  giving — in  the  absence  of  aerial  perspec- 
tive— a  measure  of  the  distance  to  which  the  planes 
recede.     In  the  Museum  of  Dresden,  a  large  sheet 


222  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  VI. 

-  ■  ■  -     ■■  ■ — 

contains  a  view  of  a  haven  with  an  approach  by  two 
deep  channels,  and  a  fortified  port  of  a  triangular 
shape,  presenting  its  wedged  apex  to  the  spectator. 
A  castle  crowning  a  precipice  to  the  right  commands 
the  entrance  on  that  side,  where  gaUeys  of  war  are 
lying  in  the  stream.  Behind  the  town  a  rolling  coast 
rises  majestically  to  a  distance  of  dolomitic  rocks. 
At  the  Albertina  in  Vienna,  another  sheet  shows  a 
town  nestling  on  the  slopes  of  hills,  the  wooded  crests 
of  which  grandly  contrast  with  the  bareness  of  the  more 
distant  peaks.  A  more  extensive  view,  partaking  at 
once  of  mountain,  plain,  water  and  sea-shore,  is  that 
in  a  drawing  at  the  Louvre,  in  which  a  canopy  of  low- 
lying  cloud  is  reflected  in  the  stream,  towards  which 
Europa  is  flying  on  the  back  of  the  bull.  Titian's 
dolomites  we  may  confess  are  often  exaggerated  in 
form  or  unnatural  in  setting.  The  leafage  of  his  trees 
is  mostly  conventional.  But  in  drawing  chiefly  with 
the  pen,  his  treatment  is  surprisingly  effective  and 
often  most  poetic. 

As — ^unhappily — no  clue  to  the  landscape  despatched 
to  Philip  of  Spain  has  been  discovered,  so  unfor- 
tunately no  trace  remains  of  the  "  Queen  of  Persia,'^ 
by  which  it  was  accompanied.  But  we  still  possess 
the  "St.  Margaret,^'  which  for  centuries  adorned  a 
gloomy  hall  in  the  gloomy  EscoriaL  Though  now  in 
a  bad  state  in  the  Museum  of  Madrid,  it  is  a  fine  rem- 
nant of  a  picture  in  which  Titian  clearly  did  his  best 
to  captivate  the  young  and  powerful  prince,  to  whom 
he  was  willing  to  offer  all  his  incense.  The  vast  frame 
of  the  dragon  stretches  from  the  left  foreground  to  the 


Chap.  VI.] 


ST.  MAEGAEBT— MADRID. 


223 


mouth  ol  the  cavern  which  yawns  in  the  background 
to  the  right.  In  front  of  him  the  saint  bears  the  cross 
in  her  left  hand,  and  as  she  passes  not  without  haste, 
turns  round  to  go,  whilst  her  glance  is  still  fettered  by 
the  monster's  open  throat  and  paw.  This  subject,  often 
painted  by  Giulio  Komano,*  had  never  as  yet  been 
touched  by  Titian.  He  gave  it  all  the  charm  of  a 
grand  and  sprightly  form  in  fine  and  Uvely  movement. 
He  managed  a  convolution  of  a  few  simple  lines  with 
great  skiU  and  simplicity,  and  clothed  the  surfaces 
within  these  lines  with  rich  and  harmonious  tints, 
such  as  only  Titian  was  able  to  produce.  Pity  that 
the  green  mantle  which  swathed  the  saint's  shape  and 
relieved  the  brightness  of  a  light  red  scarf,  should  be 
injured  by  a  long  and  irrepressible  scar  on  the  canvas, 
extending  from  the  cheek  of  the  figure  at  one  end  to 
the  left  leg  and  foot  at  the  other,  t 

Titian's  connection  with  the  Imperial  family  was 
not  severed  in  the  least  by  separation,  nor  was  his 
correspondence  allowed  to  drop  from  lack  of  response. 


*  One  of  these  is  in  the  Louvre, 
the  other  in  the  Belvedere  at 
Vienna.  Both  were  assigned  for 
years  to  Eaphael. 

t  This  canvas,  M.  2*42  h.  by 
1*82,  is  now  No.  469  in  the 
Madrid  Museum,  having  been 
in  the  Escorial.  The  monks,  who 
disliked  the  sight  of  the  bare  leg, 
had  it  painted  over  with  a  drapery 
which  has  since  been  removed, 
leaving  the  flesh  abraded.  This, 
and  the  left  side  of  the  face,  is 
heavily  repainted.  In  the  dis- 
tance to  the  left  the  landscape  is 


coloured  by  the  flames  of  a  burn- 
ing city.  In  the  foreground  to 
the  right  is  a  human  skull.  On 
the  rock  in  which  the  cavern 
mouth  is  yawning  we  read, 
"  TTTIANVS."  Two  copies  of  this 
piece  are  stiU  at  the  EscoriaL 

A  very  similar  picture  by 
Titian,  in  the  collection  of  Charles 
the  First  of  England,  is  no  longer 
to  be  traced.  See  Bathoe's  Oata- 
logpie,  u.  «.  See  the  engravings 
by  an  anonymous  hand,  and  by 
H.  Howard. 


224 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  VI. 


Philip  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  Titian's  letter  of 
October  in  a  despatch  of  the  12th  of  December,  and 
for  this  the  painter  made  humble  return  in  the  foUow- 
ing  March,  1553,  declaring  ^^that  the  kindness  of  the 
Prince's  answer  had  made  him  young  again,  and  pray- 
ing  that  pending  the  completion  of  certain  '  poesies ' 
which  he  had  in  preparation,  His  Highness  would 
accept  a  portrait  of  himself  (the  Prince)  which  he 
now  begged  to  forward.''  * 

On  the  back  of  this  letter  Philip  wrote  the  following 
memorandum  in  his  own  hand. 


"  For  Italy  on  the  18th  of  June,  by  Don  Antonio 
do  Bineros  from  Madrid. 

"  Answer  Titian. 

"Well  beloved  and  faithful, 

"  By  Ortiz  the  servant  of  our  ambassador  at 
Venice  we  received  your  letter  and  the  portrait  which 
accompanied  it ;  for  which,  being  from  your  own 
hand,  as  well  as  for  the  trouble  you  have  taken,  we 
give  you  many  thanks,  together  with  assurance  of 
our  good  will  in  respect  of  your  oflFer." 


Almost  at  the  same  time  Charles  the  Fifth  wrote 
to  Vargas  to  ask  whether  it  was  true  as  rumoured 
at  Brussels  that  Titian  had  died. 


*  The  original  of  Titian's  letter 
is  in  Appendix.  It  alludes  to 
Philip's  despatch  of  the  preyions 


December,  which  has  not  been 
preseryed. 


Chap.  VI.]      EUMOUEED  DEATH  OF  TITIAN.  226 

CHARLES  THE   FIFTH  TO  FEANCESCO  VAEOAS, 

AT  VENICE. 

"  It  is  rumoured  hero  that  Titian  is  dead,  but  the 
rumour  has  not  been  confirmed  and  is  probably 
untrue.  Give  us  advice  of  the  truth,  and  say  whether 
Titian  has  finished  certain  pictures  which  he  was 
charged  to  execute  when  he  left  Augsburg,  or  how 
far  he  has  got  on  with  them. 

"  Fnm  Bbxjssbls,  May  31,  1553."  * 

Writing  at  the  close  of  June,  Titian  conclusively 
proved  to  the  Emperor  that  he  was  alive,t  but  Vargas, 
after  communicating  similar  intelligence,  gave  account 
to  the  Emperor  not  only  of  the  great  picture  of  the 
Trinity,  but  of  other  works  which  the  master  had 
been  painting  for  Charles  and  Mary  of  Hungary. 

FEANCESCO  VABQAS  TO  CHARLES  THE   FIFTH, 

AT   BEUSSELS. 

"  Titian  is  alive  and  well,  and  not  a  little  pleased 
to  know  that  your  Majesty  was  inquiring  for  him. 
He  took  me  to  see  the  *  Trinity,*  which  he  promised 
to  finish  towards  the  end  of  September.  It  seems  to 
me  to  be  a  fine  w^ork.  Equally  so  a  Christ  appearing 
to  the  Magdalen  in  the  garden  for  the  Serenissima 
Queen  Mary.  The  other  picture  he  says  will  be  a 
'  grieving  Virgin,'  companion  to  the  '  Ecce  Homo/ 
already  in  possession  of  your  Majesty,  which  he  has 


*  See  the  original  in  Appendix. 

t  Titian  to  Charles  the  Fifth, 

in  Tioozzi,    p.  309.    The   date, 


which  Ticozzi  does  not  giye,  is 
supplied  by  the  following  letter 
of  Vargas. 


YOU    IT.  Q 


226 


TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  VI. 


not  done  because  the  size  was  not  given,  but  whicli 
he  will  execute  so  soon  as  the  particulars  are  sent 
to  him. 


*'  FT<m  Venice,  30<A  of  June,  1553."  * 


Meanwhile  Francesco  Donato  the  Doge  having 
attained  to  the  great  age  of  eighty,  had  been  gathered 
to  his  fathers,  and  found  a  substitute  in  the  pious 
senator  Marc-Antonio  Trevisani.  Titian  was  forced 
to  suspend  his  labours  to  portray  the  new  prince, 
and  Aretino  was  enabled  to  write  a  sonnet  in  praise 
of  the  likeness  in  November.!  A  replica  fortimately 
survived  the  original,  which  perished  in  the  fire  of 
1577,  and  this  replica  in  the  Sterne  collection  at 
Vienna  betrays  the  sickly  complexion  of  a  man  who 
died  affcer  a  year  of  office  as  he  sat  at  mass  in  a  room 
of  the  public  palace.  There  is  no  picture  of  the  time 
in  which  Titian  has  more  superficially  contrasted 
the  smoothness  and  polish  of  flesh  with  accidents  of 
texture  in  dress.  The  figure  and  face  are  turned  to 
the  right ;  the  ducal  cap  of  yellow  silk  and  gold  seems 
to  overweight  the  head,  which  shows  all  the  signs  of 
disease,  in  a  dull  black  eye,  and  skin  suffused  with 
bile.  A  black  beard  streaked  with  grey,  falls  on  the 
rich  lemon-toned  damask  of  the  mantle,  the  folds  of 
which  are  kept  together  with  the  left  hand  whilst 
the  right  grasps   a  white  handkerchief.  J     We   can 


*  The  original  is  in  Appendix. 

t  Aretino  to  Boocamazza,  Yen. 
Not.  1553,  in  Lettere  de  M.  P.  A. 
vi.  203. 


X  This  canvas  is  m.  0*99  h.  by 
0'86,  and  was  long  in  the  Fes- 
tetits  Collection.  The  figare  is 
seen  to  the  thigh,  and  is  not  free 


Chap.  VI.  THE  "DANAE."— MADEID.  227 

hardly  doubt  that  the  master  bestowed  more  care 
and  spent  more  time  on  the  contemporary  portraits 
of  Francesco  Vargas  and  the  Protonotary  Thomas 
Oranvelle,  each  of  which  adorned  the  palace  of  the 
Imperial  embassy  and  Titian's  house  at  Venice  in 
the  winter  of  1553-4.* 

In  spring  and  summer  of  1554  Titian  finished  and 
forwarded  to  their  several  destinations  four  important 
works, — ^the  "Danae^^  of  Madrid  for  the  Prince  of 
Spain,  "Christ  appearing  to  the  Magdalen,"  which 
Queen  Mary  of  Hungary  took  with  her  from  the 
Netherlands  to  Spain,  the  '*  Grieving  Virgin,"  and 
the  "Trinity'*  to  which  allusion  was  made  in  the 
letter  of  Vargas.  Philip  received  the  "  Danae  '^  but  a 
few  days  before  he  left  Corunna  for  the  shores  of 
Britain.t  A  companion  piece  representing  Venus 
.and  Adonis,  despatched  a  little  later  from  Venice, 
reached  him  in  London  about  three  months  after 
his  maxriage  with  Mary  Tudor,  and  it  is  curious  to 
note  how  the  annals  of  art  here  confirm  what 
historians  of  the  time  have  told  respecting  a  prince 
whose  habitual  regularity  of  church  observance  did 
not  exclude  the  utmost  freedom  in  respect  of  con- 
nection with  the  fair  sex.  "  Se  non  ha  U  Me'  jper 
casto"  the  Venetian  envoy  wrote  from  London  to 
his  government,  and  Philip's  taste  for  the  lightest 


from  reetoring,  partioularly  in 
the  parts  immediately  beneath 
the  beard. 

•  Aietino  to  Titian,  Yenioe, 
October,  1553.  The  same  to  Ya- 
«alk>,  Not.  1553,  and  Aretino  to 


Thomas  GranyeUe,  Jan.  1554,  in 
Lettere,  u.  «.,  yi.  193,  203-5,  and 
220^.  Neither  of  these  portraits 
is  at  present  to  be  traced. 

t  The  date  of  arrival  in  Spain 
is  not  exactly  stated. 

Q2 


328  TITIAN:  HIS  LIPB  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  VI^' 

nudities  of  the  Venetian  school  seems  to  confirni  the* 
statement* 

In  the  '^  Danae  ^'  as  in  other  canvases  of  the  same- 
class,  Titian  was  no  longer  producing  anything  new 
or  original,  but  merely  composing  variations  upon  old 
and  well-worn  themes.  The  "  Danae  "  of  Madrid  isr 
not  different  in  auy  essential  particular  from  that  of 
Naples.  It  is  only  coarser  and  more  realistic.  One  of 
the  distinct  peculiarities  of  the  "  Danae"  of  Naples  was. 
form  of  ideal  beauty  akin  to  that  of  the  antique,  and 
colour  of  richness  only  attainable  on  Titian's  palet. 
The  '^  Danae  "  of  Madrid  lies  in  the  same  attitude  as  its 
earlier  prototype  and  is  cast  in  a  similar  mould,  but 
the  shape  is  less  refined,  the  contours  \u'e  less  clean,, 
and— it  is  clear— a  certain  obtuseness  has  grown  upon 
Titian,  who  now  felt  with  less  delicacy  than  of  yore^ 
The  sacrifice  of  poetry  and  sentiment  to  realism, 
equally  marked  in  the  palatial  and  festive  canvases  of 
Paolo  Veronese,  and  in  the  lowly  and  pastoral  pieces  of 
Oiacomo  Bassano,  is  already  complete,  and  the  limbs, 
the  hands  and  feet  of  Danae  will  no  more  permit 
us  to  think  of  princely  birth  or  tender  nurture 
than  the  hag  who  catches  the  gold  pieces  in  her  apron 
wiU  help  us  to  remember  the  classic  loves  of  Jove. 
But  this  brings  us  to  another  feature  in  which  the 
Madrid  canvas  differs  from  that  of  Naples.  Cupid 
here  has  disappeared,  and  has  taken  away  his  bow 
and  arrows.  A  little  dog  lies  curled  up  at  Danae's 
side.    The  gold  pieces  fall  from  the  clouds,  and  aa 


*  Belatione  di  Gioyanni  Michele,  in  Prescotf  8  Pliilip  the  Second* 


€hap.  VI.]    "  DANAB."—PBTEBSBirEG— VIENNA. 


229 


old  woman  with  a  key  at  her  girdle  sits  at  the  foot 
of  the  couch,  and  greedily  watches  them  as  they  fall 
into  her  dress.  But  to  give  Titian  his  due, — ^if  we 
accept  as  unalterable  the  coarser  fibre  of  thought 
which  runs  through  the  picture — ^we  shall  still  admire 
the  wonderful  power  which  lies  in  the  artist's  touch, 
his  effectiveness  in  the  distribution  of  light  and  shade 
and  colour,  and  Us  absolute  mastery  in  reproducing 
nature.  As  a  study  of  character  nothing  can  be 
more  true  or  more  strikingly  real  than  the  hag  on 
the  bedside,  and  as  a  contrast  to  fairness  and  youth 
what  can  be  more  telling  than  old  age  and  weather- 
beaten  skin,  or  the  sear  of  vice  and  rags.* 

We  cannot  trace  to  Titian's  easel  a  replica  which 
formed  part  of  the  Granvelle  collection,t  but  more 
than  once  in  later  days  the  master  rang  the  changes 
on  this  composition  without  altering  it,  and  extant 
repetitions  in  St  Petersburg  and  Vienna  fully  demon- 
strate the  popularity  of  the  subject  In  the  Petersburg 
•example  the  dog  is  absent,  and  the  old  woman  wears 


•  This  canvas  is  mentioned  in 
a  letter  which  Titian  wxote  to 
Philip  in  Nov.  1554  (Tioozzi, 
VecelH,  u.  «.,  p.  312).  He 
speaks  of  it  as  haying  been  for- 
warded earlier  in  the  year.  It 
is  now  No.  458  in  the  Madrid 
Museum,  haying  been  preseryed 
for  centuries  in  the  *^  Titian  HaU  *' 
at  the  Alcazar.  It  is  on  canyas, 
m.  1-28  h.  by  1*78,  and  the  figures 
are  as  large  as  life.  It  has  been 
injured  by  cleaning  and  repairs, 
.and  there  are  bad  patchings  with 
new  paint,  about  the  upper  part 


of  the  right  arm,  the  left  breast, 
and  abdomen.  The  toes  of  the 
right  foot  are  also  repainted,*  and 
the  sky  is  so  altered  that  the  face 
of  Joye  in  ihe  douds  has  disap- 
peared. The  old  woman  with  her 
grey  cap,  naked  shoulders,  and 
brown  dress,  is  best  preseryed. 
There  are  engrayings  of  this  pieoe 
by  Sutman,  lisebetius,  Le  Fdbre, 
and  Bioher. 

t  This  picture  was  3  fb.  h.  by 
5^.  See  the  inyentory  in  Castan, 
ii,  4«,  p.  56* 


230 


TITIAN:  mS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  YI, 


a  brown  dress  ;  *  whilst  a  second  at  Vienna  gives  the 
fonn  of  the  hag  fronting  the  spectator,  and  holding 
up  a  chased  dish.  Both  these  canvases  are  executed 
with  bold  Titianesque  ease  of  hand,  and  must  be  held 
to  be  originals,  though  perhaps  not  carried  out  with- 
out assistance  from  Cesare  Vecelli,  or  Girolamo,  the 
favourite  of  the  master's  workshop.t 

Titian  received  his  reward  for  the  "  Danae"  of  Madrid 
through  Vargas.  In  a  letter  to  Philip  he  acknow- 
ledged that  the  guerdon  was  more  suited  to  the 
Prince's  greatness  than  to  the  painter's  merit ;  but  he 
promised  to  finish  quickly  the  "Venus  and  Adonis"  in 
order  that  he  might  deserve  it  more.J    Having  done 


*  The  PeterabuTg  example  is 
on  canyas,  No.  100  of  the  Qallery 
of  the  Hermitage,  m.  1*2  by  1*68, 
or  about  3  ft.  6  by  7  ft  It  has 
also  been  damaged  by  unequal 
cleaning  and  abrasions,  which 
have  remoyed  some  glazings  and 
half-tones,  leaying  the  whites  es- 
pecially raw  and  cold.  It  was, 
1633,  in  the  collection  of  the 
Marquis  de  Yrillidre,  afterwards 
in  the  French  collections  of  Th^« 
yenin,  Bouryalais,  and  Grozat. 
It  i»  engrayed  in  reyerse  by  Louis 
Desplaces. 

t  This  picture.  No.  36  in  the 
2nd  room  of  the  1st  Floor  (Ital. 
Soh.),  in  the  Belyedere  of  Yienna, 
is  4  fb.  3  h.  by  4  ft.  8,  and  in- 
scribed beneath  the  lefb  foot  of 
Banae,  **  TiTiAirys  iBQyss  gas." 
But  this  inscription  is  modem, 
though  it  may  haye  been  re- 
painted on  the  old  lines.  It  is 
more  iigured  than  the  Petersburg 
example,  and  less  in  focus^    The 


head  of  Danae  is  in  part  rubbed 
away,  the  toes  of  the  right  foot* 
are  renewed,  and  glazes  here  and 
there  haye  been  remoyed.  A  copy 
of  the  Petersburg  replica,  pos- 
sibly by  the  Spaniard  Mazo,  is  in 
the  collection  of  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  in  London;  a  copy 
of  that  of  Yienna,  in  the  collection 
of  Lady  Malmesbury,  was  sold  in 
1876  for  £15  4a.  6d.  ,*  a  Yenetian 
adaptation  of  the  Naples  original 
is  at  Cobham  HalL  In  February, 
1 875,  there  was  on  yiew  at  Angers^ 
a  *'  Danae  by  Titian,"  and  said  to 
haye  belonged  to  the  Buonoom- 
pagni  fEunily  at  Bologna.  The 
same  picture  was  exhibited  at 
Milan  in  1874.  In  both  cities  it 
was  said  that  it  had  been  pur- 
chased for  the  Emperor  of  Bussia 
for  630,000  fr. 

X  The  letter  without  date  in 
Tioozzi  (Yecelli,  u.  «.,  p.  312)^ 
must  haye  been  written  at  the 
dose  of  Spring  in  1554. 


Chap.  VI.]  TITIAN'S  PENSIONS.  231 

this,  he  penned  a  contrasting  letter  to  Charles  the 
Fifth,  announcing  the  completion  and  delivery  of  the 
"Trinity"  and  " Addolorata,"  and  complaining — ^we 
may  think  justly — ^that  his  claims  for  pensions  on 
Milan  and  Naples  had  never  as  yet  been  satisfied. 

TITIAN  TO  GHAELES  THE  FIFTH. 

"Most  Sacred  Cesarean  Majesty, 

"  By  order  of  your  Csesarean  Majesty  a  yearly 
provision  of  200  scudi  was  assigned  to  me  at  Milan,  and 
a  privilege  for  the  carriage  of  com  was  granted  to  me 
at  Naples.  The  latter  has  cost  me  hundreds  of  scudi 
to  pay  an  agent  in  the  kingdom.  Lastly,  I  received 
a  '  naturalezza '  in  Spain  for  one  of  my  sons,  to  which 
a  yearly  pension  of  500  scudi  was  attached.  It  has 
been  my  ill  fortune  to  fail  in  obtaining  anything  from 
these  grants,  and  I  now  beg  leave  to  say  a  word  to 
your  Majesty  respecting  them,  hoping  that  the  liberal 
mind  of  the  greatest  Christian  Emperor  that  ever  lived 
will  not  suffer  his  orders  to  be  contemned  by  his 
ministers.  I  shoiQd  consider  such  a  benefit  as  an  act 
of  charity,  inasmuch  as  I  am  straitened  for  means, 
having  been  in  ill  health,  and  having  married  a 
daughter.  My  supplication  to  the  celestial  Queen  to 
intercede  for  me  with  your  C.  M.  finds  expression 
in  the  record  of  her  image,  which  now  comes  before 
your  Majesty  with  a  semblance  of  grieving  which 
reflects  the  quality  of  my  troubles.  I  also  send  the 
picture  of  the  '  Trinity,'  and,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
tribulation  I  have  undergone,  I  should  have  finished 
and  sent  it  earlier,  although  in  my  wish  to  satisfy 


232  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  YI. 

your  C  M.  I  have  not  spared  myself  the  pains  of 
striking  out  two  or  three  times  the  work  of  many 
days  to  bring  it  to  perfection  and  satisfy  myself, 
whereby  more  time  was  wasted  than  I  usually  take  to 
do  such  things.  But  I  shall  hold  myself  fortunate  if 
I  give  satisfaction,  and  beg  your  C.  M.  will  accept  my 
eager  wish  to  be  of  service,  my  greatest  ambition  being 
to  do  a  pleasure  to  your  Majesty,  whose  all  powerful 
hand  I  kiss  with  aU  devotion  and  humUity  of  heart. 

"  From  Vbnicb,  8t^,  10,  1554." 

"  The  portrait  of  Signor  Vargas,  introduced  into  the 
work,  was  done  at  his  request.  If  it  should  not  please 
your  C.  M.  any  painter  can,  with  a  couple  of  strokes, 
convert  it  into  another  person. 

**  Of  your  Caesarean  Majesty, 

"  The  most  humble  Servant, 

"  TiTiANO,  Pittorer  ♦ 

It  is  unfortunate  for  Titian's  character  for  veracity 
that  the  contract  for  his  daughter's  marriage  should 
be  dated  in  1555,  instead  of  in  1554,  but  the  word 
"  married  "  may  be  charitably  attributed  to  the  promise 
rather  than  to  the  consummation  of  Lavinia's  union. 

A  letter  from  Francesco  Vargas  communicated  to 
the  Emperor  the  dispatch  of  the  "  Trinity "  and 
"  Addolorata^"  which  left  Venice  for  the  Netherlands 
on  the  11th  of  October,  1554,^  and  there  is  every 
reason  for  thinking  that  Mary  of  Hungary  was 
destined  to  receive  by  the  same  conveyance  the 
"  Christ  appearing  to  the  Magdalen,''  which  she  after- 


*  See  the  original  letter  in  Appendix. 


Chap.  VI.] 


"VIEGIN  LAMENTING." 


233 


wards  took  with  her  to  Spain.*  For  a  long  time 
Titian's  latest  version  of  the  "  Noli  me  tangere  "  was 
preserved  at  the  Escorial,  where  a  copy  of  it  still  exists. 
The  original  was  mutilated  in  a  strange  and  unac- 
countable way,  and  what  remains  of  it  is  a  fine  head 
and  bust  of  the  Saviour  holding  a  hoe  in  his  left 
hand.t 

The  **  Virgin  of  Grief/'  being  on  slate,  was  probably 
saved  by  the  strength  of  its  materials  from  sharing 
the  feite  of  many  other  masterpieces  of  Titian.  It  was 
a  companion  piece  to  the  ''  Ecce  Homo/'  and  as  such, 
properly  represented  the  Virgin  as  a  mother  lamenting 
over  the  suflFerings  of  the  Son.  The  face,  at  three- 
quarters  to  the  leffc,  is  bent  forward,  the  glance  is 
intent,  and  the  hands  are  held  up  in  token  of  grieving. 
Sweetness  and  richness  of  colour  are  combined  with 
great  blending  and  very  delicate  transitions  of  tone. 
But  the  type  and  expression  and  the  cast  of  the 
features  indicate  the  master's  irrepressible  tendency  to 
absolute  realism.^ 


*  The  letter  of  Yargas  is  in 
Appendix. 

t  This  firagment,  on  oanyas  fiE»t 
to  panel,  is  No.  489  in  the  Madrid 
Museum,  m.  0*68  h.  by  0*62.  It 
represents  the  Saviour  at  three- 
quarters  to  the  left,  in  a  white 
tunic  and  blue  mantle,  with  rays 
issuing  from  the  head ;  distance, 
aky.  The  fragment  was  found  at 
the  Escorial  by  Don  P.  Madrazo ; 
it  then  seryed  as  a  cover  to  an  oil 
jar.  See  an  account  of  this  by 
Mr.  J.  0.  Bobinson,  in  the  '*  Aca- 
demy"   for  March,  1872.    The 


proof  that  the  picture  in  its  entire 
state  was  taken  to  Spain,  is  to  be 
found  in  Queen  Marjr's  inventory 
of  1556,  in  Bevue  Universelle  des 
Arts,  u, «.,  iii.  141 ;  another  edi- 
tion of  this  subject  was  seen  un- 
finished in  Titian's  atelier  by 
Yasari  in  1566  (ziii.  44). 

t  Madrid  Mus.,  No.  468,  on 
slate,  m.  0*68  h.  by  0*53.  The 
Yirgin  wears  a  violet  tunic  and 
blue  mantle,  the  latter  partly 
covering  the  head,  on  which  there 
is  a  white  cap.  The  figure  is  a 
bust  of  life  size.    See  postea» 


234  TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  VI. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  the  distaibution  of  the 
"  Trinity  "  was  in  defiance  of  the  laws  of  composition, 
whilst  the  strained  attitude  of  most  of  the  figures  was 
detrimental  to  their  general  effect*  There  is  no 
doubt  a  great  deal  of  truth  in  the  reproach,  for  we 
miss  altogether  the  convergence  and  symmetrical 
arrangement  of  lines  which  so  large  a  subject  on  so 
vast  a  scale  required.  But  it  should  be  remembered 
that  Titian  was  workinsf  at  a  theme  dictated  to  him 
by  the  Emperor  or  some  of  his  spiritual  advisers,  and 
if  he  failed  under  these  circumstances  to  produce  the 
necessary  pictorial  equilibrium  he  was  not  much  to 
blame.  We  are  bound  meanwhile  to  concede  that  he 
all  but  restored  the  balance  by  contrasts  of  light  and 
shade,  and  a  vivid  spread  of  harmonious  colour  un- 
attainable by  any  artist  but  himself.  One  might  add, 
indeed,  that  the  glorious  medium  of  light  amidst 
clouds,  in  which  his  personages  are  suspended,  trans- 
figures  the  host  which  he  has  brought  together,  and 
makes  one  forget  the  colossal  bulk  of  some,  the  violent 
movement  of  others,  and  the  realism  which  more  than 
ever  reveals  itself  in  the  rendering  of  alL  In  the 
highest  circle  of  the  heavens,  and  as  it  were  in  a  halo 
of  golden  radiance,  the  two  first  Persons  of  the  Trinity 
are  seated  in  awful  majesty,  with  crystal  orbs  and 
sceptres  in  their  hands.  About  them  the  countless  array 
of  cherubim  and  seraphim  loses  itself  in  a  brilliant  mist 
Lower  down  in  the  clouds  the  Virgin  stands  before 
the  heavenly  tribunal,  and  intercedes  for  the  sinners  at 

*  Waagen,  Ueber  in  Spanien  1  bticher    fur    Kunstwissensdhaft, 
Yorhandene  Gemalde   in   Jahr-  |  Leipzig,  1868,  vol.  i.  p.  118. 


Chap.  VI.]  *'THE  TBINITT."  235 

whose  head  Charles  the  Fifth  to  the  right  is  kneeling. 
The  monarch  in  profile  looks  up  prayerfully.  Behind 
him  is  the  Empress,  lower  down  Mary  of  Hungary, 
Philip,  and  his  sister,  all  easily  recognised  by  their 
characteristic  features — each  of  them  in  their  winding 
sheets,  and  in  action  of  prayer.  The  crown,  emblem 
of  the  Imperial  dignity,  is  at  Charles's  feet,  and  seems 
to  indicate  his  purpose  of  abdicating  the  throne. 
Beneath  the  royal  group  and  on  the  same  side,  there 
are  several  figures  in  which  it  may  be  possible  to 
recognise  Vargas,  bearded,  and  simulating  the  patient 
Job.  We  can  fancy  Titian  giving  this  character  to 
an  envoy  of  the  Kaiser  with  some  sort  of  tremor. 
Further  down  the  canvas,  and  in  the  very  centre  of 
the  clouds,  are  grand  representations  of  Moses  with  the 
tables,  Noah  holding  up  a  model  of  the  ark,  on  which 
the  dove  is  resting  with  the  olive  branch,  and  near 
him  a  female  with  long  and  copious  tresses,  who  may 
be  the  Magdalen ;  further  on  to  the  left  in  ascending 
lines,  the  Evangelists  and  Prophets.  The  sheen  of 
the  colours  can  hardly  be  described,  and  particularly 
the  sheen  of  the  blue  raiment  in  which  the  Eternal, 
Christ,  and  the  Virgin  are  clad.  The  outlines  are  lost 
in  the  rounding  of  the  parts  as  they  lose  themselves 
under  similar  conditions  in  nature,  and  the  flesh  is 
stamped  o«  as  it  were  with  grand  robust  touches, 
reminding  us  of  those  words  which  Titian  spoke  to 
Vargas  when  asked  why  he  painted  with  so  large  a 
brush.*     After  Charles's  abdication  in  1555,  several 


*  See  antea,  L  p.  329. 


236 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  VL 


pictures  of  his  favourite  master  were  taken  to  the 
solitude  of  Yuste,  and  amongst  them  the  "Trinity," 
upon  which  he  often  gazed  at  last  with  great  fond- 
ness and  pleasure.*  In  a  codicil  of  his  will,  which 
Philip  the  Second  was  induced  to  disregard,  the  dying 
Emperor  ordered  the  piece  to  be  framed  and  set  up  on 
the  high  altar  of  the  Jeronymite  monastery.  Philip 
<5amed  off  his  father's  remains  and  the  '* Trinity" 
together,  and  both  were  taken  to  the  Escorial,  where 
the  ashes  of  the  great  master  still  repose,  whilst  the 
^'  Last  Judgment "  as  he  called  it,  upon  which  his  last 
glances  were  throtra,  was  removed  to  the  Madrid 
Museum.t 


*  Figueroa,  in  Prescott's  Philip 
n.  See  also  the  inventory  of 
pictures  taken  by  Charles  the 
Fifth  to  Spain,  and  left  by  him  at 
Yuste,  in  Bevue  UniyerseUe  des 
Arts,  «.  «.,  iii.  227-30.  Compare 
also  Stirling's  Cloister  Life  of 
Charles  the  Fifth;  Mignet's 
Charles  Y.,  8yo,  Paris,  2nd  ed., 
p.  452,  and  Gkichard's  Betraite  et 
Mort  de  Charles  Y.,  Svo,  Bmx. 
1855,  ii.  pp.  90—93.  The  pictures 
taken  to  Yuste  were :  1,  '*  The 
Trinity  " ;  2,  the  "  Ecce  Homo  '* 
and  3,  the  **  Addolorata,"  the  two 
last  framed  as  a  diptych;  4,  a 
**  Madonna ''  by  Titian,  in  a  dip- 
tych, with  **  Christ  carrying  his 
Cross,"  by  Michael  Coxie ;  5,  a 
«•  Pieta,"  by  Titian ;  6,a**Yirgin 
and  Child,"  by  Titian;  7,  the 
«  Emperor  and  Empress,"  on  one 
canvas,  by  Titian ;  8,  the  "  Em- 
peror in  Armour,"  by  Titian; 
9,  the  **  Empress,"  by  Titian. 

t  "The  Trinity"  is  now  No. 


462  at  the  Madrid  Museum,  on 
canvas,  m.  3*46  h.  by  2*40.  The 
figures  on  the  foreground  are  of 
life  size,  and  one  of  them,  on  the 
left — St.  John  Evangelist,  lying 
on  the  outstretched  pinions  of  an 
eagle — ^holds  a  roll  of  paper  in 
his  right  hand,  on  which  we  read : 
^TiTiAirys  p."  Beneath  the 
clouds,  and  quite  at  the  base  of 
the  picture,  is  a  strip  of  distant 
landscape,  with  woods  and  hillB» 
and  people  assembling  near  a 
chapel.  Till  1823  a  copy  of  this 
canvas  was  on  the  high  altar  of 
Yuste.  C.  Cort  engraved  the 
original,  probably  from  a  drawing 
under  Titian's  direction  in  1564. 
The  same  composition  reversed 
bears  the  name  of  Hondius.  A 
fair  photograph  frokn  the  original 
was  taken  by  Laurent.  Titian's 
petition  to  the  government  at 
Yenice  to  print  the  "  Trinity  "  is 
stiU  extant,  dated  Feb.  4,  1568. 
See  Cadorin,  DeUo  Amore,  9  &  65 


Chap.  VI.]    ''VENnTS  AND  ADONTIS"— MADETD. 


23' 


"  Grieving  Madonmts  "  or  the  "  Day  of  Judgment/' 
warning  mortals  of  the  perishable  nature  of  man,  were 
fit  subjects  for  the  contemplation  of  a  monarch  in  the 
frame  of  mind  peculiar  to  Charles  the  Fifth,  in  1 554  ; 
classic  fables,  like  the  "Danae*'  or  "Adonis/'  were  better 
suited  to  the  taste  of  Philip.  Titian  worked  alter- 
nately at  both,  and  dispatched  them  to  their  destina- 
tion almost  simultaneously.  In  a  letter  written  during 
the  autumn  of  1554,  Titian  sent  congratulations  to  the 
new  king-consort  of  England,  and  forwarded  the 
"  Adonis,''  saying  that  "  if  in  the  *  Danae '  the  forms 
were  to  be  seen  frontwise,  here  was  occasion  to  look 
at  them  from  a  contrary  direction,  a  pleasant  variety,'* 
he  added,  "  for  the  ornament  of  a  camerino.  Other 
views  he  hoped  to*  give  of  *  Perseus  and  Andromeda,' 
and  '  Jason  and  Medea/  to  which  he  intended  soon  to 
add  a  devotional  picture,  on  which  he  had  already 
been  labouring  for  ten  years."*  To  Don  Giovanni 
Benevides,  a  member  of  Philip's  household,  Titian 
also  wrote  in  September,  claiming  his  favouE  and 
interest  with  the  King,  and  saying  he  would  have  sent 
the  "Perseus'*  and  a  "Devotion  "  for  the  Queen,  but 


A  small  copy  of  this  piotare,  in 
possession  of  the  Buke  of  Gleye- 
lancU  was  exhibited  at  the  Boyal 
Academy  in  1872.  It  previously 
belonged  to  Lord  Harry  Yane 
and  Mr.  Bogers*  and  was  called 
*'  Titian's  original  sketch  for  the 
Trinity  at  Madrid."  (Waagen, 
Treasures,  ii.  77,  faTonrs  this 
opinion,  and  mistakes  Noah's  Ark 
for  Charles  the  Fifth's  coffin.  See 
also  Mrs.  Jameson's  Friyate  Gal- 


leries, p.  401).  But  it  is  a  copy 
and  not  a  sketch ;  a  copy,  too,  <^ 
quite  uncertain  date,  which  was 
taken  to  England  by  Mr.  Wallis 
about  1808,  after  haying  been 
diBcoYered,  as  alleged,  in  a  gam- 
bling-house at  Madrid.  (See  the 
Manchester  Catalogues.) 

*  Titian  to  Philip,  in  Tioozzi, 
p.  312.  This  letter  has  no  date, 
but  Philip's  reply  to  it  is  of 
Dec.  6,  1554.    Qeepoti&i, 


238 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  VI. 


that  his  time  had  been  taken  up  with  the  "  Trinity " 
composed  for  the  Emperor.  *  Meanwhile,  the  "Adonis  " 
reached  its  destination  in  London  in  such  a  state  that 
Philip  wafl  quite  distressed  to  look  at  it  "The 
'Adonis'  has  arrived,"  he  writes  to  Vargas,  "but  so 
ill-treated  that  it  must  be  repaired,  having  a  long  fold 
across  the  middle  of  the  canvas.  It  were  best/'  he 
concluded,  "not  to  send  pictures  till  I  give  special 
instructions  respecting  them."t 

There  is  clear  trace  of  the  injury  on  the  canvas 
now  hanging  at  Madrid,  a  long  furrow  running  hori- 
zontally across  the  composition  and  parting  the  head 
from  the  shoiQders  of  Venus ;  but  irrespective  of  this 
the  picture  was  again  but  a  variation,  and  cot  one  of 
the  best  of  its  kind,  on  an  old  theme,  and  although 
the  goddess  is  fine  and  Adonis  manly,  the  figure  of 
the  young  hunter  appears  to  have  been  drawn  from  a 
rigid  model,  and  betrays  much  more  of  the  sitter  than 
the  earlier  and  more  coloured  original  at  Alnwick, 
whilst  the  landscape  is  neither  as  genial  in  tone  nor 
as  beautiful  in  lines  as  it  might  have  been  had  Titian 
painted  it  all  with  his  own  hand.  J    The  truth  is, 


•  This  letter,  dated  Sept  10, 
1554,  is  in  fall  in  Ticozzi's  Ye- 
celli,  u,  s.,  p.  312. 

t  TUhe  original,  dated  Deo.  6, 
1554,  is  in  Appendix  ;  an  extract 
from  it  in  Madrazo's  Madrid  Ca- 
talogue, p.  247,  is  falsely  dated 
March  4,  1556. 

X  The  **  Adonis,"  though  in- 
tended as  a  companion  piece  to 
the  **  Danae,''  is  larger.  It  is  on 
canyaSy  m.  1*86  h.  by  2*07,  and 


numbered  455  in  the  Madrid 
Museum.  A  long  farrow  runs 
horizontaUy  across  the  middle  of 
the  canyas,  cutting  the  trunk  of 
the  trees  to  the  left,  in  which 
Cupid's  bow  and  quiyer  ore  hung, 
diyiding  the  sleeping  Amor  into 
two  parts,  showing  along  Yenus^s 
shoulder  and  Adonis's  breast,  and 
ending  in  the  distant  trees  to  the 
right.  Two  longitudinal  stripes 
lower  down  show  that  the  picture 


Chap.  VI.]    **  VENUS  AND  ADONIS"— BEPLIOAS. 


239 


l» 


apparently,  that  the  subject  was  popular  and  often 
repeated,  and  for  this  reason  paUed  on  the  master  and 
his  disciples ;  and  this  may  account  for  the  neglectful 
way  in  which  many  of  the  replicas  were  executed,  a 
fact  of  which  we  become  aware  when  looking  at 
examples  in  the  National  Gallery,  or  in  the  collection 
of  Lord  Blcho.*  But  the  truth  may  also  be  that 
Titian  had  been  working  hard  and  continuously, 
when  his  better  impulse  was  dulled  by  the  pain  of 
domestic  troubles.  There  were  letters  exchanged 
between  Pomponio    Vecelli    and  Aretino    in   1554, 


was  roUed  and  then  squeezed  flat 
by  an  accident.  The  colours  are 
the  same  as  at  Alnwick.  In  the 
clouds  to  the  right  a  small  figure 
of  a  god  looks  down.  Adonis 
holds  three  dogs  in  a  leash.  On 
the  foreground  to  the  left  is  a 
vase.  The  picture  was  engraved 
by  Jul.  Sanuto  and  B.  Sadeler; 
there  is  a  photograph  of  it  by 
Laurent.  We  may  suspect  that 
Orazio  Yecelli  was  no  stranger  to 
the  execution,  of  which  Dolce 
wrote  so  enthusiastically  to  the 
patrician  Alessandro  Contarini,  at 
Venice.  See  Zucchi,  Idea  del 
seq.,  ed.  of  1614,  p.  4,  in  Cicogna, 
Isc.  Yen.,  iii.  p.  236. 

«  No.  34  in  the  National  Gal- 
lery, on  oanyas,  5  ft.  9  h.  by 
6  ft.  2,  was  in  the  Colonna  Palace 
at  Borne  till  1800.  It  is  a  coun- 
terpart of  the  Madrid  example, 
but  painted  with  lees  delieacy, 
and  apparently  with  much  help 
firom  SchiarYone.  It  might,  in- 
deed, haye  been  altogether  carried 
out  by  that  disciple  of  Titian. 


Besides  some  general  retouching, 
there  is  here  some  wholesale 
daubing  of  a  modem  character  in 
the  sleeping  Cupid.  Of  this  there 
are  engravings  by  Sir  B.  Strange 
and  W.  Holt. 

Lord  Mcho's  repetition  of  this 
piece  is  injured,  but  on  the  whole 
less  satisfeustory  than  the  fore- 
going. It  is  a  school  work,  of 
which,  as  of  the  National  Qallery 
canvas,  there  are  small  but  very 
modem  copies  in  the  Nostitz  Col- 
lection at  Prague,  and  in  the 
Gallery  of  Dulwich. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  which  of 
these  repetitions  originally  be- 
longed to  the  Marquess  Serra  of 
Milan  in  Scanelli's  time.  (See  the 
Microcoflmo,  u. «.,  p.  222.)  Sir  A. 
Hume  notes  this  subject  by  Titian 
in  the  Lomelli&i  Palace  at  Genoa 
(Notices,  p45). ,  and  there  was  a 
replica  ascribed  to  Titian  in  the 
collection  of  Queen  Christine. 
(See  Campori,  Baccolta  di  Cata- 
loghi,  u.  8,,  p.  340.) 


240  TTTIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  VI. 

which  show  that  the  scapegrace,  had  been  driven  to 
a  state  of  anger  and  distress  by  some  very  decided 
measures  of  his  father.^    Titian  had  lost  all  con* 
fidence  in  his  son's  amendment,  and  taken  steps  to 
control    him  rigorously.     In   April,   1554,   he    had 
written  to  Guglielmo  Gonzaga,  Duke  of  Mantua,  to 
ask  permission  to  substitute  one  of  his  nephews  for 
Pomponio  in  the  canonry  of  Medole,   and  in  the 
following  October  he  had  become  possessed  of  the 
benefice  of  St.  Andrea  del  Fabbro,  near  Mestre,  of 
which  the  income  waa  secured  to  himself.!    It  is 
difficult  to  ascertain  whether  Pomponio  was  most 
angered  by  the  loss  of  the  benefice  of  Medole,  or  by 
Titian's    refasal  to  grant    to  him  St.    Andrea  del 
Fabbro.    But  he  must  have  felt  very  keenly  the 
preference  which  Titian  soon  after  showed  to  his 
\  nephew.    In  order  to  ingratiate  the  new  incumbent 
with  his  flock,  Titian  presented  to  tbe  parish  church 
a  picture  of  "  Christ  appearing  to  the  Virgin  Mary,"^ 
and  this  masterpiece,  on  the  high  altar  of  St.  Mary  of 
Medole,  shows  with  what  interest  he  did  his  work, 
and  how  much  of  real  heart  he  threw  into  it.     The 
scene  which  the  painter  imagined  is  the  meeting  of 
Mary  and  Christ  after  the  Ascension.    The  Virgin 
kneels  on  the  clouds  and  raises  her  hands  with  marks 
of  surprise  as  she  looks  at  the  Saviour,  who  stands 


*  Aretmo  to  Fomponio,  in  Lett, 
di  M.  P.  A.,  vi.  p.  182. 

t  Titian's  letter  to  Qonzaga  is 
in  Appendix,  together  with  a 
pricU  oi  the  instrument  by  which 


Talamio,  a  priest  at  Beggio,  cedes  |  in  Cadorin,  Dello  Amore. 


his  rights  to  the  benefice  of  Sant. 
Andrea  del  Fabbro,  which  ^tian 
in  1557  conferred  on  Fomponio. 
See  also  a  Breve  of  Cardinsd  Tri- 
Tulzi,  under  date  of  Sept.  SO,  1557, 


Chap.  VI.]  THE  "CHRIST"  OF  MEDOLE.  241 

before  her  in  the  garb  of  the  tomb  and  shows  her  the 
stigmata.  To  the  left,  behind  the  Redeemer,  Adam, 
the  first  man,  poises  in  the  mist  the  beam  of  a  cross, 
and  behind  him  stands  Eve;  and  two  patriarchs, 
perhaps  Noah  and  Abraham,  show  their  bearded 
faces-  Rays  issue  flame-like  from  Christ's  head,  and 
a  supernatural  halo  pierces  the  heaven,  which  is 
arched  as  it  were  with  winged  cherubim.  One  cannot 
but  admire  the  vigour  which  Titian  here  displays, 
and  remembering  his  age,  one  feels  inclined  to  com- 
pare him  to  an  old  and  mighty  oak  which,  in  spite  of 
years,  expands  its  canopy  of  fresh  and  healthy  leaves. 
Granted  that  the  forms  are  cast  in  a  mould  more 
indicative  of  strength  than  of  grace,  that  the  features 
are  more  expressive  than  select — ^granted,  in  fact,  the 
realism  which  now  characterises  Titian,  it  is  hardly 
possible  to  point  to  a  work  of  this  time  in  which 
more  power  is  concentrated,  in  which  there  is  more 
simplicity  of  tone  or  more  sobriety  or  appropriateness 
of  action.  Nor  is  it  without  renewed  surprise  that  we 
look  at  the  skilful  modeUing  of  the  figures  relieved 
by  tone  upon  the  silver  ground  of  the  halo  behind 
them,  or  on  the  broad  and  massive  touches  with 
which  this  modelling  is  produced;  and  were  it  not 
that  time  and  accidents  have  caused  a  marked  deteri- 
oration in  the  surface  of  the  canvas,  one  might  com- 
pare the  figures  for  studied  grandeur  and  force  of 
design  to  those  of  Michaelangelo,  and  the  movement 
and  draperies  for  fitness  and  flow  to  those  of  Fra 
Bartolommeo.  Here,  it  is  evident,  Titian  was  not 
painting  for  the  Prince  of  Spain,  for  whose  taste  and 

VOL.   II.  R 


242 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  VI. 


judgment  he  might  possibly  feel  but  small  respect. 
Here  Titian  was  painting  for  the  satisfaction  of  his 
own  feeling  as  an  artist,  and  so  it  happens  that  his 
picture  is  better  and  more  successful  than  those  pro- 
Induced  to  order  for  king  and  kaiser.* 

Charles  the  Fifth  received  the  "Trinity  and  the 
grieving  Virgin  "  not  without  pleasure,  but  his  letter 
being  apparently  a  mere  compliment,  had  only  induced 
Titian  to  press  anew  and  with  increased  persistency  his 
claims  on  the  Lombard  and  Neapolitan  treasuries.t  He 
had  sent  Orazio  to  Milan  with  letters  from  himself  and 
Aretino  to  Gio  Battista  Castaldo,  hoping  that  these 
and  a  judicious  present  of  a  picture  might  soften  the 
obduracy  of  the  Milanese  administration ;  but  little 
arts  of  this  kind  had  proved  altogether  ineffectual^ 
and  nothing  had  come  of  them  except  repeated  dis- 
appointment. J 


*  Dr.  Francesco  Beltrame  wrote 
some  lllufitratiYe  notes  on  this 
picture  when  it  was  taken,  about 
the  year  1662,  to  be  restored  by 
Professor  Paolo  Fabris,  to  Venice. 
These  notes  were  published  in 
five  folio  pages  in  Aug^t,  1862, 
and  contain  the  letter  to  Gugli- 
elmo  Gonzaga,  which  will  be 
found  in  the  Appendix  to  this 
Volume.  They  further  explain 
the  cause  of  the  damage  done  to 
the  piece,  which  was  produced  by 
its  concealment  in  a  tomb  during 
the  French  reyolution.  Here  the 
canyas  rotted,  and  the  colours 
were  to  some  extent  corroded, 
and  Professor  Fabris  did  not 
restore  them  with  any  great  suc- 
cess.   The   blue  mantle  of   the 


kneeling  Virgin,  for  instance,  has 
turned  to  a  dull  opaque  tone  not 
unlike  black ;  and  much  of  the 
rest  has  been  flayed  and  thrown 
out  of  focus.  The  size  of  the 
work  is  m.  2''76  h.  by  1-98.  Ac- 
cording to  the  local  tradition  of 
Medole,  Titian  fell  sick  at  the 
house  of  the  "  parroco,"  his  ne- 
phew, and  rewarded  him  for  his 
attention  with  this  pictura 

t  The  original  letter,  without, 
date,  from  Titian  to  Charles  the 
Fifth,  is  in  Ticozsd's  VeceUi  (p. 
310).  It  gives  the  Emperor  thai^ 
for  kind  expressions  as  to  the 
Virgin  *'  addolorata." 

t  Compare  Aretino  to  G.  B. 
Castaldo,  in  Lettere  di  M.  P. 
Aretino,  Ti.  p.  264.    Titian  to  G. 


Chap.  VI.]        POETBAIT  OF  DOGE  VENIER. 


243 


In  the  meanwhile  new  and  not  unimportant  labours 
had  been  offered  to  Titian  in  Venice.  The  Doge 
Trevisani,  having  passed  away  on  the  31st  of  May, 
1554,  in  the  quiet  and  unobtrusive  manner  which 
ha3  already  been  recorded,  had  been  succeeded  by 
Francesco  Venier,  who  called  on  Titian  soon  after,  not 
only  to  paint  his  likeness,  but  to  compose  the  neces- 
sary votive  picture  in  honour  of  his  predecessor.  The 
portrait  of  Venier  was  finished  early  in  1555,  and  paid 
out  of  the  treasury  of  the  Salt  Office  in  the  month  of 
March.  It  was  the  last  portrait  which  then  found  a 
place  in  the  Hall  of  Great  Council.  It  was  also  the 
last  that  Titian  undertook  in  his  official  capacity, 
the  two  Doges,  Lorenzo  and  Girolamo  Priuli,  having 
relieved  him  of  the  duty  in  favour  of  Girolamo  di 
Titiano  and  Tintoretto.*  On  the  19th  of  August, 
1554,  Titian  was  called  to  the  Ducal  Palace,  where  he 
signed  a  contract  in  the  presence  of  the  Doge  and  the 
jproveditore  of  the  Salt  Office  to  paint  within  a  year 
from  the  first  day  of  the  following  September  a 
canvas  representing  Marc-Antonio  Trevisani  in  state 
robes  kneeling  before  the  Virgin  and  Child  and 
attended  by  St.  Mark,  St.  Anthony,  St.  Dominick, 


B.  Castaldo,  in  Nuova  Scelta  di 
Lettere  di  diversi,  4to,  Ven.  1574, 
and  repiinted  in  Tioozzi's  Bot- 
tari,  vol.  t.  p.  59. 

*  The  payment,  dated  March  7, 
18  printed  by  Lorenzi,  u,  «.,  p. 
288.  See  also  the  record  in  the 
same  volume  as  to  GKrolamo  and 
Tintoretto,  who  were  Titian's  suc- 
oeesors,  and  Yasari,  xiii.  27-8. 
See  further,  an  order  of  April  13, 


1545,  in  which  the  Council  of  Ten 
declares :  '*  l^".  That  there  are  but 
three  spaces  left  for  Doges'  por- 
traits in  the  Hall  of  Great  Coun- 
cil; 2<'.  That  space  is  to  be  found 
for  Doges'  portraits  in  the  new 
library."  Another  order  of  1545, 
June  9,  orders  that  the  friezes  in 
the  old  library  be  removed  to 
maJEe  room  for  the  series  of  new 
Doges.    Lorenzi,  u.  «.,  pp.  252-3. 

B  2 


244  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  VI. 


and  St.  Francis.  The  contract  provided  that  pay- 
ments should  be  made  in  instalments  to  the  full 
amount  of  171  ducats  and  12  soldi,  but  that  a  fine 
should  be  imposed  on  Titian  if  alive,  or  if  he  should 
die,  on  his  heirs  in  case  the  picture  should  not  have 
been  finished  at  the  appointed  time.  The  deed  being 
subject  to  confirmation  by  the  Doge  in  Council  was 
balloted  on  the  5th  of  September  and  lost ;  balloted 
and  lost  again  on  the  28th  of  the  same  month.  And 
the  composition  was  nearly  complete  before  the  sages 
thought  of  taking  a  resolution  in  respect  of  it  At 
last,  on  the  7th  of  January,  1555,  a  decree  was  passed 
ordering  a  valuation,  and,  pending  that  formality, 
an  advance  of  50  ducats  was  made.  Long  after  the 
canvas  was  hung  in  a  splendid  frame  above  the  door 
of  the  Pregadi  Hall,  the  pa3anent  for  it  remained 
unliquidated.*  In  the  meantime,  Venier,  apparently 
the  most  unselfish  of  men,  was  not  content  to  contri- 
bute to  immortalize  his  immediate  predecessor,  but 
recollecting  that  a  Doge  long  since  dead,  whose 
offences  had  been  condoned  by  his  contemporaries, 
was  still  without  his  share  of  the  usual  tributary 
honour,  resolved  that  a  monument  should  be  set  up  to 
his  memory  of  equal  value  to  those  which  had  been 
dedicated  to  his  compeers.  He  therefore  proposed 
and  carried  an  order  in  Council  by  which  Titian  was 
charged  to  paint  a  votive  picture  of  Antonio  GrimanL 
The  order  was  issued  to  the  master  on  the  22nd  of 


*  The  records  are  in  Loronzi, 
pp.  285,  287,  &  292.  The  final 
payment  of  171,12  was  made  in 


January,  1556.  Both  this  picture 
and  the  portrait  of  Venier  pe- 
rished in  the  fire  of  1577. 


Chap.  ^T]  THE  "FEDE."  245 

March.  As  early  as  the  following  July  he  had  made 
such  rapid  progress  that  an  advance  of  50  ducats  was 
granted.*  But  then  some  sudden  blight  fell  upon 
the  whole  undertaking.  The  canvas  was  left  in  the 
painter's  hands,  and  during  his  lifetime  was  never 
exhibited.  And  it  is  related  that  the  disciples  after 
Titian's  death  finished  and  placed  it  where  it  now 
hangs  in  the  Hall  of  the  Public  Palace,  known  as  the 
Sala  de'  Quattro  Porte.  It  is  the  more  curious  that 
this  mishap  should  have  occurred,  as  the  "Fede"' 
deserves  to  rank  amongst  the  most  magnificent  and 
effective  palatial  pieces  that  Titian  composed  in  his 
later  years.  Nor  is  there  a  single  work  of  the  artist 
which  more  fully  confirms  contemporary  accounts  of 
his  style.  "Titian's  later  creations,"  says  Vasari, 
"are  struck  off  rapidly  with  sti-okes  and  with  touch  so 
that  when  close  you  cannot  see  them,  but  afar  they 
look  perfect,  and  this  is  the  style  which  so  many  tried 
to  imitate  to  show  that  they  were  practised  hands, 
but  only  produced  absurdities.  The  cause  is  explained 
by  this,  that  though  many  think  the  work  is  flung  off 
without  trouble,  it  is  not  so.  For,  on  the  contrary,  it 
is  done  and  redone  with  great  pains,  as  any  one  can 
see  who  looks  into  it,  and  this  method  is  full  of  judg- 
ment, and  equally  fine  and  stupendous,  as  it  gives  life 
to  the  picture  and  displays  the  art  whilst  it  conceals 
the  means."  t 

It  is  possible  that  the  form  given  by  Titian  to  the 
subject  was  considered  likely  to  offend  religious  or 


*  Lorenzx,  u.  «.,  pp.  289-90.  f  Yasari,  xiiL  39,  40. 


246  TTTIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  VL 

political  prejudice.  Grimani  is  represented  kneeling 
on  a  cushion,  his  head  in  profile,  and  raised  to  look 
up  at  a  vision.  His  body,  arms,  and  thighs  are  clad 
in  steel,  whilst  his  shoulders  are  decked  with  the 
mantle  of  the  Doge.  He  kneels  to  the  right,  before  a 
bright  apparition  of  a  female,  whose  long  loose  hair 
and  white  ciress  float  aa  it  were  in  a  baJmy  breeze  as 
she  stands  erect  on  a  cloud  surrounded  by  angels  and 
cherubs  supporting  the  cross  and  the  cup.  A  page,  in 
a  flowered  tabard,  to  the  right  of  Grimani  holds  up  to 
him  the  ducal  cap.  A  helmeted  soldier  behind  grasps 
a  partisan  and  bends  obsequiously.  A  captain  in  the 
foreground,  in  a  green  scale-jacket  and  yellow  buskins, 
stands  in  an  attitude  of  proud  strength,  one  hand  on 
his  haunch,  another  supporting  a  standard.  To  the 
left,  St  Mark  in  red  tunic  and  blue  mantle,  with  the 
lion  couchant  at  his  side,  is  placed  in  a  fine  movement, 
turning  from  the  leaves  of  his  book  to  look  at  the 
vision.  Beneath  the  clouds  which  curl  under  the 
latter,  a  distance  is  seen  showing  the  Venetian  fleet  at 
anchor,  and  the  ducal  palace  and  campanile.  That 
this  after  all  is  nothing  else  than  Grimani's  life  con- 
densed into  an  allegory  is  clear.  Defeat,  captivity, 
and  exile,  symbolised  by  the  cup  and  cross,  human 
trials  condoned  through  the  intercession  of  St.  Mark  ; 
this  may  seem  the  burden  of  the  picture,  which  as 
such  might  perhaps  justify  certain  contemporary  mis- 
givings. Be  this  as  it  may,  the  sages  of  a  later  gene- 
ration were  content  to  think  that  the  multitude  would 
accept  the  vision  as  an  allegory  of  faith,  and  so  they 
displayed,  so  explained  it.     In  itself  imposing,  the 


Chap.  VI.]  THE  **FEDE."  247 

composition  is  made  still  more  impressive  by  the 
grandeur  of  the  figures  which  give  a  supernatural  air 
to  the  scene.  The  female  in  the  clouds,  antique  in 
form  and  drapery,  antique  in  force  and  elegance  of 
attitude,  is  hardly  less  effective  in  her  way  than  the 
angel  in  EaphaeVs  "  Liberation  of  St.  Peter."  The 
tall  cross  which  she  supports  is  made  light  to  her  by 
charming  boy  angels,  one  of  whom  raises  the  foot,  the 
other  the  arm,  whilst  a  third  sports  without  occupa- 
tion in  the  air  to  the  left.  A  beautiful  circle  of 
winged  cherubs'  heads  floats  in  the  halo  around. 
EquaDy  effective  in  a  different  but  sterner  key,  St. 
Mark  stands  out  in  coloured  strength  and  splendid 
robing  against  the  radiant  mist,  his  head  admirably 
thrown  back  and  foreshortened.  Brilliant  is  the  flight 
of  pillars  in  perspective  with  ornaments  of  statues, 
gorgeous  the  red  hanging  that  falls  behind  the  group 
on  the  right,  splendid  the  gloom  on  the  red  and  white 
marble  of  the  floor,  which  forms  the  foreground. 
Nature  itself  is  reproduced  in  the  flesh,  the  colours 
are  full  of  a  surprising  richness  and  variety  of  har- 
monic contrasts.  In  grand  divisions  the  hght  of  the 
halo  is  pitted  against  the  darker  ground  and  its  occu- 
pants, whilst  the  breadth  of  deep  shadow  projections 
is  broken  by  sharp  bursts  of  light  of  the  most  varied 
quality,  according  as  they  are  shown  in  armour  or  in 
stuffs  of  diverse  texture.  That  Marco  Vecelli  should 
have  had  a  hand  in  this  piece  is  only  conceivable  on 
the  supposition  that  he  added  the  two  figures  of  a 
prophet  and  a  standard  bearer  at  the  sides  of  the 
main  composition.     But  these   are  .mere  fillings   of 


248 


TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  VI. 


empty  spaces  which  make  no  change  in  Titian's 
[original  picture.* 

In  the  midst  of  these  important  kbours,  which  more 
than  ever  tied  him  down  to  his  residence  in  Venice, 
Titian  married  his  only  daughter  to  Comelio  Sarcinelli 
of  Serravalle,  and  the  marriage  settlement,  which  still 
exists,  was  signed  on  the  20th  of  March  1555.  The 
dowry  which  Lavinia  brought  to  her  husband  was  not 
worth  less  than  1400  ducats,  a  regal  sum  for  a  painter 
to  have  amassed  who  complained  that  he  never  was 
paid  by  his  royal  and  imperial  patrons ;  600  ducats  of 
this  amount  were  given  to  the  bridegroom  in  June, 
and  the  rest  was  transmitted  to  him  in  money  and 
jewels  in  September  of  the  following  year.  The 
wedding  took  place  on  the  1 9th  of  June,  the  day  on 
which  Lorenzo  Priuli  was  elected  to  succeed  Francesco 
Vcnier  as  Doge  of  Venicct 

In  March  of  this  year,  Titian  had  written  to  Philip 
the  Second  to  announce  that  pictures  were  ready  for 
despatch,  if  he  chose  to  send  word  whither  they  should 
be  directed.     Philip  replied  with  a  letter  of  thanks  on 


*  Boscliiiii,  u,  8.,'R,  Min.  S.  di 
S.  Marco,  p.  10,  distinctly  states 
that  aU  that  Marco  VeoeUi  did 
was  to  make  these  additions. 
The  picture  itself  contains  figures 
of  lif^  size,  which  unhappily  have 
been  subjected  to  more  than  one 
ordeal  of  restoring.  The  remarks 
in  the  text  are  naturally  subject 
to  this  drawback.  But  though 
we  miss  some  of  the  original 
briOf  and  have  to  take  up  with 
colour  reduced  in  parts  to  a  duU 
opacity,  the  whole  piece  is  stiU 


very  grand.  Photograph  by  Naya. 
Compare  TizianeUo's  Anon<^,  p*  8 ; 
Bidolfi's  Marayiglie,  i.  p.  269;  and 
Zanetti,  u,  «.,  p.  164.  According 
to  the  Anonimo  this  picture  was 
in  the  '*  AntiooUegio,"  and  Za- 
netti thinks  that  after  the  fire  of 
1577  it  was  taken  from  thence 
and  placed  in  its  present  position, 
when  the  necessities  of  tiie  space 
forced  Marco  Yecelli  to  introduce 
the  side  figures. 

t  The  marriage  settlement  is 
in  Appendix. 


Chap.  VI.]        "PEESEUS  AND  ANDROMEDA." 


249 


the  4th  of  May,  gently  rebuking  the  painter  for  not 
telling  him  the  subjects  which  he  had  prepared,  but 
anxious  to  receive  them  whatever  they  might  he.  We 
may  well  believe  that  one  of  them  was  the  "  Perseus 
and  Andromeda,''  of  which  Vasari  relates  that  it  was 
a  beautiful  work  representing  the  princess  of  Ethiopia 
bound  to  the  rock  and  Perseus  appearing  to  save  her 
from  the  sea  monster.*  The  monarch's  letter  con- 
cluded with  a  request  that  Titian  should  inform  him 
whether  his  claims  had  been  finally  settled,  as  he 
meant,  if  they  were  still  pending,  to  cause  special 
instructions  to  be  sent  to  the  Duke  of  Alva.  He 
wrote  at  the  same  time  to  Vargas  to  pack  Titian's 
canvases  most  carefully  and  send  them  to  Brussels, 
where  the  sooner  he  received  them  the  better  he  should 
be  pleased.t 

The  high  and  acknowledged  position  held  by  Titian 
at  this  period  is  proved,  not  only  by  his  being  absolved 
from  the  duty  of  painting  the  ducal  portraits  without 
losing  his  broker's  patent,  but  by  an  honourable 
commission  entrusted  to  him  by  the  Venetian  govern- 
ment. Sansovino  had  finished  the  hall  of  the  library 
of  St.  Mark  in  15 53, J  and  the  ceiling  of  that  beautiful 


*  Vasari,  ziii.  p.  29,  and  see 
antea,  p.  237.  This  picture  was 
engraved  by  E.  Berteli  and  £at- 
tista  Fontana,  and  by  Cort,  in 
1565,  Andromeda  being  fastened 
to  the  rook  on  the  Jeft;  in  the 
xniddle  Perseus  attacking  the 
monster  in  the  background;  to 
the  left  a  town.  **  Perseus  and 
Andromeda,  by  Titian,"  was  in 


the  Orleans  Qallery;  the  same, 
perhaps,  which  Ldpici<^  catalogued 
in  1752  at  the  Louyre. 

t  See  Philip  to  Titian,  and 
Vargas,  May  4, 1556,  in  Appendix. 

t  See  the  inscription  to  that 
effect  above  the  entrance  to  the 
haU,  and  a  copy  of  the  same  in 
Sansoyino's  Yen.  Desc.  u.  «.,  p» 
311. 


2o0 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chap.  V I. 


room  had  been  divided  into  compartments  for  the 
reception  of  frescos  a  short  time  after.     It  was  now 
suggested  by  the  procuratori  that  Titian  and  Sanso- 
vino  should  name  the  artists  whom  they  thought  best 
fitted  to  carry  out  a  decoration  of  such  importance,  on 
condition  that  the  price  to  be  paid  to  each  man  for 
his  work  should  not  exceed  sixty  ducats ;  but  with  a 
promise  that  the  painter  who  most  distinguished  him- 
self should  receive  a  gold  chain  of  honour  as  a  mark 
of  special  approbation.     Neglecting  Tintoretto,  with 
whom  the  "  Academy  "  was  not  on  good  terms,  Titian 
and  his  colleague    asked   Salviati,   Paolo  Veronese, 
Zelotti,   Franco,   Schiavone   and  other  men  of  less 
ability,  to  compete,  and  when  their  labours  were  con- 
cluded in  the  autumn  of  1556,  they  awarded  the  prize 
to  Paolo  Veronese,  whose  descendants  long  preserved 
the  gold  chain  as  a  proof  of  pictorial  distinction.* 
Paolo  Veronese,  who  had   the  rare  good  luck  to 
win  thus  early  a  prominent  place  amongst  Venetian 
artists,  had  not  been  long  in  the  capital  when  this 
event  occurred.     Bom  at  Verona  in  1528,  and  bred  to 
the  art  of  sculpture,  of  which  his  father  was  but  an 
obscure  professor,  he  soon  gave  up  chisel  and  hammer 
for  the  use  of  the  brush,  and  exercised  his  skill  as  a 
vagrant  craftsman,  at  Mantua,  Padua  and  Vicenza- 
It  seemed  as  if  in  the  practice  of  fresco  or  in  the 
production  of  large  canvases  he  had  never  been  able 
to  forget  the  paternal  business,  for  early  and  late  he 


*  The  reoords  as  to  this  com- 
petition are  in  part  i;i  Zanetti, 
Pitt.  Yen.,  u,  «.,  p.  337.     But 


oomp.  Ya&  zi.  136  &  330,  with 
Bidolfi,  Mar.  ii.  pp.  17  and  192. 


Chap.  VI.]     "THE  BAPTIST  IN  THE  DESERT." 


251 


wielded  the  brush  more  like  a  modeller's  spatula  than 
a  painter's  tool.  But  his  talent  was  naturally  so  great 
that  he  made  rapid  progress,  and  the  name  which  he 
acquired  for  himself  in  the  provinces  probably  en* 
couraged  him  to  try  his  fortunes  in  the  metropolis* 
He  went  to  Venice  about  1555,  and  there  was  fortu- 
nate to  find  a  patron  in  his  countryman,  Fra  Bernardo 
Torlioni;  abbot  of  the  monastery  of  San  Sebastian. 
Titian  soon  discerned  and  rewarded  the  skill  of  the 
young  fellow,  but  he  did  not  hesitate  to  enter  the 
lists  with  him  in  person,  and  we  shall  find  him 
presently  composing  an  allegory  in  the  same  locality 
in  which  Paul  had  first  introduced  himself  officially 
to  the  Venetians,  and  in  the  calm  retirement  of  his 
atelier,  producing  that  fine  and  standard  work  "  The 
Baptist  in  the  Desert,"  which,  after  adorning  for  cen- 
turies an  altar  in  the  church  of  Santa  Maria  Maggiore, 
now  hangs  in  the  Academy  of  Venice.  It  is  not 
without  reason  that  Vasari  and  Dolce  praise  this  fine 
creation  as  a  marvel  of  design  and  colour.*  No  picture 
of  the  master  gives  note,  as  this  does,  of  the  power 
with  which  Titian  could  set  the  example  to  his  young 
competitor  in  the  conception  and  execution  of  form, 
realistic  in  shape  and  presented  in  a  plastic  spirit  As 
a  solitary  figure  this  Baptist  embodies  all  the  princi- 
ples of  movement  inculcated  in  this  16th  century. 
It  is  a  splendid  display  of  muscular  strength  and 
elasticity  combined  with    elevation   in  a  frame  of 


*  Vasari,  xiii.  p.  27.  Dolce, 
Dialogo,  p.  66.  The  allusion  of 
tho  latter  author  to  this  picture 


shows  that  it  was  painted  before 
1557,  the  year  in  which  the  Dia- 
logo was  published. 


252  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  VI, 

mart  powerful  build.  It  haxdly  differs  from  other 
Titiauesque  worka  except  in  this,  that  being- 
painted  with  the  master's  usual  force  and  fire,  it  is 
distinguished  at  the  same  time  by  more  than  tlio 
usual  study  of  anatomy  and  outline,  and  a  moro 
sculptural  definition  of  parts.  If  we  look  back  to 
the  earlier  ideal  of  St.  John  in  the  schools  of  North 
Italy,  asceticism  is  represented  in  the  solitary  by 
wild  looks,  sharp  features,  unkempt  hair,  and  a  lean 
wiry  body.  Here  the  Baptist  is  trained,  indeed,  but 
brought  down  to  a  symmetry  of  strength,  which  is 
grand  in  its  development.  The  black,  curly  hair  and 
beard,  are  as  surely  indicative  of  toughness  and 
fibre,  as  the  sculptured  brow  and  bold  black  eye, 
which  looks  sternly  out  into  space  as  if  scanning  the 
audience  that  has  heard  or  is  about  to  hear  the  sermon. 
Alone  at  the  foot  of  a  rock,  where  the  lamb  is  coiled 
up  and  sleeps,  the  saint  is  seen  standing  at  rest,  yet 
not  suggesting  a  motionless  halt.  In  the  hollow  of 
his  arm  the  reed  cross  reposes,  whilst  the  wrist  is  bent 
and  the  fingers  grasp  the  garment  of  skins.  The  right 
hand  is  raised  and  gesticulating  as  if  to  enforce  the 
word.  The  whole  appearance  is  that  of  a  weird 
inhabit^ant  of  the  wilderness,  whose  naked  breast  and 
legs  are  shown  brightly  against  the  trees  and  grasses 
of  a  vale,  through  which  a  torrent  flows  after  having 
spent  its  force  in  the  hills  that  show  their  blue  sides 
far  away.  Impassioned  expression  is  enhanced  by 
rich  weather-browned  features  and  flesh,  thrown  into 
prominence  by  strong  relief  of  lights  glowing  and 
coloured,  into  darks  of  a  brown  and  consistent  warmth: 


CiLVP.  VI.] 


DEATH  OF  AEETIXO. 


2^ 


More  than  ever  before,  planes  of  flesh  are  rendered  by 
kneading  out  of  solid  pigment,  only  broken  by  reds, 
greys  or  blacks,  where  the  monotony  of  blended  sur- 
face made  such  breaks  desirable.  The  same  art 
reappears,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  with  almost  equal 
effect  in  the  "  Diana  and  Calisto,"  the  "  Diana  and 
Actaeon,"  and  the  "Europa,"  which  Titian  painted 
for  Philip  of  Spain.  A  later  form  is  apparent  in  a 
replica  of  the  Baptist  at  the  Escorial.* 

On  the  21st  of  October,  1556,  an  event  took  place 
which  probably  affected  Titian  greatly.  Late  in  the 
evening  of  that  day  Aretino  was  supping  with  some 
acquaintances,  when  an  accident  deprived  him  of  his 
life.    The  certificate  drawn  up  after  his  death  declared 


*  This  picture,  on  canyas,  m. 
1-97  h.  by  1-33,  is  numbered  366 
in  the  Yenice  Academy.  It  was 
noted  in  S.  M.  Maggiore,  at  Ve- 
nice, by  all  the  writers  on  art  of 
the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries.  It  is  well  preserved, 
and  signed  on  the  stone  upon 
which  the  left  foot  is  raised, 
"TiciAirvs."  The  rook  near  the 
saint's  right  hand,  and  bits  of  the 
sky,  show  traces  of  restoring. 
There  are  certain  turns,  as  in  the 
band  and  wrist  of  the  saint,  which 
recur  in  Paolo  Yerenese.  Even 
the  head  is  a  t3rpe  to  which  Paolo 
clung. 

The  replica  in  the  sacristy  of 
the  Esoorial  varies  in  so  fiEu:  that 
the  hands  Lold  a  scroU,  and  the 
face  is  thrown  up  as  if  in  suppli- 
cation. On  the  stone  one  reads, 
"TITIANVS  FACI  .  .  . ."  But  the 
picture  when  seen  was  ill-lighted. 


looked  dim  from  age,  and  might 
have  suggested  criticism  if  better 
exposed.  How  it  came  into  the 
Esoorial  is  not  stated. 

The  same  saint  "  in  the  desert " 
was  noted  in  the  collection  of 
Nicoolo  Gomaro  at  Yenice,  by 
Martinioni.  See  his  edition  of 
Sansovino,  Yen.  desc,  ii.  a.,  p. 
374. 

The  canvas  at  Yenice  was  en- 
graved by  Y.  Le  Fdbre,  and  in 
the  work  of  Patina,  in  1809,  by 
Cipriani.  It  is  reversed  in  a 
print  of  Jacob  Haeden.  Photo- 
graph by  Naya. 

A  small  replica,  called  "A 
sketch  of  the  St.  John  Baptist,'' 
was  long  preserved  as  a  work  of 
Titian  in  Casa  Jacobi  at  Cadore. 
It  passed  in  the  present  century 
to  Signer  Galeozzo  Oaleazzi,  of 
Yenice.  (Notes  frem  Jacobi  MS. 
of  Cadore.) 


1 


254 


TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.-      [Chap.  TI. 


that  he  died  of  apoplexy  "at  three  of  the  night"* 
But  it  was  reported  that  he  had  been  sitting  at  table 
in  his  palace  on  the  grand  canal,  when  a  joke  was 
made  by  one  of  the  guests  at  which  he  laughed 
immoderately.  In  this  fit  of  laughter  he  overbalanced 
himself,  fell  back,  and  striking  his  head  against  a 
comer,  was  dead  almost  immediately .t  An  anecdote 
makes  him  live  to  receive  supreme  unction  and 
utter  the  blasphemous  words :  "now  that  I  am  oUed 
keep  me  from  the  rats."  J  Titian  probably  lamented 
the  loss  of  a  man  with  whom  he  had  been  on  terms 
of  intimacy  for  more  than  thirty  years.  The  outer 
world  rejoiced  rather  than  mourned  at  his  departure, 
and  Antonio  Pola,  a  creature  of  Ferrante  Gonzaga, 
who  had  flattered  him  when  he  lived,  was  obviously 
delighted  at  his  death  when  he  wrote  to  his  master  in 
November :  "  On  reaching  Venice  I  found  that  that 
mascarone  Aretino  had  given  up  his  soul  to  Satan, 
whose  death  I  think  will  not  displease  many,  and 
particularly  not  those  who  are  from  henceforth 
relieved  from  paying  tribute  to  the  brute."  § 

Pola's  visit  to  the  capital  was  not  accidental,  he  was 
travelling  in  the  wake  of  Ferrante  Gonzaga,  who  had 
recently  passed  through  Venice  on  his  way  to  Milan, 


*  See  Bongi,  Yita  del  Doni, 
8vo,  Lucca,  1852,  p.  Ixviii. 

t  Lorenzini,  "De  Bisu,*'  in 
MazztLcchelli,  u,  «.,  p.  71. 

X  Mazzucchelli,  p.  73. 

§  Antonio  Fola  to  Ferrante 
Gonzaga,  Nov.  14,  1556,  in  Bon- 
chini.  Relazioni,  u.  «.,  p.  13;  and 
Aretino  to  Pola,  August,  1554,  in 


Lett,  di  M.  P.  A.,  yi.  p.  253. 
Here  we  take  leave  of  Aretino, 
and  we  do  so  with  regret,  since 
however  bad  he  may  have  been 
as  a  man,  his  letters  are  an  inva- 
luable guide  to  the  historian  of 
art  in  the  first  half  of  the  six- 
teenth century. 


Chap.  VI.]    TITIAN  AND  FEBEANTE  GONZAGA.  255 

and  he  had  special  commission,  as  it  appeared,  to 
inquire  into  the  cause  of  certain  marks  of  incivility 
which  Titian  was  alleged  to  have  shown  to  his  master. 
The  letter,  of  which  a  fragment  has  been  given,  was 
written  to  excuse  Titian's  conduct.  Ferrante  com- 
plained that  having  sent  word  to  Titian  that  he  would 
dine  with  him,  the  painter  had  purposely  left  his 
house  and  allowed  him  to  come  to  Bin  Grande,  where 
he  found  neither  host  nor  hospitality.  Titian  ex- 
plained that  he  had  been  informed  through  Arctino 
that  his  Excellency  intended  to  dine  with  him,  and 
had  given  orders  that  the  dinner  should  be  prepared 
by  his  own  servants.  But  on  the  appointed  day  no 
servants  came,  and  Titian,  thinking  that  the  visit  was 
postponed,  went  out  on  business.  "Be  this  as  it  may," 
Pola  concludes,  "  I  propose  to  advance  half  a  hundred 
scudi  to  Titian  to  purchase  the  pictures  which  your 
Excellency  desires  to  have  from  this  discourteous 
man."* 

It  was  perhaps  in  consequence  of  this  slight,  which 
may,  or  may  not,  have  been  intentional,  that  when 
Titian  sent  Orazio  in  the  following  summer  to  Milan 
to  draw  the  pension  that  still  remained  unpaid,  he 
was  again  put  off  with  promises.  And  this  new  dis- 
appointment must  have  been  the  more  disheartening, 
as  a  letter,  obscure  in  some  parts,  but  of  interest  as 
throwing  a  gleam  over  the  relations  of  the  master  to 
his  son  and  to  Philip  the  Second,  gave  hopes  of  a 
more  favourable  issue. 


*  Fola  to  Eerrante  Gonzaga,  u.  8. 


256 


TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.       [Chat.  VI. 


TITIAN  TO  ORAZIO  VECELLI. 

"Horatio,  your  delay  ia  writing  gave  me  some 
uneasiness.  Your  letter  says  you  have  had  four 
ducats,  but  that  would  not  cover  your  expenses  to 
Milan "  (the  text  of  the  foregoing  sentence  is  very 
confused),  "Again,  you  make  a  slip  of  the  pen  for 
mere  joy,  it  would  seem,  when  you  write  of  two 
hundred,  instead  of  two  thousand  ducats.  But  it  is 
sufficient  that  you  should  think  that  things  will  take 
a  good  course.  I  wrote  to  his  Majesty  that  the 
Treasury  of  Genoa  had  not  the  means  of  paying,  and 
I  hope  his  Majesty  will  make  the  necessary  provision. 
What  you  write  inclines  me  to  think  you  intend  to 
proceed  to  Genoa.  If  you  fancy  the  journey  will  be 
fruitful  of  results  ....  of  which  you  are  a  better 
judge  than  I  am,  you  may  do  well  to  undertake  it. 
But  if  you  go  be  careful  not  to  ride  in  the  heat  and 
see  that  you  take  four  days  to  the  usual  two  days' 
ride 

"  From  Venice,  June  17, 1557."  * 


We  shall  see  that,  during  these  fruitless  journeys, 
Titian  had  been  prepariug  for  Philip  the  Second  a 
picture  of  the  "  Entombment,"  which  he  despatched  in 
November,  but  which  by  some  miscarriage  of  the  post. 


*  TranslatocL  from  the  original, 
whioh  in  1866  was  in  possession 
of  Mr.  Rudolph  Weigel,  at  Leip- 
zig.   Mr.  Weigel  had  got  it  from 


G.  B.  Bragadin,  of  Yenioe,  who 
caused  it  to  be  printed,  in  1841, 
in  Gualandi's  Memorie,  ic.  «.,  ii. 
102-3. 


Chap.  VI.]         OEAZIO  VECELLI  AT  MILAN.  257  I 

then  as  now  in  the  hands  of  the  family  of  Tassis, 

never  reached  its  destination.*  ' 

Early  in  the  year  too  Titian  relented  towards  his 
eldest  son  and  induced  the  pope's  legate  at  Venice, 
Cardinal  Trivuki,  to  sign  a  breve  giving  him  the 
curacy  of  Sant'  Andrea  del  Fabbro  free  of  tithes.t 


*  See  Philip  the  Second  to 
Coant  de  Lona,  January  20, 1559, 
in  Appendix. 


t  The   breye   is    in   Oadorin, 
DeUo  Amore,  u.  $,,  p.  39. 


VOL.   II.  * 


CHAPTER  YH. 

Standard  of  San  Bernardino. — Philip  and  St.  Lawrenoe. — *'  Martyrdom 
of  St.  Lawrence  "  in  the  Gesuiti  at  Yenioe. — Girolamo  di  Titiano. 
— Lorenzo  Maseolo;  his  Widow  and  Titian. — ^Parody  on  the 
"Laoooon,"  "Christ  crowned  with  Thorns"  at  the  Louyre. — 
Portraits. — Death  of  Charles  the  Fifth. — ^Titian  and  Coxie. — The 
"  Grieving  Yirgin."— Philip  at  Ghent  orders  Titian's  Pensions  to 
be  paid. — Orazio  at  Milan  is  nearly  murdered  by  Leone  Leoni — 
Titian  begins  the  "  Diana  and  Acteeon/'  and  '*  Diana.and  Calisto." 
— Philip  the  Second  orders  an  "Entombment." — Titian,  Philip, 
and  Apelles. — ^The  **  Girl  in  Yellow." — Description  of  the  "  Diana 
and  Actoeon,"  **  Calisto,"  "  Entombment,"  and  replicas. — ^Figure 
of  "Wisdom"  at  Yenioe. — ^Death  of  Francesco  Yeoelli — ^Altar- 
piece  of  Pieve. 

Nothing  eventful  occurred  to  Titian  in  1558, 
during  which  Venetian  annals  record  the  completion 
of  a  church  standard,  on  the  11th  of  June,  for  the 
brotherhood  of  San  Bernardino,*  but  a  man  of  his 
activity  would  not  allow  the  time  to  pass  in  idleness, 
and  the  silence  of  chroniclers  invites  us  to  inquire 
what  Titian  may  have  done  in  this  apparently  un- 
eventful time. 

On  the  9th  of  August,  1557,  "the  memorable  day 
of  St.  Lawrence,"  when  Counts  Egmont  and  Hoom 
won  the  battle  of  St.  Quentin  for  Philip  the  Second, 
that  monarch  vowed  to  build  a  monastery  in  honour 
of  the  Saint  to  whom  he  ascribed  the  victory.     Not 


*  See  the  record  in  Appendix. 


OHAP.Yn.]    "MAETYEDOM  OP  ST.  LAWBENCE."  259 

till  1563,  however,  and  when  fresh  from  some  auto 
daf^ia  which  unhappy  Protestants  had  undergone 
the  ordeal  inflicted  on  St  Lawrence,  did  Philip  j&nd 
leisure  to  fulfil  his  vow;  and  not  till  1564  did  it 
occur  to  him  to  ask  Titian  for  a  picture  of  the  "  Signor 
Sanf  Lorencio ''  to  adorn  the  spacious  church  of  the 
Escorial.*  The  subject  was  not  new  at  Venice. 
•Garcia  Hernandez  reported  to  the  minister,  Antonio 
Perez,  in  October,  1564,  that  there  was  a  martyrdom 
of  St  Lawrence  in  a  Venetian  monastery,  which  Titian 
had  composed  years  before,  and  for  which  the  brethren 
were  willing  to  take  200  scudL  His  Majesty  might 
even  for  less  money  have  a  copy  of  this  piece  by 
Girolamo  Titiano,  an  assistant  who  had  worked  for 
thirty  years  in  Titian's  house,  and  was  inferior  to  no 
-artist  except  his  master.t  The  Crociferi,  whose  hospital 
contained  this  treasure,  were  cenobites  devoted  to  the 
worship  of  the  true  cross  discovered  by  the  Empress 
Helen.  Their  monastery  had  often  been  in  cowr 
mendam,  and  this  had  not  improved  the  character  of 
the  inmates,  whom  the  Venetian  government  had  fre- 
quently threatened  to  suppress,  but  the  church  was 
richly  adorned  with  masterpieces  of  many  periods,  from 
the  days  of  Cima,  Mansueti,  and  Lattanzio  da  Bimini, 
to  those  of  Titian,  Schiavone,  and  Tintoretto.  Early  in 
1556  Lorenzo  Massolo,  son-in-law  to  Girolamo  Quirini, 
having  paid  the  usual  tribute  to  nature,  was  buried  in 
the  church  of  the  Crociferi,  and  Elisabeth  Quirini,  his 


*  Philip  tlie  Second  to  Gharcia 
Hernaadez  at  Venice,  Aug.  dl» 
1564>  in  Appendix. 


t  Qarda  Hernandez  to  Antonio 
Perez,  from  Venice,  Oct.  9, 1564, 
in  Appendix. 

82 


260  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AJSJ)  TIMES.     [Chap.  VH^ 

widow,  mindfiil  of  her  old  friendship  for  Titian,  asked 
him  to  adorn  a  monument  with  a  martyrdom  of  her 
husband's  patron  saint.*  The  date  of  the  patrician's 
death  and  the  time  required  for  the  erection  of  his- 
tomb,  Titian's  habitual  procrastination,  and  above  all,, 
the  character  of  the  painting,  may  lead  us  to  believe- 
that  the  work  was  finished  about  1558. 

For  once  in  his  life  it  had  occurred  to  Titian  to- 
realize  a  night-scene,  and  surely  it  must  have  struck 
him  that  more  startling  effects  were  to  be  obtained 
from  the  contract  of  a  glory  at  midnight,  with  furnace^ 
fires  and  the  glare  of  torches,  than  from  combinations 
of  halo  and  flames  at  noon.  This  too  was  a  fit  occa- 
sion for  reviving  classic  ideals  in  Pagan  statues^ 
and  temple  porticos,  and  there  is  some  evidence  that 
the  subject  of  this  martyrdotn  recalled  to  Titian's- 
mind,  not  only  the  sculpture  and  statuary  of  early 
Rome,  but  the  very  sites  which  he  had  visited  in  the 
Eternal  City,  whilst — naturally  allied  to  these — 
reminiscences  of  masterpieces  by  Raphael  and  Michael- 
angelo  would  easily  suggest  themselves.  The  idea  of 
cremation,  familiar  to  the  Romans  as  practised  on  the 
corpses  of  the  dead,  is  here  applied  to  a  living  body,, 
and  the  saint,  naked  in  all  parts  but  the  hips,  is  held 
with  his  legs  towards  the  spectator  on  an  iron  frame 
st^ding  on  twelve  legs  at  an  angle  to  the  plane  of 
delineation.  Under  this  framework,  which  in  effect 
is  a  gigantic  gridiron,  a  man  who  stoops  to  the  left 
feeds  the  flames  with  logs,  a  bundle  of  which  is  carried 

*  Tbe  epitaph  which  fixes  the  t  erection  of  his  monument,  is  in 
dates  of  Maasolo's  burial  and  the  |  Sansoyino's  Yen.  desc.,  p.  169. 


-Chap.  VH.]  "  MAETYEDOM  OF  ST.  LAWEENOE."  261 

by  a  servant  close  at  hand.     Behind,  an  executioner 
^grasps  the  saint  under  the  armpits,  whilst  a  soldier  in 
dscale  shoulder-plates  to  the  right,  pins  him  with  a 
fork  to  the  grating.     Two  men  crouching  near  the 
.soldier  are  preparing  to  strike  the  martyr  with  their 
hands,  as  he,  raising  his  arm  and  throwing  back  his 
head,  looks  up  at  the  heavens,  which  open  to  give  him 
-assurance  of  salvation  in  the  world  to  come.     In  rear 
of  these  scoflfers  a  man  at  arms  is  standing,  who  holds 
41  lance,  whilst  an  officer  on  horseback  supports  the 
standard  of  the  Empire,  and  looks  down  at  the  dying 
saint     The  group  is  partly  lighted  by  the  fire  kindled 
under  the  grating,  and  a  cage-torch,  the  pole  of  which 
is  stuck  in  a  ring  fastened  to  the  carved  shaft  of  a 
pedestal  supporting  a  statue.     But  the  black  clouds 
in  the  arching  of  the  canvas  open  to  show  a  dazzling 
^tar,  which  casts  a  bright  gleam  downwards  on  the 
head  and  frame  of  the  sufferer,  and  lights  the  steps 
leading  up  to  a  temple   on   which  three    spectators 
have  met,  whilst  a  soldier  issuing  from  the  piUars 
throws  himself  forward  with  a  torch  to  dispel  some 
jnore  of  the  gloom.     There  are  marvellous  oppositions 
here  of  red  and  silver  light,  of  greys  of  varying  tone, 
of  heavy  gloom  and  rolling  smoke.     Too  dark  even  in 
the  seventeenth  century  to  be  seen  in  all  its  details, 
this  most  important  and  interesting  creation  was  sub- 
jsequently  covered  with  daubs  of  paint,  which  now 
conceal  much  of  the  primitive  workmanship,  but  it  is 
.something  to  be  able  to  study  in  its  original  place  a 
picture  which  preserved  its   station  even  after   the 
Orociferi  had  yielded  to  the  more  modem  company  of 


262  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  YH. 

the  Jesuits.  The  subject,  and  the  eflfects  that  are  con- 
ditional upon  it,  recall  those  which  Piero  della  Fran- 
cesca,  some  hundred  years  earlier,  produced  with 
such  marked  preference  in  various  places,  one  of  which 
was  repeated  by  Raphael  in  the  rooms  of  the  Vatican^ 
We  prize  in  Raphael's  masterpiece  a  noble  simpUcity 
of  arrangement,  measured  action,  and  elevated  form,, 
admirable  drapery,  and  majestic  balance  of  light  and 
shade.  Titian  is  not  less  effective  than  his  Umbrian 
rival  He  never  made  a  nearer  approach  to  the  grand 
art  of  the  Florentines  than  when  he  painted  this  piece,, 
in  which  he  applied  the  principle  of  dramatic  execu- 
tion peculiar  to  Michaelangelo.  With  more  of  the 
real  and  human  than  Raphael,  he  attains  his  end  by  an 
exuberant  display  of  movement  in  shapes  instinct  with 
life  and  stamped  with  emotions  developing  themselves^ 
instantly  into  strong  expression  and  action.  Not  less 
effective  than  Raphael  in  adjusting  contrasts  of  light 
and  gloom,  he  obtains  them  in  a  more  complex  way 
and  by  a  more  varied  play  of  gleam  with  colour. 
Hardly  less  powerful  than  Buonarroti,  his  definition  of 
torso  and  limb  in  states  of  tension  is  looser,  but  still 
in  its  way  grand  and  imposing.  We  may  indeed  per- 
ceive  on  close  examination  that  if  Sebastian  del 
Piombo  perfected  pictures  laid  down  on  the  lines  of 
Michaelangelo,  without  giving  them  that  sublime 
energy  which  characterised  the  Florentine  master, 
Titian,  with  undeniable  originality,  almost  attained  to 
a  grandeur  of  composition  and  bold  creativeness  equal 
to  those  of  Buonarroti,  whilst  he  added  to  his  creations 
that  which  was  essentially  his  own — the  magic  play  of 


Chap.  VII.] 


THE  MONKEY  LAOCOON. 


263 


tints  and  lights  and    shadows  which  mark  the  true 
Venetian  craftsman.     St  Lawrence,  in  build,  in  mus- 
cular strength,  and  foreshortening,  as  we  see  him  at 
the  Gesuiti,  recalls  the  finest  designs  of  the  Sixtine 
chapel,  and  it  may  well  be  that  the  marvellous  figures 
of  that  chapel  clung  involuntarily  to  Titian's  memory 
as  he  conceived  his  own,  just  as  they  clung  to  him 
when    he   painted    the   "Peter    Martyr''    and    the 
"  Battle  of  Cadore."    But  in  all  these  pictures,  and  in 
the  mode  of  their  presentment,  he  still  preserved  an 
individuality  as  unmistakable    as  it   is  grand  and 
striking.     Recollections  of  the  Eternal  City  no  doubt 
surged  up  in  Titian's  mind  when  he  drew  in  that 
noble  temple  front  which  reminds  us  so  vividly  of  the 
"  portico  of  the  Argonauts,"  in  the  Piazza  di  Pietra,  at 
Rome,  yet  what  majestic  beauty  was  added  to  the 
lines  of  the  noble  flight  of  steps  leading  up  to  them. 
The  treatment,  peculiar  to  this  period  of  Titian's  art, 
is  that  in  vhich  touch  and  surface  were  all  in  all. 
Destroying  kands  of  time  and  restorers  have  removed 
much  of  boti,  yet  left  enough  to  show  how  touch  and 
breadth  did  not   preclude  excellent  modelling  and 
accurate  stuiy  of  the  human  form.* 


*  ScaneUi,  ir  the  seyenteentli 
century  (Micncosmo,  p.  215), 
noted  the  dimniss  of  this  picture, 
which  was  onlj  to  be  understood 
by  Gort's  prirfc.  Since 'then  it 
has  undergone  seyeral  courses  of 
repairing^  one  quite  modem, 
which  has  doie  much  to  make 
earlier  ii\juries  irreparable.  The 
picture  is  on  conyasy  arched  at 


top,  with  figures  oyer  life  size, 
and  stands  on  the  first  altar  to 
the  left  after  entering  the  portal 
of  the  G^esuiti  at  Venice.  Sir 
Joshua  says  (Leslie  and  Taylor, 
u,  «.,  i.  83) :  **  It  is  so  dark  a  pic- 
ture, that  at  first  casting  my  eyes 
on  it  I  thought  there  was  a  black 
curtain  before  it."  On  the  edge 
of  the  grate,  TrruxYS  VECELiys 


2C4 


TITIAN:  HIS  LITE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  VH. 


Titian  at  this  time  was  obviously  much  occupied  in 
refreshing  his  memory  with  references  to  the  antique. 
He  could  get  something  like  burlesque  out  of  it,  a^^  we 
see  in  Boldrini's  print,  where  three  monkeys  axe 
shown  writhing  under  the  coils  of  snakes  like  Laocoon 
and  his  children  in  the  celebrated  Roman  group ;  but 
the  study  of  that  remarkable  piece  was  not  confined  to 
drawings.  It  showed  itself  in  serious  works,  such  as 
the  "  Christ  crowned  with  Thorns/'  now  at  tie  Louvre, 
where  the  movement  of  the  principal  figuie,  though 
inverted,  reminds  us  of  Laocoon,  whilst  the  suffering 
displayed  seems  derived  from  the  same  soiree.  This 
characteristic  and  clever  picture,  transported — ^we 
may  think — to  Milan  when  Orazio  went  there  in 
1559  to  claim  the  pension  of  his  father, ***  is  painted 
in  a  style  which  stamps  it  as  a  contemporary  of  the 
"St.  Lawrence."  It  came  to  adorn  the  church  of  Santa 
Maria  delle  Grazie,  and  was  not  removed  to  France 
till  the  beginning  of  this  century.  Here  we  have 
the  classic  action  united  to  great  agony  aid  muscular 
contraction,  Christ  is  struggling  on  the  steps  of  the 
prison,  the  gateway  of  which  is  surmounted  by  a  bust 
of  Tiberius.  His  legs  and  frame  are  twitted  by  pain 
in  contrary  directions.  The  head,  on  which  two 
men  with  long  reeds  are  pressing  the  cro^tn  of  thorns, 
is  bent  and  turned  to  the  left,  the  torso  inclining  to 
the  right,  whilst  the  arms,  which  are  bmnd  at  the 


JEQVZS  F.  On  a  print  by  Sadeler 
we  read,  TmAirvs  inven.  ^qves 
OLfiS.  A  later  print  exists  by  Jan 
BuBsen&ker;  a  line  engraving  by 


ZnlianL    Palma  Diovine  copied 
the  picture  in  155^.   (Baldinucci, 
Opere,  x.  11.) 
*  See  postea. 


i  PHETORIAN  COURT. 


Chap.  VIL]  "  CHEIST  CROWNED  WITH  THOENS."  265 

wrist,  are  forcibly  held  by  a  kneeling  soldier  on  the 
foreground.  The  scarlet  mantle  thrown  in  derision 
over  the  frame  leaves  the  limbs  entirely  bare,  and  in 
the  working  and  tension  of  muscle  appaxent  in  these, 
as  well  as  i^  the  convulsive  strain  of  the  feat^es.  th^ 
triumph  of  physical  torture  is  delineated.  Equally 
robust,  but  not  more  resolute  in  action,  his  motion 
being  shown  as  much  by  flap  of  drapery  as  by  stride, 
the  man  on  the  left  who  jerks  the  crown  on  the 
Saviour's  forehead,  is  a  model  of  herculean  strength 
in  a  moment  of  strong  exertion.  In  his  desire  to 
realise  emotion  altogether  human,  Titian  has  ap- 
parently forgotten  the  divine.  He  has  forgotten  the 
select  shapes  and  conventional  ideals  of  expression 
and  form  peculiar  to  the  antique.  He  is  realistic 
almost  to  the  verge  of  a  disagreeable  coarseness — 
particularly  so  in  details  of  hand,  foot,  and  ancle- 
Yet  there  is  something  so  grand  in  the  life  and  energy 
exhibited,  and  a  minuteness  of  study  so  profound  in 
the  shrinking  of  the  features  and  the  clinging  of  the 
toes  of  Christ  to  the  ground,  that  one  almost  forgets 
to  inquire  how  it  is  that  an  artist  so  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  classic  as  Titian  was  should 
altogether  neglect  to  apply  its  cardinal  principles. 
The  very  furia  which  characterises  the  action  is 
traceable  to  the  artist  himself,  who  seems  to  have 
worked  oflF  the  contours  with  dash  and  force,  whilst 
he  touched  in  the  flesh  with  a  stroke  of  surprising 
breadth  and  sweep.  Strangely  enough,  though  warm 
and  golden  in  general  tone,  the  picture  has  less 
variety  and  more  uniformity  of  colour  than  usual. 


266 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  VH, 


either  because  the  surface  of  the  panel  on  which  the 
figures  were  thrown  gave  less  opportunity  for  variety 
of  graining  and  toning,  or  because,  firesh  fix)m  a  night 
scene  like  the  St.  Lawrence,  where  greys  and  blacks 
were  copiously  applied,  these  shades  predominated 
on  the  palet.  Dash  and  eagerness  are  equally  ap- 
parent in  abrupt  contrasts  of  light  with  deep  bitu- 
minous shadows  which  give  to  the  whole  piece,  in 
some  respects,  the  look  of  a  monochrome  but  partially 
brought  up  to  the  colour  of  nature.* 

Memorable  for  such  creations  as  these,  if  our 
pictorial  instinct  is  correct  as  to  the  date  of  produc- 
tion, the  year  1558  is  equally  so  for  some  very  fine 
portraits.  A  likeness  in  half  length  of  Marc  Antonio 
Rezzonico  in  the  hospital  of  Milan  may  repel  us,  since 
cleaning  and  repairing  deprived  it  of  original  cha- 
racter.t    But  "  Fabricio  Salvaresio  "  at  the  Belvedere 


*  No.  464  at  the  Louvre,  on 
panel,  m.  3.03  h.  by  1.80.  The 
figores  are  large  as  life ;  on  one  of 
the  steps  ve  read,  *'  tttianvs,  f." 
There  are  engravings  of  this  piece 
by  Luigi  Scaramncoi,  Y.  Le- 
f^bre,  Gotfr.  Sayter,  Bibanlt,  and 
Massieu,  in  Filhol  and  Landon's 
Series.  Another  version  of  the 
composition,  of  which  a  word 
later,  is  in  the  Munich  Gallery. 
Compare  Yasari,  ziii.  40. 

The  panel  has  been  restored, 
80  as  to  impart  a  certain  heaviness 
to  the  surface  and  dimness  to 
the  shadows.  The  name  of  the 
painter  is  one  of  the  details  that 
have  been  retouched  or  added. 

t  This  portrait  is  that  of  a  man 
in  a  black   dress   with   yellow 


sleeves  Rtanding  in  a  room,  and 
seen  to  the  thigh.    With  the  right 
hand  he  points  at  some  object, 
whilst  his  left  rests  on  his  hip 
and  holds  a  glove.    On  the  plinth 
of  a  pillar  to  the  left  we  read, 
'*  Marco  Antonio  Bezzonioo  morto 
ai  29  Maggio,  1584 ;  Tiziano  Ye- 
cellio  fece  in  Yinezia  nel  1558." 
Though  modem  as  compared  with 
the  painting  itself,  this  inscription 
is  probably  historical.    For  we 
find  in  the  Gxdda  Storico-artistica 
deir  Ospitale  Maggiore  in  Mi- 
lano  (8vo,   1857,  Tip.  di  Pietro 
Agnelli),  that  Bezzonico  was  one 
of  the  deputation  of  the  hospital 
in  1575,  and  at  his  death  in  1584 
left  the  picture  to  the  foundation 
of  which  he  was  a  benefactor. 


Chap.  Vn.]  "LAVINIA"  OF  DRESDEN. 


267 


in  Vienna,  shows  us  a  fine  and  expressive  representa- 
tion of  a  man  embrowned  by  travel,  and  familiar,  it 
might  seem,  with  the  East,  from  whence  perhaps  he 
brought  the  negro  boy  who  stands  before  him  and 
holds  a  bunch  of  flowers.* 

But  the  masterpiece  of  portraiture  of  this  time  is 
the  "  Lavinia ''  of  the  Dresden  Museum,  the  semblance 
of  a  lady  of  mature  years  standing  in  a  room  and 
waving  a  fan  of  plumes.  In  state  dress  of  green 
velvet  cut  square  at  the  bosom  and  slashed  at  the 
shoulder  puflfs  with  white  silk,  she  turns  slightly  to 
the  left,  raising  the  hand  with  the  fan,  and  with  her 
left  tucking  up  the  skirt  of  her  gown.  Scanty 
chestnut  locks  are  strewed  with  pearls.  A  pearl 
necklace  winds  round  her  plump  neck.  She  wears  a 
jewelled  brooch,  a  ring,  and  a  girdle  of  shells.  On  a 
tablet  in  the  upper   comer  of  the   canvas  are   the 


*  This  is  also aportrait  in  half- 
length,  on  a  brown  groond,  No. 
15,  in  the  3rd  room  of  the  ground 
floor,  Italian  schools,  at  the  Bel- 
vedere. Size,  3  ft  8  h.  by  2  ft.  8, 
on  canyas,  with  the  following  in- 
scription on  a  tablet  in  the  upper 
comer   to  the   left:    "MDLvni, 

FABBICryS      SALVAKESrVS     ANN^ 

AGENS  L.  TrnANi  opvs."  Painted 
on  a  coarse  canyas,  this  piece  is 
mnch  impaired  by  retouching, 
but  is  a  good  bit  of  energetic 
treatment.  Salyaresius  stands 
with  the  thumb  of  his  right  hand 
in  a  figured  shawl  wound  round 
his  waist.  His  dress  is  a  black 
cap,  yest,  and  pelisse,  the  latter 
lined  with  white  lamb's  wool.  A 
koife  hangs  in  a  sheath  at  his 


side.  In  the  angle  of  the  canvas 
to  the  right  is  the  profile  of  a 
negro  boy  looking  up.  His  arm, 
encased  in  yellow  damask,  is 
stretched  out,  and  he  holds  in  his 
hand  a  bunch  of  flowers.  On  a 
console  above  the  boy's  head  & 
rich  green  cloth  is  lying,  and  be- 
hind it  is  a  clock.  Pity  that  the 
flesh  should  have  acquired  a 
brick-red  opaqueness.  The  negro 
is  60  completely  renewed  as  to 
leave  us  in  doubt  whether  any 
part  of  him  is  now  by  Titian.  It  is 
curious  that  the  print  in  Teniers' 
Gallery  work  which  shows  that 
the  picture  belonged  to  the  Arch- 
duke Leopold  William,  omits  the 
negro  boy.  The  hand  of  Salya- 
resius is  the  part  best  preseryed. 


268  TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  TEL 

» 

words  :  "  lavtnia  tit.  v.  p  ab'  eo  p."  which  has  been 
interpreted  to  mean,  and  no  doubt  was  intended  to 
convey,  that  Lavinia  the  daughter  of  Titian  was  por- 
trayed by  her  father.  A  cicerone  or  guide  showing 
the  picture  might  have  expressed  himself  in  the 
words  of  this  inscription.  Titian  would  have  .written 
ipso  and  not  eo.  But  the  lines  are  of  much  later 
date  than  the  time  of  Titian,  who  neither  wrote 
his  name  in  this  fashion  nor  habit^aUy  finished  his 
capitals  with  cross  strokes.  The  words  were  scrawled 
over  the  background  after  one  of  its  numerous 
restorings,  and  the  pigment  has  settled  into  the  older 
cracks.  It  is  not  a  question  whether  the  work  is 
genuine,  for  Titian's  hand  at  its  best  is  very  apparent. 
It  is  a  question  whether  we  have  Titian's  daughter 
before  us,  the  features  being  essentially  different  from 
those  traditionally  known  as  Lavinia's,  whilst  they 
curiously  resemble  those  of  Venus  listening  to  the 
whispering  Cupid  at  the  UflBzi  in  Florence.  As  a 
representation  of  a  richly  developed  form  in  gorgeous 
habiliments  this  is  a  masterpiece.  The  face  is  vigo- 
rously painted  and  modelled  with  breadth,  whilst 
blended  in  tone  to  a  nicety.  Fine  transitions  inter- 
pose between  warm  lights  and  brown  tinged  shadows. 
The  eye  sparkles  and  the  mouth  is  full  of  a  healthy 
redness.  The  features  are  cut  with  great  delicacy,  in 
Bpite  of  a  certain  pinguidity.  The  left  arm,  raised  to 
wave  the  fan,  the  left  lowered  to  clutch  the  dress,  the 
swelling  bust  and  portly  waist,  are  given  with  the 
plastic  force  and  grain  which  were  so  successfully 
imitated  in  later  days  by  Paolo  Veronese;  and  the 


Chap.  VIL] 


DEATH  OP  CHAELES'V. 


26» 


colours  of  the  velvet,  together  with  that  of  the  muslin 
at  the  bosom  and  wrists  and  the  hair  and  pearls, 
are  all  worked  into  harmony  with  the  brown  back- 
ground so  as  to  form  a  natural  vision  surrounded  with 
atmosphere  and  instinct  with  life* 

Whilst  he  was  busy  with  these  and  other  pictures, 
Titian  heard  of  the  gradual  decline,  and  at  last  of  the 
death,  on  the  21st  of  September  1558,  of  the  Emperor 
at  Tuste. 

Charles  the  Fifth  was  the  greatest  as  well  as  the 
most  powerful  of  aU  Titian's  patrons.  He  had  ordered 
the  "  Trinity  "  as  a  record  of  his  intention  to  abdicate 
the  throne.  He  took  it  to  Yuste  that  he  might  more 
constantly  be  reminded  of  another  and  higher  world 
than  that  in  which  he  was  wasting  the  last  of  his 
strength  Though  he  never  ceased  to  direct  from  his 
Spanish  solitude  the  weak  and  changiDg  policy  of 
Philip,  there  were  moments  when  he  turned  altogether 
from  the  contemplation  of  public  aflPairs  to  memories, 
of  the  past  or  thoughts  of  his  own  salvation,  aad  at 
these  times  his  mind  was  disposed  to  tender  recollec- 
tion by  Titian's  portraits  of  those  who  had  been  most 
dear  to  him,  or  stimulated  to  prayer  by  sacred 
subjects  in  the  representation  of  which  Titian  had 
had  a  share.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  Emperor's 
quaint  love  of  contrast  or  variety  in  art  that  he 


*  This  canYas,  in  the  Dresden 
Mnseum,  numbered  230,  and  of 
life  size,  was  sold  to  the  Eing  of 
Saxony  with  the  Modena  ooUec- 
tion.  It  was  tnuisierred  to  a  new 
canyas  in  1826.    It  has  a  scar  on 


the  forehead,  and  some  stipplings 
on  the  face,  particularly  in  sha- 
dow. The  left  hand  is  mnch  in- 
jured by  repainting.  The  back- 
ground is  renewed.  Engrayed  by 
Basan, 


270  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap Vn. 

caused  two  of  the  latest  masterpieces  of  his  favourite 
Italian  to  be  framed  with  those  of  a  Flemish  artist. 
The  "  Ecce  Homo,"  which  Titian  took  to  him  in  1548, 
waa  combined  in  a  diptych  with  a  Pietk  by  Coxie. 
The  "Addolorata"  of  1554  was  set  in  the  same  way 
with  Coxie's   "Effigy  of  Christ/'*     One  canvas  for 
which  he  bad  a  particular  devotion  was  a  grieving 
Virgin  which   probably  belonged  to    the    batch  of 
pictures  presented  to  the  Emperor  on  the  memorable 
occasion  when  Titian  pleaded  Aretiiio's  claims  to  a 
cardinal's  hat.     It  was  a  beautiful  piece,  well  worthy 
of  preservation,  and  happily  preserved  at  this  time  in 
the  rooms  of  the  Madrid  Museum.     Here  the  Virgin 
is  seen  in  profile,  her  form  clad  in  traditional  red,  her 
blue  mantle — covering  a  white  veil — ^lined  with  stuff 
of  a  deep  yellow  texture.     In  this  simple  array  of 
colours  we  have  the  full  complement  of  primaries 
which  go  to  produce  the  true  harmonic  chord.     The 
Virgin's  thin  and  delicately  chiselled  face   is  over- 
shadowed with    melancholy,   the    hands  are  wrung 
together,  and  the  eye-ball    is  directed  towards  the 
ground  where  we  fancy  the  corpse  of  the  Bedeemer  to 
lie  or  to  be  carried  amidst  mourning  to  the  tomb.     In 
none  of  his  single  figures  has  Titian  ever  shown  more 
genuine  feeling.     We  need  but  reverse  the  lines  of  the 
face  and  frame  to  have  a  counterpart  of  the  agonized 
Mary  in  the  "  Entombment "  of  the  Louvre.     Agony 
is  apparent  in  the  eye  and  mouth  as  well  as  in  the 


*  BeetheinTentoryofBroasels, 
1556,  in  Qacliard*8  Betraite  et 
Mort  de  Oharles  y.»  u.  «.,  iL  90- 


93 ;  and  tliat  of  Yufite  by  Joan 
de  Begla  and  Gbustela  in  Stir- 
ling's Cloister  life  of  Charles  Y. 


Chap.  Vn.] 


PHnJP  n.  AT  GHENT. 


271 


movement  of  the  body  and  limbs  and  every  articula- 
tion of  the  hands  and  fingers.  Admirably  blended 
and  finished,  the  flesh  is  fresh  and  smooth  as  in  life, 
and  bears  the  closest  inspection,  whilst  the  draperies 
display  in  the  most  admirable  manner  the  run  of  the 
contours  and  the  shape  beneath  them.^  Besides  this 
fine  and  pathetic  creation,  Charles  had  close  at  hand 
a  portrait  of  himself  in  armour,  to  which  we  may 
think  he  would  look  for  the  sake  of  contrasting  the 
early  strength  of  his  youth  with  the  debility  of  his 
premature  old  age ;  then  the  likeness  of  the  Empress 
and  himself  in  one  canvas,  and  that  of  the  Empress 
alone.  At  the  last  of  these  works  of  Titian  he  cast  a 
long  and  fond  glance  almost  on  the  verge  of  dissolu- 
tion, and  he  only  gave  up  its  contemplation  in  order 
to  turn  to  that  of  the  "  Last  Judgment,"  upon  which 
"he  gazed  so  long  as  to  cause  apprehension  to  his 
phy8ician.''t 

When  the  news  of  Charles's  death  reached  Philip 
the  Second  at  Ghent,  he  withdrew  to  the  comparative 
solitude  of  the  monastery  of  Groenendaele,  where  he 
remained  secluded  for  several  weeks.  It  was  from 
the  cloisters  of  this  once  celebrated  retreat  that  he 
caused  a  despatch  to  be  sent,  on  Christmas  Day  1558 


*  TliiB  figure,  a  bust  on  panel 
in  profile  to  the  left,  is  No.  475, 
m.  0.68  h.  by  0.61,  in  the  Madrid 
Mosetun.  It  is  noted  in  the 
Brussels  and  Yuste  inyentories, 
n,  «.,  and  is  fairly  preserred, 
though  not  free  from  re-touching, 
especially  in  the  head. 

An  old  school  copy  of  this  piece 


hangs  high  up  in  the  chapel  of 
the  Sacrament  in  San  Zaocaria, 
at  Yenice.  Another  school  copy, 
by  a  later  hand,  in  the  Qratory(|>f 
San  Gbetano  at  Padua.  A  pho- 
tograph of  the  original  by  Laurent 
exists, 
t  Pk^soott,  «•  «.,  136. 


272 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  Vn. 


to  the  governor  of  Alilan,  Duke  of  Sessa,  ordering- 
him  to  pay  all  arrears  of  the  pensions  '^  granted  to 
Titian  by  Charles  his  father  (now  in  glory),"  adding  a 
postscript  in  his  own  hand  to  show  the  interest  which 
he  felt  personally  for  Titian  and  his  claims.^  Titian 
was  made  acquainted  by  the  Duke  with  the  terms  of 
this  despatch,  and  invited  to  Milan,  but  being  too  old 
to  travel,  sent  his  son  to  attend  to  his  interests.  Here 
Orazio  put  himself  in  communication  with  the  Duke 
of  Sessa  an,d  wrote — ^in  March — ^that  he  had  received 
letters  from  the  governor  for  the  Senate  by  means  of 
which  a  settlement  of  accounts  would  speedily  be 
made,  and  he  hoped  that  the  business  would  be  finally 
transacted  soon  '  after  Holy  Week.  From  Milan^ 
Orazio  continued,  he  meant  to  proceed  to  Genoa,  and 
with  help  of  letters  to  the  king's  ambassador  he 
thought  that  the  pension  due  at  that  place  would  also 
be  obtained.t  Little  did  Orazio  then  foresee  that 
events  would  happen  which  would  make  his  journey 
to  Genoa  impossible.  At  the  court  of  Milan  there 
lived  at  this  time  Leone  Aretino,  a  sculptor  whose 
name  has  often  appeared  in  these  pages  in  connection 
with  Titian.  He  was  nearly  related,  though  no  one 
exactly  knew  how,  to  Pietro  Aretino,  and  his  interest 
had  been  used  with  Titian,  and  through  Titian  with 
the  Emperor  and  the  Granvelles,  to  push  him  on  in 
the  world.  More  violent  in  temper  and  certainly 
more  cunning  than  Benvenuto   CeUini,   Leone  had 


*  Despatch  and  postscript  are 
in  fnU  in  Eidolfi's  Maray.,  i. 
244-5. 


t  Orazio  to  Titian,  March  19, 
1559,  in  Cadorin's  DelloAmore, 
«.  8,f  p.  46. 


Chap.  VH.]        ASSASSINATION  OF  OEAZIO.  273 

been  placed  under  bann  for  homicide  in  several  cities- 
of  the  Peninsula ;  yet  he  had  always  found  new  friends 
wherever  he  settled.  At  Milan,  where  he  was  now  a 
resident,  he  owned  a  palace  and  lived  in  some  state 
with  an  establishment  of  horses  and  valets,  and  here 
he  gave  a  hospitable  reception  to  Orazio  Vecelli,  whom 
he  fetched  with  an  escort  of  riders  from  his  rooms 
at  the  Falcon.  Orazio,  who  had  brought  fourteen 
pieces  with  him  from  Venice,  remained  upwards  ot  a 
month  a  guest  in  Leone's  palace.  He  sold  his  pictures 
to  the  Duke  of  Sessa,  and  took  sittings  from  that 
nobleman,  for  whom  he  painted  a  full-length  portrait. 
As  time  went  by  he  thought  he  should  not  tax  the 
kindness  of  his  host  too  long,  and  having  commission 
to  get  the  Duke's  canvases  framed,  he  took  lodgings  of 
his  own  and  went  on  the  14th  of  June  to  Leone's 
house  to  superintend  the  removal  of  his  property. 
Whilst  occupied  with  this  duty  he  was  set  upon  by 
the  host  and  his  servants,  who  struck  at  him  with 
daggers  so  suddenly  as  to  put  his  life  in  imminent 
peril.  Fortunately  the  first  blow  aimed  by  Leone  in. 
person  had  not  been  mortal  Orazio  struggled,  ran 
for  the  door,  and  reached  the  street  with  severe 
wounds.  He  was  carried  to  the  Falcon  inn,  where  he 
was  attended  by  the  Duke  of  Sessa's  barber,  who  gave 
him  such  restoratives  that  he  was  able  on  the  fol- 
lowing day  to  give  evidence  before  a  magistrate  sent 
for  that  purpose.  In  answer  to  the  question  whether 
he  could  assign  a  cause  to  the  assault,  he  could  only 
say  that  he  thought  the  murderer  was  envious  of  his 
favour  with  the  governor.     But  in   his  subsequent 

VOL.   II,  T 


274 


TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  Tn. 


communications  to   Titian,   and  in  a  memorandum 
afterwards  drawn  up  by  his  friends,  he  declared  that 
Leone  knew  that  he  had  received  two  thousand  ducats 
of  Titian's  pension  from  the  Milanese  treasury,  and 
meant  to  take  his  life  and  his  money  at  the  same 
time.*      Titian  wrote   a  long    letter  to   Philip  the 
Second  on  the  12th  of  July,  accusing  Leone  of  an 
attempt  to  murder  and  rob  his  son,  and  he  asked  for 
justice   with  pardonable   expressions  of  indignatiop. 
But  we  do  not  read  without  surprise  that  the  man 
whose  hospitality  Orazio  had  not  disdained  to  accept, 
was  now  described  by  the  angry  Titian  as  a  well- 
known  criminal,  who  had  been  expelled  from  Spain 
because  he  was  a  Lutheran,  condemned  to  the  stake 
by  the  Duke  of  Ferrara  on  a  charge  of  coining,  and 
banished  for  attempted  murder  from  the  Roman  and 
Venetian  8tates.t    Titian's  appeal  to  Philip  the  Second 
was    but   partially  heard.      Leone,   who    had    been 
arrested-  immediately  after  the  crime,  was  let  off  with 
bann  and  fine,  and  Orazio  lived  fo»  some  years  in 
secret  fear  of  assassination,  until  the  blood  feud  was 
condoned  with  a  sum  of  money4 

Some  months  before  these  events  occurred,  Philip 
the  Second  had  written  to  the  Duke  of  Luna  from 
Brussels  to  make  complaint  that  a  hirge  canvas  of  the 

Entombment "  despatched  by  Titian  from  Venice  in 


(( 


*  See  the  depositions  in  Ga- 
dorin*8  BeUo  Amore,  p.  50;  the 
memorandum  in  the  same  author, 
p.  103. 

t  Titian  to  Philip  the  Second, 
July  12,  1559,  in  Appendix. 


X  Memorandum,  u,  8,,  in  Ca- 
dorin's  Dello  Amore.  See  also  in 
the  same  work,  p.  51,  Orazio's 
petition  to  the  Council  of  Ten, 
dated  March  20,  1562,  to  be  al* 
lowed  to  carry  arms. 


Chap.  Vn.]      THE  SECOND  "ENTOMBMENT."  275 


November  1557,  and  received  shortly  after  at  Treat 
by  the  postmaster  De  Tassis,  had  never  reached  its 
d^estination.  He  desired  search  to  be  made  for  the 
missing  work,  and  gave  directions  for  the  discovery 
a^id  punishment  of  the  thieves.* 

Three  or  four  days  after  Leone's  attempt  on  Orazio's 
life,  but  before  news  of  it  had  reached  Venice,  Titian 
wrote  to  Philip  the  Second,  alluding  to  the  loss  of  the 
"Entombment"  and  announcing  the  completion  of  two 
compositions  of  "Diana  and  Actaeon,"  and  "Diana 
and  Calisto.'* 

TITIAN  TO  PHILIP  THE  SECOND. 

**MosT  Potent  Catholic  King, 

"  I  have  already  finished  the  two  ''  poesies  " 
intended  for  your  majesty,  one  of  Diana  surprised  by 
Actajon  at  the  fountain,  another  of  Calisto's  weakness 
exposed  by  the  nymphs  at  Diana's  bidding.  When 
your  Majesty  wishes  to  have  them,  nothing  will  be 
needed  but  to  name  the  person  to  w^hom  they  should 
be  sent,  in  order  that  no  accident  may  occur  as  in 
the  case  of  the  '  Entombment,'  which  was  lost  on  the 
road.  I  hope  that  if  ever  any  things  of  mine  have 
been  thought  worthy  of  favour,  these  will  not  be  found 
unworthy.  After  their  despatch  I  shall  devote  myself 
^ntirely  to  furnishing  the  *  Christ  on  the  Mount,'  and 
the  other  two  poesies  which  I  have  already  begun — I 
mean  the  *  Europa  on  the  shoulders  of  the  Bull,'  and 
*  Actseon  torn  by  his  Hounds/    In  these  pieces  I  shall 


*  Philip  the  Second  to  Count  de  Luna,  Jan.  20, 1559,  in  Appendix. 

T  2 


276  TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  VU. 

put  all  the  knowledge  which  God  has  given  me,  and 
which  has  always  been  and  ever  will  be  dedicated  to 
the  service  of  your  Majesty.  That  you  will  please  to 
accept  this  service  so  long  as  I  can  use  my  limbs,  borne 
down  by  the  weight  of  age,  I  hope,  and  though  the 
burden  be  heavy,  it  becomes  lighter  as  if  by  a  miracle, 
whenever  I  recollect  that  I  am  living  to  serve  and  do 
something  grateful  to  your  Majesty.  I  beg  further 
to  say  that  my  bad  fortune  has  not  allowed  that  after 
so  much  time  and  labour  and  trouble,  I  should  enjoy 
anything  of  the  pensions  due  to  me  according  to  the 
schedules  of  your  Majesty  from  the  royal  agents  at 
Genoa,  which  I  can  only  attribute  to  my  ill  luck,  since 
the  kindness  of  your  Majesty  in  this  respect  has 
always  been  great,  though  your  servant  Titian  has  not 
the  less  remained  in  his  old  condition,  in  so  far  as  he 
is  without  the  payment  of  his  due.  May  1  humbly 
beg  your  Majesty  to  cause  such  provision  to  be  made 
as  shall  appear  most  opportune,  and,  with  all  reverence, 
I  offer  and  recommend  myself,  and  kiss  your  royal 
and  Catholic  hand. 

"  Your  Catholic  Majesty's 

"  Most  humble  Servant, 

"TiTiANO  Vecellio,  pittore.* 

*'  From  Venice,  June  19,  1559." 

• 

To  this  letter  Philip  replied  on  the  13th  of  July 
from  Ghent,  ordering  the  ** poesies"  to  be  sent  to 
Genoa,  carefully  packed  so  as  not  to  be  lost  after  the 
fashion  of  the  "  Entombment,"  recommending  the  rapid 

*  The  original  is  in  Appendix. 


Chap.  VII.] 


TITIAN'S  "POESIES. 


»f 


27 


completion  of  the  "  Christ  on  the  Mount*,"  and  other 
"poesies,"  asking  for  a  second  version  of  the  *' Entomb- 
ment "  to  replace  that  which  was  missing,  and  con- 
cluding with  an  assurance  that  orders  had  been  issued 
as  to  the  pensions  which  would  preclude  all  further 
chance  of  failure.* 

In  spite  of  Titian's  statement  that  he  had  already 
finished  the  "  Diana  and  Actaeon,"  and  the  "Diana  and 
Calisto,"  there  still  remained  something  to  be  done  to 
those  canvases  when  Garcia  Hernandez,  the  Spanish 
secretary  at  Venice,  wrote  the  following  despatch  to 
Philip  the  Second. 


SECEETAEY  GAECIA  HERNANDEZ  TO  PHILIP  THE 

SECOND. 

"  Titian  will  have  finished  the  *  Diana  and  Actaeon ' 
in  twenty  days,  because  they  are  large  and  involve 
much  work,  and  he  wants  to  do  some  little  things  to 
them  which  no  one  else  would  think  necessary.  With 
these  he  will  give  me  the  *  Christ  in  the  Tomb,'  of 
larger  size  than  that  which  he  sent  before,  the 
figures  being  entire,  and  a  smaller  fancy  piece  of  a 
Turkish  or  Persian  girl— aU  excellent 

"  The  pictures  and  the  glass  panes,  as  well  as  the 
glasses  for  drinking  wat^r  and  those  for  drinking 
wine,  will  all  be  despatched  at  one  time 

"  From  Venice,  AugiMt  3,  1559." 


*  The  original  (Estado,  Leg^, 
1336)  in  the  Simancas  archive 
coincides  as  to  the  text  with  the 
version  in  Bidolfi's  Maray.,  i.  242. 


But  the  date  is  erroneously  given 
by  Bidolfi  as  1 558,  being  in  reality 
1559. 


278  TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  VH. 


We  see  by  this  letter  how  anxious  Titian  was,  even 
in  his  old  age,  to  finish  ;  and  how  true  it  is,  as  Vasari 
says,  that  pictures  which  seem  to  have  been  dashed 
off  rapidly  were  really  laboured  so  as  to  look  as  if  they 
were  executed  quickly.  Of  interest  in  Garcia's  letter 
is  the  allusion  to  Venetian  glass,  which  was  now 
manufactured  with  great  delicacy  and  perfection  in 
the  factories  of  Murano,  and  exported  to  the  most 
distant  countries  of  Europe. 

In  September,  after  much  filing  and  polishing  of 
his  pictures,  Titian  delivered  them  with  the  following 
letter  to  the  King. 

TITIAN  TO  PHILIP  THE  SECOND. 

"I  send  your  Majesty  the  ^Actseon,*  *Calisto,' 
and  *  Christ  in  the  Sepulchre,'  in  place  of  that  which 
was  lost  on  the  way,  and  I  rejoice  that  though  larger, 
the  last  of  these  pictures  has  succeeded  better  than 
the  first,  and  is  more  worthy  of  acceptance  from  your 
Majesty.  I  attribute  this  improvement  in  a  great 
measure  to  the  grief  which  I  felt  at  the  loss  of  the 
first  example,  which  proved  a  strong  stimulus  to 
exertion  in  this  and  my  other  works,  in  order  doubly 
to  recoup  the  damage.  If  contrary  to  your  expecta- 
tion and  my  intention,  so  much  time  has  been  spent 
in  finishing  and  sending  them  (for  I  confess  three 
years  and  more  have  gone  by  since  I  began  them),  I 
beg  your  Majesty  not  to  attribute  this  result  to  my 
neglect,  for  I  can  say  with  truth  that  I  have  hardly 
attended  to  anything  else,  as  your  secretary  Garcia 
Hernando  can  teU  you,  who  has  often  pressed  me. 


GnAP.  Vn.]  TITLVN  AND  aiPELLES.  279 

though  I  did  not  require  pressing,  and  the  cause  was 
simply  the  quantity  of  time  required,  and  my  fervent 
wish  to  produce  something  worthy  of  your  Majesty, 
which  made  me  forget  fatigue,  and  put  all  my  industry 
into  the  polishing  and  completing  of  them.  Is  it  not 
indeed  my  greatest  study  to  serve  your  Majesty  ?  Is 
it  not  my  only  aim  in  life  to  refuse  the  service  of 
other  princes  and.  cling  to  that  of  your  Majesty? 
What  painter,  old  or  new,  can  boast  as  I  can  of  being 
benignantly  asked,  as  weU  as  urged  by  his  own  will, 
to  serve  such  a  King?  I  hold  myself  to  be  so  flattered 
by  this,  that  I  dare  to  affirm  I  do  not  envy  the  famous 
Apelles,  who  was  so  dear  to  Alexander  the  Great,  and 
I  say  so  with  reason,  since,  if  I  consider  the  dignity 
of  the  monarch  he  served,  I  fail  to  see  who  else  is 
more  like  Alexander  in  all  parts  that  are  admirable 
and  worthy  of  praise  than  your  Majesty.  And  as  to 
dependents,  though  it  is  true  my  small  merit  is  not  by 
any  means  comparable  to  the  excellence  of  that 
singular  man,  it  is  enough  for  me  that  as  he  had  the 
grace  of  his  king,  I  have  the  feeling  that  I  also  possess 
the  favour  of  mine.  Because  the  authority  of  your 
kindly  judgment,  imited  to  the  regal  magnanimity 
continuously  shown  to  me,  makes  me  equal  to  Apelles, 
and  perhaps  his  superior  in  the  opinion  of  men.  And 
so,  in  order  to  show  my  gratitude  in  every  way  I  can 
think  of,  I  send,  besides  the  other  pictures,  the  portrait 
of  her  who  is  absolute  patroness  of  my  soul,  and  that 
is  her  who  is  dressed  in  yellow,  who,  though  in  truth 
only  painted,  is  the  dearest  and  most  precious  thing  I 
could  send  away.     But  here  I  am  a  living  witness  of 


280  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  VH. 

your  Majesty's  humane  and  gentle  nature,  which  gives 
courage  to  one  who  in  respect  of  your  high  rank  is  so 
humble  to  correspond  with  your  Majesty  by  letter, 
and  so  enough  as  to  paintings.  I  wrote  some  days 
ago  to  your  Majesty  in  reference  to  the  assassination 
of  my  son  Horatio,  at  Milan,  by  Leone  Aretino,  and 
of  the  mortal  wounds  which  he  received,  prajdng  for 
the  deserved  punishment  of  the  offender  after  the 
custom  of  your  Majesty's  justice.  Process  was  issued 
in  due  form  against  him,  and  great  effort  was  made 
after  his  recovery  by  my  son  to  hasten  the  trial,  and 
for  this  he  was  forced  to  spend  much  of  the  money 
obtained  by  your  Majesty's  bounty  at  Milan,  but  the 
wretch  is  so  clever  and  so  favoured  on  account  of  the 
name  which  he  bears  of  Statuary  to  your  Majesty, 
and  my  son  is  so  much  a  stranger  at  Milan,  that  the 
case  has  been  subjected  to  delays,  and  will  probably 
end  in  smoke,  to  the  great  detriment  of  justice,  and 
the  more  so  because  my  son  has  come  home,  and  there 
is  no  one  at  MUan  who  can  counteract  the  cunning 
and  ways  of  this  wicked  man.  I  therefore  most 
humbly  pray  that  your  Majesty  will  deign  to  give 
orders  to  the  Senate  to  hasten  the  judgment  and 
exercise  justice  in  a  manner  suitable  to  so  great  an 
offence,  showing  that  your  Majesty  holds  me  to  be 
one  of  your  servants.  My  son  Horatio  above  named 
(I  had  almost  forgotten)  sends  with  mine  a  small 
picture  of  '  Christ  on  the  Cross,'  painted  by  himself. 
Will  your  Majesty  deign  to  accept  it  as  a  small 
testimony  of  his  great  desire  to  imitate  his  father  in 
serving  you?     And  with  all  inclination  of  the  heart,  I 


Chap.  VH.]  "  DIANA  AND  ACTION." 


281 


and  he  recommeDd  ourselves,  and  I  kiss  your  Royal 
and  Catholic  hand. 

"  Tour  Catholic  Majesty's 

"Most  humble  and  devoted  Servant, 

-  '*  TiTIANO  VeCELLIO.* 

From  Vewicb,  Sept.  22,  1669.' 


(< 


)» 


In  a  minute  of  two  despatches  of  September  27 
and  October  11,  Garcia  Hernandez  noted : 


wri 


That  I  have  sent  to  Genoa  the  glass  panes  and 
glasses  and  the  pictures  of  Titian,  according  to  his 
Majesty's  orders.  Titian  gives  the  subjects  which  he 
sends  in  a  letter  of  the  23rd  of  September,  and  adds  a 
canvas  from  his  son  Horatio,  the  same  who  was  struck 
by  Leone  Aretino,  and  m  to  this,  Titian  begs  your 
Majesty  to  move  the  Senate  that  justice  may  be  done 
in  a  manner  suitable  to  the  enormity  of  the  delinquent's 
offence."  t 

Time  sped  on,  and  Titian  heard  no  more  of  his 
works  or  their  reception ;  but  after  the  slow  fashion 
of  the  period — as  we  shall  see — ^they  reached  their 
destination,  and  gave  pleasure  to  Philip  the  Second. 
Since  the  days  of  his  connection  with  Alfonso  of 
Ferrara,  Titian  had  never  composed  any  mythological 
subjects  of  equal  importance,  in  respect  of  incident 
and  number  of  figures,  as  the  **  Diana  and  Calisto,"  or 
the   "  Diana  and  Actaeon ; "    but  now,  as  then,  he 


*  See  the  original  in  Appendix, 
t  See    the    minutes    in    Ap- 
pendix, and  see  also  Garcia  Her- 


nandez's charge  for  sending  the 
pictures  in  an  account  dated 
Oct.  1,  1563,  in  Appendix. 


282  TTTIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  VH. 

spared  no  pains  to  produce  engaging  pictures  ;  and 
if  he  failed  to  come  up  to  the  standard  which  he 
had  himself  set  up,  the  fault  lay  in  circumstances 
I  over  which  he  had  no  control.  In  looking  at  the 
gorgeous  canvases  which  now  form  part  of  the  Elles- 
mere  collection,  we  are  bound  to  remember  that 
they  were  finished  when  Titian  was  eighty-two  years 
old;  and  on  this  account  alone  we  must  look  for  a 
certain  bluntness  of  expression  and  a  certain  ab- 
sence of  delicacy  in  contour.  One  canvas  represents 
Diana  surprised  at  the  bath  by  Actaeon,  the  other 
CaUsto's  shame  discovered  by  the  Goddess  of  the 
Chase.  Both  are  made  up  of  figures  two-thirds  of 
life-size. 

As  Actaeon  breaks  on  the  solitude  of  Dictynna  his 
quiver  is  on  his  back,  his  dogs  are  at  his  heels.  At 
sight  of  the  goddess  his  arms  are  thrown  up  in  sur- 
prise, and  his  bow  falls  stringless  to  the  ground. 
Diana  is  parted  from  the  luckless  hunter  by  the 
breadth  of  a  rill.  The  diadem  is  on  her  forehead,  and 
the  pearls  in  her  hair,  but  she  sits  naked  on  her  dress, 
and  her  purple  mantle  lies  on  the  bank,  whilst  the 
nymph  at  her  side  wipes  the  water  from  her  foot.  At 
Actaeon's  appearance  Diana  droops  her  head,  and  a 
negress  behind  her  draws  together,  though  vainly,  the 
mantle  from  below,  the  muslin  from  above;  a  little 
dog  barks  furiously  the  while  across  the  water;  on 
the  marble  steps  of  a  fountain  in  rear  of  the  rill  a  girl 
with  a  mirror  clutches  the  fold  of  a  red  cloth  hanging 
from  the  arch  above  her,  a  second  gathers  herself 
together,  a  third  turns  her  back,  and  a  fourth  hides 


Chap.  VH.]  «  DIANA  AND  ACTION." 


283 


all  but  her  face  behind  a  square  pillar.  The  scene  is 
laid  in  a  glade,  not  "  of  cypress  and  pine.'*  The  foun- 
tain is  a  ruin  of  rustic  and  antique  manufacture,  with 
marble  steps  and  bas-reliefs,  defiant  of  the  poet's 
lines — 

'*....  antrum  nemorale  recessu, 
Arte  laboratum  nuUa,  simulayerat  artem 
Ingenio  natura  suo. "  * 


Through  the  archings  of  the  fountain  the  eye  wanders 
to  blue  hills  and  brown  ranges  fitfully  lighted  by 
a  warm  sun  in  a  sky  swept  with  clouds.t 

As  Diana  prepares  for  the  bath  she  sits  on  a  bank 
at  the  fountain  edge.  Behind  her  is  a  grove  of  luxu- 
riant trees,  from  which  a  gorgeous  tapestry  depends. 
Her  left  arm  is  on  the  shoulder  of  a  nymph,  who 
stoops  to  her  lovingly ;  at  her  sides  two  huntresses 
with  their  dog ;  kneeling  •  in  the  brook  a  nymph 
bathing  her  foot ;  on  the  grass  with  her  legs  in  the 
stream  a  girl  with  a  feathered  dart,  and  near  her  a 
hound  at  full-length  on  the  sward.     But  on  the  oppo- 


*  Ovid,  Metamor.  iii.  155. 

t  This  canyas  is  signed  on  the 
pillar  to  the  right,  *«  tttiauvs  p." 
Now  in  the  EUesmere  collection ; 
it  was  in  the  royal  palace  at 
Madrid  when  Charles  Stuart,  as 
heir  apparent,  made  his  appear- 
ance at  the  Spanish  Court.  All 
the  light  pictures  of  Titian,  the 
*«Danae,"  «*  Adonis,"  "Eape  of 
Europa,''  the  *'  Diana  and  Ac- 
tteon,"  and  the  "Calisto,"  were 
packed  as  presents  to  Charles. 
Eighty  years  later  the  two  last 
named  pictures,  together  with  the 


"  Europa,"  were  given  by  Philip 
the  Fifth  (1704)  to  the  Marquis 
of  Grammont,  who  took  them  to 
France.  They  passed  into  the 
Orleans  Gallery,  at  the  sale  of 
which  the  **  Actaeon  "  and  **  Ca- 
listo  "  were  bought  for  the  Duke 
of  Bridgwater  for  £2500.  The 
small  version  of  the  **Acta3on," 
No.  482  at  Madrid,  m.  0.96  h. 
by  1.07,  is  a  copy,  probably  by 
Del  Mazo.  (Compare  Don  P.  de 
Madrazo's  Madrid  Catalogue,  p. 
270.)  The  copy  was  photographed 
by  Laurent. 


284 


TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  VH. 


site  or  left  side  of  the  picture,  two  nymphs  are  hold- 
ing the  hapless  Calisto,  who  struggles  on  the  ground 
with  shame  in  her  face  as  the  girl,  her  companion, 
stands  over  her  and  raises  the  veil  that  conceals  her 
secret.  At  sight  of  her  form  Diana  stretches  out  her 
hand  and  bids  her  begone.  Here,  too,  the  fountain 
is  faced  with  marble.  A  square  plinth  adorned 
with  bas-reliefs  acts  as  pedestal  to  Cupid,  who  pours 
water  out  of  a  vase,  and  behind  the  fountain 
stretch  the  groves  and  hills  of  Cynthia's  hunting 
grounds.* 

It  would  be  vain  to  look  for  the  poetry  and  fresh- 
ness of  the  Bacchanals  in  these  late  creations  of 
Titian's  brush.  The  flash  and  fire  of  youth  were 
leaving  the  artist  as  they  had  left  the  man.  There 
are  countless  subtleties  of  thought  and  of  hand 
which  make  up  the  charm  of  the  "Bacchus  and 
Ariadne  "  that  do  not  recur  in  the  "  ActsBon."  There 
are  bits  of  cleverness  on  the  other  hand  in  the  "Calisto" 
which  are  not  to  be  matched  in  the  "  Bacchanal. '* 
But  the  yield  of  the  earlier  time,  take  it  all  in  all,  is 
sweeter  and  of  better  savour  than  that  of  the  later 


*  This  picture  is  signed  on  the 
plinth  of  ^e  fountain,  ''TrriAirvs, 
F.*'  It  has  the  same  history  as 
the  ^'Acteeon/*  hangs  in  the 
Ellesmere  collection,  and  wsls 
bought  for  £2500  from  the  Orleans 
Gallery  for  the  Duke  of  Bridg- 
-water.  The  bas-reliefs  on  the 
fountain  represent  Diana  hunt- 
ing. A,  smaller  copy  of  the 
**  Calist^     probably  by  del  Mazo, 


is  No.  483  in  the  Madrid  Museum. 
It  is  photographed  by  Laurent. 
Both  the  Ellesmere  canvases  are 
injured  by  abrasion,  restoring, 
and  bad  varnishes.  The  subject, 
'*  Diana  and  Calisto/'  was  one 
of  which  Charles  had  a  repre- 
sentation ;  but  the  name  of  the 
painter  is  not  given.  See  Mr*. 
Oartwright's  notes  in  the  Aca- 
demy for  1874,  p.  268. 


Chap.  VH.]  TITIAN'S  LAST  MANNER.  285 

period.     Rich,  exuberant,  and  bright  the  works  of  the 

master  always  were,  but  there  is  something  mysterious 

and  unfathomable  in  the  brightness  and  sweetness  of 

his  prime  which  far  exceeds  in  charm  the  cleverness 

of  his  old  age.     When  we  look  at  the  groves  of  Naxos 

or  Cyprus,  there  are  enchantments  there  which  we  do 

not  find  again  in  Arcadia;  though  the  distant  hills 

and  wooded  slopes  of  Gargaphia  are  lit  with  a  sun  as 

gorgeous  as  that  which  shines  in  the  realm  of  Bacchus. 

The  god,  who  springs  from  his  car  to  seek  Ariadne, 

whilst  his  followers  dance  after  him  on  the  sward,  are 

much  more  ideally  beautiful   than   Actaeon,  or  the 

goddess    and    her    maids  whom  Acteeon    surprises. 

Handsome  in  shape  and  proportion,  the  latter  have 

not   quite  that  perfume  of  youth  and  health  and 

vigour  which  is  so  striking  in  the  former.      Titian 

was  never  more  thoroughly  master  of  the  secrets  of 

the  human  framework  than  now  that  he  was  aged. 

Never  did  he  less  require  the  model.     What  his  mind 

suggested  issued  from  his  hand  as  Minerva  issued  from 

the  brain  of  Jove.   His  power  was  the  outcome  of  years 

of  experience,  which  made  every  stroke  of  his  brush 

both  sure  and  telling.     But  years  had  also  made  him 

a  realist,  and  practice  had  given  him  facility;  and 

both  produced  a  masterly  ease  which  is  not  always 

quite  so  like   nature   as  earlier  and  more    studied, 

though  perhaps  more  timid  labour.      Yet  it  would 

be   a  mistake  to  think  that  the  facility   apparent 

on  the  surface  of  these  pictures  was  the  result  of 

mere  rapidity  of  conception  and  handling.     On  the 

contrary,  there  is  every  reason  to  think  that  Titian 


286  TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  VH. 

devoted  both  time  and  study  to  his  work,  and  it  is 
one  of  his  clevernesses  here  to  conceal  this  strain  upon 
his  faculties.  His  composition  is  arranged  in  favour- 
able and  graceful  lines.  His  forms  are  beautiful  and 
of  more  slender  scantling  than  of  old.  A  rare  intelli- 
gence of  plastic  definition  is  displayed  in  shapes 
modelled  with  substantial  pigment  and  breadth  of 
touch,  but  rich  in  tone  and  enamelled  surface ;  and 
additional  effect  is  given  by  a  flush  of  warm  tinted 
light  which  merges  into  brown  and  transparent 
shadow.  It  may  be  thought  that  Titian  indulged 
in  ^excess  of  bituminous  rubbings  and  blurred  stroke . 
But  this  was  a  trick  of  execution  which  had  become 
habitual  to  him,  and  was  after  all  not  un  suited  to 
nudes  seen  in  the  open  air  of  summer,  and  Titian  was 
too  much  of  a  philosopher  and  naturalist  to  wander 
into  haze  or  supernatural  halo  in  a  scene  altogether  of 
earth.  There  is  unhappily  no  English  word  to  convey 
the  idea  of  that  form  of  execution  which  in  French 
and  Italian  is  expressed  by  '^  chic  "  and  "  di  pratimJ^ 
It  came  very  late  to  Titian,  comparatively  early  to 
Paolo  Veronese  and  other  Venetian  craftsmen ;  but  it 
would  be  very  hasty  to  assume  that  because  the  same 
phenomena  are  apparent  at  about  the  same  time  in 
the  younger  and  older  master,  the  latter  came  under 
the  influence  of  the  former  in  an  absolute  sense. 
Whilst  Titian  was  completing  the  "  Diana  and 
Actaeon ''  or  the  "  Entombment,"  Paolo  Veronese  had 
been  composing  his  celebrated  "  Feast  in  the  House  of 
Simon,''  where,  on  twenty-five  square  yards  of  canvas, 
he  combined  palatial  architecture  and  costly  raiment- 


Chap.  VII.]     TITIAN  AND  PAUL  VERONESE.  287 

painting  with  every  form  of  realism  that  an  observant 
eye  could  light  upon.  The  size  and  splendour  of  the 
picture  no  doubt  gave  it  a  singular  attraction,  but  one 
of  its  characteristic  features  was  a  peculiar  scheme  of 
colour.*  The  system  illustrated  in  this  and  cognate 
works,  less  familiar  to  can  executant  in  oils  than  to 
one  accustomed  to  fresco,  mainly  consisted  in  setting 
pigments  of  garish  tints  in  such  contrasts  as  would 
neutralise  each  other  by  juxtaposition.  Oriental 
weavers  had  for  centuries  illustrated  this  theory  in 
practice.  Paolo  applied  it  not  only  to  distinguish  the 
parts  of  one  dress,  but  to  distinguish  one  dress  and 
figure  from  the  other ;  decomposing  even  the  tints  of 
flesh  and  setting  colours  together  without  transition 
that  they  might  act  as  complementary  of  each  other. 
With  this  method  he  could  produce  brilliant,  spark- 
ling, and  even  gaudy  work — but  work  that  inevitably 
paled  before  the  rich  suffusion  of  tone  which  always 
covered  Titian's  canvases.  It  is  true  Titian  had 
become  at  this  period  more  silvery  than  of  old. 
Glosses  of  grey  and  yellow  in  flesh  relieved  by  warm 
brown  recalled  more  than  of  old  the  prismatic  tones 
obtainable  from  silver ;  but  this  scale  in  Titian  was 
always  combined  either  with  blending  or  glazings  and 
scumblings,  forming  links  of  transition  between  light 
and  shadow,  and  were  invariably  subsidiary  to  chiaros- 
curo, rich  glow  of  complexion,  landscape,  or  drapery. 
Titian,  in  fact,  remained  a  colourist  in  the  subtlest 
sense,  and  even  now  had  something  to  teach  to  Paolo, 


♦  The  picture  is  in  the  GaUery  of  Turin. 


tiss  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  VH. 

who  had  ah^ady  studied  to  some  purpose  the  secrets 
of  such  earlier  pieces  as  the  Mantuan  "  Entombment/' 
the  "  Madonna  "  of  Casa  Pesaro,  the  "  Presentation  in 
the  Temple,**  the  "Ecce  Homo"  of  the  Dannas,  and 
_^the  "  Vision  of  Faith  to  the  Doge  GrimanL" 

When  he  sent  away  the  "CaKsto/*  Titian  kept  a 
replica  or  sketch  model  of  the  same  size — ^to  which, 
possibly,  he  had  given  a  few  touches  of  his  own — and 
this  replica  came  into  the  collection  of  the  Archduke 
Leopold  William  at  Brussels  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, and  fix)m  thence  to  Vienna,  where  it  now 
remains.  Whether  this  was  the  sketch  of  which 
history  records  that  it  passed,  at  Titian's  death,  into 
the  workshop  of  Tintoretto,  it  is  impossible  now  to 
say.  At  all  events,  in  the  version  now  at  Vienna 
there  are  some  notable  varieties  in  the  action  and  in 
the  actors,  and  principally  in  the  figure  of  Calisto, 
whose  shame  is  not  as  ruthlessly  exposed  as  it  is  at 
Madrid.  But  besides  this  change,  which  is  merely 
wrought  by  the  addition  of  a  little  drapery,  there  are 
others  of  a  more  decided  character.  The  naked  nymph 
tearing  the  veil  from  Calisto's  waist  is  replaced  by  one 
that  is  dressed  and  kneeling.  The  nymph  at  Diana's 
foot  has  disappeared.  A  lap-dog  is  substituted  for 
the  hound  in  the  foreground,  and  the  shape  of  the 
fountain  and  landscape  is  changed  altogether.  In 
treatment,  again,  the  picture  is  far  behind  that  of  the 
Ellesmere  collection,  and  suggests  the  co-operation 
— if  not  indeed  exclusively  the  hand — of  Orazio, 
Girolamo,  or  Andrea  Schiavone.  Numerous  copies 
of  the  "  Calisto "  and  "  Actaeon,"  though  assigned  to 


Chap.  Vn.]       THE  THIED  "ENTOMBMENT." 


289 


Titian,  do  not  deserve  even  this  small  concession  of 
authorship.* 

In  the  "Entombment"  which  accompanied  the 
*"  Calisto  "  and  "  Actseon"  to  Madrid,  Titian  repeated  a 
subject  which  he  had  studied  frequently  since  the  first 
example  of  it  had  been  sent  to  Mantua  some  thirty 
years  before.  Comparing  the  picture  as  executed  for 
Federico  Gronzaga  with  that  produced  for  Philip  the 
Second,  we  may  be  struck  as  with  something  familiar, 
lingering  undefinedly,  though  still  indelibly,  on  the 
mind.  It  is  not  that  the  theme  is  exactly  the  same  in 
both  pieces,  since  different  moments  in  the  action  of 
entombment  are  represented,  but  that  in  both   we 


r? 


*  Tha  "  CaKsto  "  at  Vienna  is 
numbefed  17  in  the  second  room 
of  the  first  floor  at  the  Belvedere. 
It  is  on  canvas,  5  ft.  8^  h.  by 
6  ft.  4.  There  are  some  oorions 
inequalities  in  the  treatment, 
vrhich  IB  in  places  thin,  dry,  and 
flat,  in  others  ftiU  and  pastose. 
In  many  of  the  forms  the  finish 
is  quite  beneath  Titian,  and  the 
trees  are  particularly  like  the 
work  of  Schiavone.  Deserving  of 
note,  to  fix  the  variations  from 
the  Madrid  picture,  are  the  foun- 
tain, which  here  is  a  basin,  on  a 
pedestal  merging  into  dolphins  at 
the  water's  edge.  On  a  shafb 
above  the  basin  Minerva  stands, 
with  a  stag  at  her  side;  water 
streams  from  her  breasts  and 
from  the  stag's  nose.  A  yeUow 
festoon  hangs  from  the  tree  to  the 
left,  and  to  the  right  there  is  a 
rainbow  in  the  sky.  This  piece 
was  engraved  in  Teniers'  gallery 
work.    There  are  also  engravings 

VOL.  II. 


of  the  subject  by  Cort  and  Van 
Kessel.  The  foUowing  copies  of 
smaller  size  than  the  originals 
exist:  Academy  of  San  Luca,  at 
Home,  much  ii\jured  copy  of  the 
**  CaKsto ;"  Lord  Yarborough,  in 
London,  copy  of  the  Madrid  copy 
of  the  '*  ActsBon  "  of  the  EUesmere 
Collection,  called  an  original 
sketch;  Hampton  Court,  copy 
again  with  some  varieties.  None 
of  these  canvases  are  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  A  feeble  copy 
of  the  ''  Actaeon  "  imder  the  name 
of  Paolo  Veronese,  is  in  the  Nos- 
titz  OoU.  at  Prague.  **  Diana  and 
ActsBon,  where  Diana  is  near 
a  fountain  with  her  nymphs," 
is  one  of  the  pictures  assigned  to 
Titian,  size  3  ft.  3  by  3  ft.  3,  once 
catalogued  in  the  Buckingham 
Collection  (Bathoe's  Catalogue, 
u.  8.,  p.  2),  "  ActcBon  and  Diana," 
by  Titian,  much  spoiled,  was  one 
of  the  pieces  in  James  the  Second's 
Collection  (Bathoe,  u,  $.),  No.  314. 


290  TITIAN:  HIS  MFB  AND  TIMES,     [Chap.  VH. 

observe  generally  the  dead  body  of  Christ,  the  agony 
of  Mary,  the  grief  of  the  Evangelist,  and  the  wail  of 
the  Magdalen.  The  same  figures  do  not  affect  similar 
«rtion  m  both  comporitioi  but  certain  rbyflunio 
movements  recur,  as  that  of  the  man  stooping  over 
the  form  of  Christ  and  presenting  the  back  of  his  head 
and  frame  to  the  spectator,  and  that  of  the  Virgin 
looking  with  anguish  at  her  Son.  Besides  these  we 
have  modifications  of  types  which  are  to  be  found  as 
studies  of  expression  in  single  canvases.  The  Mag- 
dalen is  still  the  model  which  graced  the  "Venus 
Worship  "  at  Madrid,  or  the  "  Entombment "  of  the 
Louvre ;  the  Virgin  is  nearly  related  to  the  grieving 
"  Madonna  "  which  we  saw  displayed  at  the  death-bed 
of  Charles  the  Fifth.  But  here  the  Saviour  is  not 
carried  to  the  tomb.  He  is  lowered  into  it,  and  the 
sepulchre  presents  to  us  its  marble  sides  adorned  with 
bas-reliefs  of  antique  carved  work.  The  legs  of  Christ 
are  nearer  to  us  than  His  head.  But  the  foreshorten- 
ing is  so  cleverly  managed  that  the  parts  which  might 
have  seemed  too  near  to  be  in  focus  are  concealed  in 
the  grasp  of  the  bending  Nicodemus,  whilst  the  head 
grandly  reposes  on  the  breast  of  Joseph,  who  kneels  at 
the  opposite  end  of  the  grave  with  a  strong  grip  of 
the  body  under  the  arm-pit.  The  flexibility  of  the 
frame,  the  raised  legs,  and  hanging  hand  are  very 
grandly  represented.  The  Virgin  taking  the  left  arm 
of  her  Son,  which  she  hopes  to  kiss,  still  hovers  over 
Him  with  an  agonized  look  expressed  with  great  force. 
With  equal  power  we  note  the  grief  of  the  Evangelist 
behind  Mary,  who  wrings  his  fingers,  and  the  wail  of 


Chap,  yn.]       THE  THTRT)  "ENTOMBMENT.*' 


291 


the  Magdalen,  whose  yellow  robe  flies  and  leaves  her 
white  dress  exposed  as  she  comes  sobbing  and  hair, 
dishevelled  to  catch  a  last  glimpse  of  the  Redeemer 
There  is  no  such  gorgeous  colouring,  no  such  magic 
effect  of  light,  no  such  careful  definition  of  outline,  or 
gloss  and  grain  of  surface  in  this  as  in  the  Mantuan 
example,  but  it  is  the  work  of  a  man  much  more 
expert  and  practised  than  of  old— of  a  man  who  knew 
the  laws  of  composition,  and  applied  them— -a  man 
acquainted  with  inexhaustible  varieties  of  expression 
— a  realist  who  knows  every  action  of  body  or  limb 
by  heart.     Less  rich  in  tints,  less  engaging  in  form, 
less  select    in    features,  the  dramatis  personcB    at 
Madrid  are  superior  to  those  of  the  Louvre,  inasmuch 
as  they  are  more  true  to  nature  and  have  a  deeper 
meaning.      Less  highly  coloured,   they  bear  closer 
inspection,  and  the  nude  especially  is  modelled  with 
appropriate  shades  of  tone  with  a  decision  and  firm- 
ness which  left  almost  nothing  for  subsequent  blend- 
ing or  glazing.     It  is,  in  fact,  as  if  we  should  distin- 
guish the  grave  doctrine  and  depth  of  Bach  from  the 
playful  and  melodious  power  of  Mozart,  or  compare 
the  profound  but  realistic  Rembrandt  with  the  brilliant 
and  cavalier-like  Van  Dyke.^^ 


*  The  canvas  sent  to  Philip  the 
Second  in  1559,  is  that  which  now 
appears  numbered  464,  measuring 
m.  1.37  h.  by  1.75,  in  the  Madrid 
Museum.  Its  history  is.  the  same 
as  that  of  the  "Diana  and  Ac- 
teeon,"  and  the  <<  CaHsto."  But 
unlike  those  pieces  it  was  not 
giyen  away  to  Charles  Stuart  or 


to  the  Duke  of  Ghrammont,  and  it 
remained  for  centuries  the  orna- 
ment of  the  altar  in  the  old 
church  (Iglesia  Vieja)  at  the 
Escorial,  after  haying  been  in 
Fhilip^i  lifetime  on  the  altar  of 
the  Boyal  Chapel  at  Anuguez. 
On  a  sheet  fastened  to  the  right 
side  of  the  sepulchre  we  read/ 

V  2 


292 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  VIL 


One  copy  we  saw  had  been  made  of  the  Mantuan 
"  Entombment/'  But  it  was  not  made  in  the  njaster's 
workshop.  The  "  Entombment "  of  Madrid  was  fre- 
quently repeated,  not  only  by  Spanish  and  other 
craftsmen,  of  which  examples  may  be  found  in  Spain 
and  in  England,  but  by  Titian  himself  or  his  pupils  * 
One  of  the  replicas  to  which  Titian  personally  may 


TITIAWV"    YECELIJys  .XQVE8  CJE8. 

Half  the  oomposition  is  relieved 
(to  the  left)  on  a  dark  wall,  the 
other  half  oa  a  landscape.  The 
saint  at  Christ's  head  is  in  brown, 
the  other  at  the  feet  is  in  red, 
with  a  striped  sas^.  The  white 
winding  sheet  falling  oyer  the 
bfts-relief  of  the  tomb  gives  some 
subtle  varieties  of  light.  (Compare 
Don  F.  de  Madrazo's  Catalogue, 
u»  8,)  Photograph  by  Laurent. 

*  The  "Entombment,''  like  the 
foregoing,  in  the  Madrid  Museum, 
numbered  491,  on  a  canvas,  m. 
1.30  h.  by  1.68,  varies  in  so  far 
that  the  saint  on  the  extreme 
right  wears  a  robe  embroidered 
with  black  flowers;  the  tomb  is 
without  bas-reliefs,  and  the  word 
TrnAmrs  f.  is  written  on  the 
stone  of  the  left  side.  But  the 
execution  is  not  that  of  Titian  or 
his  pupils,  but  that  of  a  Spaniard 
who  may  be  Del  Maze.  (Compare 
again,  P.  de  Madrazo,  who  shows 
that  a  copy  of  this  "Entomb- 
ment "  by  Del  Maze,  once  rested 
on  an  altar  in.  the  chapel  of  the 
Alcazar  at  Madrid.)  Photograph 
by  Laurent 

A  second  copy  of  the  "En- 
tombment" is  still  in  the  old 
church  at  the  Escorial^  6)ir- 
mounted  by  a  half-length  "Ma- 


donna," ascribed  to  Titian,  but 
likewise  a  copy. 

To  these  we  add  the  foUowing : 

HamUton  Palace, — ^This  is  a  free 
adaptation,  with  figures  of  life 
size  in  a  gloomy  landscape.  At 
Christ's  head  are  two  bearded 
men.  The  Magdalen  wrings  her 
hands.  The  figure  in  the  right 
foreground  hold^g  the  feet  is  only 
seen  to  the  thigh.  The  style  is 
that  of  a  follower  of  the  Bassant, 
a  Spaniard  rather  than  an  Italian, 
who  loses  the  lines  of  Titian's 
composition,  and  tries  in  vain  to 
reproduce  his  rich  colours.  His 
general  tone  is  hard  and  red. 

Amhroatana,  Milan, — ^Thisagain 
is  a  variety,  with  the  Marys  and 
a  standing  saint  in  prayer  to  the 
left;  on  the  base  of  the  tomb, 
TITIAKYS.  But  the  handling  is 
that  of  an  imitator  of  the  seven- 
teenth century. 

Torrigiani  CoUedxony  Florence^ 
— ^This  again  is  an  adaptation, 
with  life-size  figures,  of  the 
Madrid  "Entombment,"  witt 
different  dress.  The  figures  are 
all  half-lengths,  and  lighted  by  a 
torch  held  by  one  of  the  ttien  to 
the  left.  One  of  them,  to  the 
right,  is  much  iiguied.  On  the 
whole  a  poor  work  of  the  seven- 
teenth century. 


Chap.  Vn.]    EEPLICAS  OF  THfJ  "  ENTOMBMENT."  293 


have  contxibuted  is  that  which  came  into  the  Mantuau 
gallery,  and  is  traced  to  the  collection  of  Charles  the 
First  and  James  the  Second  of  England.*  Another  is 
that  which  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  prime  minister 
of  Spain  five  years  before  Titian's  death.  At  a  confer- 
ence held  between  Antonio  Perez  and  the  Venetian 
envoy  Donato,  in  lj>72,  the  former  expressed  a  strong 
wish  to  become  possessed  of  one  or  two  pictures  by 
Titian^  and  Donato  hastened  to  communicate  this 
wish  to  his  government.  The  consequence  was  that 
the  Council  of  Ten  sent  a  competent  judge  to  Titian's 
house,  who  chose  two  canvases,  one  •  sacred  and  the 
other  profane,  and  these  were  forwarded  by  the  next 
opportunity  to  Spain.t  Shortly  after  this  Antonio 
Perez  fell  into  disgrace  and  suffered  imprisonment 
for  alleged  treason.  His  family,  in  want  of  funds, 
announced  an  auction  of  his  pictures,  and  of  these 
the  Imperial  envoy,  Khevonhiller,  made  a  report  to 
Rudolf  the  Second,  describing,  amongst  others,  the 
"  Entombment "  by  Titian  as  a  replica  of  the  King's 
at  the  Escorial.^  It  is  not  known  what  became  qf 
the  picture  after  this  report,  but  some  persons  think 
that  it  may  have  remained  in  Spain,  from  whence  it 
was  taken  by  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  in  1622. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  an  "  Entombment  "  by  Titian 
formed  part  of  the  Duke's  Collection ;  and  this  was 


*  See  BatIioe*s  Catalogae,  u.  s. 
The  picture  is  missing. 

t  Compare  Cioogna'sMS.  notes, 
ii. «.,  to  Tizianello's  "Anonimo;  " 
and  Mr.  A.  Baechet's  contribution 
on  this  subject  to  the  Gazette  des 


Beaux  Arts,  for  Jan.  15,  1859, 
pp.  76-9. 

:|:  Ludwig  Urlich's  Beitrage, 
u.  8»,  in  Zeitsch.  f.  bild.  Kunst, 
T.  p.  81, 


294 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TQOSS.     [Chap.  VII. 


sold  at  Antwerp  after  his  death  to  the  agents  of  the 
Archduke  Leopold  William.*  Comparing  this  piece, 
which  is  now  at  Vienna,  with  the  earlier  one  at 
Madrid,  we  may  concede  that  it  is  the  same  composi- 
tion, yet  with  varieties.  For  here  the  Magdalen  is 
represented  wringing  her  hands,  whilst  little  more 
than  the  head  of  St.  John  the  *  Evangelist  is  seen 
between  the  profile  of  the  Virgin  and  the  shoulders  of 
the  saint  next  him.  Unhappily  the  canvas  appears  to 
have  been  mutilated  and  patched  up  anew,  and  this 
treatment  may  have  caused  injuries  which  prevent  us 
from  distinguishing  much  of  the  personal  labour  of 
Titian.t  The  master  himself  never  thought  out  any 
better  design  of  the  subject  than  that  which  he  used 
at  Madrid ;  the  sketch — pen  and  ink  and  bister  height- 
ened with  white — ^is  still  preserved  in  the  Collection  of 
Oxford  University,  aud  shows  that  Titian  seldom  made 
preparatory  paintings  in  oU,  but  simply  finished  large 

Whilst  the  "  poesies  "  were  stiU  hanging  on  their 
easels,  though  all  but  ready  for  despatch  to  Spain, 
Cristoforo  Rosa,  a  Brescian  and  gossip  of  Titian,  had 
been  painting  for  the  '^  Procuratia  di  sopra'*  the 
vestibule    of   the    library  at   Venice,   with    designs 


*  Bathoe's  Catalogue,  and 
Krafit's  Erit.  Katalog. 

t  This  canvas,  in  size  3  ft.  1^, 
by  3  ft.  7,  is  No.  32  in  the  second 
room,  first  floor,  Italian  Schools, 
at  the  Belvedere  of  Vienna.  It 
has  a  strip  of  new  canvas  round 
three  sides,  and  is  signed  on  the 
right  of  the  tomb,  "  TinAirvs." 


The  scene  is  in  an  enclosed  space, 
and  in  gloom.  When  in  the  Col- 
lection of  the  Duke  of  Bucking- 
ham this  piece  leas  3  ft.  h.  by 
4  ft.  6.  It  was  engraved  by  Paul 
Pontius,  at  Antwerp,  and  then' 
showed  the  full  length  of  the 
figures.  Good  photograph  by 
Miethke  and  Wawra. 


CHAP.Vn.]  PIGUEB  OF  "WISDOM.'^  295 

simulating  axchitectural  and  surface  decoration.  Titian 
wajs  asked  by  the  Procuratia  on  the  9  th  of  September 
to  value  this  work,*  and  it  is  probable  that  he  then 
executed  the  splendid  picture  of  "Wisdom"  which 
adorns  the  centre  of  the  vestibule  ceiling.  Paolo 
Veronese,  Schiavone  and  the  rest  of  the  young 
painters  had  been  busy  with  the  neighbouring  hall  a 
short  time  before,  and  Paolo  had  received  from 
Titian's  hands  the  golden  collar  which  marked  the 
public  approbation  of  his  skill  by  the  Senate.  We 
may  fancy  that  Titian  would  be  anxious  to  show  that 
he  too  had  not  forgotten  his  craft,  and  we  feel  assured 
that  he  undertook  the  figure  with  a  firm  intention  to 
produce  somethiDg  of  mark.  His  success  waa  fuUy 
equal  to  his  expectation.  "  Wisdom  "  is  a  woman  of 
grand  form  half  recumbent  on  a  cloud,  on  wHch  she 
rests  with  her  left  elbow  as  on  a  pillow.  On  the  pahn 
of  the  left  hand  a  long  scroll  reposes,  whilst  the  right 
is  stretched  out  to  touch  a  folio  held  up  by  a  winged 
genius.  The  head  is  in  profile  crowned  with  laurel, 
the  face  bending,  the  eye  fixed  on  the  book.  Subtle 
drapery  falls  over  the  bosom,  to  which  it  clings  as  the 
cloth  clings  on  the  breast  of  the  females  in  the  Elgin 
marbles.  The  yellow  mantle,  which  is  thrown  over 
the  shoulders  and  flaps  in  the  breeze,  the  grand 
drapery  which  covers  the  legs  and  shows  its  changing 
lines  of  green  shot  with  yellow,  the  clever  ease  with 
which  the  form  is  thrown  on  the  cloud,  all  this 
betrays  Titian's  habitual  study  of  the  antique  and 


*  The  leoord  is  in  Zanetti's  Pitt.  Yen.,  p.  339. 


296 


TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  Vn, 


lii^  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  ceiling-work  of 
Baphael  and  Michaelangelo.  It  would  hardly  be 
possible  to  fill  an  octagon  field  more  appropriately 
than  this^  impossible  to  produce  anything  more 
abundantly  graceful  and  elevated,  or  more  splendidly 
foreshortened.  The  play  of  light  and  shade  combined 
with  that  of  atmosphere  and  colour  is  magic,  and  the 
touch,  broad,  firm  and  to  the  purpose,  cannot  be 
surpassed.*  In  his  old  age  Titian  shows  more  clever- 
ness in  decorative  work  of  this  kind  than  in  his  youth 
or  prime,  and  this  allegorical  creation  is  more  impres- 
sive and  striking  than  the  fresco  of  "  St  Christopher  " 
in  the  Ducal  Palace  or  the  fi:esco  of  uncertain  date 
which  adorns  the  staircase  near  the  Scala  de'  Giganti.t 
It  was  during  this  year  1559,  that  Titian  lost  his 
brother  Francesco,  who  died  at  Cadore,  and  was 
eulogised  in  a  Latin  oration  by  his  relative  Vincenzo 
Vecelli.  It  is  impossible  to  say  how  Titian  received 
the  news  of  this  death,  nor  is  it  known  whether  it 
came  upon  him  suddenly.  There  is  no  evidence  to 
show  that  he  visited  on  this  occasion  the  place  of  his 
birth,  to  which  he  had  been  so  partial  in  the  days  of 


*  This  fine  piece  has  been  well 
photographed  by  Naya.  The 
earliest  mention  of  it  is  in  Bos- 
chini's  Bicche  Miniere  Sest.  di  S. 
MaroOy  p.  67.  Zanotto  (Naoyis- 
eima  Guida,  p.  114)  assigns  it, 
without  giving  his  authority,  to 
the  year  1570. 

t  This  fresco  may  be  described 
here.  It  is  a  lunette,  in  which 
the  Virgin  is  represented  playing 


with  the  in&nt  Christ,  who  lies 
on  his  -back  on  her  lap,  and 
catches  at  her  yeil.  An  angel  at 
each  side,  naked,  winged,  and  in 
prayer.  The  whole  composition 
on  clouds.  This  was  once  a. fine 
fresco,  in  Titian's  broad  manner, 
but  has  suffered  from  repainting 
to  such  an  extent  that  almost  aU 
the  original  beauty  is  gone. 


Chap.  VH.]     DEATH  OF  FEANCESCO  VECELLI. 


297 


his  youth.  Certamly  the  numerous  duties  which 
devolved  upon  him  as  successor  to  his  brother  were 
performed  in  his  stead  by  his  son  Orazio,  whose 
presence  at  Cadore  in  the  spring  of  1560  is  proved  by 
more  than  one  record  of  undeniable  authenticity,* 
But  we  can  hardly  think  that  Titian  would  absent 
himself  altogether  &om  a  family  gathering  of  this 
kind,  and  it  is  easy  to  suppose  that  he  came  up  to 
Cadore  ^and  made  a  short  stay  there,  when  perhaps  he 
imderteok  to  paint  for  the  chapel  of  the  Vecelli  the 
well-known  altaipiece  which  still  adorns  the  church 
of  the  Pieve.  Between  promising  and  executing  an 
altaipiece  at  this  period  of  the  master  s  life  there  was 
a  wide  diflference,  and  it  would  seem  that  Titian  was 
not  by  any  means  ambitious  of  leaving  one  of  his 
best  creations  at  Cadore.  But  still  if  he  did  not  take 
much  personal  pains  with  such  a  work,  he  deputed 
some  one  not  quite  incapable  to  take  his  place,  and 
the  result  was  a  picture  which  has  the  merit  of  being 
at  least  Titianesquct  The  Virgin  is  represented 
bending  over  the  form  of  the  naked  infant  Christ,  to 
whom  she  gives  the  breast.  To  the  right  St.  Andrew 
stoops  under  the  weight  of  a  large  cross.  To  the  left 
St.  Titian  of  Oderzo,  a  young  and  handsome  prelate 
with  an  eagle  i^ose  and  a  slight  black  beard  and 
moustache,  kneels  in  a  white  pivial  and  mitre  with  his 
gloved  hands  joined  in  prayer,  whilst  an  acolyte  with 


«  See  a  record  of  May  21, 1560, 
in  Appendix. 

t  Yaaari  (ziiL  31)  states  dis- 


tinctly tliat  Titian  painted  this 
picture,  which,  however,  he  only 
describes  from  hearsay. 


298  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  VII. 

a  grey  beard  in  black  cap  and  gown  carries  the 
crosder.      According    to    a    tradition    confirmed    by 
Titianello's  '^  anonww,'*   the    bald  and  bearded  St 
Andrew  is  Francesco  Vecelli  and  the  acolyte  is  Titian 
drawn  by  himself ;  and  it  is  nndeniable  that  there  is 
some  ground  for  acknowledging  tradition  in  respect  of 
the  latter.*     But  as  to  St.  Andrew,  the  legend,  old 
and  respectable  though  it  be,  can  scarcely  be  accepted 
as  trustworthy,  and  judging  of  the  picture  profes^ 
sionally,  no  critic  will  admit  that  it  bears  scrutiny  as  a 
work  of  Titian.     It  is  in  fact  a  homely  and  rather 
artless  combination  of  portraits  freely  handled  and 
gay  in  tone  but  sloppy  in  touch,  and  of  that  empty 
uniformity    which    comes    of    using    superabundant 
varnish  medium.     The  canvas  displays  some  of  the 
teehmcd  habits  of  Titian  without  L  ddU  and  force, 
and  it  must  for  that  reason  be  assigned  to  some  one 
familiar  with  his  style,  who   can  be  no  other  than 
Orazio  Vecelli.     Titian  thus  undertook  to  paint  an 
altarpiece  upon  which  he  scarcely  left  a  stroke,  if 
indeed  he  touched  it  at  all ;  and  this  accounts  for  the 
want  of  character  which  appears  in  the  likeness  of 
himself,  which   instead  of  having  the  marked  and 
noble  lines   conspicuous    in    the  great   examples   of 
Berlin  and  Madrid  is  a  mere  generalization  of  his 
features.     Of  Francesco  Vecelli,  his  relative  Vincenzo 
said :  *^  erat  ei  species  et  forma  admirabilis,"t    This 
but  ill  suits  the  face  depicted  under  the  name  of  St. 
Andrew,  whose  air  and  shape  are  not  only  homely  and 

♦  TizianeUo's  Anon.,  p.  8. 

t  Orazione,  Panegirica,  «•  «.,  in  Tioozzi,  p.  323. 


CHAP.yn.]     vonvE  altae-pieoe,  gadobb. 


209 


vulgar,  but  in  type  and  mould  altogether  different 
from  Titian.* 


*  This  canTas,  in  the  Fieye,  is 
2  ft.  h.  by  4  ft.  3  in  length,  and 
has  soffered  £rom  a  carious 
mutilation.  The  Madonna  'and 
Ouist,  with  a  fragment  of  the 
St.  AfidzOT  (the  whole  forming  a 
rectangle  about  ludf  aa  large  as 
the  picture),  was  cut  out  by  a 
thief^  but  on  being  reooyered  was 
sewn  on  again.  The  picture  in 
4sonsequ6noe  is  ii\jured,  and  to 
this  damage  the  usual  dleaning 
and  restoring  must  be  added. 
The  canyas  is  coarse  in  texture, 
and  upon  this  ground  pigments 


haye  been  used  with  copious  di- 
luted medium.  The  forms  are 
unusually  short  and  thickset  for 
Titian.  There  is  a  woodcut  of 
the  altarpiece  in  Mr.  Gilbert's 
Cadore.  But  it  was  engrayed  by 
Lef^bre.  (Compare  Yas.  xiii.  31, 
and  fiidolfi,  Mar.  L  265.)  When 
TicQsszi  wrote  his  liyes  of  the  Ye- 
oelli,  the  picture  had  been  with- 
drawn from  the  Fieye  to  the 
house  of  Dr.  Taddeo  Jacobi,  of 
Cadore  (Ticozzi,  u.  «.,  lid).  It 
has  since  been  restored  to  its 
original  place. 


CHAPTEE  Vm. 

Paolo  and  Giolia  da  Ponte,  Irene  and  Emilia  of  Spilimberg.— Their 
Portrait3.—The  Comaro  Family  at  Alnwick.— "  Epiphany  "  at 
Madrid,  and  numerous  Beplicas  of  the  same. — Yictories  of  GsBsar. 
— Magdalens.— **  Venus  of  Pardo."— "  Christ  in  the  Garden."— 
Titian  and  Correggio.— The  **  Europa*'  at  Cobham.— Titian  begins 
the  "Last  Supper."— "Crucifixion"  at  Ancona.— "St.  Francis 
receiving  the  Stigmata,"  at  Ascoli. — Mosaics  and  Mosaists.--* 
Titian's  Cartoons  designed  by  Orazio  VecellL — ^Nicholas  Crasso. — 
His  Altarpiece  of  "St.  Nicholas"  by  Titian.— "St  Jerome"  at 
the  Brera.— "  Venus  with  the  Mirror." — Loss  of  Titian's  Venetiaii 
Pictures  by  Fire. — *  *  The  Last  Supper'*  at  Venice  and  the  Esoorial. 
— ^Portrait  of  the  Queen  of  the  Bomans. — ^Commission  for  the 
"Martyrdom  of  St.  Lawrence." — ^Titian  visits  Breeda. — ^Titian^ 
A.  Perez,  and  Philip  the  Second. — Canvases  of  Brescia  Town 
Hall. — "The  Last  Supper"  at  the  Escorial. — ^Its  Mutilation. — 
Titian  and  the  Milanese  Treasury.— The  "  Transfiguration,"  the 
"  Annunciation,"  and  "  St.  James  of  ComposteUa." — Titian 
employs  Cort  and  Boldrini  as  Engravers.— Vasari's  Visit  to 
Venice. — ^Pictures  at  that  time  in  Titian's  House. — Allegories. — 
Titian  joins  the  Florentine  Academy. 

Italy,  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  was 
still  the  land  of  heroines ;  it  was  the  only  country  in 
Europe  capable  of  producing  women  like  Vittoria 
.  Colonna,  Veronica  Gambara,  and  Isabella  of  Este. 
Ladies  of  birth  and  fortune  in  those  days  were  either 
confined  to  the  solitudes  of  convents,  or  bred  up  after 
the  fashion  of  men.  When  they  studied  at  all,  they 
learnt  Latin  and  Greek,  or  they  read  translations  of 
the  best  classic  authors,  and  when  they  had  finished 
this  course  of  instruction,  they  issued  into  the  world. 


OHAi-.vin.] 


HEROINES. 


301 


combining  the  charms  of  literary  converse^,  with  those 
more  natural  to  their  sex.     Such  a  woman,  in  1559, 
was  Irenfe  of  Spilimberg,  who  died  at  the  age  of 
twenty,  with  the  fame  of  classic  learning,  of  poetic 
gifts,  and  artistic  acquirements  in  music  and  painting. 
That  a  person  so  gifted  should  have  lived  at  Venice 
without  being  connected  in  some  manner  with  Titian, 
v^BS  not  to  be  expected ;  and,  though  her  knowledge 
of  painting  was  confessedly  lower  than  that  which  she 
displayed  in  other  forms  of  culture,  it  waa  not  the  less 
regarded  as  a  loss  to  the  world  that  she  should  have 
been  carried  off  without  a  chance  of  improving  it* 
Titian  was  well  acquainted  with  Paolo  da  Ponte,  the 
Venetian  patrician,  Irene's  grandfather.     He  was  on 
terms  of  friendship  with  Giulia  da  Ponte,  Paolo's 
daughter  and  Irene's  mother,  who  held  one  of  his 
children  at  the  baptismal  fontt    When  Giulia  married 
Adrian  of  Spilimberg,  Titian  probably  visited  the 
possessions  of  that  nobleman,  in  FriuU,  and  particu- 
larly  the  Castle  of  Spilimberg,  where  early  in  the 
century  Pordenone  had  left  some  of  his  frescos.     After 
the  death  of  Adrian,  and  the  second  marriage  of  his 
widow,  Irene  and  her  sister  were  taken  to  the  house 
of  their  grandfather  at  Venice,  where  they  received 
the  manly  education  of  which  a  sketch  has  just  been 
given  ;  and  amongst  the  masters  to  whom  Irene  was 
indebted  for  lessons,  Titian  appears  most  prominently.} 


'  *  See  DioniBio  AtanagiyEimedi 
diyerii  in  morte  deUa  Signora 
Irene,  Syo,  Yen.  1561 ;  and  Ma- 
niago,  Stor.  d.  b.  arteFrinl.,  u.  <., 


pp.  125,  280,  and  371. 
t  Yasari,  xiii.  41. 
X  Atanagi  and  Maniago,  u.  $, 


302  TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMER.   [Ohap.  VHI. 

Count  Fabio  da  Maniago,  to  whom  we  owe  the  only 
trastworthy  account  that  exists  of  painting  in  FriuU, 
being  distantly  related  to  the  clan  to  which  Adrian  of 
SpiUmberg  belonged,  inherited  some  of  his  family 
pictures,  and  describes  three  of  them,  painted  by  Irene^ 
"Noah  entering  the  Ark,"  the  "Deluge,"  and  the 
"  Flight  into  Egypt. '  *  *  At  Irene's  death  in  December^ 
1559,  Dolce  wrote  a  sonnet,  asking  Titian  to  collect 
his  strength,  and  furnish  to  the  world  a  portrait  of  the 
heroine ;  and  when  Titian  answered  the  call,  he  not 
only  furnished  a  likeness  of  Irene,  but  one  of  her  elder 
sister  EmiKa,  both  of  which  are  still  preserved  in  the 
house  of  her  kinsman  at  Maniago.  If  in  the  first  of 
these  portraits  we  miss  the  beauties  which  inspired 
for  a  moment  the  Muse  of  Tasso,t  it  is,  perhaps,  only 
because  time  has  injured  the  canvas,  which  restorers^ 
did  their  utmost  completely  to  destroy.  But  the  picture 
was  at  best  a  reminiscence  preserved  after  death  of  a 
lady  who  was  described  in  her  lifetime  as  beautiful 
and  fair.  Irene  is  represented  almost  at  full  length 
and  large  as  life,  in  a  portico,  from  which  a  view  is 
seen  of  a  landscape,  with  a  shepherd  tending  his  flock, 
and  an  unicorn  to  indicate  the  lady's  maiden  condition. 
Her  head  is  turned  to  the  left :  showing  auburn  hair 
tied  with  a  string  of  pearls.  Round  her  throat  is  a 
necklace  of  the  same.  Her  waist  is  bound  with  a 
chain  girdle,  and  over  her  bodice  of  red  stuff  a  jacket 
of  red  damask  silk  is  embroidered  with  gold,  and 
fringed  at  the  neck  with  a  high  standing  muslin  collar. 


*  Maniago,  p.  245.  f  Atanagi,  «.  «. 


OHAP.vni.] 


IRENE  OF  SPILIMBERG. 


303 


A  band  hanging  from  the  shoulders  and  passing 
beneath  one  arm  is  held  in  the  rig:ht  hand,  whilst  the 
left  ia  n,ade  to  grasp  a  laurel  Iw^  Ji  "Si  feta 
tulissent"  is  engraved  on  the  plinth  of  a  pillar. 
The  likeness  of  Emilia^  done,  it  is  clear,  at  the  same 
time  as  that  of  her  sister,  is  in  the  same  form  and 
costume,  but  turned  to  the  right,  the  distance  being  a 
storm  at  sea,  and  a  galley  labouring  on  the  waves, 
all  of  which  is  displayed  through  an  opening  in  the 
room  in  which  Emilia  is  standing.  One  can  see  that 
the  idea  which  these  two  portraits  embody  is  that  of 
Irene  going  in  peace  from  the  world  in  which  her 
sister  is  left  to  encounter  the  storms  and  passions  of 
life* 

At  this  period,  or  perhaps  earUer,  Titian  probably 
,  exercised  his  ingenuity  in  putting  together  the  splendid 
groups  of  the  '*  Comaro  Family,"  which  now  form  one 
of  the  prime  attractions  of  the  grand  CoUection  of 
Alnwick.  The  absence  of  other  works  of  this  year, 
except  an  "  Epiphany  "  which  we  shall  find  despatched 
to  Madrid,  might  almost  speak  for  1560.  Nine  feet 
long,  and  seven  feet  high,  this  canvas  contains  nine 
figures  variously  distributed  about  an  altar  on  which 
the  Holy  Sacrament  is  displayed.  The  cube  of  the 
altar  stands  to  the  right  in  the  picture,  at  the  top  of  a 
flight  of  marble  steps.    To  the  left,  with  his  hand  on 


*  Both  portraits  are  mbbed 
down  and  opaque  from  retouch- 
ing, both  are  on  canyae  and  of 
life  size.  A  copy  on  canvas  of 
the  "  Irene,"  seen  to  the  waist,  is 
in  the  house  of  Signer  Gkitomo, 


at  San  Vito  del  Tagliamento.  It 
is  an  old  picture,  and  probably  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  but  not  by 
Titian.  The  surface  is  injured  by 
stippling  and  tinting. 


304  TITIAN:   HIS  LIPE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  VTIL 

the  edge  of  the  plinth,  the  eldest  member  of  the  party 
— an  aged  man  with  a  white  beard — ^kneels.  More  to 
the  left,  ascending  the  steps,  another  grey-bearded 
man  looks  up  and  presses  his  hand  devoutly  to  his 
breast.  Both  are  senators  in  state  robes  of  red  damask, 
with  open  hanging  sleeves  lined  with  fur.  Lower 
down  on  the  same  side,  a  younger  senator  also  in  red, 
shows  his  face  in  profile,  looking  up,  whilst  in  front  of 
him  three  youths  are  kneeling.  At  the  foot  of  the 
altar  to  the  right,  a  little  boy  in  red  hose,  lies  on  the 
marble  step  with  a  dog  in  his  lap,  the  head  of  which 
is  caressed  by  an  elder  boy  with  one  knee  to  the 
ground,  on  whose  shoulder  a  third  boy  leans  his  hand. 
All  these  figures  are  finely  relieved  on  a  sky  bedecked 
with  clouds,  forming  a  superb  composition  treated  in 
the  broad  free  style  which  characterizes  Titian's  art 
when  Tintoretto  tried  to  imitate  its  grandeur  and 
"senatorial  dignity."  Flesh  or  stuffs,  all  have  their 
proper  value  and  peculiar  surface,  carried  out  with  the 
realistic  force  which  distinguishes  the  work  of  the 
master's  advanced  age  from  that  of  the  more  winning 
time  when  he  pleased  more  by  colour  and  finish  than 
by  touch.* 


*  The  canvas  of  the  Comaro 
family,  6  ft.  8  h.  by  8  ft.  5,  was 
purchaised  by  Algernon  Percy, 
tenth  Earl  of  Northumberland, 
at  the  sale  of  the  efiPects  of  Sir 
Anthony  Vandyke  in  1656.  It 
was  engraved  by  Baron  in  London, 
in  1732.  On  the  altar  of  brown 
stone  are  a  cross,  two  candles, 
and  a  vase.  Farts  of  the  picture 
are  injured  by  repainting,  par- 


ticularly the  left  half  of  the 
kneeling  boy  on  the  extreme  left, 
and  the  left  hand  of  the  boy  next 
him.  The  left  hand  of  the  boy  on 
the  extreme  right  is  also  ii^iured. 
The  surface  generally  is  idtered 
by  uneven  cleaning  and  varnish. 
(Exhibited  at  the  Boyal  Academy 
in  1873.)  There  is  a  smaU  copy  of 
the  picture  assigned  to  "  Old 
Stone  "  in  the  gaUery  at  Hamptoa 


Chap.  Vm.] 


PIOTUEES  FOE  SPAIN. 


305 


The  "  Epiphany  "  which  Titian  sent  to  Spain  was 
packed  away  and  forwarded  to  its  destination  after  the 
"  Entombment^"  the  "Actseon/'  and  the  "  Galisto/'  yet 
Philip  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  them  all  on  the 
same  day.  The  time  which  elapsed  between  dispatch 
and  arrival  of  these  pictures  threw  Titian  into  a  fever 
of  suspense.  On  the  24th  of  March,  1560,  he  wrote 
to  the  King  "  to  ask  whether  they  had  been  received. 
He  feared  they  might  not  have  given  satisfaction. 
He  would  paint  them  over  again.  Meanwhile  he 
pressed  for  the  punishment  of  Leone  Aretino."  * 

Again,  with  still  greater  insistance,  on  the  22nd  of 
April: 


TITIAN  TO  PHILIP  THE  SECOND. 

"  Seven  months  have  elapsed  since  I  sent  the  pic- 
tures which  your  Majesty  ordered  of  me,  and  as  I 
have  received  no  notice  of  their  arrival,  I  should 
greatly  rejoice  to  hear  that  they  gave  pleasure, 
because  if  they  should  not  have  done  so,  according  to 
the  perfect  judgment  of  your  Majesty,  I  should  take 
care  to  paint  them  afresh  so  as  to  correct  past  errors. 
If  received  at  last  with  favour,  I  should  have  more 
courage  to  proceed  with  the  *  Fable  of  Jupiter  and 
Europa'  and  the  *  Story  of  Christ  in  the  Garden,'  and  so 
to  do  something  that  might  not  be  thought  altogether 
unworthy  of  so  great  a  King.     The  letters  with  which 


Court.  A  drawing  assigned  to 
Titian,  in  the  Wicar  Museum  at 
LiUe,  represents  a  mother  at  a 
table  surrounded  by  nine  chil- 
dren.   The  catalogue  calls  this 


*'the  Oomaro  fiunily,"   but   on 
what  grounds  does  not  appear. 

*  Titian  to  PhiHp  the  Second, 
March  24,  1660,  in  Appendix. 


VOL.   II. 


306 


TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  VHI. 


I  was  favoured  by  your  Majesty  in  respect  of  the 
money  assigned  to  me  at  Genoa  have  not  had  any 
eflfect ;  from  which  it  appears  that  he  who  can  con- 
quer the  most  powerful  and  proud  of  his  enemies  is 
not  able  to  secure  the  obedience  of  his  ministers,  and 
I  do  not  see  how  I  can  hope  ever  to  obtain  the  sums 
granted  to  me  by  your  Majesty's  grace.  I  therefore 
humbly  beg  that  the  obstinate  insolence  of  these  sub- 
ordinates may  be  chastised^  either  by  ordering  that  my 
claims  should  be  instantly  satisfied,  or  by  transferring 
the  order  for  payment  to  Venice  or  elsewhere,  so  that 
your  humble  servant  shall  be  enabled  to  obtain  the 
fruits  of  your  Majesty's  liberality.  My  devotion 
further  prompts  me  to  ask  your  Majesty  to  order  that 
the  glorious  and  immortal  victories  of  Caesar  should 
be  painted  as  a  memorial  to  posterity,  and  of  these  I 
should  wish  to  be  the  first  to  paint  one,  as  a  sign  of 
gratitude  for  the  many  benefits  I  have  received  from 
their  Caesarean  and  Catholic  Majesties.  So  I  should 
esteem  it  a  favour  of  your  Majesty  to  let  me  know  the 
light  and  configuration  of  the  rooms  where  these  pic- 
tures are  to  hang,  and  meanwhile,  &c.* 

**  Your  Majesty's  humble  servant" 

[No  Signature.] 


**Fr<mYESacE,  April  22nd,  1560." 


*  No  allusioiiB  but  these  occur 
in  Titian's  correspondence  to 
**  CsBsar's  Victories."  But  it  is 
remarkable  that  in  1557  Don 
Luis  Dayila  caused  "  the  battles 
of  Charles  the  Fifth"  to  be 
painted  in  fresco  in  his  palace  at 
Plascncia,  in  Spain, — as  supposed 


— from  Titian's  designs  (see  Stir- 
Hng's  Ck>nyent  Life  of  Charles  ihe 
Fifth,  u. «.,  p.  149);  and  similar 
designs  are  again  aUuded  to  as 
haying  been  used  at  a  festival 
given  by  the  Emperor  Charles 
the  Sixth  at  Prague  in  1723.  (See 
Qio.  Pietro  Zanotti,  Storia  dell' 


I 


Chap.  VIH.]  TITIAN'S  PENSION  PAID.  307 

It  is  to  be  presumed  that  this  and  the  previous 
letter  were  written  for  the  purpose  of  being  read  to 
Garcia  Hernandez,  and  that  Titian  after  reading  them 
was  asked  to  leave  them  as  memoranda  in  the  presses 
of  the  Spanish  Embassy.  We  cannot  otherwise  explain 
their  preservation  without  signatures  in  the  archives 
of  Simancas.* 

It  was  not  till  spring  of  1561  that  Titian  heard,  and 
then  only  by  indirect  channels,  that  his  pictures  had 
been  received  and  approved. 

TITIAN  TO  PHILIP  THE  SECOND. 

"I  learnt  by  letters  from  Delfino  that  your  Majesty 
was  pleased  with  the  pictures  which  I  sent  of  ^  Diana 
at  the  Fountain,'  the  *  Fable  of  Calisto,'  the  *Dead 
Christ/  and  the  '  Kings  of  the  East,'  at  which  I  am 
the  more  content,  as  my  greatest  happiness  is  to  find 
that  my  works  have  met  with  approval  from  so  great 
a  King.     I  now  thank  your  Majesty  anew  for  the  two 
thousand  scudi,  of  which  payment  was  ordered  three 
years  since  in  Genoa,  although  your  generous  intent 
was  not  fulfilled,   your  Majesty's  orders  were  not 
obeyed,  and  I  have  been  subjected  to  severe  losses. 
Eesting  my  hopes  on  the  payment  of  the  money,  I 
had  bought  some  possesaions  for  the  support  of  myself 
and  my  children,  which,  to  my  great  distress,  I  have 
been   obliged  to  sell,   and   I   now  supplicate    your 
Majesty  most    humbly  that    since    your    Highness 


Accademia  Clementina,  Bologna, 
1739,  vol.  ii.  p.  24,  quoted  by 
Ciani  in  Storia  del  Fop°  Oadorino, 


u,  8,,  ii.  note  to  319. 

*  See  the  original,  of  April  22^ 
in  Appendix. 

x2 


308  TITIAX:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.TIIL 

deigned  to  grant  me  the  said  two  thousand  scudi, 
which  it  has  been  my  misfortune  not  to  obtain,  your 
Highness  should  order  that  they  be  paid  to  me  here 
at  Venice.  As  an  intercessor  in  the  case,  I  have 
prepared  a  picture  in  which  the  Magdalen  appears 
before  you  with  tears  and  as  a  suppliant  in  favour  of 
your  most  devoted  servant.  But  before  sending  this 
I  wait  to  be  informed  by  your  Majesty  to  whom  it 
shall  be  consigned,  that  it  may  not  be  lost  like  the 
'Christ;'  and,  in  the  meanwhile,  I  shall  get  ready 
the  'Christ  in  the  Garden'  and  the  'Poesy  of 
Europa,'  and  pray  for  the  happiness  which  your 
Royal  Crown  deserves. 

"Your  Majesty's  humble  servant, 

*'  TiTIANO 
"  From  Venicb,  A:prxl  2nd,  1561." 

In  a  concise  marginal  note  to  this  letter  Philip 
the  Second  wrote,  as  if  surprised :  "  It  seems  to  me 
that  this  matter  has  already  been  arranged,  and  that 
written  order  was  sent  to  pay  and  settle  what  is  here 
stated."  But  this  was  a  mistake,  which,  however,  was 
soon  after  corrected. 

The  "  Epiphany''  sent  by  Titian  to  Madrid  in  1560 
is  now  in  the  Madrid  Museum,  being,  as  it  were,  the 
first  of  a  series  of  replicas,  of  which  one  or  more  may 
have  been  finished  by  pupils  in  Titian's  work-room. 
The  longitudinal  canvas,  filled  with  figures  of  half  the 
life-size,  is  divided  into  groups,  the  chief  of  which  is 
that  of  the  Virgin  and  Child,  on  the  left,  seated  under 
a  thatched  pent-house  with  St.  Joseph  behind  her  and 
a  kneeling  king  in  front  who  kisses  the  Saviour's  tiny 


Chap.  Vm.] 


THE  "EPIPHANY.'* 


309 


foot.  Behind  the  king  come  the  two  monarchs  his 
companions,  with  a  suite  of  riders,  led  horses,  and 
camels  in  a  gay  landscape,  lighted  by  the  rays  of  the 
rising  sun.  As  a  worldly  scene  of  pomp  and  splen- 
dour, with  people  in  lively  motion,  in  the  spirit  of  the 
great  "Ecce  Homo*'  of  1543,  this  is  a  picturesque 
composition,  the  model  of  which  probably  inspired 
the  Bonifacios  and  Bassanos,  who  gave  its  touch  of 
genre  to  the  later  art  of  the  Venetians,  a  model,  too, 
in  the  spirit  and  fashion  of  those  which  assumed 
such  a  monumental  grandeur  in  the  hands  of  Paolo 
Veronese.  But  here  Titian  seems  to  be  represented  in 
many  parts  of  the  composition  by  proxy ;  and  there 
are  fine  groups,  such  as  that  of  the  Virgin  and  her 
adorers  to  the  left,  which  are  not  to  be  matched  in 
those  to  the  right,  where  indeed  some  disciple  of  the 
master  appears  to  have  painted  Titian  himself  on  a 
horse  amongst  the  suite.*  The  very  picturesquisness 
of  the  subject  caused  it  to  be  frequently  copied — onca 
by  a  Spaniard,  whose  version  in  the  Escorial  bears  thj& 
name  of  Titian ;  once  or  twice  in  Italy,  where  paintera 
whose  style  recalls  that  of  Schiavone  and  the  Bassani,, 
produced  the  repetitions  of  the  Munro  and  Ambror 
siana  CoUections.t 


•  This  canvas  is  now  No.  484 
in  the  Madrid  Museum,  and 
measures  m.  1*41  h.  by  2*19. 

t  The  replica  at  the  Escorial 
is  in  the  old  church,  signed 
in  the  foreground  to  the  left, 
"TiTiAirvs.''  Surmounting  the 
picture  is  an  *'  Ecce  Homo,"  also 
ascribed   to   Titian*      Both   are 


below  the  master's  powers,  th& 
** Epiphany"  being  probably  by 
a  Spaniard. 

The  repetition  in  the  Munro,. 
now  Butler  Johnstone,  Collection 
has  much  the  character  of  Sohia- 
Yone  or  Bassano,  the  shadows 
being  dark  and  bituminous,  and 
the  surface  generally  without  th 


310 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.   [Ohap.  VTCL 


In  the  course  of  summer  1561,  peremptory  orders 
were  issued  by  Philip  the  Second  to  the  treasurers  at 
Genoa  to  pay  Titian  two  thousand  scudi,  and  on 
receipt  of  these  the  money  was  quickly  sent  to  Venice. 
But  Titian's  claim  was  for  gold,  and  the  Genoese  had 
paid  him  in  ducats,  which  entailed  a  loss  to  the 
painter  of  two  hundred  pieces.  The  letter  of  acknow- 
ledgment which  he  addressed  to  tjbe  King  was  written 
under  the  influence  of  this  defalcation,  and  assumed 
in  consequence  a  tone  of  complaint  rather  than  of 
thanks. 


TITIAN  TO  PHILIP  THE  SECOND. 

"Most  Potent  Catholic  King, 

"  Thanks  to  your  Majesty's  kindness  I  have 
at  last  received  the  money  from  Genoa,  and  I  now 
most  humbly  incline  myself  and  give  thanks  for  the 
favour  which,  since  it  frees  me  from  some  embarrass- 
ment, will  I  hope  enable  me  to  spend  the  rest  of  my 
life  in  peace  in  the  service  of  your  Majesty.  True 
indeed,  I  have  received  200  ducats  less  than  your 
Majesty's  first  schedule  ordered,  because  the  last  did 
not  specify  that  I  should  be  paid  in  gold ;  but  your 
Majesty  will  doubtless  have  the  matter  rectified  and 


brio  of  Titian.    This  picture  once 
belonged  to  Miss  Bogors. 

No.  170,  at  the  Ambrosiana  of 
Milan,  is  a  good  old  copy  in  the 
style  of  that  of  the  Munro  Col- 
lection. There  is  a  tradition  that 
it  was  ordered  by  Cardinal  Far- 
nese  for  the  King  of  Prance,  but 


that  it  never  left  Italy,  and  being 
purchased  by  San  Carlo  Bor- 
romeo,  it  was  left  to  the  Milan 
Hospital,  from  whence  it  came 
into  the  hands  of  Cardinal  Ee- 
derico  Borromeo,  and  thence  into 
the  Ambrosiana.  (Notices  in  the 
Inventory  of  the  Ambrosiana.) 


Chap.  VHI.]     THA.NKS  FROM  PHILIP  THE  SECOND.        311 

I  shall  get  the  difference,  which  will  be  of  the  greatest 
use  to  me.  I  still  await  your  Majesty's  directions  to 
know  to  whom  I  shall  deliver  the  *  Magdalen '  which 
I  promised  long  ago,  and  which  I  have  completed  in 
such  a  manner  that,  if  ever  your  Majesty  was  pleased 
with  any  work  of  mine,  your  Majesty  will  be  pleased 
with  this.  Your  Majesty  may  send  at  leisure  a 
trusty  person  to  receive  it  that  it  may  not  be  lost 
like  the  'Christ'  and  other  pieces  some  time  since. 
Meanwhile,  I  shall  proceed  with  the  'Christ  ip.  the 
Garden,'  the  '  Europa  *  and  the  other  paintings  which 
I  have  already  designed  to  execute  for  your  Majesty, 
to  whom  I  humbly  offer,  &c. 

"  Your  Catholic  Majesty's  most  humble  servant, 

"TiTIANO   VeCELLIO."*^ 


^'  From  Veihce,  the  Vlth  of  August,  1561. 


» 


A  pricis  of  this  letter  laid  before  the  Bang  contains 
the  following  marginal  memoranda  in  his  own  hand  : 

1.  Send  the  money  (200  scudi)  from  here,  which 
will  be  least  inconvenient 

2.  Let  the  picture  go  to  Garcia  Hernandez,  and 
write  to  him  to  forward  it  by  a  safe  conveyance  with 
some  more  of  the  glass  previously  bought  at  Venice. 

3.  TeU  Titian  to  hasten  the  completion  of  the 
pictures  of  which  he  speaks  and  send  them  to  the 
secretary,  and  write  an  order  in  my  name  that  they 
go  by  safe  conveyance,  and  write  further  that  they  be 
despatched  with  similar  care  from  Genoa.t 

"^  See  the  original  ia  Appendix*      +  The  oiiginal  is  in  Appendix. 


812  TITIAN :   HIS  LIFB  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  VHI, 

The  letter  embodying  these  instructions  to  Titian 
exists  in  ItaUan  and  in  Spanish.  The  former  is  dated 
October  22,  1561,  the  latter  by  a  clerical  error, 
October  22,  1565,  Both  were  inclosed  to  the  secre- 
tary Hernandez,  who  described  their  deUvery  in  the 
following  interesting  despatch* 

GAECIA  HBBNANDEZ  TO  PHILIP  THE  SECOND. 

"  As  soon  as  I  received  your  Majesty's  communica- 
tion of  the  22nd  of  last  month,  I  gave  Titian  his 
letter,  which  afforded  him  considerable  pleasure.  He 
is  still  working  at  the  *  Magdalen,'  though  he  wrote 
that  it  was  finished.  When  he  delivers  it  in  about 
eight  days,  I  shall  send  it  to  the  Marquess  of  Pescara 
with  your  Majesty's  letter,  which  seems  to  me  the 
shortest  and  the  safest  way.  Good  judges  in  art  say 
that  this  C  Magdalen  0  is  the  best  thing  Titian  has 
done.  He  is  labouring  at  the  two  other  pictures 
slowly  as  is  natural  to  a  man  who  is  past  eighty,  but 
he  says  they  shall  be  completed  by  February  next,  when 
he  can  despatch  them  to  your  Majesty  by  the  Venetian 
ambassador  who  starts  at  that  time.  I  have  pressed 
him  to  keep  his  word  and  not  to  miss  so  good  an 
opportunity.  Your  Majesty  will  be  pleased  to  order 
the  payment  of  400  scudi,  which  are  due  for  two  years' 
pension  to  Titian,  who  being  old  is  somewhat  covetous 
(eodicioso).  The  glass  is  in  course  of  preparation,  and 
will  be  ready  at  the  close  of  the  month,  when  I  shall 


*  The  original  in  Appendix ;  the  translation  in  Gaye's  Cai-tegg^o, 
iii,  69. 


Chap.  Yin.] 


THE  "MAGDALEK." 


313 


forward  it  to  the  ambassador  Figueroa  at  Genoa.  It 
goes  in  two  cases,  with  one  containing  drinking  cups 
for  wine  and  water,  and  I  shall  write  and  not  cease  to 
press  till  they  are  shipped,  as  the  others  with  the 
pictures  remained  there  a  year  .  •  .  . 

"  Your  Catholic  and  Eoyal  Majesty's  servant,  who 
kisses  your  Majesty's  feet  and  hands, 

"Garcia  Hernandez. 

''Fr<m  Venice,  2(Hh  of  Nov.,  1561." 


On  the  1st  of  December,  Titian  wrote  to  the  EJing 
to  announce  the  delivery  -  of  the  "  Magdalen,"  which 
Garcia  Hernandez  forwarded  to  its  destination  a  few 
days  after.*  Contemporary  gossip  declared  that  it 
was  not  the  canvas  "  which  judges  praised  so  highly,'' 
that  was  thus  despatched  to  the  King.  Silvio  Badoer, 
a  patrician,  well-known  for  his  patronage  of  art,  had 
seen  the  masterpiece  on  the  painter's  easel,  and  had 
taken  it  away  for  a  hundred  scudi ;  and  Titian  had 
been  obliged  to  paint  another  for  his  Catholic  Majesty. t 
In  course  of  time  both  pictures  disappeared,  or  went 
through  such  a  course  of  adventures  as  to  lose  their 
identity.;]:  But  there  are  stiU  half-a-dozen  Magdalens 
in  existence  to  show  how  Titian  handled  the  subject, 
and  the  model  which  served  as  an  original  from  which 


*  See  Titian  to  Philip  the  Se- 
cond, Dec.  1 ;  and  Q.  Hernandez 
to  the  same,  Dec.  12, 1561 ;  also 
G.  H.'s  accounts  of  Oct,  1,  1663, 
in  Appendix. 

t  Yas.  xiii.  41.  Bidolfi  (Mar. 
i.   248)    says    that    the    Badoer 

Magdalen  "  was  sold  to  a  Fle- 


«i 


ming  and  taken  to  the  Nether- 
lands. 

X  Yet  it  may  be  that  the 
*'  Magdalen  "  still  exists  in  Spain, 
and  Sir  Abraham  Hume  notes  that 
subject  by  Titian  in  the  Sacristy 
of  the  Escorial.  (Notices,  u,  8., 
p.  82.) 


314  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  TQI. 

all  replicas  and  copies  were  taken,  is  a  picture  of  the 
period  upon  which  we  are  now  busy,  and  an  heirloom 
which  after  passing  out  of  the  hands  of  Pomponio 
Vecelli,  into  those  of  the  patrician  Barbarigo,  after- 
wards went  out  of  the  Barbarigo  Collection  into  the 
gallery  of  the  Hermitage  at  St.  Petersburg. 

The  characteristic  features  of  the  piece  which  Cort 
engraved  in  1566,  are  masculine  power  and  a  luxurious 
maturity  of  charms.  Technically,  the  treatment 
reveals  a  bold  readiness  of  hand,  and  an  absolute 
command  of  means.  The  figure  is  turned  to  the 
right,  and  seen  to  the  hip  scantily  clad  in  a  white 
garment,  which  leaves  a  wide  and  well  developed 
bosom  and  throat  to  be  covered  by  copious  locks  of 
long  wavy  hair.  The  eyes  are  turned  up  towards 
heaven ;  tears  drop  down  the  cheeks,  and  the  saint 
shows  her  grief  and  repentance,  not  only  by  ex- 
pression, but  by  gesture,  pressing  with  the  right 
hand  the  locks  on  her  neck,  and  gathering  with  her 
left  the  cloak  of  white  wool  striped  with  red  and  black 
which  winds  round  her  arm  and  waist.  On  a  skull  to 
the  right  an  open  book  reposes.  To  the  left  the  vase 
of  ointment  stands,  and  the  light  edge  of  the  form 
on  that  side  is  relieved  on  a  dark  bank  overgrown 
with  coppice-wood,  whilst  the  shaded  edge  is  seen 
against  a  landscape,  lovely  in  the  variety  of  its  hues, 
and  balmy  with  atmosphere.  There  is  no  subtle  veil- 
ing of  tones,  no  artifice  of  colour.  The  artist  knows 
exactly  what  he  has  to  do,  he  balances  light  and  shade 
distinctly,  kneading  his  colours  rapidly,  and  modelling 
out  the  forms  with  resolute  brush-stroke,  melting  the 


Chap.  Vin.] 


THE  "MAGDALEN." 


B15 


whole  at  last  into  a  polished  surface  broken  here  and 
there  with  a  touch,  and  warmed  to  a  brownish  glow 
by  general  glazing.* 

The  same  figure,  with  some  variety  in  the  landscape 
and  accessories,  was  repeated  in  the  "Ashburton 
Magdalen/'  a  picture  which  difiers  from  that  of  St 
Petersburg  only  in  being  of  somewhat  colder  execu- 
tion.t  More  or  less  on  the  same  lines,  the  later 
'*  Magdalen "  of  the  Naples  Museum,  and  that  of  the 
Durazzo  Palace  at  Genoa,  are  replicas  in  which  the 
master's  touch  is  still   to  be  traced,;];  whilst  copies 


*  This  canvas,  No.  98  in  tlie 
Gallery  of  the  Hermitage,  is  an 
heirloom  which  passed  to  the 
Barbaiigo  family,  with  Titian's 
house,  in  1581.  It  measures 
m.  1-17  h.  by  0*98,  and  is  signed, 
on  the  dark  ground  to  the  lefb, 
**T1TIANVS  p."  The  surface  is 
damaged  by  cleaning  and  re- 
touching. Compare  Tizianello's 
Anonimo,  p.  10,  and  Eidolfi,  i. 
261. 

t  The  canvas,  till  lately  in 
JLordAshburton's  Collection,  is  of 
the  same  size  as  that  in  Peters- 
burg, and  is  signed  in  the  same 
way.  The  skull  is  seen  at  three- 
quarters,  not  in  profile,  as  in  the 
Barbarigo  example,  and  the  tree 
in  the  landscape  is  omitted.  But 
this  picture  has  been  injured  by 
washing  and  stippling.  There 
are  traces  of  retouching  on  the 
bridge  of  the  nose  and  the  cheek 
at  both  sides,  and  patches  of 
repair  are  seen  in  parts  of  the 
foreground.  The  landscape  and 
sky  are  masterly.     Other  parts 


may  have  been  done  by  Titian's 
pupils  and  assistants. 

i  The  Naples  "Magdalen," 
No.  21  in  the  Museum,  is  like  the 
foregoing,  of  life-size,  and  on 
canvas.  Here  the  whole  form  is 
relieved  against  the  dark  bank 
behind.  A  slight  veil  is  puffed 
by  the  wind  at  the  shoulders. 
The  treatment  shows  this  to  be  a 
picture  of  Titian's  advanced  age. 
We  might  think  it  was  that  which 
the  painter  sent  as  a  present  to 
Cardinal  Famese,  as  we  shall  see 
in  1567 ;  but  that  there  are  notices 
to  prove  that  it  was  bought  from 
the  Colonna  Collection  by  King 
Ferdinand  the  First.  The  pig- 
ment here  is  comparatively  thin, 
and  the  tones  have  become  dark 
and  opaque  from  time  and  re- 
storing. The  most  injured  parts 
are  the  shadows,  particularly 
about  the  neck  and  chin.  The 
right  breast  is  re-painted,  and 
the  signature,  "titianvs  p,"  is 
renewed  over  the  old  one. 

The  Durazzo  *^  Magdalen  "  is  a 


316 


TITIAN:  mS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  VIIL 


belonging  to  the  Tarborough  and  other  Collections, 
betray  more  or  less  the  hand  of  disciples  or  inferior 
artists.*  The  "Magdalen,"  it  is  clear,  was  a  stock 
subject  much  in  fashion;  often  repeated,  seldom 
varied.  It  never  taxed  the  powers  of  the  master  like 
the  Venus  of  which  we  possess  so  many  and  such 
important  varieties.  Amongst  the  heirlooms  which 
we  shall  soon  find  passing  out  of  the  hands  of  Titian's 
son,  into  those  of  Cristoforo  Barbarigo,  is  the  "  Venus 
of  the  Mirror,"  of  which  numerous  copies  were  made 


repetition  of  that  of  Barbarigo,  in 
which  the  landscape  alone  pre- 
soryes  Titianesque  character,  the 
rest  being  thoroughly  re-painted. 

*  Lord  Yarborough*8  example, 
canvas,  3  ft.  6  h.  by  3  ft.  0^,  has 
the  book  without  the  skull.  The 
dress  is  striped  red,  yellow,  and 
green.  The  cold  tones  and  feeble 
modelling  point  to  a  Venetian 
artist  of  a  time  subsequent  to 
Titian. 

Mr.  Joseph  Sanders  exhibited  at 
Manchester  a  **  Magdalen  "  which 
was  a  copy  of  that  of  Petersburg, 
by  an  artist  of  the  schools  of 
Fadovanino  and  Contarini. 

A  copy  again  was  the  **  Mag- 
dalen '*  ascribed  to  Titian  in  the 
Northwick  Collection,  a  much 
damaged  example. 

Under  Titian's  name,  and 
signed  **  titianvs  p,"  is  a  **  Mag- 
dalen *'  of  feeble  execution.  No.  5, 
in  the  Gallery  of  Stuttgardt.  The 
canvas  is  by  a  Venetian  copyist, 
4  ft.  h.  by  3  ft.  6. 

Some  of  the  foregoing  may  be 
identical  with  pictures  noticed  in 
books  as  by  Titian,  of  which  we 


have  no  very  late  accounts,  i.f.y 
*' Magdalen"  by  Tiban,  in  the 
Madonna  de'  Miracoli  at  Venice 
(Boschini,  Bicche  Min.  Sest.  di  C. 
Beggio,  p.  5);  ** Magdalen"  by 
Titian,  which  belonged  to  Bubens 
(Sainsbury,  u. «.,  p.  236) ;  '*  Mag- 
dalen '*  on  panel,  2  ft.  7  h.  by  1  fU 
11,  in  the  Collections  of  Louis  the 
Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  (see  Fdre 
Dan's  Tr^sor  de  Fontainebleau 
(1642),  and  L^picid's  Catalogue); 
"Magdalen"  belonging  to  the 
Venetian,  N.  Crasso  (Bidolfi,  i. 
131,  253);  "Magdalen"  in  Casa 
Buzzini,  at  Venice  (Sansovino, 
Ven.  descr.  p.  374) ;  "  Magdalen" 
in  Casa  Muselli  at  Verona  (Hi- 
dolfi,  i.  258) ;  two  "  Magdalens" 
in  the  Collection  of  Queen  Chris- 
tine (Campori,  Baccolta,  iu  0.,  p. 
343),  one  of  them  afterwards  in 
possession  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
subsequently  belonging  to  Sir 
Abraham  Hume,  Lord  Alford, 
and  Earl  Brownlow;  "Magda- 
len" amongst  the  heirlooms  of 
Ippolito  Capilupi,  Bishop  of  Fano, 
in  1580  (Darco,  Fitt.  Mant.,  u.  8., 
ii.,  note  to  p.  112). 


Chap.  Vm.]  "JUPITEE  AND  ANTIOPE."  317 

by  Titian's  disciples  and  followers.     But  neither  the 
original  nor  the  copies  of  this  fine  work  were  calculated 
to  create  the  impression  produced  by  the  more  cele- 
brated "  Venus  of  Pardo,"  or,  rather,  the  "  Jupiter  and 
Antiope,"  which  Titian  now  sent  to  Philip  the  Second. 
Till  quite  recently,  it  was  not  possible  to  trace  the 
history  of  this  canvas  beyond  the  reign  of  Philip  the 
Fourth  of  Spain.     That  monarch,  it  was  well-known, 
had  given  the  picture  to  Charles  Stuart,  as  he  came  to 
court  his  sister,  but  no  one  knew  who  had  left  it  to 
Philip  the  Fourth.     It  is  very  remarkable  that  the 
copious    correspondence    of  Titian   with   Philip   the 
Second  should  not  once  contain  an    allusion   to  it, 
whilst  frequent  reference  is  made  to  the  contemporary 
"  Europa ; "  yet  both  pictures  were  painted  about  the 
same  time,  and  Titian  claimed  payment  for  both  of 
Antonio  Perez,  in  1574.*     Though   injured  by  fire, 
travels,  cleaning,  and  restoring,  the  masterpiece  still 
exhibits  Titian  in  possession  of  all  the  energy  of  his 
youth,  and  leads  us  back  involuntarily  to  the  days 
when    he    composed    the    Bacchanals.      The    same 
beauties  of  arrangement,  form,  light  and  shade,  and 
some  of  the  earlier  charms  of  colour  are  here  united  to 
a  new  scale  of  effectiveness  due  to  experience  and  a 
magic  readiness  of  hand.     Fifty  years  of  practice  were 
required  to  bring  Titian  to  this  mastery.     Distribu- 
tion, movement,  outline,  modelling,  atmosphere  and 
distance,  are  all  perfect.     We  remember  the  "  Venus  of 
Darmstadt,"  and  "Ariadne  asleep  on  the  Sward.''    The 


*  See  Titian  to  A.  Perez,  Dec.  22,  1574,  in  Appendix. 


318  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  VHI- 

dumbering  attitude  of  the  first,  the  coloured  flesh  of 
the  second,  axe  here  combined.  But  Antiope  on  her  bed 
of  skins  is  more  lovely  than  either.  Is  she  dreaming  or 
only  musing  ?  Her  eyes  are  closed,  her  ears  are  deaf 
to  the  sound  of  the  horn  and  the  barking  of  the 
hounds.  She  does  not  feel  the  stealthy  pull  of  the  cloth 
which  Jupiter,  **  Satyri  celatus  imagine^*  lifts  from 
her  feet.  Her  shape  is  modelled  with  a  purity  of 
colour  and  softness  of  rounding  hardly  surpassed  in 
the  Parian  marble  of  the  ancients.  Cupid,  whose 
quiver  hangs  on  a  bough,  is  the  classic  boy  of  the 
Greeks,  as  he  flutters  on  a  branch  and  shoots  his 
arrow  at  the  Satyr.  The  Sylvan  gods  intent  on 
sport  or  conversation,  are  unsuspecting  tenants  of  the 
groves  or  attend  to  their  own  amusement.  A  faun 
sits  on  his  haunches  near  a  girl  with  a  lap  full  of 
flowers,  but  a  huntsman  who  might  be  Actaeon,  cheers 
his  companion  who  sounds  hxdlali,  and  starts  with  his 
dogs  towards  the  distant  glade  where  the  stag  has 
been  brought  tx)  bay  by  the  pack  in  pursuit.  Charac- 
teristic is  the  feeling  of  the  painter  when  he  takes  us 
into  the  wilds  of  his  native  Cadore,  and  finds  the 
heights  of  Cithaeron  or  the  banks  of  Asopus  in  tlie  valley 
of  Mel.  Behind  the  group  to  the  left,  the  deep  foliage 
of  a  forest  is  finely  contrasted  with  the  tree-grown 
meadows  on  the  banks  of  the  stream,  which  shows 
its  pretty  line  of  falls  to  the  right,  whilst  the  blue 
mountains  on  the  horizon  are  half  concealed  by  thp 
wooded  hills  that  dip  into  the  vale  below.  Splendid 
in  contrast,  the  shades  of  tone  are  vivid  and  strong, 
and  rich  with  a  richness  both  solid  and  sating.     Light 


OHAP.Vrn.]  MOEE  PICTURES  TO  SPAIN. 


319 


and  gloom,  fairness  and  weather-beaten  tan ;  flesh  and 
dress  are  all  varied  in  surface  and  diverse  in  texture* 
The  delivery  of  the  "  Europa ''  to  the  agents  of  the 
King  of  Spain  seems  to  have  been  delayed  for  the 
sake  of  a  smaller  piece,  of  which  Garcia  Hernandez 
gave  notice  to  his  master  on  the  10th  of  April,  1562.t 
But  on  the  26  th  of  the  same  month  Titian  himself 
communicated  to  Philip  the  completion  of  two  of  his 
great  works. 


titian  to  philip  the  second. 

"Most  Serene  and  Catholic  King, 

"  With  the  help  of  the  divine  Providence,  I 
have  at  last  finished  the  two  pictures  already  com- 


•  No.  468  at  the  Louvre,  on 
canvas,  m.  1*96  h.  by  3*85,  figures 
large  as  life.  For  the  history  of 
this  piece  we  must  consult  the 
Ashmolean  MS.  of  Charles  the 
First's  CoUection,  as  published 
by  Bathoe,  u. «.,  where  the  fol- 
lowing entry  is  printed:  **The 
great,  large,  and  famous  piece 
called  in  Spain  the  'Venus  del 
Pardo,'  which  the  King  of  Spain 
gave  to  our  King  when  he  was  in 
Spain  .  .  .  done  by  Titian."  Ja- 
bach  bought  the  picture  for  £600 
at  the  sale  in  London  in  1650-1. 
It  was  valued  10,000  livres  tour- 
nois  in  the  inventory  of  Cardinal 
Mazarin's  property,  suffered  from 
fire  in  the  Palace  of  Prado  at 
Madrid  in  1608,  and  in  the  Louvre, 
in  1661,  was  cleaned  and  abraded 
by  an  ignorant  painter,  and  left 
in  a  bad  state  to  be  restored  by 
Antoine  Coypel.    All  the  old  re- 


paints have  since  been  removed, 
and  the  picture  was  restored 
afresh  and  transferred  to  a  new 
canvas  in  1829.  (See  Villot's 
Louvre  Catalogue.)  Engraved  by 
Bernard  Baron,  and  Comeille  ; 
photograph  by  Braun.  Lomazzo 
(Idea  del  Tempio  [1590],  p.  116) 
describes  a  picture  of  Venus 
asleep,  with  Satyrs  uncovering 
her,  and  other  Satyrs  about  her 
eating  grapes,  whilst  Adonis  in 
the  distance  is  seen  hunting. 
This  piece  he  describes  ns  having 
been  left  by  Titian  at  his  death 
to  his  -son  Pomponio.  There  is 
an  adaptation  of  this  composition 
on  canvas  ascribed  to  Titian  in 
the  Corsini  Palace  at  Borne,  but 
it  is  not  original. 

t  Qarda  Hernandez  to  Philip 
the  Second,  April  10,  1662,  in 
Appendix. 


320  TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  VHI. 

menced  for  your  Catholic  Majesty.  One  is  the 
*  Christ  Praying  in  the  Garden/  the  other  the  *  Poesy 
of  Europa  carried  by  the  Bull/  both  of  which  I  send. 
And  I  may  say  that  these  put  the  seal  on  all  that 
your  Majesty  was  pleased  to  order,  and  I  was  bound 
to  deliver  on  various  occasions.  Though  nothing  now 
remains  to  be  executed  of  what  your  CathoKc  Majesty 
required,  and  I  had  determined  to  take  a  rest  for 
those  years  of  my  old  age  which  it  may  please  the 
Majesty  of  God  to  grant  me ;  stiU,  having  dedicated 
such  knowledge  as  I  possess  to  your  Majesty*s  service, 
when  I  hear — as  I  hope  to  do — that  my  pains  have 
met  with  the  approval  of  your  Majesty's  judgment,  I 
shall  devote  all  that  is  left  of  my  life  to  doing  rever- 
ence to  your  Catholic  Majesty  with  new  pictures, 
taking  care  that  my  pencil  shall  bring  them  to  that 
satisfactory  state  which  I  desire  and  the  grandeur  of 
so  exalted  a  King  demands.  Meanwhile  I  shall  pro- 
ceed with  a  *  Virgin  and  Child,'  hoping  to  produce 
something  that  will  satisfy  your  Majesty  not  less  than 
my  other  works. 

"  Devoted  humble  servant, 

"  TiTIANO. 
^*Fivm.  Venice,  -4pn7  26,  1562." 

The  pictures  came  in  due  course  to  Spain,  where 
the  gospel  subject  was  transferred  to  the  Escorial  and 
the  "  poesy ''  to  the  Royal  Palace.  In  the  solitude  of 
the  Prior's  Hall  in  the  Spanish  monastery  the  "  Christ 
in  the  Garden ''  was  allowed  to  decay,  so  that,  though 
originally  grand  and  clever,  it  was  nearly  ruined  before 


Chap.  Vin.]       "  CHRIST  IN  THE  GAEDEN.*'  321 

it  was  "restored."  The  "  Europa  "  shared  the  fate  of 
the  "Venus  of  Pardo/'  It  was  seen  and  copied  by 
Rubens  at  Madrid,  but  subsequently  packed  away 
with  other  canvases  of  a  light  and  fanciful  style  in- 
tended  as  presents  to  Charles  Stuart.  When  Charles 
left  Madrid  and  broke  off  his  engagements,  the 
** Europa"  was  restored  to  its  place,  and  afterwards 
paased,  with  the  "ActaBon  and  Calisto,"  into  the 
gallery  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  from  whose  collection 
it  came  into  the  hands  of  Lord  Berwick  and  the  Earl 
of  Damley.* 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  early  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  Count  Claudio  Rangone  of  Modena 
was  possessed  of  a  celebrated  work  by  Correggio 
representing  Christ's  prayer  in  the  garden  of  Gethse- 
mane.t  After  many  vicissitudes,  this  masterpiece 
found  its  way  to  England,  where  it  now  adorns  the 
palace  of  Apsley  House.  In  the  days  of  Titian^s 
acquaintance  with  the  Rangones  he  doubtless  had 
occasion  to  admire  this  noble  composition,  which  he 
imitated  in  the  canvas  of  Philip  the  Second.  Here, 
as  in  Correggio,  we  see  Christ  kneeling  with  his 
hands  outstretched  and  looking  up  at  the  angel  who 
comes  on  the  wing  from  heaven,  whilst  Peter  and  the 
sons  of  Zebedee  are  sleeping  on  the  grass.  The  air  of 
Chxifs  b«ui  ^A  its  foihLning,  Se  sprightly  and 


*  The  copy  is  etiU  in  the  Ma- 
drid Museum,  and  is  numbered 
in  the  catalogue  of  1845,  No. 
1 588.  See  also  Madrazo*s  Madrid 
Catalogue,  tt.«.,  p.  270. 

t  See  L.  A.  David  to  Muratori 

VOL.   II. 


in  Campori's  Lett.  Ined.,  u,  a., 
p.  539 ;  and  compare  Aretino  to 
Claudio  Eangone  in  Lett,  di  M« 
P.  A.y  i.  35;  and  Lettere  a  M 
P.  A.,  i.  70,  and  following. 


322 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  YIH. 


not  unaffected  movement  of  the  angel  bearing  tlie 
cup,  are  reminiscences  of  Allegri,  which  are  not  to 
be  explained  in  any  other  way  than  by  acknow- 
ledging Titian's  indebtedness  to  his  Parmesan  con- 
tfimporary.* 
I  At  first  sight,  the  silvery  light  and  deep  brown 
1  shadows  of  the  "  Europa "  remind  us  of  Paola 
Veronese  ;  but  the  scene  is  depicted  with  much  more 
elevation  than  Paolo  was  capable  of  feeling,  and 
composed  with  much  more  thought  than  he  usually 
bestowed  on  pictorial  labours.  Nothing  betrays  the 
aged  character  of  Titian  more  than  the  inevitable 
looseness  qf  drawing  and  the  coarse  delineation  of 
realistic  extremities,  to  which  we  must  fain  plead 
guilty  in  his  name.  But  these  defects  are  compen- 
sated by  startling  force  of  modelling  and  impaste,  by 
lively  effect  of  movement  apparent  in  every  part,  by 
magic  play  of  light  with  shade  and  colour,  and  a. 
genial  depth  of  atmosphere. 

The  bull,  with  his  garland  of  flowers,  raises  a  surge 


*  Escorial,  Sala  Prioral.  Much 
injured  canvas,  with  figures  half 
the  size  of  life.  Christ  is  turned 
to  the  left,  and  looks  at  the  angel 
-who  flies  down  from  that  direction. 
This  picture  is  not  to  be  con- 
founded, as  it  is  by  Sir  A.  Hume 
(Notices,  u.  «.,  pp.  38  &  84), 
with  another,  once  in  the  Sa- 
cristy of  the  Escorial,  now  No. 
490  in  the  Madrid  Museum,  where 
Christ  is  seen  kneeling  by  moon- 
light in  the  garden  (without  the 
angel),  whilst  two  soldiers,  ac- 


companied by  a  dog,  are  scaling* 
the  hill  by  the  light  of  a  lantern 
which  one  of  them  is  carrying. 
Ticozzi  (Vecelli,  212-13)  curiously 
confounds  those  two  pictures  in 
one  description.  The  last-named , 
though  catalogued  as  a  Titian 
(m.  1.76  h.  by  1.36),  is  a  poor 
adaptation  of  Titian*s  work  by  a 
Venetian  copyist,  whose  work  is 
fioio  opaque  and  injured,  the  pig- 
ments originally  being  thin  and 
the  drawing  defective. 


Chap.  Vm.]         "  JUPITEE  AND  ETJEOPA/  323 

as  he  rushes  through  the  greenish  brine,  above  which 
a  dolphin  just  shows  his  snout.  He  looks  imposing 
and  triumphant  as  he  lashes  his  tail  and  carries  off 
his  prize,  and  leaves  a  wake  behind  that  reaches  to 
the  distant  bank,  where  the  nymph's  companions  are 
bewailing  her  loss,  and  a  royal  bull  looks  quiescent  at 
his  daring  mate.  Europa  struggles  on  the  back  of  the 
beast  whose  seat  she  dare  not  leave,  holding  on  with 
her  left  to  one  of  his  hornsj  parted  from  his  white  side 
by  an  orange  cloth,  of  which  a  fold  is  waved  by  her 
outstretched  right  arm.  As  her  face  is  thrown  back 
it  catches  a  shadow  from  her  arm,  and  her  glance  may 
reach  to  the  shores  far  away  where  her  companions 
have  been  left.  The  muslin  drapery  which  conceals 
some  of  her  shape,  the  orange  cloth,  the  creamy  hide 
of  the  bull,  and  the  green  curl  of  the  water,  sets  off' 
grandly  a  form  which  is  not  the  less  true  to  nature  in 
its  semblance  because  it  displays  no  selection  or  ideal 
of  contour,  but  is  the  reality  itself  in  rich  substance  of 
gorgeous  tone.  Eros  clinging  with  expanded  wings 
to  a  dolphin,  and  sporting  along  in  the  course  of  the 
bull,  is  a  lovely  fragment  of  Titianesque  painting, 
representing,  as  finely  as  the  two  Cupids  with  their 
bows  and  arrows  in  the  air,  the  idea_of_ja^d  ^oing, 
already  suggested  by  the  swimming  fishes  and  the 
surge  at  the  buU's  breast.  Masterly  as  a  bit  of 
"actuality,"  the  shadow  cast  by  her  own  arm  on 
Europa's  face  is  as  truly  caught  as  the  reflection  of  the 
maid's  companions  in  the  blue  deep  water,  or  the 
lovely  lines  of  the  brown  and  azure  hills  which  rest 
on  the  horizon.     Nothing  can  be  more  vigorous  or 

Y  2 


324 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  YIIL 


brilliant  than  the  touch  which  has  ^all  the  breadth  of 

that  in  the  "  Jupiter  and  Antiope,"  or  the  "  Calisto," 

without  the  abruptness  of  Paolo  Veronese,  the  broader 

expanses    of  tinting  being  broken   effectually  with 

r    sparkling  red  or  grey  or  black,  toned  off  at  last  by 

V^  L  ^cTti  ^^  to  a  spl^aid  W<.,.i 

MStomge  to  say  there  is  no  account  extant  of  the 

King's  reception  of  this  picture,  of  which  a  fine,  and 

probably  a  Spanish,  copy  is  in  the  collection  of  Sir 

Eichard  Wallace.t 

During  the  twelvemonth  which  followed  the  de- 
livery of  the  "  Europa^"  Titian  had  no  further  corres- 
pondence with  Philip  the  Second.  In  May,  1562,  we 
find  him  writing  to  Vecello  Vecelli  announcing  the 
despatch  of  a  "Venus  and  Adonis,"  and  the  com- 
ing of  a  "Madonna"  to  Cadore.  Earlier  in  the 
previous  year  a  lively  interchange  of  letters  had  taken 
place  between  the  painter  and  the  Cadorine  com- 
munity,  in  consequence  of  Titian's  claim  to  be  paid 
with  interest  a  debt  of  1000  ducats,  and  the  inability 
of  the  municipality  to  satisfy  his  demands.  Vincenzo 
Vecelli  was,  perhaps,  flattered  with  a  present  in  order 
to  secure  his  interest  and  accelerate  the  action  of  llie 


*  This  picture,  now  at  Cobham 
Hall,  was  bought  by  Lord  Ber- 
wick at  the  sale  of  the  Duke  of 
Orleans  for  £700.  The  figures 
are  large  as  life  on  a  canvas  o  ft. 
10  h.  by  6  ft.  8  in  length.  In  the 
left  hand  comer  of  the  picture, 
beneath  the  Cupid  on  the  dolphin, 
we  read  in  Boman  letters,  '*  Ti- 


TIANVS.  P. 


i> 


t  This  copy  is  no  doubt  that 
which  belonged  to  Dawson  Tur- 
ner, Esq.,  of  Yarmouth  (Waagen, 
Treasures,  iii.  18),  and  has  been 
characterised  by  some  critics  as  a 
genuine  sketch  by  Titian.  It  is, 
however,  but  a  copy,  and  pro- 
bably by  Del  Mazo.  A  poor  copy 
of  the  Cobham  Hall  *'Europa" 
is  in  the  Dulwich  Gkdlery. 


Chap.  VIH.]         •'  POETRAIT  OP  A  TUBK.'' 


82& 


Cadorine  Council.*  About  the  same  period  Titian 
was  in  communication  with  Andrea  Coffino,  a  notary 
of  Medole,  who  sent  favourable  accounts  of  Don 
Cristoforo  da  Cisano,  at  that  time  curate  of  the  bene- 
fice of  which  Titian  was  the  holder.f  In  November 
Orazio  at  Cadore  was  recovering  for .  hi^  father  a 
meadow  near  Tai,  which  had  been  mortgaged  in  pre- 
vious years  by  Francesco  VecellLJ  A  few  months 
later  Titian,  whose  scheming  to  obtain  payment  of  his 
pensions  shows  that  he  possessed  in  an  eminent 
degree  the  arts  of  diplomacy,  sent  a  "  Portrait  of  a 
Turk  "  through  Capilupi,  bishop  of  Fano,  to  Cardinal 
Gonzaga,  to  interest  that  prelate  and  induce  him  to 
react  in  his  favour  on  the  authorities  of  Milan.§ 
Titian's  principal  professional  emplojnnent  was  the 
painting  of  a  "  Last  Supper,"  upon  which  he  had  been 
busy  for  six  years,  and  of  which  he  gave  some  account 
to  Philip  the  Second  in  the  following  letters : 


TITIAN  TO  PHILIP  THE  SECOND. 

**  Months  have  passed  since  I  presented  my 
humble  duty  to  your  Majesty  otherwise  than  in 
thought,  and  now  I  take  the  opportunity  of  your 
Majesty's  glorious  victory  to  do  so.     In  order  to  show 


*  See  Titian  to  the  Commxinity 
of  Cadore,  April  24  and  Sept.  3, 
1561,  in  Beltrame's  Tiziano  Ye- 
celli,  u.  0.,  p.  74. 

t  Cadorin,  DeUo  Amore,  u,  a, , 
p.  42. 

X  Becord   of  Nov.   10,    1662 


drawn  by  Vincenzo  Vecelli,  MS, 
Jacobi,  of  Cadore. 

§  Ippolito  Capilupi  to  the  Car- 
dinal of  Mantua,  March  7,  1563, 
in  Darco,  P.  M.  Mantua,  ii.  p. 
138. 


526  TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  Vin. 

my  devotion  and  my  desire  to  be  of  service,  I  beg  to 
say  that  though  nothing  remains  to  be  done  of  all 
that  your  Majesty  in  past  times  kindly  committed 
to  me,  I  shall  in  a  few  days  have  brought  to  comple- 
tion a  picture  on  which  I  have  been  at  work  for  six 

years A  "Last  Supper  of  our  Lord''  and 

the  "  Twelve  Apostles/'  seven  braccia  long  and  more 
than  four  braccia  in  height, — a  work  which  is  perhaps 
one  of  the  most  laborious  and  important  that  I  ever 
did  for  your  Majesty,  and  which  I  shall  send  on  as 
soon  as  it  is  finished,  by  such  channels  as  your 
Majesty  shall  direct.  Meanwhile  I  beg  your  Majesty 
most  humbly,  and  out  of  old  friendship,  before  I  die, 
to  do  me  the  grace  to  give  me  some  consolation  and 
utility  of  the  privilege  of  com  from  Naples,  which 
was  granted  to  me  so  long  ago  by  the  glorious 
memory  of  Caesar,  your  Majesty's  progenitor.  I  beg 
likewise  to  ask  for  some  pension  to  realise  the 
"  naturalezza "  of  Spain,  which  was  given  to  me  in 
the  person  of  my  son,  and  also  that  your  Majesty 
should  deign  to  empower  me,  by  some  efficacious  and 
valid  schedule  addressed  to  the  Duke  of  Sessa,  to 
recover  my  ordinary  dues  from  the  chamber  of  Milan, 
of  which  I  have  not  had  a  quatrino  for  more  than 

four  years 

"  Your  Catholic  Majesty's  most  devoted, 
"  humble  servant, 

"TiTiANO  Vecellio,  Fittor.^ 

*'  From  Venice,  2Sth  of  July,  1563." 


*  See  the  original  in  Appendix. 


Chap.  Vrn.]         "LAST  SUPPER"  BEGUN.  327 


THE  SAME  TO  THE  SAME. 

"Most  Potent  and  Invincible  Catholic  King, 
"  Having  received  no  answer  to  numerous 
letters  forwarded  with  my  paintings  to  your  Majesty, 
I  greatly  fear  that  either  the  latter  have  not  been  satis- 
factory, or  your  servant  Titian  is  no  longer  in  favour 
as  of  old.  I  should  like  very  much  to  be  assured  of 
the  one  or  the  other ;  for  knowing  the  opinion  of  my 
great  King  I  should  endeavour  to  act  so  as  to  avoid 
all  cause  of  complaint  in  future.  I  trust  that  your 
Majesty  will  deign  to  give  orders  that  I  should  be 
consoled,  if  not  by  a  letter,  at  least  by  your  Majesty's 
seal,  which,  I  assure  your  Majesty,  would  add  ten 
years  to  my  life  and  be  an  incitement  to  send  with  a 
more  joyful  heart  the  "  Last  Supper,"  of  which  I 
wrote  on  previous  occasions.  This  picture  is  eight 
braccia  long  and  five  in  height  and  will  shortly  be 
finished,  and  your  Majesty  will  be  pleased  to  give 
directions  to  whom  it  shall  be  consigned,  in  order  that 
the  matter  of  this  ^  devotion '  may  be  evidence  of  my 
devotion  to  your  Majesty.  And  as,  till  now,  I  have 
not  had  the  slightest  payment  for  the  numerous  works 
which  I  have  furnished,  I  ask  for  no  more  from  the 
singular  benignity  and  clemency  of  your  Majesty  than 
my  ordinary  dues  on  the  Camera  of  Milan.  .... 
"  Your  Catholic  Majesty's  humble  servant, 

"  TiTIANO  VeCELLIO.* 
**Fr<m  Venice,  Dec  6, 1663." 


*  See  the  oiiginal  in  Appendix.  I  is  also  in  the  archiye  of  Siman< 
A  duplicate,  dated  Deo.  20,  1563,  1  cas. 


328 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.  [Chap.  VHI. 


In  the  interval  which  lay  between  the  dates  of 
these  letters  and  the  despatch  of  the  "Europa**  to 
Spain,  Titian  was  possibly  busied  with  the  composi- 
tion and  painting  of  the  "  Crucified  Saviour  with  the 
Virgin,  St.  John  Evangelist  and  the  Magdalen," 
which  is  stiU  preserved,  though  in  a  very  bad  state,  in 
the  church  of  San  Domenico  of  Ancona.*  He  doubt- 
less also  painted  the  kneeling  ^  Desiderius  Guide  in 
prayer  before  the  Vision  of  St.  Francis,"  which  still 
remaiQS,  though  nearly  ruined,  in  the  public  galleiy  of 
Ascoli.t    Much  of  his  time,  and  not  a  little  of  his 


*  YaBari  (xiii.  40)  praises  highly 
the  "  Oruoifixion "  in  San  Do- 
menioo  of  Anoona,  which  he  de- 
scribes as  executed  '*  di  macchia  " 
in  the  master's  latest  style.  The 
picture  is  arched,  and  contains 
four  figures  of  life  size :  Christ  on 
the  cross,  of  which  the  foot  is 
grasped  by  St.  Dominick,  St. 
John  looking  up  to  the  right,  and 
the  Magdalen  to  the  left  with 
her  hands  joined  in  prayer;  on 
the  bottom  of  the  cross,  '*titi- 
ANV8  FEOrr."  A  patch  of  canvas 
has  been  added  to  the  bottom  of 
the  picture.  The  Christ  is  re- 
painted anew,  and  the  rest  is 
dimmed  by  repainting  and  old 
Tarmshes. 

t  Desiderius  Guide,  of  Ascoli, 
is  a  well-known  prelate,  who  was 
Gk)yemor  of  Cesena  in  1546,  and 
Gk>vernor  of  Bome  in  1592.  In 
1561  he  founded  the  chapel  in 
San  Francesco  of  AscoU,  for  which 
Titian's  picture  was  furnished, 
and  the  fact  is  vouched  for 
by  an  inscription  preserved  to 
the  following  effect :  "  Desiderius 


Guide,  J.U.D.  [juris  utriusque 
Doctor],  sibi  posterisque  suia 
SaceUum  hoc  divo  Francisco  di- 
catum  poni  curavit,  A.  mduu.'^ 
(See  Abate  Gaetano  Frascarelli*s 
Memorie  del  tempio  di  S.  Fran- 
cesco di  Ascoli,  8vo,  Ascoli,  1861, 
coi  tipi  del  Cardi.)  Gkddo  kneels 
to  the  right,  whilst  further  back, 
in  a  landscape  of  hills,  St. 
Francis  kneels  and  receives  the 
stigmata  from  Christ  in  the 
clouds.  Behind  the  latter  is  a 
cross  of  heads  of  seraphs  and 
cherubs.  To  the  left  of  St. 
Francis  the  Friar  Hilarius,  on  the 
ground  some  books,  the  arms 
of  Guide,  a  tree  on  a  MU,  and 
near  this,  "TiTiAirvs  veceuvs 
CADYB."  The  picture  is  so  in- 
jured that  some  parts  of  it  show 
the  piiming  of  the  canvas,  yet  it 
looks  as  if  it  might  originally 
have  been  by  Titian.  Bidolfi 
notes  a  picture  with  this  subject, 
by  Titian,  in  S.  Francesco  of 
Ancona  (Marav.  i.  p.  267).  But 
he  probably  meant  to  wiite  As- 
coli. 


Chap.  VIH.]       THE  MOSAISTS  OF  VENICE.  329 

mind,  was  absorbed  in  settling  the  differences  which 
broke  out  at  this  period  amongst  the  mosaists  of  the 
Church  of  San.  Marco. 

At  a  very  early  period  of  Venetian  civilisation  it 
had  been  found  advantageous  to  adorn  churches  with 
mosaics,  and  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Mark  was  not  the 
least  splendid  edifice  in  the  lagoons  in  which  Byzan- 
tine craftsmen  exercised  their  talents.  But  as  pic- 
torial skill  increased,  the  demands  made  upon  mosaists 
increased  likewise,  and  it  became  requisite  to  form  a 
school  in  which  apprentices  should  be  bred  to  the 
profession  of  setting  coloured  stones  in  patterns  oa 
walls.  At  the  close  of  the  15th,  and  even  in  the 
beginning  of  the  16th  century,  painters  such  as 
Lazzaro  fiastiani  and  Bissolo  contributed  to  the 
decoration  of  San  Marco;  but  about  1520  it  was 
found  necessary  to  organise  a  special  establishment  of 
professional  mosaists,  assisted  by  designers,  chosen 
from  the  better  masters  of  the  day,  and  to  these 
men  the  duty  was  entrusted  of  repairing  worn 
mosaics,  and  executing  fresh  ones,  and  when  the  later 
pictures  were  substituted  for  those  which  time  had 
brought  to  a  state  of  decay,  the  temptation  was  not  to 
be  withstood  of  pulling  down  old  work  and  replacing 
it  with  new.  The  founders  of  the  modem  school  of 
mosaists  were  Marco  Eizzo  and  Vincenzo  Bianchini, 
whose  appointment  by  the  Senate  dates  as  far  back  as 
1517.  In  1524  an  important  addition  of  strength 
was  made  by  the  selection  of  Francesco  Zuccato,  who 
for  more  than  half  a  century  remained  the  favourite 
and  best  paid  master  of  the  Venetian  government. 


330  TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  VIH. 

In  1542  the  mosaists  were  allowed  to  pay  their 
apprentices  a  salary  of  three  ducats  a  year  out  of  the 
treasury  of  St.  Mark,  and  under  this  rule  Bartolommeo 
Bozza  became  a  pupil  and  assistant  to  Zuccato. 

Between  Bianchini  and  Zuccato  an  old  and  in- 
curable feud  existed,  into  which  the  friends  and 
enemies  of  both  artists  were  graduaUy  drawn. 
Zuccato  had  once  charged  his  rival  with  coining, 
which  led  to  Bianchini's  imprisonment.  After  1545, 
whilst  Zuccato  and  his  brother  Valerio  were  employed 
at  high  pay  in  the  vestibule  of  San  Marco  and 
Bianchini  with  his  clan  was  busy  designing  the  tree 
of  Jesse  in  the  chapel  of  Sant'  Isidoro,  Zuccato 
committed  the  mistake  of  setting  the  word  "  Saxibus  " 
in  a  Latin  inscription,  and  covered  the  defect  with  a 
piece  of  painted  paper.  Bianchini  received  intel- 
ligence of  this  and  other  alleged  irregularities  from 
Bozza,  who  abandoned  his  master  and  went  over  to 
Bianchini  on  grounds  of  which  there  is  at  present  no 
explanation,  and  the  procurator  cassierey  Melchior 
Michele,  was  privately  informed  that  irregularities  had 
taken  place  which  ought  to  be  prevented  or  punished. 
A  commission  of  inquiry  was  appointed,  and  the 
procurator  was  present  when  the  mosaics  of  the 
vestibule  were  washed  and  the  paper  which  covered 
■**  Saxibus  "  was  swept  away.  On  the  22nd  of  May, 
1563,  after  suspicion  had  been  thus  aroused,  Melchior 
Michele  came  to  the  cathedral  accompanied  by 
Sansovino  and  followed  by  Titian,  Jacopo  Pistoia, 
Andrea  Schiavone,  Jacopo  Tintoretto,  and  Paolo 
Veronese,  when   a  diligent  examination   of  all  the 


Chap.  Ym.] 


THE  ZUCOATI. 


331 


mosaics  was  made.  It  was  found  that  paint  had  been 
used  in  various  places,  but  the  judges  were  unanimous 
in  thinking  that  this  was  not  material,  as  the  mosaics 
were  otherwise  perfect.  Still  Zuccato  was  ordered  to 
renew  the  parts  that  had  been  painted  at  his  own 
expense ;  and  Valerio  was  deprived  of  his  salary  till 
such  time  as  he  should  prove  his  skill  afresh.  It 
appeared  in  the  course  of  the  investigations  that  all 
the  cartoons  of  the  Zuccati,  were  made  in  Titian's 
workshop  and  designed  by  Orazio  VeceUi.*  Orazio,  it 
is  clear,  was  at  this  period  the  presiding  genius  of  his 
father's  house,  administering  his  property,  and  super- 
intending the  design  and  first  laying-in  of  his  pictures, 
and  there  is  some  reason  for  thinking  that  he  was 
mainly  instrumental  in  producing,  with  the  help  of 
assistants,  the  canvas  of  "St.  Nicholas  in  cathedra," 
which  was  delivered  in  1563  to  the  Venetian  Niccolo 
Crasso.  Crasso  had  been  bred  to  the  law,  which  he 
had  given  up  for  the  mercantile  profession,  but  having 
lost  all  he  possessed  by  the  wreck  of  his  ship  on  the 
Syrian  coast,  he  returned  to  the  bar,  where  he  made  a 
fortune.  In  1563  he  bought  the  freehold  of  a  chapel 
in  San  Sebastiano  of  Venice,  and  on  the  marble  of 
the  altar  over  which  Titian's  "  St.  Nicholas "  was 
placed,  he  caused  these  words  to  be  engraved  : 

"  Nioolaus  Crassus  fonim  primum  nayigationem  deinde  secutos. 
Ab  adyersa  fortona  fortunis  omnibus  spoliatus, 
Ad  forum  iterum  reversus  hunc  postremo  locum 
Laborum  omnium  et  miseriarum  quietem  sibi  et  post.  p.  mdlxiil" 


.«■ 


*  See  for  all  these  facts  Za- 
netti's  Pitt.  Yen.,  u,  «.,  pp.  725, 
and  f oUo\nng ;  and  the  protocol  of 


May  22, 1563,  in  Hartzen*s  Essay 
on  Schiayone,  Deutsches  Kunst- 
blatt,  No.  37,  of  the  year  1853. 


332 


TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.  [Chap.  YQI- 


Titian's  picture  on  an  arched  panel  represents  St. 
Nicholas  seated  as  if  presiding  over  an  imaginary 
audience  in  the  stall  of  a  cathedral  choir.  Behind 
him  is  a  panelled  screen  of  stone  adorned  with  a 
relief  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  a  plinth  and  part  of 
the  shaft  of  a  pillar.  With  one  hand  he  supports  a 
book,  with  the  other  he  gesticulates,  whilst  an  angel 
in  buskins  to  the  left  raises  aloft  an  episcopal  mitre. 
The  forehead  is  bald,  but  the  temples  are  covered 
with  grey  hair,  and  a  grey  beard  stands  out  against 
the  red  cape  which  falls  in  fine  relief  on  the  lawn  of 
a  surplice.  The  red  dress  of  the  angel  is  looped  up 
above  the  knee,  and  girdled  at  the  waist  with  a  blue 
sash,  a  striped  carpet  lies  on  the  ground,  and  near  it 
are  the  three  balls,  emblems  of  the  saint's  peculiar 
benevolence.  What  effect  the  picture  may  produce  is 
due  rather  to  warm  general  toning  of  a  golden  shade 
than  to  freedom  of  touch,  grandeur  of  form,  or  massive 
contrasts  of  light  and  shade.  The  hand  of  assistants 
is  betrayed  in  the  uniform  velvety  surface  and  feeble 
modelling  of  the  parts,  and  it  would  almost  appear  as 
if  Schiavone  had  helped  Titian  not  only  to  pass 
judgment  on  the  mosaics  of  the  Zuccati,  but  to  produce 
some  of  the  pictures  which  issued  from  Titian's 
workshop.*  We  have  seen  in  the  "Europa'*  and 
"Antiope''  what  the  master  could  do  when  he  put. 


*  The  «*  St.  Nicholas  "  is  on  a 
panel  arched  at  top,  the  figure 
being  just  under  life  size.  It  is 
much  praised  by  Vasaii  (xiii.  41) 
and  Eidolfi  (Mar.  i.  253).  It  was 
restored  several  times,  and  last 


by  Count  Comiani  in  1822.  (Ci- 
cogna,  Isc.  Ven.  iv.  149.)  Ea- 
gi-aved  anonymously.  Photo- 
graphed by  Naya.  On  the  pe- 
destal   of    the    seat   ve    read: 


(( 


TITIANV8  P. 


>9 


Chap.  Vm.] 


"ST.  JEBOM"— BEEEA. 


333 


forth  his  strength,  and  it  might  occur  to  us  to  think 
that  he  only  exerted  himself  in  these  days  when 
pleased  with  a  fancy  subject  or  flattered  by  a  royal 
commission.  But  that  this  was  not  so  is  clear  from 
the  fine  figure  of  St.  Jerom,  which  waa  painted  in 
these  days  for  Santa  Maria  Nuova  of  Venice,  though 
now  exhibited  in  the  Brera  of  Milan,  the  "  Venus  of 
the  Mirror"  now  at  Petersburg,  and  other  works  of  a 
cognate  nature.  The  "  St.  Jerom  "  of  the  Brera  is  the 
model  from  which  a  replica  was  made  for  Philip  the 
Second.  The  "Venus  of  St  Petersburg"  is  the 
original  from  which  repetitions  were  made  for  Niccolo 
Crasso  and  the  King  of  Spain.  We  are  accustomed 
to  see  Titian  piling  the  impaste  on  his  canvases  at 
successive  sittings,  and  kneading  the  whole  at  last  into 
a  grained  surface,  toned  up  with  glazings  that  pene- 
trate into  the  hollows  and  tracks  of  the  brusL  Here 
he  works  off"  the  figure  at  one  painting  on  panel, 
using  primaries  chiefly,  and  producing  almost  a  mono- 
chrome. He  then  seems  to  have  glazed  the  surface 
all  over,  shaded  it  deeply  with  bitumen,  and  lighted  it 
up  here  and  there  with  flat  tint,  breaking  the  whole 
at  last  by  notches  of  pure  colour.  The  result  is  a 
broad  picture  of  touch  which  is  quite  masterly,  though 
it  differs  from  earlier  work  by  deriving  its  effect  from 
contrast  of  light  and  shade  and  sweep  of  brush  rather 
than  from  sweetness  or  richness  of  tint.* 


*  This  picture,  in  the  Brera,  is 
on  an  arched  panel,  m.  2.23  h.  by 
1.33.  The  figure  is  a  little  under 
life  size,  bearded,  bald,  and 
stringy.    At  the  lion's  feet  is  the 


signature,  "TiciAiTVS  P."  A  fine,, 
but  somewhat  fetded,  original 
sketch  in  sepia  is  in  the  Dres- 
den Museum,  photographed  by 
Braun.    The  original  picture  has 


334 


TITIA2T:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.  [Ohap.  VHL 


The  replica  sent  to  Philip  the  Second  is  still  at  the 
Escorial,  where  it  underwent  such  an  ordeal  of  repair 
that  the  master's  hand  is  apparent  in  a  few  places  only. 
But  what  remains,  particularly  part  of  the  head,  shows 
how  cleverly  the  canvas  was  executed.* 

The  "  Venus  of  St.  Petersburg  "  was  an  heirloom  of 
Pomponio  Vecelli  and  the  Barbarigos.  In  its  original 
state  it  must  have  been  a  noble  creation,  of  which  we 
can  only  judge  with  accuracy  now  by  bits  about  Cupid's 
back  and  the  bosom  of  Venus.  No  masterpiece  of 
Titian's  later  time  more  agreeably  combined  grandeur 
of  style  with  perfect  harmony  of  lines  and  of  colour. 
Venus  is  seated  to  the  left,  part  naked,  on  a  striped  couch 
of  black  and  yellow  stuff.  Bound  one  arm  a  cherry 
coloured  velvet  mantle,  with  sable  lining  and  edges 
braided  with  gold,  is  twisted,  passing  underneath  the 
form,  and  held  at  the  hip  with  the  right  hand.  The 
left  hand  lies  on  the  bosom,  whilst  the  head  is  turned 
to  look  at  a  mirror  held    by  Cupid.      The  goddess 


been  engraved  by  **N.  B.  F.  S. 
(?  Salter)  Ant«  UceUi  a  Tarca  di 
Nod ;  ^*  it  is  also  engraved  in  the 
collection  of  Lef^bre.  Titianello*s 
Anonimo  (p.  9),  Ridolfi  (Marav.  i. 
267),  and  Zanetti  (Pitt.  Ven., «. «., 
p.  169),  all  note  the  picture  in 
Santa  Maria  Nuova  at  Venice. 
A  small  copy  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  ascribed  to  Titian,  is  in 
the  gallery  of  the  Academy  of 
San  Luca  at  Rome. 

*  This  picture,  we  are  told  by 
Don  Jose  Quevedo  (Descripcion 
del  Escorial,  4to,  Madrid,  1849), 
has  been  restored.  It  is  a  square, 
on  canvas.     But  here  the  lion  is 


on  the  left ;  a  large  square  boul- 
der fills  a  large  part  of  the  back- 
ground, and  the  saint's  left  hand 
is  on  a  book.  Beneath  a  volume 
on  the  right  foreground,  an  in- 
scription is  just  visible,  though 
illegible.  Below,  "  TrnANva  f."^ 
For  a  variety  of  engraved 
figures  of  St.  Jerom  **  by  Titian," 
see  Sir  Abraham  Hume's  list 
(Notices,  u,  8.,  pp.  xxvii,  and  fol- 
lowing). There  are  two  fine 
drawings  of  the  penitent  Jerom^ 
by  Titian,  in  the  British  Museum  ; 
another  in  the  Albertina  at 
Vienna. 


Chap.  Ym.]         "  VENTJS  WITH  THE  MIRBOB."  335 

wears  her  golden  hair  partly  brushed  in  waves  from 
the  temples,  partly  plaited   with  jewels,  a   bracelet 
fastened  on  one  wrist,  a  chain  wound  round  the  other ; 
earrings  of  pearl  adorn  her.     The  winged  Cupid  who 
holds  the  mirror,  presents  his  back  to  the  spectators, 
and  has  dropped  his  quiver  and  arrows  on  the  couch. 
A  yellow  sash  falls  from  his  shoulders.     Eros,  almost  a 
counterpart  of  Amor  in  the  "Venus  of  the  Ufl&zi/' 
puts  one  hand  on  the  shoulder  of  his  mother,  and  tries 
with  the  other  to  crown  her  head  with  a  garland  of 
flowers.     A  brown-green  hanging  to  the  left,  is  in- 
geniously pitted  against  a  brownish  background,^and 
both  react  upon  the  crimson  of  the  mantle.     The  light 
is  cleverly  concentrated  on  Venus,  displaying  a  full 
and  fleshy  frame  of  superb  mould.     Something  of  the 
Asiatic  may  be  traced  in  the  dark  eye,  the  drooping 
nose,  the  small  nostril,  and  the  richly  cut  mouth.     A 
noble  contrast  is  produced  by  the  repose  of  the  goddess 
and  the  muscular  efforts  of  the  Cupids,  one  of  whom 
seems  obliged  to  stand  on  tiptoe  to  reach  up  to  Venus's 
head,  whilst  the  other  staggers  under  the  load  of  the 
mirror,  which  has   evidently   been   detached  from  a 
neighbouring  wall.     The  latter  is  a  young  Hercules  in 
scantling,  and  the  play  of  his  muscles  is  admirably 
given.    Not  less  fine  is  the  projection  of  shadows,  and 
the  reflection  in  the  mirror.     The  surface  is  broadly 
modelled,  and  notwithstanding  all  the  injuries  of  time 
and  retouching,  wc  still   see   that  it    was  impasted 
repeatedly  and  with  surprising  skill  before  it  received 
the  finishing  glazing,  smirch,  and  touch.     No  record 
has  been  kept  of  the  fate  of  the  replica  sent  by  Titian 


336 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.  [Chap.  VHI. 


to  Philip  the  Second.  We  only  know  that  the  painter 
claimed  payment  for  it  in  1574.  Of  all  the  known 
copies  and  adaptations  at  the  Hermitage  in  St  Peters- 
burg, in  the  Ashburton  collection,  at  Cobham,  Dresden, 
or  Augsburg,  none  is  worthy  to  compare  with  the  Bar- 
barigo  heirloom.* 

As  the  year  1563  came  to  a  close,  Titian  was  in 
active  correspondence  with  the  Duke  of  Urbino  in 
respect  of  payment  for  a  picture  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 


♦  The  Baxbarigo  "  Venus  with 
Capids,"  is  on  canvas,  No.  99,  of 
the  Hermitage  Gallery,  and  m. 
1 .23  h.  by  1.03.  It  is  mentioned 
by  Bidolfi  (Mar.  L  262).  But 
sinoe  it  came  off  the  master's 
easel  it  has  been  rubbed  down 
and  repaired  in  many  places; 
and  under  the  more  transparent 
repaints  we  stiU  see  the  original 
cracks.  A  good  photograph  by 
C.  Boettgor.  The  replica  belong- 
ing to  King  Philip,  described  by 
Titian  himself  as  '*  Loto  holding 
the  Mirror  to  Venus"  (see  his 
letter  to  Antonio  Perez,  Dec.  22, 
1574,  in  Appendix),  is  missing. 
So  is  the  replica  painted  for 
Orasso  (Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  253).  Ano- 
ther variety,  classed  as  a  school- 
piece,  No.  108  at  the  Hermitage, 
canvas,  m.  1.31  h.  by  1.11,  came 
from  the  Malmaison  collection, 
and  presents  both  Cupids  holding 
the  looking-glass,  the  Cupid  in 
front  having  a  quiver  hanging 
from  a  sash  round  his  shoulders. 
Of  this  a  replica  under  Titian's 
name  was,  till  lately,  preserved 
in  the  collection  of  Lord  Ashbur- 
ton, which  bore  somewhat  the 
character  of  a  copy  by  Contarin 


or  Varottari.  At  Cobham  Hall 
we  have  the  Venus  with  one 
Cupid  holding  the  mirror,  a  can- 
vas engraved  by  Leybold,  which 
we  trace  back  to  the  Orleans  and 
Queen  Christine  collections.  (See 
Waagen,  Treasures,  ii.  497,  and 
Campori,  Baccolta,  p.  342.)  Here 
the  hanging  is  red,  and  Venus 
holds  Cupid's  bow  in  her  right 
hand.  The  whole  picture  is  foehle, 
and  a  copy,  in  all  but  the  bow,  of 
a  school  piece  once  in  the  Im- 
perial Ghdlery  of  Prague,  now 
numbered  232  in  the  Dresden 
OaUery;  of  which  school  piece 
there  is  a  still  poorer  copy,  No. 
233,  in  the  same  gallery.  In  the 
Augsburg  OaUery,  No.  269,  is  a 
canvas  almost  completely  re- 
painted, with  Venus  and  one 
Cupid  as  at  Dresden;  but  here 
Venus,  besides  wearing  the  red 
pelisse,  is  draped  in  white,  her 
bed  is  also  white,  and  Cupid's 
quiver  lies  with  the  bow  at  his 
feet.  Lithograph  by  Hanfstangl. 
There  was  one  of  these  Venuses 
"by  Titian"  in  the  OranveUe 
collection.  (See  Castan,  u. «.,  p. 
46.) 


Chap.  VIH.]         PICTURES  LOST  BY  FIRE.  337 

sent  as  a  present  to  some  one  at  Mantua^  and  as  to  a 
series  of  designs  probably  intended  for  the  decoration 
of  the  palace  of  Pesaro.  A  letter  written  by  Titian  on 
the  6th  of  January,  1564,  in  reference  to  these  matters, 
has  been  published,  which  almost  deserves  to  be 
reprinted,  as  it  shows  that  the  great  painter  and  his 
son  Orazio  were  at  this  time  dealers  in  timber  at 
Venice,  and  furnished  the  Duke  of  Urbino  not  only 
with  pictures  but  with  pine  planks  and  logs/^ 

Amongst  the  altar-pieces  which  adorned  Venetian 
churches  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
two  by  Titian  seem  to  have  been  worthy  of  atten- 
tion— ^the  "  Nativity,"  on  the  high  altar  of  St.  Mark, 
and  the  **Last  Supper,"  in  the  refectory  of  San 
Giovanni  e  Paolo.  Not  a  line  in  contemporary 
historians  has  been  found  to  allude  to  the  first  of  these 
masterpieces.  The  second  was  registered  by  Vasari 
and  Kidolfi  without  a  word  of  praise,  probably  because 
they  had  not  seen  it.t  Both  Were  destroyed  by  fire  in 
an  accidental  way.  On  the  19th  of  January,  1580, 
there  was  high  company  at  mass  in  San  Marco, 
The  Archduke  MaximiKan,  the  Prince  of  Bavaria, 
and  one  of  the  Dukes  of  Brunswick,  on  their  way  to 
the  wedding  of  the  Duke  of  Ferrara,  had  been  stopping 
over  night  in  the  Casa  Dandolo  alia  Giudecca,  and  in 
the   monastery  of  San   Giorgio.      They   came    over 


*  The  original  is  in  Letfcere  d' 
Ulastri  Italiani  non  mai  stampati 
pubblicate  da  Z.  Bicchierai  per  le 
nozze  Galeotti  Cardenas  di  Va* 
leggio,  8yo,  Firenze,  1854,  Le- 

VOL.    II. 


monnier.  It  is  signed  "  Ser  Titiano 
VeceUi,  p.,"  and  addressed  to  the 
Duke  of  Urbino  in  Pesaro. 

t  Vasari,  xiii.  p.  37 ;   Eidolfi, 
Mar.  i.  268. 


338 


TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.  [Chap.  VHI. 


betimes  in  the  morning  to  visit  the  treasury  of  the 
cathedral  and  hear  a  mass.  After  the  ceremony,  one 
of  the  lights  set  fire  to  a  festoon  and  burnt  the 
"  Nativity,"  by  Titian,  which  was  fastened  above  the 
altar.* 

The  day  of  Saint  Marina  was  kept  as  an  annual 
festival  at  Venice  after  the  recovery  of  Padua  in  1509  ; 
and  the  Venetian  government,  as  a  matter  of  pre- 
caution, habitually  quartered  troops  in  appropriate 
localities  to  suppress  disturbances,  if  any  should 
occur. 

■ 

On  that  day  in  1571,  some  German  soldiers 
detached  to  the  magazines  below  the  refectory  of  San 
Giovanni  e  Paolo,  got  drunk  and  set  fire  to  the 
monastery,  and  burnt  down  the  refectory,  novitiate, 
and  dormitories  with  all  their  contents.  We  may 
presume  that  the  "  Last  Supper  "  which  perished  on 
this  occasion,  was  the  original  which  Titian  now  copied 
for  Philip  of  Spain,  t 

Most  of  the  year  15G4  was  consumed  in  corre- 
spondence between  the  painter  and  the  monarch  on  the 
subject  of  this  picture,  of  which — we  recollect — Titian 
had  made  an  oflFer  at  the  close  of  1563.  With  more 
wile  than  we  approve,  he  wrote  repeatedly  to  his 
patron  to  say  that  the  "  Cena "  was  finished,  though 
Garcia  Hernandez,  the  king's  secretary  at  Venice,  was 
always  in  a  position  to  report  that  the  contrary 
was  true.     What  Titian  wanted  was  payment  of  his 


*  Diarii  MS.  in  Cicogna,  Iscr. 
Ven.  iv.  333.  The  picture  was 
•*  sopra  il  volto  doll'  altare." 


t  **Emortuale  de'  Padri  de* 
SS.  Gio.  e  Paolo."  Codex  Extr*. 
in  Cioogna,  Isc.  Yen.  vi.  825. 


Chap.  VHI.]  TITIAN'S  PENSIONS.  839 

pension  before  parting  with  any  more  of  his  works. 
What  Philip  could  not  for  a  long  time  compass  was 
this  very  payment,  which  was  always  evaded  by  his 
officials. 

In  a  despatch  to  Hernandez,  dated  March  8,  1564, 
a  minute  of  which  has  been  preserved,  Philip  told  his 
envoy  that  he  had  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  two 
letters  fix>m  Titian,  and  written  to  Milan  and  Naples 
to  press  for  the  payment  of  the  dues.  He  would 
be  glad  to  receive  the  "Last  Supper"  now  that 
it  was  finished,  and  hoped  it  would  be  forwarded 
in  good  condition  to  Genoa,  from  whence  it  could  be 
sent  by  galley  to  Alicant  or  Carthagena.**^  The  same 
post  took  the  king's  letter  to  Titian,  dated  from 
Barcelona  on  the  8  th  of  March,  under  cover  to  Her- 
nandez with  copies  of  orders  of  the  same  day  to  the 
Duke  of  Sessa,  governor  of  Milan,  and  to  the  Viceroy 
of  Naples,  to  settle  Titian's  claims  ;  and  by  the  same 
opportunity  the  minister  Perez  wrote  to  the  master 
thanking  him  for  his  promise  of  a  Madonna,  giving 
him  notice  of  the  despatches  sent  to  Hernandez,  and 
concluding  with  an  assurance  that  when  the  "  Cena  " 
arrived,  he  should  see  that  the  King  sent  a  suitable 
acknowledgment.t 

Garcia's  reply  to  the  King  is   dated  the  16th  of 


♦  See  the  Minute  in  Appendix. 

t  AU  these  letters  are  in  Ap- 
pendix, except  that  of  Perez, 
which  wiU  be  found  dated  Bar- 
celona, March  8,  in  Bidolfi's  Ma- 
rayiglie,  i.  248.  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  Bidolfi's  text  gives  the  initial 


of  the  name  of  Perez  as  G., 
whereas  there  is  reason  to  think 
the  correspondent  here  is  Antonio 
Perez.  See  in  Appendix,  Garcia 
Hernandez  to  Antonio  Perez,  Oct. 
9,  1564. 

z  2 


d40 


TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.  [Chap.  VHI. 


ApriL  He  said  he  had  given  the  Kings  despatch  to 
Titian,  who  had  been  flattered  by  its  reception. 
Titian  would  be  content  to  claim  his  dues  from  Milan 
and  drop  those  of  Naples,  which  were  antiquated, 
and  of  which  he  as  an  old  man  had  but  an  imperfect 
recollection.  The  "  Last  Supper  "  was  not  finished  as 
had  been  stated,  but  was  to  be  completed,  according 
to  promise,  in  May.*  But  May  came  and  passed 
away,  and  Garcia  wrote  on  the  11th  of  June  to  say 
that  Titian  was  working  steadily  at  the  '*  Cena,**  which, 
notwithstanding  aU  his  industry,  would  not  now  be 
completed  for  three  months.  Titian,  he  added,  had 
given  him  a  portrait  of  the  Queen  of  the  Romans,  to 
send  to  his  Majesty,  and  it  had  been  forwarded — ^well 
packed — to  Don  Gabriel  della  Cueva.t 

Titian,  it  is  evident,  wished  to  gain  time  and  give 
the  treasurer  of  Milan  leisure  to  obey  the  King's 
commands.  He  did  not  like  to  offend  the  King,  and 
sent  the  portrait  of  Philip's  sister  as  a  sop.  His 
success  is  shown  in  the  King's  answer  to  Garcia^  a 
letter  dated  the  15  th  of  July,  in  which  the  envoy  is 
bid  "  to  tell  Titian  that  the  King  liked  his  diligence 
in  completing  the  '  Cena '  and  forwarding  the  likeness 
of  the  Queen  his  sister."  | 

Meanwhile  no  symptoms  of  relenting  appeared  on 
the  part  of  the  King's  financial  agents.  Titian  there- 
fore wrote  again  to  Philip  on  the  5th  of  August, 
tellinoc  him   for   the   second   time    that   the   "Last 


*  See  the  letter  in  Appendix, 
t  The   original  is  in  Appen- 
dix. 


t  See  the  original  letter  in 
Appendix.  The  picture  is  not 
known  to  exist. 


1 


Chap.  VIII.]  TITIAN  YISITS  BRESCIA. 


341 


Supper''  was  ready,  after  seven  years  of  labour, 
J  iegging  aiat  L  Majesty  might  give  commM>d 
,0  B,  Se.  to  pay  hi  ^^1  .t%ila.  aad  in 
Spain.*  This  letter  was  crossed  on  the  road  by  a 
despatch  of  the  1 5th  of  July  from  the  King  to  Garcia 
Hernandez,  stating  that  Philip  was  thankful  for  the 
diligence  used  by  Titian  in  completing  the  « Last 
Supper'*  and  the  portrait  of  the  King's  sister.t  A 
second  despatch,  dated  a  fortnight  later,  announced 
the  arrival  of  the  "  Queen  of  the  Komans  "  with  other 
pieces  at  Madrid,  and  asked  Hernandez  to  report  how 
Titian  was  disposed  as  regarded  work,  because  the 
King  wished  him  to  paint  a  picture  of  the  "  Signor 
Sant'  Loren9io."J  Later  still,  on  the  20th  of 
September,  Philip  wrote  to  express  his  pleasure  to 
Hernandez  that  the  "  Cena  "  should  be  ready,  adding 
that  orders  had  been  sent  to  Don  Gabriel  della  Cueva 
to  pay  the  painter  punctually.  §  To  these  letters 
Hernandez  made  the  following  reply : 


GARCIA  HERNANDEZ  TO  PHILIP  THE  SECOND. 

"Titian  has  finished  the  picture  of  *  Christ  our 
Lord  at  the  Last  Supper,'  and  on  his  return  from 
Brescia,  where  he  has  been  for  more  than  a  fortnight, 
and  from  whence  he  is  hourly  expected,  he  will  give 
it  to  me,  and  I  shall  send  it  at  once  to  the  ambas- 
sador at   Genoa.      I  shall  ask  Titian  to  begin  the 


*  Titian  to  the  King  of  Spain, 
Aug.  5,  1564,  in  Bidolfi,  Mar.  i. 
249-51. 


t  The  original  is  in  Appendix, 
t  See  the  original  in  Appendix. 
§  The  original  is  in  Appendix. 


342  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFB  AND  TIMES.  [Chap.  VIIL 

*  St.  Lawrence/  as  he  is  well  able  to  work,  since  in 
order  to  get  money  he  has  gone  fix>m  here  to  Brescia. 

"  Your  Majesty's,  &c., 

"  G.  Hernandez. 

**  Fnm  Venice,  October  8,  1664." 


Much  more  fully  and  with  a  clear  insight  into  the 
character  of  Titian  in  his  old  age,  the  Spanish  envoy 
wrote  to  his  minister  at  Madrid. 

GABCIA  HEBNANDEZ  TO  ANTONIO  PEBEZ. 

"Illustrious  SeiJor, 

"  I  received  the  letter  of  your  Magnificence 
dated  the  1st  ultimo  enclosing  one  for  Titian,  which  I 
gave  and  read  to  his  son,  Titian  himself  being  absent 
from  the  city,  though  expected  home  hourly.  I  shall 
tell  him  when  he  comes,  that  your  Magnificence  has 
communicated  with  me  as  to  the  picture  which  he 
sent  to  Francisco  Dolfin,  now  in  glory,  respecting 
which  indeed  nothing  farther  need  be  said,  since 
Titian  is  content  that  your  Magnificence  should 
make  use  of  it  as  you  have  written.  The  *  Christ 
at  the  Last  Supper '  which  has  been  finished  for  his 
Majesty  is  a  marvel,  and  one  of  the  best  things  that 
Titian  has  done,  as  I  am  told  by  masters  of  the  art, 
and  by  aU  who  have  seen  the  composition.  Though  it 
is  done,  and  I  was  to  have  had  it  on  the  1 5th  of 
September  for  the  pui^pose  of  forwarding  it  to  Genoa» 
he  said,  when  I  sent  for  it,  that  he  would  finish  it  on 
his  return,  and  then  give  it  to  me,  which  I  suspect 
is  due  to  his  covetousness  and  avarice,  which  make 


Chap.  VHL]  TITIAN  AND  A.  PEEEZ.  343 


him  keep  it  back,  and  may  continue  to  do  so,  till  the 
King's  despatch  arrives  ordering  payment  to  be  made. 
If  on  his  return  he  does  not  give  up  the  canvas,  I 
shall  consider  this  the  true  cause,  yet  still  try  to 
obtain  it,  and  make  him  begin  the  *St.  Lawrence/ 
For  though  he  is  old  he  works  and  can  still  work, 
and  if  there  were  but  money  forthcoming  we  should 
get  more  out  of  him  than  we  could  expect  from  his 
age ;  seeing  that  for  the  sake  of  earning  he  went 
from  hence  to  Brescia  to  look  at  the  place  in  which 
he  has  to  set  certain  pictures  just  ordered  of  him. 
Your  Magnificence  will  ask  H.  M.  to  settle  with 
Titian  respecting  that  of  which  so  much  has  been 
written,  as  I  fear  it  may  not  be  done,  and  if  your 
Magnificence  should  like  some  little  things  from  the 
master  s  hand,  this  would  be  a  fitting  and  easy  oppor- 
tunity. In  a  monastery  of  this  city  there  is  a  picture 
of  *  St.  Lawrence,'  done  by  Titian  many  years  ago,  of 
the  size  and  style  of  which  your  letter  speaks.  The 
friars  have  told  me  that  they  would  give  it  for  200 
scudi,  and  it  could  be  copied  for  50  scudi  by  Geronimo 
Titiano,  a  relative  or  pupil  who  has  been  in  Titian's 
house  more  than  thirty  years,  and  is  considered  the 
next  best  after  him,  though  he  does  not  come  up  to 
him ;  and  if  his  Majesty  should  like  these  they  could 
be  had  more  quickly.  I  beg  your  Magnificence  to 
advise  me  as  to  this. 

"  Half  of  the  ebony  pictures  are  ready,  and  the  rest 
wiU  soon  be  done  also.  . .  The  three  lamps  are  likewise 

finished I  have  been  out  with  my  surgeon  and  two 

apothecaries  looking  for  rhubarb,  but  there  is  not  a 


344  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  Vni. 

dram  equal  to  tmmple  to  be  had  in  all  Venice,  but 
if  any  should  be  found  it  will  go  with  this ;  if  not, 
I  shall  send  of  the  best  till  the  arrival  of  the  genuine 
article  from  the  Levant.  But  all  this  requires  money, 
and  I  have  none  •  .  .  and  if  H.  Maj^  does  not  com- 
mand that  the  dealers  here  and  there  be  paid,  I  do 
not  know  what  I  shall  do. .  . 

"  I  kiss  the  hands  of  y*".  Mag®.,  and  remain  most 
certainly  your  Servant, 

**  Garcia  Hernandez.* 

**  From  Venice,  October  8,  1564." 

A  week  after  this  the  envoy  wrote  to  Philip  to 
tell  him  that  Titian  had  returned,  and  the  "Last 
Supper"  would  be  ready  "in  eight  or  ten  days.'' 
Titian  would  then  begin  the  "  St.  Lawrence,''  from 
which  he  would  not  remove  his  hands  till  all  was 
done;  but  Titian  "begged  that  his  Majesty 'would 
condescend  to  order  that  he  should  be  paid  what  was 
due  to  him  from  the  court  and  from  Milan,  as  Don 
Gabriel  de  la  Cueva  had  not  done  so,  as  he  had  been 
bidden."  For  the  rest  the  painter  was  in  fine 
condition,  and  quite  capable  of  work,  and  this  was 
the  time,  if  ever,  to  get  '*  other  things  "  from  him,  as 
according  to  some  people  who  knew  him,  Titian  was 
about  90  years  old,  though  he  did  not  show  it,  and 
for  money  everything  was  to  be  had  of  him.t 

Titian,  it  would  seem  from  these  letters,  was  fairly 
justified  in  withholding  his  picture,  for  which  it  was 


*  The  original  is  in  Appendix.       the  Second,  Oct.  15,  1564,'in  Ap- 
t  See  G.  Hernandez  to  Philip      pendix. 


Chap.  VHI.]         TOWN  HALL  AT  BRESCIA.  345 

clear  the  payinent  was  doubtful.  He  knew  well  enough 
the  men  with  whom  he  had  to  deal,  and  was  probably 
quite  aware  that  he  could  secure  the  favour  of  Antonio 
Perez  with  ^^algiinas  cosillas  de  su  onano"  The 
King,  who  was  favoured  with  a  precis  of  Garcia's 
letters  of  the  8th  and  15th  of  October,  wrote  laconic 
notes  to  them  in  the  margin  : 

» 

**  Orders  have  been  sent  to  Milan  to  make  the 
pajTuent ;  and  as  to  matters  here,  I  don't  know  how 
they  stand.'* 

"  The  picture  should  be  bought  from  Titian's  rela- 
tive for  50  ducats.'* 

"  Titian's  should  not  be  taken  unless  it  diflfered  from 
the  first,  for  then  there  would  be  two  instead  of  one." 

"  All  that  had  been  done  as  to  the  ^  ebony  carved 
work*  and  lamps  I  approve." 

"  As  to  the  rhubarb  I  know  nothing.  '*  * 

According  to  these  communications,  Titian  had 
been  travelling  professionally  to  Brescia  in  search  of 
money ;  and  this  was  time  in  so  far  as  it  appears  that 
he  had  been  asked  to  undertake  an  important  com- 
mission, and  had  received  a  large  retainer.  In.  1563, 
Cristoforo  Eosa  had  contracted  to  decorate  the  vault- 
ing of  the  great  hall  in  the  public  palace  of  Brescia, 
and  in  February,  1564,  had  begun  his  labours.  But 
the  principal  ornament  of  the  place  was  intended  to 
consist  of  three  octagonal  canvases  filling  spaces  in  a 
large  square  ceiling ;  and  it  had  been  thought  worthy 


*  The  original  is  in  Appendix. 


346  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  VHI. 

of  Brescia  to  employ  as  composer  of  these  canvases 
the  best  painter  of  the  Venetian  states.  A  contract 
was  accordingly  drawn  up  and  signed,  in  the  presence 
of  Cristoforo  Eosa,  on  the  3rd  of  October,  in  which 
Titian  agreed  "to  paint  three  pieces  in  the  cube  of 
the  ceiling  of  the  palace  of  Brescia  with  such  figures 
and  histories  as  the  deputies  of  the  town  should 
designate,  at  a  price  to  be  determined  by  a  taxing 
commission  after  the  completion  of  the  work,"  and 
in  the  meanwhile  an  earnest  of  performance  was 
given  by  preliminary  payment  of  an  advance  of 
150  ducats.* 

We  shall  presently  see  that  Titian  at  last  obtained 
some  portion  of  his  dues  from  MUan,  [though  the 
Lombard  treasurers,  like  some  usurers,  cashed  their 
bills  in  kind.  Meantime  the  "  Last  Supper ''  was  for- 
warded to  its  destination,  and  in  due  course  reached 
the  Escorial,  where  immediate  preparations  were 
made  to  hang  it  in  the  great  refectory.  Unhappily,  it 
is  said,  the  wall  of  this  apartment  was  not  as  large  as 
the  canvas  of  Titian,  and  after  short  deliberation  it 
was  resolved  that  the  picture  should  be  cut  down; 
but  this  resolution  had  scarcely  been  taken  when  it 
was  made  perceptible  to  a  deaf  and  dumb  artist,  "  the 
Titian  of  Spain,"  Juan  Fernandez  Navaxrete,  at  that 
time  employed  in  the  monastery,  who  made  energetic 
protest  against  the  mutilation,  and  begged  hard  for 
permission  to  make  a  copy.  In  spite  of  his  protest, 
summary  execution  was  performed  upon  the  famous 

*  The  original  contract  is  in  I  alle  pubbliche  Fabbriche . . .  della 
Zamboni  (B.)  Memorie   intomo  I  Citti  di  Brescia,  fol.  Bresc  1778. 


Chap.  Vm.]  THE  «'LAST  SUPPEE."  847 

work  of  Titian.*  And  it  is  hardly  credible,  though 
undeniably  apparent,  even  now,  that  the  monks  cut 
off  a  large  piece  of  the  upper  part  of  Titian's  canvas, 
leaving  the  architectural  background  in  a  mutilated 
state.  We  can  fancy  Navarrete  witnessing  this  van- 
dalism with  the  utmost  disgust,  and  accompanying 
it  "with  the  most  distressing  attitudes  and  distor- 
tions." But  mutilation  is  not  the  only  damage 
inflicted  on  the  picture.  It  has  been  so  frequently 
repainted  that  little  or  none  of  the  original  colour  is 
left  on  the  surface,  and  all  that  the  spectator  can 
now  enjoy  is  the  grouping  and  distribution.  Paul 
Veronese  composed  the  "  Feast  in  the  House  of  Levi,'' 
now  in  the  Venice  Academy,  to  replace  the  "Last 
Supper,"  burnt  down  in  the  fire  of  San  Giovanni  e 
Paolo.  He  naturally  challenges  comparison  with 
Titian  at  the  EscoriaL  Both  artists  have  qualities 
which  enable  them  to  impart  grandeur  to  the  subjects 
which  they  represent ;  both  set  the  scene  in  monu- 
mental architecture ;  both  give  to  their  episodes  that 
*'  condiment "  of  realism  which  a  French  critic  would 
call  "  actvxxlitey  But  Titian,  though  his  thought  is 
deformed  and  lamed  by  accident,  still  shows  more 
elevation  and  dignity  than  his  younger  and  now  more 
active  rival.  The  cloth  is  laid  in  a  vast  hall  with  an 
arched  opening  at  each  of  its  sides.  The  rays  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  fall  on  the  head  of  Christ  as  he  sits  at  the 
centre  of  the  board,  where  his  form  is  relieved  against 
the  landscape  seen  through  the  opening  beyond.     His 

*  This  anecdote,  copied  from  Cean  Bermudez,  is  in  Northcote'a 
Life  of  Titian,  u.  «.,  i.  349-50. 


348  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.  [Chap.  Vni. 

.^^ * 

right  arm  stretches  over  the  table,  his  left  is  on  the 
shoulder  of  St.  John  Evangelist,  who  bends  with  mekn- 
choly  before  him.  The  dramatis  personcB  are  natu- 
rally grouped  behind  and  round  the  ends  of  a  long 
table,  under  which  a  dog  is  gnawing  a  bone*  To  the 
right  the  foremost  figure  is  that  of  Judas  in  the  act  of 
rising  from  his  seat,  the  purse  half  hid  in  his  fingers. 
The  traitor  looks  round  as  if  suspecting  his  next  com- 
panion, who  leans  over' and  supports  himself  with  one 
hand  on  the  cloth  whilst  pointing  at  the  Saviour  with 
the  other.  To  the  right  of  both,  a  man  in  profile  is 
eating ;  another  faces  the  spectators,  and  nearer  the 
centre,  two  more  have  their  eyes  fixed  on  Judas. 
Here,  too,  the  arms  of  a  servant  carrying  a  dish  pro- 
ject from  the  opening  of  the  arched  doorway.  On  the 
Saviour's  right  the  disciples  grouped  in  threes  are 
communing  with  each  other ;  one  in  front,  to  the  left, 
seated  in  converse  with  his  neighbour,  to  whom  a 
word  is  spoken  by  a  turbaned  man  in  rear,  above 
whose  head  the  base  of  a  statue  is  visible  on  a  bracket* 
On  the  floor  a  vase  is  lying  near  a  shallow  bowl,  out  of 
which  a  partridge  is  drinking.  The  finest  group  in 
the  whole  picture  is  that  of  three  apostles  on  the 
Redeemer's  right,  one  of  whom  appears  surprised, 
whilst  another,  forgetting  the  cup  in  his  hand, 
stretches  his  frame  and  face  towards  Christ ;  the  third 
leaning  over  and  resting  his  hand  on  the  shoulder  of 
the  second*  There  flashed  on  Titian's  mind  when  he 
composed  this  group  some  reminiscences  of  Da  Vinci's 
"Last  Supper,"  which  he  doubtless  saw  so  often 
during  his  visits  to  Milan.     There  are  parts,  for  in- 


Chap.  VIII.] 


THE  ''LAST  SUPPER" 


349 


stance  the  profile  of  the  apostle  leaning  over  the  end 
of  the  board,  and  the  bare  arm  of  Judas,  which  are  in 
fair  preservation;  and  show  the  superb  breadth  of 
modelling  and  kneading  of  pigment  peculiar  to  Titian 
in  his  later  days.  The  rest  is  seen  more  or  less  to 
disadvantage,  for  the  causes  already  assigned.  Seven 
years  Titian  admits  he  laboured  at  this  great  picture. 
How  often  during  this  time  may  he  not  have  impasted 
and  reimpasted  the  figures,  then  forsaken  the  canvas 
and  impasted  it  again,  before  he  ventured  on  the  last 
glazings  and  touches  ?  We  can  still  realise  to  our- 
selves, in  fancy,  how  he  did  this,  modelling  the  forms 
at  first  in  primaries,  correcting,  strengthening,  and 
tinting  the  whole  at  last  to  its  final  gorgeous  rich- 
ness;.* An  unfinished  copy  of  this  vast  piece  in  a 
Venetian  palace  in  the  sixteenth  century  tells  of 
Titian's  connection  with  a  painter  named  Stefano, 
who  may  be  identified  as  Stefano  Eosa,  the  relative  of 
Christopher  Rosa,  who  witnessed  the  contract  for  the 
ceiling  canvases  at  Brescia.t  It  is  not  known  what 
became  of  this  work.  But  other  copies  exist  in  the 
collections  of  Lord  EUesmere  and  Lord  Overstone, 
which  prove  the  original  form  of  this  vast  composition 
and  the  value  assigned  to  it.  J 


*  The  picture  contains  thirteen 
full  lengths  of  life  size.  It  is  still 
in  its  original  place,  signed  on 
the  bowl  out  of  which  the  par- 
tridge is  drinking,  •  *  TiTiAinrs  P." 
A  print  of  the  picture  exists,  by 
C.  Cort. 

t  Anonimo,  ed.  Morelli,  p.  56. 
The  picture  was  in  the  Casa  Pas- 


qualino  at  Venice,  and  is  de- 
scribed as  having  been  ''begun 
by  Titian  and  finished  by  Ste- 
fano." 

t  In  the  Bridgwater  collection, 
No.  87,  is  a  copy  from  the  "  Last 
Supper  "  at  the  Escorial,  properly 
assigned  to  Andrea  Schiavone. 
But  here  a  high  window  is  sub- 


350 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.  [Chap.  Vm. 


Titian's  reward  and  the  beginning  of  fresh  labours 
on  the  "  Martyrdom  of  St.  Lawrence  "  are  noted  in  the 
following  letter : 


TTHAN  TO  PHILIP  THE  SECOND. 

"Most  Potent  and  Invincible  King, 

"Malignant  fortune  obliges  me  to  recur  to 
your  Majesty,  whose  infinite  goodness  as  a  munificent 
patron  to  a  devoted  servant  may  assist  and  favour 
me,  in  spite  of  destiny.  Some  days  since,  wishing  to 
recover  from  the  Chamber  of  Milan  the  rest  of  my 
ordinary  pension,  I  had  an  amount  equal  to  some 
years'  pay  retained  from  me,  which  caused  me  great 
inconvenience  ;  besides  which,  the  remnant  assigned  to 
me  was  forwarded  in  the  shape  of  a  warrant  for  rice, 
by  which  I  was  put  to  a  loss  in  discount  of  more  than 
a  hundred  ducats.  I  therefore  apply  to  your  Majesty 
to  vouchsafe  that  orders  should  be  issued  for  making 
good  the  loss  I  have  sustained,  so  that,  having  no 
other  salary,  I  may  be  able  to  live  in  the  service  of 
your  Majesty  with  that  small  sum  which  the  glorious 
memory   of  Caesar,   your  Majesty's   Sire,   and  your 


stituted  for  the  arcliing  beHnd 
the  Redeemer. 

The  cx)py  in  Lord  Overstone's 
collection  is  small,  and  described 
as  an  original  sketch  (Waagen, 
Treasures,  Supplement,  p.  142). 
But  as  to  this,  which  is  open  to 
contradiction,  the  authors  would 
like  to  7'<\serve  their  opinion. 
Meantime  it  is  important  to  notice 
that  here  we  have  the  whole  com- 


position as  it  was  thought  over 
by  Titian.  The  space  above  the 
table  is  much  larger.  The  arch- 
ing of  the  door  behind  Christ  is 
complete.  The  pillars  rise  to  the 
height  of  the  entablature,  and  the 
statues  on  brackets  at  both  ends 
are  entire.  It  might  be  that  this 
small  copy,  in  which  Titian's 
composition  appears  without  mu- 
tilation, is  the  work  of  Nayarrete. 


Chap.  VHI.]    TITIAN  AND  MILAN  TBEASUEY. 


351 


Majesty^s  self  conceded  to  me.  I  shall  await  the 
effect  of  the  infinite  kindness  of  my  most  clement 
King,  and  meanwhile  proceed  to  finish  the  picture  of 
the  beato  Lorenzo,  which,  I  believe,  will  be  to  the 
satisfaction  of  your  Majesty,  to  whom,  &c., 

y  "TiTIANO  VeCELLIC* 

"  From  Venice,  July  18,  1565.' 


» 


Whilst  it  is  clear  from  this  epistle  that  the  master 
had  not  as  yet  laid  hands  upon  the  "  St.  Lawrence,'' 
it  is  equally  clear  from  the  tenor  of  a  correspondence 
which  he  had  in  August  with  the  Brescian  agents,  that 
he  had  not  begun  the  canvas  of  the  town  halL 
The  Brescians  spent  six  months  in  choosing  the  pro- 
mised subjects;  and  it  was  not  till  the  20th  of  August 
that  Titian  wrote  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  them. 

In  September  he  went  to  spend  the  autumn  at 
Cadore,  and  there  he  planned  the  decoration  of  the 
church  of  the  Pieve  with  frescoes  and  mosaics,  which, 
it  was  understood,  were  to  be  carried  out  by  pupils 
from  his  designs.t  On  his  return  to  Venice  in  De- 
cember, we  find  him  renewing  acquaintance  by  letter 
with  his  old  friend  and  protector  Beccadelli,  who  had 
now  become  Bishop  of  Eavello.J 

What  the  master's  labours  may  have  been  during 
this  interval  has  not  been  reported  by  chroniclers. 


*  The  original  is  in  Appendix. 

t  Several  of  these  pupils  were 
then  "with  him  at  Cadore.  Va- 
lerio  Zuccati,  Emmanuel  of  Augs- 
burg, and  Cesar e  Vecelli,  wit- 
nessed the  deed  appointing  Fausto 


Vecelli  to  be  a  notary  on  the 
1st  of  October.  Compare  Ticozzi 
Vecelli,  u,  «.,  p.  238. 

t  The  original  is  in  Herman 
Grimm's  Kunst  und  Kiinstler, 
8yo,  Berlin,  1867,  ii.  pp.  163-6. 


352 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.  [Chap.  VHI. 


But  there  is  circumstantial  testimony  to  show  that 
Titian  had  completed  two  canvases  at  least — ^the 
*' Transfiguration "  and  the  "Annunciation'' — in  the 
church  of  San  Salvadore  at  Venice ;  and  there  is  reason 
to  think  that  the  figure  of  "St.  James  of  Compos- 
tella  "  in  San  Lio  of  Venice  and  the  "  Education  of 
Cupid''  in  the  Borghese  Palace  at  Rome  were  pro- 
duced about  this  time. 

Titian  only  once  designed  the  "Transfiguration," 
and  that,  as  we  see,  in  extreme  old  age,  yet  his  com- 
position of  the  subject  is  very  telling.  Christ  is  just 
leaving  the  earth,  which  he  still  touches  with  the 
right  ■  foot.  He  rises  from  the  ground  with  out- 
stretched arms,  looking  up  to  heaven,  as  the  three 
apostles,  awe-struck  and  half-recumbent,  watch  him 
from  the  foreground.  Moses  on  the  left  with  the 
Tables,  Elias  on  the  right,  are  powerful  but  somewhat 
unwieldy  figures,  in  which  we  discern  the  coarser 
execution  of  the  master's  disciples,  and  particularly 
the  shallow  technical  handling  of  Marco  Vecelli.  Oily 
pigment  superficially  blended  and  a  marked  deficiency 
of  bold  contrast  between  lights  and  shadows,  are 
unmistakable  evidence  of  this.  But  in  spite  of  these 
drawbacks,  the  <ianvas  is  remarkable  for  the  richness 
of  its  toning ;  and  Titian's  genius  in  realizing  forcible, 
almost  majestic,  movement  is  undcniabla^ 


*  The  ** Transfiguration"  is 
mentioned  by  Vasari  (xiii.  37); 
and  Eidolfi  says  (i.  267]  that  it 
had  already  suffered  in  his  day 
from  retouching.  It  is  a  canvas 
yrifh.  figures  of  life  size,  coTeiing 


a  **  paW  of  chiselled  alyer, 
forming  the  ornament  of  the  high 
altar.  The  general  tone  is  low, 
and  the  surface  is  injured  by 
partial  repainting  and  bad  var- 
nish.   The  picture  is  engraved* 


Cn.u'.  \TJL]  THE  "ANNUNCIATION."  353 

The  "Annunciation"  on  a  neighbouring  altar  of  the  V 
same  church  is  carried  out  with  hold  skill  and  sur- 
prising mastery  of  means.  The  old  painter  is  now  on 
the  verge  of  90,  yet  his  power  and  inventiveness  are 
in  some  respects  greater  than  they  were  in  earlier 
days.  He  repeats  a  theme  often  studied  and  thought 
over,  and  his  mature  experience  suggests  to  him  a 
treatment  as  ingenious  as  it  is  new.  Four  angels  and 
numerous  cherubs  flutter  about  the  dove,  the  rays  of 
which  are  darting  towards  the  head  of  Mary.  The 
Virgin,  who  had  been  kneeling  at  her  book  on  a  desk, 
turns  round  suddenly  and  displays  a  face  lost  in 
astonishment,  the  features  of  which  express  timidity 
making  way  for  fortitude.  She  raises  with  her  right 
hand  the  veil  that  covers  her  hair  and  floats  about  her 
form,  and  directs  her  glance  sharply  at  the  winged 
angel  who  comes  in  bowing  to  the  left,  with  both 
arms  crossed  over  his  breast.  With  the  other  hand 
she  still  grasps  the  book  as  if  it  were  part  of  herself 
and  not  to  be  lost  for  a  moment.  The  type  is  not 
that  which  belongs  to  a  shrinking  and  youthful  girl. 
It  recalls  in  some  measure  that  of  the  "  Magdalen  "  or 
of  the  "  Venus  ^'  at  Petersburg  or  the  Borghese  Palace, 
but  it  is  still  so  elevated  and  impressed  with  so  much 
dignity  and  character,  that  nothing  more  than  the 
mould  of  the  face  suggests  a  point  in  common  with 
these  creatures  of  another  world  of  thought,  whilst 
the  grandeur  attained  brings  the  painter  as  near  to 
Michaelangelo  in  conception  as  it  was  possible  for 
Titian  to  come.  The  life  which  bubbles  out  so  gaily 
in  the  quick  movement  and  gleeful  joy  of  the  angels, 

rou  n.  A  A 


-    364 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  VHI. 


« 

and  the  graceful  action  of  Gabriel ;  the  charm  which 
lies  in  bright  hues  of  drapery,  the  beauty  of  tiie 
grouping  in  the  glory  ;  the  sheen  of  wings  in  radiant 
atmosphere,  and  the  splendid  contrasts  of  light  and 
shade  and  deep  harmonious  colour,  all  combine  to 
fetter  attention  in  the  highest  measure,  and  this  im- 
pression  is  but  enhanced  by  masterly  treatment, 
though  it  be  but  that  of  a  man  whose  hand  and  eye 
are  no  longer  apt  for  detail,  but  confine  themselves  to 
broad  and  sweeping  dashes  and  planes  of  pigment. 
Well  might  Titian  feel  oflfended  at  the  reproach  that 
the  picture  so  composed  and  executed  should  not  have 
satisfied  the  purchasers,  and  we  cannot  but  approve 
the  energetic  answer  of  the  artist  to  the  ignorance  of 
his  judges  when  he  wrote  beneath  the  foreground, 
"TITIANVS  FECIT  FECIT."  Curiously  cuough  Vasari, 
who  described  this  piece  and  its  companion  in  1566, 
declared  that  Titian  held  both  in  slight  esteem,  adding 
that  he  himself  thought  them  inferior  to  other  works 
of  Titian.  But  if  this  were  true,  how  could  we 
account  for  the  anecdote  which  tells  of  Titian's  indig- 
nation, and  how  explain  the  double  "  fecit "  thrown 
by  the  master  on  the  canvas  ?  Wc  may  believe  that 
Vasari  on  this  occasion  confounded  the  "  Transfigura- 
tion "  with  the  "  Annunciation,"  and  applied  to  both 
the  opinion  which. Titian  only  applied  to  the  first* 


*  This  picture  is  also  on  can- 
vas, with  figures  large  as  life. 
It  is  mentioned  by  Vasari  (xiii. 
37)  and  all  the  guides  and  his- 
torians of  Venetian  arl.  On  the 
floor,  above  Titian's  signature,  we 


read,  "  ignis  abdens  non'  com- 
BVRENS."  Between  the  angel 
and  Virgin  a  view  of  a  landscape 
.is  seen  through  a  door.  Here 
also  the  colours  are  dimmed, 
perhaps  on  account  of  cxcessivo 


Chap.  Vin.]      ST.  JAMES  OF  OOMPOSTBLLA. 


355 


St.  James  of  Compostella  receiving  the  ray  from 
heaven,  whilst  the  Baptist  kneels  in  the  distance,  is 
a  life-sized  figure  in  San  Lio,  which  might  vie  with 
those  of  the  church  of  San  Salvadore,  if  time  and 
restoring  had  not  almost  obliterated  the  master's 
work.  The  walking  movement,  the  tender  upturned 
face,  the  hand  on  the  breast,  express  feeling  without 
the  aflfectation,  of  the  Peruginesques,  and  the  lines  are 
of  that  grand  boldness  which  surprises  afresh  in  every 
work  of  Titian.* 

Superb  in  another  form,  though  quite  in  a  difierent 
scale  of  tone,  is  the  "Cupid  and  Venus"  of  the 
Borghese  Palace,  a  canvas  of  which  the  original 
thought  is  transparent  enough,  though  modem  criti- 
cism was  too  careless  to  detect  it.  Not  the  three 
Graces  disarming  Cupid  we  should  think,  but  Venus 
and  two  Graces  teaching  Cupid  his  vocation,  is  the 
subject  depicted.  The  Queen  of  Love  is  seated  in 
front  of  a  gorgeous  red-brown  drapery ;  her  head  is 
crowned  with  a  diadem,  and  her  luxuriant  hair  falls  in 
heavy  locks  on  her  neck.  Her  arms  are  bare,  but  her 
tunic  is  bound  with  a  sash,  which  meets  in  a  cross  at 
the  bosom  and  winds  away  under  the  arms,  whilst  a 


use  of  bitmnen  in  shadows  and 
glazings.  Engraved  by  C.  Ck)rt. 
*  This  is  an  arched  canvas,  on 
the  last  altar  to  the  left,  in  San 
lio.  A  piece  has  been  added  to 
the  right  side  and  base  of  the 
pictore,  in  the  foreground  of 
-whicb  there  are  traces  of  the 
master's  name.  In  the  distance 
to  the  left,  bounded  by  hills,  a 
knight  is  seated.    The  saint  is 


bare-headed  and  bare-legged, 
with  a  green  rag  about  his  ancles. 
In  his  right  hand  the  pilgrim's 
staff;  his  dress  is  red  and  yeUow. 
(Compare  Tizianello's  Anon.,  p. 
9 ;  Sansov.  Yen.  desc,  p.  42 ;  and 
Boschini,  Min.  Sest.  di  Gastello, 
p.  34.)  The  surface  was  injured 
by  time,  and  then  repainted  in 
many  places.  The  tones  aro 
heavy  and  opaque  in  consequence. 

▲  ▲  2 


3;i6  TmAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TDIES.   [Chap.  YIH, 

flap  of  a  blue  mantle  crosses  the  knees.  With,  both 
hands  she  is  binding  the  eyes  of  Eros  leaning  on  her 
kp,  whilst  she  tJs  to  iLten  to  the  «ng  of 
another  Eros  resting  on  her  shoulder.  A  ffirl,  with 
naked  thr»t  «.d  1,  carte,  Cupid's  ,„i.^  wh« 
a  second  holds  his  bow.  Behind  the  group  a  sky 
overcast  with  pearly  clouds  lowers  over  a  landscape* 
of  hills.  There  are  reminiscences  here  that  take  us 
back  more  than  twenty  years  to  the  allegory  of 
Davalos  at  the  Louvre,  or  to  similar  "poesies"  at 
Vienna^  but  how  diflFerent  is  the  treatment  t  Let  us 
recall  the  days  of  the  "  Tribute  Money/'  when  it  wa& 
of  little  consequence  whether  one  saw  the  master's 
work  at  a  distance  or  not.  Near  it  the  smallest 
details  could  be  detected,  losing  themselves  in  the 
mass  as  one  drew  back.  Now  a  near  view  presents 
a  medley  of  patches  of  impasted  pigment,  red,  blue 
and  black  interspersed  with  grey,  and  no  contour 
or  minuteness  of  any  kind.  But  if  we  retire  to  the 
focal  distance  the  reality  itself  is  before  us.  The 
figures  look  plastic.  Light  plays  upon  every  part, 
creating  as  it  falls  a  due  projection  of  shadow, 
producing  all  the  delicacies  of  broken  tone  and  ar 
clear  silvery  surface  fuU  of  sparkle,  recalling  those 
masterpieces  of  Paolo  Veronese  in  which  the  grada- 
tions are  all  in  the  cinerine  as  opposed  to  the  golden 
key*  ^ 


*  This  pictnre  is  mentioned  by 
Bidolfi  aa  belonging  to  Prince 
Borgheee  (Maray.  i.  257),  who 
thus  possessed  two  allegories, 
exeoated  at  the  two  extremes  of 


Titian's  career:  ''Artless  and 
Sated  Love,"  and  the  *'  Education 
of  Cupid."  The  canvas,  with  half- 
lengths  large  as  life,  is  well  pre- 
served.   It  shows  on  that  account 


<lHAP.  Vin.]       TITIAN,  COET,  AND  BOLDEINI. 


357 


During  the  winter  leisure  of  1565-66,  Titian  de- 
'voted  some  of  his  time  to  the  superintendence  of 
Cornelius  Cort  and  Niccol5  Boldrini,  whom  he  em- 
ployed to  engrave  some  of  his  rarest  and  most 
popular  pieces.  He  sent  a  petition  to  the  Council  of 
Ten  praying  for  a  monopoly  of  the  publication  of 
these  prints,  and  a  patent  to  that  effect  was  issued  to 
him  in  February  of  1566.*  In  this  manner  there 
•came  into  circulation  the  "  St.  Jerom,"  the  "  Perseus 
and  Andromeda,'^  the  "  Trinity,''  the  Barbarigo  "Mag- 
dalen," the  "  Annunciation "  of  San  Salvadore,  a 
second  version  of  the  "  St.  Jerom,"  "  Sisyphus," 
"Prometheus,"  and  several  other  compositions,  a 
selection  of  which  having  been  presented  to  Dominick 
Lampsonius  at  Li^ge,  produced  that  fulsome  letter 
which  Gave  has  published,  praising  Titian  as  the  best 
Und.e.pe  W  of  the  ^e-t  i  J»„a^  two  of 
the  Brescian  canvases  were  so  far  advanced  that  the 
envoy  of  that  municipality  at  Venice  was  enabled  to 
^congratulate  his  government  on  their  approaching 
completion. J  Shortly  afterwards  the  Spanish  envoy 
Hernandez  wrote  to  Philip  the  Second,  to  tell  him 
that  the  "Martyrdom  of  St.  Lawrence"  would  be 
.finished  in    the    following    Lent.§     But  we  hardly 


.how  weU  the  pictures  of  Titian's 
old  age  could  look  when  he  chose. 
This  picture  has  been  engraved 
.in  a  plate  marked  L.  Bo.  Ba'""*  f. 
Bomae,  engraved  by  F.  Vanden 
^yngaerde  and  Bobert  Strange. 

*  Cadorin,  DeUo  Amore,  u.  «., 
^pp.  9  &  65. 

t  D.Lampson.  to  Titian,  lidge, 


March  13,  1667,  in  Oaye's  Car- 
teggio,  iiL  p.  242. 

X  Zamboni,  «.  «. 

§  See  Philip  the  Second  to 
Garcia  Hernandez,  March  26, 
1566,  acknowledging  the  receipt 
of  that  of  Hernandez,  in  Ap- 
pendix. 


358  TITIAN:   HIS  LITE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  VUL 

require  the  evidence  of  contemporary  correspondence 
at  this  period,  to  realize  the  picture  of  Titian's 
industry.  Vasari,  who  had  been  preparing  a  new 
edition  of  his  Lives  in  the  spring  of  1566,  had  become 
impressed  with  the  necessity  of  revisiting  the  principal 
cities  of  Italy,  and  had  left  Eome  for  Venice  on  the 
l/'th  of  April  In  the  short  space  of  a  rilonth,  he 
travelled  by  way  of  Nami,  Temi  and  Spoleto  to 
Tolentino,  Macerata,  and  Loretto,  thence  by  Ancona^ 
Kimini,  and  Kavenna,  to  Bologna.  From  Bologna 
he  passed  on  to  Modena,  Parma,  Piacenza,  and 
ihrough  Pavia  to  Milan.  On  the  10th  of  May  at 
Lodi,  he  visited  in  successive  days  Cremona,  Brescia, 
and  Mantua,  and  after  spending  a  few  hours  at 
Padua  and  Vicenza,  he  reached  Venice  on  the  21st, 
returning  to  Ferrara  on  his  way  home  on  the  27th  of 
May.*  In  this  short  visit  of  four  or  five  days  he 
saw  Titian,  of  whom  he  wrote  after  his  return  in 
terms  judicious  if  not  enthusiastic,  as  follows : 

« Titian  has  enjoyed  health  and  happiness  un- 
equalled,  and  has  never  received  from  heaven  anything 
but  favour  and  felicity.  His  house  has  been  visited 
by  all  the  princes,  men  of  letters  and  gentlemen  who- 
ever came  to  Venice.  Besides  being  excellent  in  art, 
he  is  pleasant  company,  of  fine  deportment  and  agree- 
able manners.  He  has  had  rivals  in  Venice,  but  none 
of  any  great  talent.  His  earnings  have  been  large,, 
/  because  his  works  were  always  well  paid ;  but  it 
would  have  been  well  for  him  if  in  these  the  later 


♦  See  Vaaari's  own  letters  in  Gaye,  iii.  210  to  219. 


CiLVP.  Vin.]  VASAEI  VISITS  VENICE.  359 

years  of  his  life  he  had  only  laboured  for  a  pastime, 
in  order  not  to  lose^  by  works  of  declining  value,  the 
reputation  gained  in  earher  days.  When  Vasari, 
writer  of  this  history,  came  to  Venice  in  1566,  he 
went  to  pay  a  visit  to  Titian  as  to  a  friend,  and  he 
found  him,  though  very  aged,  with  the  brushes  in  his 
hand  painting,  and  had  much  pleasure  in  seeing  his 
pictures  and  conversing  with  him ;  and  there,  too,  he 
met  Gian'  Maria  Verdizotti,  a  Venetian  gentleman,  a 
young  man  full  of  talent,  friend  of  Titian  and  a  good 
painter  and  designer,  as  he  proved  in  some  fine  land- 
scapes of  his  own  execution.  This  gentleman  owns  of 
Titian,  whom  he  loves  as  a  father,  two  figures  in  oil 
of  Apollo  and  Diana,  each  in  a  niche.*  Titian 
having  decorated  Venice  and  indeed  Italy  and  other 
parts  of  the  world  with  admirable  pictures,  deserves 
to  be  loved  and  studied  by  artists,  as  one  who  has 
done  and  is  still  doing  works  deserving  of  praise, 
which  will  last  as  long  as  the  memory  of  illustrious 
men."t 

Proceeding  in  another  place  to  describe  some  of 
the  things  which  he  saw  in  Titian's  dwelling,  Vasari 
further  says : 

"He  lately  sent  a  'Last  Supper*  to  the  Catholic 
king,  which  was  seven  braccia  in  length  and  of  great 
beauty.  Besides  the  many  pieces  already  described, 
and  others  of  less  price  which  brevity  commands  us 
to  neglect,  the  following  in  his  house  are  sketched  out 
and  begun : — 

*  These  figures  are  not  to  be  fouud.  f  ^^^  ^dii.  45. 


360  TITIAN:  mS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  Vm. 

The  "  Maxtyrdom  of  St  Lawrence,"  similar  to  one 
already  described. 

"  The  Crucifixion,"  with  Christ  on  the  cross  and  the 
thieves  and  executioners  below,  which  is  ordered  by 
Messer  Giovanni  Danna. 

A  picture  ordered  for  Doge  Grimani,  father  of  the 
Patriarch  of  Aquileia. 

Three  large  canvases  for  the  ornament  of  the  ceiljig 
of  the  great  Palazzo  of  Brescia. 

A  picture  of  a  nude  female  bending  before  Minerva, 
with  another  figure  at  her  side,  and  a  view  of  the  sea,  - 
where  Neptune  is  seen  on  his  car.  This  piece  was 
begun  long  ago,  but  left  unfinished  when  AlfonzD, 
Duke  of  Ferrara,  who  ordered  it,  passed  to  another 
Ufe. 

"  Christ  appearing  to  the  Magdalen  in  the  Garden,' 
a  picture  much  advanced  but  not  finished. 

"  The  Virgin  and  the  Marys  and  the  dead  Christ 
lowered  into  the  Sepulchre." 

A  Virgin,  which  is  one  of  his  better  things. 

A  portrait  done  four  years  ago  of  hilnself,  very  fine 
and  natural. 

"St  Paul  Reading,"  who  seems  filled  with  the 
Holy  Spirit* 

The  history  of  Titian's  portrait  remained,  as  we 
saw,  obscure. t  The  "Martyrdom  of  St  Lawrence"  was 
sent  to  Spain,  the  Brescian  canvases  to  Brescia,  after 
the  lapse  of  one  or  two  years ;  whilst  the  "  Entomb- 
ment "  was  despatched  to  Madrid  in  1572  as  a  present 

*  Vas.  xiii,  43-4.  f  See  antea. 


Chap.  Vm.]  MOEB  ALLEGORIES.  361 

from  the  Venetian  government  to  Antonio  Perez.* 
The  picture  ordered  for  the  Doge  Grimani  is  probably 
the  "Fede"  now  in  the  public  palace  of  Venice.  "St. 
Paul/'  "The  Crucifixion,"  and  "Christ  appearing  to 
the  Magdalen/'  it  has  not  been  possible  to  trace.  The 
allegory  composed  for  Alfonzo  of  Ferrara,  unex- 
plained in  the  pages  of  Vasari,  remains  equaUy 
inexplicable  if  we  look  at  the  picture  still  unfinished 
in  the  private  apartments  of  the  Doria  Palace  at 
Rome.  A  godde«  or  geniu,  with  .  ^  Wer  in  her 
*  left  handy  supporting  with  her  right  a  shield  of  hexa- 
gonal shape,  stands  proudly  on  a  seashore,  attended  by 
a  female  bearing  an  unsheathed  sword;  at  her  feet  Ue 
the  emblems  of  war,  a  flag,  a  helmet,  breastplate,  and 
arrow.  In  front  to  the  right,  and  in  a  bending  atti- 
tude, a  nude  woman  stands  before  a  tree  stump,  on 
which  seven  serpents  are  coiled,  at  the  foot  of  which 
there  lies  a  broken  stone,  the  wafer  of  the  Host  and  an 
overturned  chalice.  In  the  distance  a  god  drives  his 
car  through  the  waters.  The  key  to  this  obscure 
allegory  may  possibly  be  found  by  some  ingenious 
admirer  of  this  class  of  pictorial  subjects.  The  mode 
in  which  it  is  treated  is  of  more  interest  to  the  student 
of  Titian's  life.  Unhappily  the  sketchy  forms  which 
appear  on  this  canvas  have  apparently  been  taken  up 
by  Titian's  disciples,  and  though  still  tmfinished  the 
figures  show  little,  if  any,  of  the  grandeur  of  form 
and  features  or  contour,  and  none  of  the  dexterity  of 
handling  which  characterised  the  master  in  his  middle 


*  See  antea. 


362 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.   [Chap.  vm. 


period.  The  nude  female,  which  most  recalls  Titian, 
has  been  draped  in  a  sketchy  white  drapery  of  modem 
air,  and  the  picture  as  a  whole  is  quite  disappointing, 
both  as  regards  conception  and  execution.*  At  some 
unknown  period  of  his  life  Titian  produced  an  alle- 
gorical composition  of  the  same  kind,  which  came  into 
the  gallery  of  the  Escorial,  and  then  found  its  way  into 
the  Madrid  Museum.  Here  the  goddess  with  the 
standard  is  followed  by  a  band  of  female  defenders. 
The  shield  which  she  supports  bears  the  arms  of  Spain, 
and  the  car  in  the  distance  is  driven  by  a  Turk  and 
pursued  by  the  gallejrs  of  the  Christians.  But  even 
here  we  hardly  see  the  unadulterated  treatment  of 
Titian,  and  the  picture  betrays  the  assistance  of  the 
master's  disciples.t 

During  Vasari's  stay  in  Tuscany,  in  the  autumn  of 
1566,  and  but  a  few  months  after  he  had  occasion  to 
see  the  pictures  of  which  we  have  seen  the  descrip- 
tion, a  letter  was  forwarded  from  Venice  to  Florence, 
and  opened  there  in  due  form.     That  letter  contained 


*  At  the  feet  of  tlie  bending 
naked  figure  we  read,  ''d.  ti- 
TiAKO.''  It  is  a  mistake  of  the 
Madrid  Museum  Catalogue  to  say 
that  the  shield  of  the  goddess  is 
emblazoned  with  the  arms  of 
Doria;  it  is  altogether  bare. 
Besides  the  repainted  drapery  of 
the  nude  figure,  there  are  other 
parts  of  the  picture  which  haye 
su£fered  from  retouching. 

t  Madrid  Museum,  No.  476, 
oanyas,  m.  1.68  square.  The  pic- 
ture is  signed  with  the  dubious 


inscription,  "  TiTiAia7S  f.**  It 
was  in  the  Palace  of  Fktrdo  in 
1614  (Madrazo's  Madrid  Cat.,  p. 
681),  and  before  that  in  the  Es- 
coriaL  A  similar  subject,  called 
' '  Virtue  and  Peace  defending  Be** 
ligion,'*  was  engrayed  by  Julius 
Fontana  (not  seen),  after  Titian; 
but  Eidolfi  (Mar.  L  242)  gives  the 
subject  of  the  print  as  "  Beligion 
persecuted  by  Here6y,''and  heresy 
is  described  in  an  inscription  as 
*'  anguicoma.'' 


Chap.  VHI.]  TITIAN  AND  THE  FLOEENTINE  ACADEM   .  36 

a  joint  application  from  Titian  and  his  colleagues  in 
art  to  be  admitted  members  of  the  Tuscan  Academy 
of  Painting.  The  letter  was  laid  before  the  council  of 
that  body,  aud  answered  immediately.  Without  a 
dissentient  Voice  there  were  registered  on  the  lists  of 
the  Florentine  Academy :  Andrea  Palladio,  Joseph 
Salviati,  Danese  Cattaneo,  Battista  Zelotti  (Veronese), 
Tintoretto,  and  Titiano  Vecellio.* 


*  Yas.  ziii.  183,  and  see  the  I  demy,  printed  in  the  chronology 
entry  in  the  books  of  the  Aca-  I  of  Titian,  in  Yaeari,  xiiL  67. 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

Titian  is  taxed  for  his  Income. — His  Belationci  with  Fiotore  Dealers 
and  CoUectors.^-Strada  the  Antiquary. — Final  Correspondence 
with  Urbino  and  the  Famese. — ^Frescos  at  Pieve  di  Oadore. — 
The  ''  Nativity."—"  Martyrdom  of  St.  Lawrence  "  at  the  Esoorial. 
— Canyases  of  the  Town  Hall  at  Brescia,  and  Quarrel  as  to  the 
Payment  for  them. — The  second  "  Christ  of  the  Tribute  Money." 
—Death  of  Sansoyino. — "Luoretia  and  Tarquin." — "Battle  of 
Lepanto,"  and  Pictures  iUustratiye  of  that  Encounter. — ^Titian's 
Allegory  of  Lepanto.  —  "  Christ  Derided  "  at  Munich.  — 
Exalted  Visitors  at  Biri  Grande. — ^Titian's  lost  of  Pictures. — 
His  last  Letter  to  Philip  the  Second.  The  Plague  at  Venice. 
—Titian's  last  Masterpiece. — His  Death. — Titian's  Pictures: 
Genuine,  Uncertified,  and  Missing. 

One  of  the  earliest  privileges  conferred  on  Titian 
had  been  an  exemption  from  the  income  tax,  valued 
in  an  official  record  at  about  eighteen  to  twenty 
ducats  a  year.*  In  1566  this  privilege  was  withdrawn, 
and  Titian  was  asked  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  to 
furnish  an  estimate  of  his  property.  In  obedience  to 
an  order  of  the  council  of  Pregadi  he  declared  on  the 
28th  of  June  that  he  lived  at  San  Canciano^  in  the  house 
of  the  magnificent  Madonna  Polani,  paying  a  clear 
annual  rent  for  his  dwelling  of  sixty-two  ducats.  His 
income  he  stated  to  be  about  one  hundred  and  one 
ducats,  derived  fipom  various  sources.  The  cottage  at 
Cadore,  in  which  Francesco  Vecelli  his  brother  had 
lived,,  produced,  as  he  protested,  nothing  but  a  load  of 

*  See  antea,  i.  p.  162. 


Chap.  IX.] 


TITIAN'S   INCOME. 


36^ 


hay,  which  was  the  produce  of  an  adjoining  meadow. 
There  were  fields  belonging  to  him  in  various  parts  of 
the  Cadorine  territory,  two  saw  mills  at  Ansogne,  let 
for  twenty-four  ducats  each,  but  involving  charges 
for  embanking  the  Piave,  a  meadow  near  Ansogne, 
of  which  the  Piave  swallowed  up  a  fragment  every 
summer,  and  a  field  with  a  cottage  at  Col  di  Manza  in 
the  district  of  SerravaUe.  At  Milar^,  he  continued, 
he  had  eighteen  fields;  near  Serravalle,  two  fields 
with  a  cottage  and  a  house,  and  a  small  meadow,  and 
a  mortgage  yielding  interest  at  the  rate  of  a  "stara"  of 
wheat  In  Conegliano  he  owned  a  cottage,  for  which 
he  paid  a  groimd  rent  of  three  lire  a  year  to  the  brother- 
hood of  Sanf  Antonio.*  Not  a  word  in  this  income 
return  of  the  proceeds  of  the  Sanseria,  the  pension  from 
Milan  and  Spain,  the  timber  yard  at  the  Zattere,  or  the 
profits  of  the  sale  of  his  numerous  pictures.  The  canny 
old  man  was  a  master  in  concealing  his  wealth.  He 
dwelt  complacently  on  "  the  smallness  of  his  receipts 
and  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  his  family,'^  at  the  very 
time  when  the  municipality  of  Cadore  was  sending 
him  word  that  they  were  ready  to  receive  his  pupils, 
who  were  to  begin  the  frescos  at  the  Pieve,  which 
were  to  bring  him  in  two  himdred  ducats  ;f  at  the  very 
time  when  he  was  dealing  with  Strada,  a  Mantuan 
"  antiquary "  who  purchased  pictures,  prints  and  old 
sculpture  for  the  Emperor  Albert  the  Fifth  of  Bavaria. 
About  the  middle  of  the  1 6th  century,  the  trade  in 


*  See  the   moome   retain   in 
Cadorin,  Dello  Amore,  p.  90. 
t  The  minutes  and  letters  of 


Jnne  18  and  Jnly  2  are  in  Ti- 
cozzi,  u.  8.,  pp.  318-19. 


366 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 


pictures  and  works  of  old  and  modem  art  was 
actively  carried  on  by  dealers  in  connection  with 
living  artiste  and  commission  agente  of  various  kinds. 
The  Lyer,  were  ^^y  kinga  „d  princes,  e»lmd«, 
noblemen,  and  patricians.  The  seUers  were  im- 
poverished descendante  of  great  houses,  or  spendthrift 
sons  of  old  families,  who  parted  secretly  with  heir- 
looms to  fill  their  purses,  lightened  "by  play  and 
betting  and  women."  *  Jacob  Strada,  a  clever  judge 
of  art  in  the  service  of  the  Emperor,  from  whom  he 
had  received  the  title  of  "Caesarian  antiquary,"  was 
the  chief  agent  in  transactions  of  this  kind  during  the 
latter  half  of  the  century  in  North  Italy,  his  aiders 
and  abettors  being  the  Fuggers  on  one  hand,  and 
half  a  dozen  of  subordinate  dealers  and  brokers  on  the 
other,  of  whom  Niccolb  Stoppio,  Bernardo  Olgiate,  and 
J.  P.  Castellino  were  the  cleverest  or  the  most  success- 
ful. In  the  same  line  of  business  as  Strada,  but  with 
less  professional  versatility,  were  the  sculptors  Ales- 
sandro  Vittoria  and  Leone  Leoni,  the  engraver  .Eneas 
Vico,  and  now  and  then  Titian,  whose  name  crops  up 
occasionally  in  connection  with  the  sale  of  relics  of 
the  olden  time.  Of  the  wealth  of  art  which  lay  con- 
cealed in  Venice  and  North  Italy  during  these  days 
we  have  an  idea  when  we  turn  the  pages  of  the 
"Anonimo,**  edited  by  MoreUi.  There  were  "studios" 
in  every  one  of  the  principal  cities,  at  Venice,  in  the 
Cornaro   and   Odoni  palaces,   in  the  houses  of  the 


•  Niocolo  Stoppio  to  MaxFug- 
ger,  Venice,  June,  1567,  in  Quel- 
lenschriften,  u.  «.,  p.  53.  (Dr.  J. 


Stockbai:^er's  Kunstbestrebungen 
am  Bayiischen  Hof.) 


ch.\p.  rx.] 


PIOTUEE  COLLECTOES. 


367 


Pasqualini,  Contarini,  Marcelli,  Foscarini,  Zios,  Veniers, 
Loredanos,  Grimani ;  at  Padua,  in  the  palaces  of  the 
Bembos,  Mantovas  and  Cornaros.  In  some  instances, 
the  greatest  pains  had  been  taken  to  secure  the  preser- 
vation of  heirlooms  in  the  shape  of  antiques,  pictures, 
and  medals  by  testamentary  disposition,  and  Cardinal 
Bembo  amongst  others  had  left  his  museum  to  hid  son 
Torquato  cui  the  clear  imderstanding  that  it  should 
never  be  dispersed.  But  Torquato  secretly  disposed 
of  the  best  pieces  from  time  to  time,  so  that  he  had 
parted  with  some  of  his  treasures  to  Strada  and 
Stoppio  before  1567,  and  sold  almost  all  his  father's 
collection  by  1583.*  Under  similar  circumstances 
at  the  same  period  an  heir  of  the  Loredanos  at  Venice 
was  parting  piecemeal  with  the  heirlooms  of  his 
family,  the  Vendramins  were  oflFering  their  gallery  for 
sale,  the  Mantovas  of  Padua  were  prepared  to  give  up 
some  of  their  best  rarities,  and  the  heirs  of  Giulio 
Eomano  at  Mantua  were  making  money  of  the 
antiques  which  that  painter  had  brought  together  with 
so  much  trouble  and  expense.t 

Titian's  connection  with  the  "  antiquaries "  and 
their  following  of  agents  and  adventurers  is  casually 
illustrated  in  the  correspondence  of  Niccolb  Stoppio, 
an  Italian  of  the  class  of  Daniel  Nys,  the  celebrated 
dealer  who  purchased  the  Mantuan  collection  for 
Charles  the  First  of  England.     It  was  Stoppio  who 


*  See  E.  Basso  to  Niccolo 
Gaddi,  Home,  May  6,  1583,  in 
Bottari,  u.s, ,  iii.  291 ;  Stoppio  to 
Fugger,  Aug.  1,  1567,  in  Stock- 


bauer,  u,  8,,  p.  55 ;  and  Strada's 
accounts,  also  in  Stockbauer,  p. 
32. 
t  Stockbaner,  n.  8, 


368  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 

sent  Cort's  prints  of  Titian's  pictures  to  Lambert 
Lombard  at  Lifege.*  It  was  Stoppio  who  negotiated 
with  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  for  the  sale  of  a  casket  then 
in  the  hands  of  Titian. 

On  the  17th  of  August,  1567,  Stoppio  wrote  to  the 
Duke :  "  His  friend  Carlo  della  Serpa,  once  high 
chamberlain  to  Pope  Julius  the  Second,  had  a  silver- 
gilt  casket  set  with  crystals,  for  which  the  Venetian 
government  were  bidding  1200  crowns.  For  this 
price  Serpa  was  unwiUing  to  seU  his  treasure,  but  had 
transferred  it  to  Titian,  with  instructions  not  to  part 
with  it  except  for  ready  money."  The  Duke's  inclina- 
tion to  make  the  purchase  is  shown  by  the  following 
note  from  the  factor  of  the  Fuggers,  David  Ott,  at 
Venice,  who  wrote  in  September  : 

"I  spoke  with  Titian  about  the  crystal  casket,  tell- 
ing him  that  your  Highness  wi^ed  it  forwarded  at  your 
expense.  I  gave  him  to  understand  that  it  should  be 
paid  at  the  rate  of  1000  ducats,  or  sent  back  if  your 
Highness  did  not  like  it.  Titian  wanted  1000  golden 
crowns,  but  he  accepted  your  Highness's  oflfer  at 
last,  and  I  now  await  an  opportunity  to  despatch  the 
casket." 

To  this  the  Duke  replied  that  he  saw  no  objection, 
but  that  he  would  not  take  the  responsibility  of  acci- 
dents or  breakage  on  the  road.  Titian  should  be  asked 
to  send  the  piece  at  the  Duke's  cost,  but  at  his  own 
risk ;  upon  this  point  Ott  had  an  interview  with  Orazio, 
which  Stoppio  described  as  a  squabble : 

*  See  anfea,  and  Lampson  to  Titian,  March  13,  loGT,  in  Oaye, 
Carte^*,  iii.  242. 


Chap.  IX.]  STBADA  THE  ANTIQUAEY.  369 

"The  'crystal  casket/"  he  said,  *'was  placed  this  day 
in  David  Ott's  hands.  I  wish  you  could  have  heard 
the  quarrel  between  Carlo  Serpa  and  Titian's  son  as 
to  the  form  of  delivery.  They  chaffered  so  long  that 
neither  of  them  could  speak.  It  is  hard  to  deal  with 
such  curious  people.'* 

On  the  3rd  of  November,  1567,  the  parties 
agreed  to  a  declaration,  in  which  Ott  acknowledged 
the  receipt  of  the  casket  in  presence  of  two  wit- 
nesses, and  elected  to  send  it  at  his  risk,  promising 
to  return  it  or  pay  1000  ducats  on  that  day  six 
weeks.*' 

When  Max  Fugger,  in  December,  1567,  took  oc- 
casion to  disparage  Stoppio's  skill  as  a  judge  of  art, 
Stoppio  retorted  with  the  statement  that  his  judgment 
was  approved  by  a  man  of  the  celebrity  of  Titian.t 
Stoppio  died  in  February,  1570,  and  his  property  was 
impounded  by  his  creditors.  Amongst  the  goods 
seized,  there  were  pieces  purchased  for  the  Duke  of 
Bavaria.  Francesco  Brachieri,  who  inherited  Stoppio's 
business,  claimed  these  pieces,  and  wrote  that  he 
would  take  Titian  with  him  to  value  them.  In  1571, 
Brachieri  bought  crystals,  corals,  and  knick-knacks 
for  his  patron,  and  Titian  made  the  necessary  advances 
in  cash.| 

In  1566,  before  Strada  took  his  final  departure  from 
Italy  to  enter  the  Duke  of  Bavaria's  service  at  Munich, 
and  just  before  he  transferred  his  agency  to  Stoppio, 


*  Stockbauer,  u,  «. ;   Quellen- 
sohriften,  u.  «.,  pp.  92,  93. 
t  Stoppio  to  Fugger  in  Stook- 

VOL.   II.    *  B  B 


bauer,  Quellenschr.  yiii.  62. 
t  Ibid.  pp.  66  &  69. 


370  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 

he  sat  to  Titian,  who    painted   that    clever  though 
sketchy  portrait  of  which  Boschini  wrote : 

*'  Ma  fiora  il  tuto  quel  del  Antiquario : 
Perche  irk  i  beli  de  quel  bel'  erario 
El  porta  el  yanto,  e  rende  stupefiati."  * 

Early  in  the^  seventeenth  century,  this  portrait  came 
into  the  gallery  of  the  Ajchduke  Leopold  of  Austria 
at  Brussels,  passing  after  his  death  into  the  Imperial 
collection,  and  now  adorning  the  Belvedere.     Strada 
is  now  sixty  years  of  age.     He  stands  behind  a  table 
over  which  he  leans,  and  supports  with  both  hands  a 
small  statue  of  Venus.     As  he  raises  it  he  turns  his 
face  to  the  right,  speaking,  one  might  think,  to  some 
invisible  person.     His  beard  is  slightly  grey,  his  hair 
cut  short,  round  his  neck  is  the  chain  of  an  aulie 
councillor,  and  the  sword  of  a  "  Hpfrath  ^'  is  belted  to 
his  waist.     Over  the  red  doublet  which  takes  white 
reflections  from  the  light  projected  into  the  room,  a  black 
pelisse  lies  on  his  shoulders  displaying  a  picturesque 
long-haired  Jamb's  wool  collar.     A  high  console  behind 
the  figure  is  weighted  with  books  of  reference,  the  green 
table  cloth  is  partly  concealed  by  a  fragment  of  a 
torso,  two  gold  and  four  silver  medals,  and  a  letter 
addressed  "  H  Mag^°  Sig^*"  Sig"*"  Titia.  .  .  VeceH.  .  . 
Ven.  .  ,"     In  spite  of  abrasion  and  a  partial  repainting 
of  the  right  side  of  the  face,  we  see  one  of  those  clever 
pieces  of  execution  on  coarse  rough  ground  which  is 
so  characteristic  of  Titian  in  these  days.     The  grain  of 
the  canvas  is  ingeniously  concealed  in  the  flesh  parts 


*  Boschini,  Carta  del  Nayegar.  p.  40. 


Chap.  IX.]  STEADA  THE  ANTIQUARY. 


371 


by  impasted  pigment  chilled  to  a  glossy  smoothness, 
and  finished  with  an  unctuous  scumble  in  which  we 
distinguish  the  light  track  of  a  soft  brush,  the  smudge 
created  by  an  application  of  the  thumb,  and  the  notch 
produced  with  the  butt  of  the  pencil.  The  dress, 
more  scantily  impasted,  shows  the  roughnesses  of  the 
stuff,  and  the  whole  is  picked  out  with  points  of  light, 
giving  great  brio  to  the  picture.  In  this  form  we  se^ 
Paul  Veronese  frequently  working  at  this  time,  and  it 
is  no  wonder  that  he  should  have  been  captivated  by 
a  treatment  so  free,  so  bold,  and  so  exceedingly  clever.* 
How  keen  Titian  could  still  be  in  preserving  order 
in  his  affairs  and  promoting  the  welfare  of  his  family, 
is  apparent,  not  only  from  his  dealings  with  antiquaries, 
but  in  his  irrepressible  correspondence  with  people  of 
high  station.  With  that  steady  persistence  which  had 
already  secured  so  many  unhoped  for  payments  from 
the  obdurate  treasurers  of  Spain,  he  now  corresponded 
with  the  Duke  of  Urbino. 


TITIAN  TO  THE  DUKE  OF  UEBINO. 

"Many  days  have  elapsed  since,  by  order  of  your 
Excellency,  I  sent  through  the  secretary  (Agatone  at 
Venice)  the  picture  of  "  Our  Lady.''  But  having  since 
then  received  no  news  as  to  whether  it  was  considered 


*  On  a  scntcheon  fastened  to 
the  wall  we  read:  "  jacobvs  de 

8TRADA.  GIVIS  BOMANYS  OAES.  S. 
ANTIQVARrVS  Elf  COM  BELIC.    AN 

-BTAT  LI.  MD.i*xvi.'*  On  the  wall 
to  the  left,  "  TiTiANVS  F."  The 
woid   "BELio,"  which  formerly 


was  **  Aulic,"  the  age  LI,  which 
formerly  was  Lix,  show  how  this 
inscription  was  altered  by  re- 
painting. The  figure  is  large  as 
life,  seen  to  the  knee,  on  a  can- 
vas, 3  ft.  11  h.  by  3  ft. 

n  n  2 


372 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  ESL 


satisfactory,  I  beg  now  to  kiss  your  Excellency's 
hand^  and  ask  to  be  consoled  in  respect  of  this  matter ; 
because  being  in  this  uncertainty  I  live  in  a  state  of 
doubt,  as  a  man  who  would  have  pleasure  in  learning 
that  his  service  has  been  gratefuL  I  have  heard  that 
the  painting  was  a  long  time  on  the  road,  and  I  think 
it  would  be  proper  to  have  it  placed  for  half  an  hour 
in  t}ie  sun  to  counteract  any  injury  which  it  may  have 
received.     And  so,  kissing  your  Excellency's  hand, 

"  I  remain,  &c., 

"  TiziANO  Vecellio,  p.* 

"  Fnm  Vbwiob,  3rd  May,  1667." 


Titian's  impatience  grew  aa  months  went  by,  and 
the  secretary  Agatone  repeatedly  met  his  impor- 
tunities with  promises.  In  autumn  he  renewed  his 
application  to  the  Duke. 

"  Six  months  had  elapsed  since  May — ^he  wrote  in 
October,  1567 — and  Agatone  had  never  oflfered  but 
fair  words  in  return  for  the  painting  sent  to  his 
Excellency."  And  Agatone,  we  need  not  doubt,  suc- 
cumbed to  the  pressure  put  upon  him,  and  made  the 
required  paymentf  The  "  Madonna "  of  which  his 
letter  speaks  may  possibly  be  one  of  those  which 
came  as  heirlooms  into  the  galleries  of  the  Grand 
Dukes  of  Florence.  It  was  but  one  of  a  series  of 
pieces  which  found  their  way  to  Pesaro  and  Urbino 


*  The  original  is  in  Lettere  d' 
niuatri  Italiani  non  mai  Stam- 
pate»  pub.  da  Z.  Biochierai  per  le 
Nozze  Gbdeotti-Oardenas  di  Ya* 
leggio,   8to,  Fir.   Le   Honnier, 


1864,  p.  11. 

t  Titian  to  the  Duke  of  Ur- 
bino, Venice,  Oct.  27»  1567,  in 
Qaye's  Garteggio,  iiL  249. 


Chap.  IX.]  PICTUEES  AT  UfiBINO.  373 

in  these  latter  days  of  the  master's  life.  Two  small 
canvases,  reminiscent  of  this  period,  are  visible  even 
now  in  the  church  of  San  Francesco  di  Paolo  at 
Urbino,  which  fairly  show  how  easily,  yet  with  what 
power,  Titian  in  his  old  age  could  work  One  of 
these  canvases  is  the  "  Last  Supper,''  so  arranged 
that  the  table,  being  a  square  instead  of  an  oblong,  is 
placed  at  an  angle  to  the  plane  of  delineation,  and 
shows  the  Saviour  and  disciples  in  threes  at  the  sides 
of  the  board.  Behind  the  table  Christ  is  seated  with 
a  crust  in  his  hand,  whilst  Judas,  at  the  corner  oppo- 
site to  him,  raises  the  bread  to  his  mouth.  The  apostles 
are  ingeniously  delineated  in  various  attitude  and 
expression  of  surprise,  and  the  scene  is  laid  in  a 
cloister,  the  archings  of  which  are  in  part  open,  and 
display  the  landscape  outside,  with  one  of  those 
slender  pyramids  shooting  into  the  air  which  Titian 
used  to  break  the  monotony  of  horizontal  and  vertical 
lines.  The  picture  unfortunately  was  fatally  injured 
by  washing,  and  being  rapidly  executed  without 
repeated  impasting,  has  darkened  so  much  that  some 
of  the  figures  are  lost  in  an  artificial  gloom.  Better 
preserved,  and  originally  better  designed,  is  the 
"Resurrection"  in  the  same  church,  a  picture  in  which 
the  foreshortenino:s  and  somethinoj  in  the  movement 
of  the  Redeemer  recall  a  similar  masterpiece  by 
Mantegna  in  the  gallery  of  the  UflSzi.  The  subject  is 
that  which  Titian  executed  on  a  large  scale  for  the 
Legate  Averoldi  at  Brescia ;  but  the  treatment  here  is 
bolder  and  more  dramatic.  Christ  rises  on  the  cloud, 
giving  the   blessing   and   holding  the  banner.     The 


374 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 


winding  sheet  covers  his  hips,  and  flaps  away  in»the 
breeze.  In  the  landscape  beneath  we  see  the  square 
of  the  tomb,  with  a  guard  on  the  right  starting  up 
and  wieldiDg  his  lance,  whilst  one  to  the  left  totters 
as  he  looks  towards  heaven  and  shades  his  eyes  with 
his  hand.  The  two  sleepers  in  the  middle  of  the  fore- 
ground are  foreshortened  with  consummate  skill,  and 
•  the  whole  picture  is  thrown  oflf  at  one  painting  with 
that  breadth  and  certainty  of  hand  which  make  a 
return  to  the  parts  altogether  unnecessary.* 

Amusing  as  illustration  of  Titian's  pliancy  in 
renewing  relations  with  old  and  all  but  forgotten 
patrons  in  these  years,  is  his  correspondence  with 
Cardinal  Famese  in  1567  and  1568.  We  may  re- 
collect that  he  had  obtained  from  Charles  the  Fifth 
what  he  called  a  "naturalezza  di  Spagna,^'  a  natura- 
lization of  his  son  Pomponio  in  Spain,  which  ought 
to  have  yielded  an  annual  income  of  some  hundreds 
of  ducats.  Many  of  his  appeals  to  the  King  of  Spain 
on  the  score  of  this  pension  had  been  fruitless,  and 
one  of  Philip  the  Second's  last  memoranda  had  been 
"  that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  matter.'^!  Notwith- 
standing this  most  hopeless  state  of  affairs,  Titian  now 
turned  to  Cardinal  Famese  for  the  purpose  of  support- 
ing his  claim  by  legatine  intercession;  and  the 
Cardinal  was  mindful  enough  of  the  services  done  to 
his  family  by  the  artist  in  bygone  days  to  answer  his 


^  Each  of  these  canvases  is 
m.  1  h.  by  0.75.  The  **  Resurrec- 
tion "  is  fairly  preserved,  if  we 
except  the  sky,  which  is  much 
repainted.    The  '*  Last  Supper/' 


as  above  stated,  is  very  dark,  and 
in  part  obliterated ;  on  the  fore- 
ground to  the  left  a  dog  is  gnaw- 
ing a  bone. 
t  See  anteOf  p.  345. 


Ghap.  IX.]         TITIAN  AND  THE  FAENESE/ 


375 


letter  kindly.  Encouraged  by  this  turn  of  affairs, 
Titian  now  addressed  his  old  protector  anew,  taking 
advantage  of  a  journey  undertaken  towards  Rome  by 
Giannantonio  Facchinetti,  Bishop  of  Nicastro,  to 
send  pictures  to  the  Cardinal  and  to  Pope  Pius  the 
Fifth,  and  accompanjdng  the  present  with  the  follow- 
ing letter: 


TITIAN  TO'CAEDINAL  FAENESE. 

"Having  ascertained  from  your  Eeverence's 
communication  that  your  Lordship's  singular  courtesy 
had  deigned  to  approve  the  letter  I  lately  sent,  I 
make  bold  to  present  a  new  tribute  of  service  in  the 
shape  of  a  picture  of  **  St.  Mary  Magdalen  in  the 
Desert "  in  an  attitude  of  devotion  and  penitence.  As 
on  a  previous  occasion  your  Lordship  showed  signs  of 
liking  the  works  of  my  hand,  I  feel  convinced  that 
this  one  wiU  not  meet  with  less  favour ;  being  done  in 
my  old  age  and  fruit  of  my  leisure,  I  beg  of  your 
Lordship  to  accept  it  as  a  proof  of  my  devotion  and 
desire  to  be  of  service.  I  join  to  it  another  picture 
for  our  Signore  (the  Pope),  which  is  the  "  Beato  Peter 
Martyr,"  and  I  shall  be  glad  that  your  Illustrious 
Lordship  should  do  me  the  favour  to  present  it  in  my 
name.  Praying  that  whenever  Monsignor  the  Legate 
shall  write  from  here  in  my  favour  your  Lordship 
may  give  me  your  support,  and  kissing  your  Lord- 
ship's hand,  "  I  am,  &c.,  . 

"TiTiANO  Vecelli/'* 


*  The  original  is  in  Eonohini's 
Eelazioni,  u.  «.,     .  14.    It  is  not 


dated,  bnt  was  probably  written 
about  the  dose  of  Alarch,  1567. 


376  TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES,     [Chap.  IX. 

To  this  letter  the   Cardinal  was  not  so  quick  in 
responding  as  Titian  thought  he  might  have  been. 


TITIAN  TO  CAEDINAL  FABNE8E. 

"  Two  months,  or  nearly  so,  have  elapsed  since 
I  sent  two  of  my  paintings  to  your  Illustrious  and 
Reverend  Lordship,  one  of  "  St.  Mary  Magdalen  *  for 
yourself,  and  the  "  Martyrdom  of  St.  Peter  Martyr  '* 
for  our  Signore,  together  with  a  letter  begging  your 
intercession  in  favour  of  my  son  Pomponio*  But 
up  to  this  time  I  have  had  no  news  of  the  receipt  of 
these  paintings,  or  of  their  having  given  pleasure  to 
your  Lordship.  I  therefore  ask  in  these  lines  to  be 
allowed  to  do  my  humble  reverence  and  pray  for  con- 
solation by  a  word  of  advice.  The  extension  of  this 
grace  to  me  will  be  an  obligation,  since  in  my  present 
state  of  age  I  feel  the  greatest  consolation  in  knowing 
that  I  am  a  favourite  and  liked  by  my  old  signors 
and  protectors,  and  so,  kissing  hands,  &c. 

"TiTIANO   VeOELLIO.* 
"  From  Venice,  May  17,  1667." 

The  Bishop  of  Nicastro  did  not  fail  to  second 
Titian's  application  with  notes  of  the  24th  of  May 
and  28th  of  June,  warning  Cardinal  Farnese  that 
silence  would  probably  induce  Titian  to  give  up  the 
intention  of  sending  His  Eminence  some  rare  picture.f 
The  closing  letter  of  the  correspondence,  dated  De- 


♦  The  original  is  in  Eonchini's  Belazioni,  «. «.,  p.  16.         f  Il>id- 


Chap.  IX.]         TITIAN  AND  THE  FAENESE. 


377 


cember  10,  1568,  shows  that  the  prelate  caused  his 
relative  Cardinal  Alessandrino  to  reply,  ordering  of 
Titian  a  figure  of  "St  Catherine,^'  which  was  duly- 
forwarded  through  the  Papal  Nuncio   at  Venice  to 
Borne,  and  telling  the  painter  that  his  wishes  with 
regard  to  Pomponio  would  be  speedily  attended  -to  * 
The  Famese  thus  obtained  three  pieces  from  Titian 
for  which  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  they  ever 
paid  a  farthing.      The   "Magdalen"  was  no   doubt 
a  replica  of  that  which  Titian  left  to  Pomponio  at 
his  death,  and  passed,  as  we  saw,  to  the  Hermitage 
at  Petersburg.      We  shall  always  remain   in  doubt 
whether  it   is  that  which  is  now  preserved  in  the 
Naples  Museum.     The  "  Martyrdom  of  Peter  Martyr '' 
was  engraved  by  Bertelli  as  a  masterpiece  in  posses- 
sion of    Pius  the  Fifth,    but  it  subsequently   dis- 
appeared.t     As  to  the  "St.    Catherine"  nothing  is 
known  beyond  the  fact  that  Cardinal  Alessandrino 
received  it.      In  the  Belvedere  at  Vienna  we  shall 
find  a  half  length,  representing  a  lady  in  red   and 
green,  with    golden  hair   twined  with  flowers   and 


*  This  letter,  in  the  axchiye  of 
Parma,  is  printed  in  Ticozzi's 
Veoelli,  u.  «.,  317 ;  and  here  it 
may  be  well  to  observe  that  aU 
the  letters  of  Titian  and  others 
printed  by  this  author  were  taken 
without  acknowledgment  from 
the  second  edition  of  Titian's  life, 
edited  by  Tizianello,  a  reprint 
made  on  the  occasion  of  the  Mula 
Layagnoli  wedding  at  Venice,  in 
1809,  with  the  types  of  Antonio 
Ourti. 


t  Andrea  Maier,  in  his  Imi- 
tazione  pittura,  gives  a  notice  of 
this  print,  which  the  authors  have 
not  seen  (p.  370).  It  consisted  of 
three  figures,  varying  slightly  in 
attitude  from  those  of  the  altar- 
pieces  in  San  Giovanni  e  Paolo, 
with  a  difference  also  in  details 
and  landscape.  It  is  inscribed, 
**'iitianus  Vecellius  Eques  Cce- 
saris  Pio  V.  Pontifici  Maximo 
faciebat" 


378 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX, 


strewed  with  pearls,  standing  with  a  palm  in  her 
left  hand  and  resting  her  right  on  a  broken  wheeL 
Unfortunately  this  canvas  is  repainted  to  such  an 
extent  that,  with  the  exception  of  a  patch  here  and 
there  in  which  the  hand  of  Titian  might  be  revealed, 
we  seem  to  discern  the  style  of  Padovanino.*  The 
Madrid  Museum  also  comprises  a  half  length  of 
"St.  Catherine,"  in  which  the  Saint  appears  in  a 
flowered  violet  dress,  looking  up  and  prayerfully 
raising  her  hands  to  heaven.  In  bygone  times  this 
figure  was  preserved  in  the  old  church  of  the  Escorial, 
and  assigned  to  Titian ;  but  it  is  at  best  the  work  of 
one  of  his  assistants.t 

In  the  meantime,  the  pupils  of  Titian  had  not  been 
idle.  They  had  rapidly  covered  the  choir  and  other 
parts  of  the  church  of  Pieve  with  frescos  from  Titian's 
designs.*  In  the  vaulting  of  the  choir  they  had  drawn 
the  Eternal  receiving  the  Virgin  into  heaven,  attended 
by  xingels,  with  the  four  Evangelists  and  appropriate 
emblems.  On  the  walls  to  the  right  and  left  they 
had  placed  the  Annimciation  and  the  Nativity ;  on 
the  soffit  of  the  choir  arch  eight  half-lengths  of  pro- 
phets, and  on  the  front  of  the  arch  the  Virgin  lament- 
ing and  St.  John  Evangelist.  These  frescos,  which 
perished  in  1813,  were  so  nearly  completed  in  March, 


*  Vienna,  Belvedere,  second 
room,  first  floor,  Italian  School, 
No.  5,  half-length  on  canvas, 
3  ft.  1  h.  by  2  ft.  4.  The  figure 
is  turned  to  the. right,  the  left 
hand  on  a  console.  Behind,  to 
the  left,  a  panel  and  a  bas-reHef, 


all  on  dark  ground. 

t  Madrid  Mus.,  No.  473,  can- 
vas, m.  1 .35  h.  by  0.98.  The  style 
is  like  that  of  Orazio  or  Cesare 
Vecelli.  The  figure  is  turned  to 
the  right. 


Chap.  IX.] 


THE  NATIVITY. 


379 


1567,  that  orders  were  issued  by  the  Cadorine  com- 
munity to  fell  fifty  loads  of  timber  to  pay  the  first 
ijistalment  of  Titian's  dues.*  The  series  was  not 
remarkable  for  great  ability  of  execution,  but  it  repre- 
sented subjects  drawn  by  Titian,  and  one  of  them  at 
least  preserved  in  a  contemporary  picture.  The  scene 
was  the  pent-house,  traditionally  known  amongst  Vene- 
tian artists  as  the  birth-place  of  Christ,  a  worn  and 
uninhabitable  hut  thatched  with  reeds  set  up  amongst 
the  ruins  of  an  old  temple.  To  the  right,  the  Virgin 
knelt  in  front  of  a  basket,  raising  a  white  cloak  from 
the  naked  form  of  the  Infant.  In  rear  to  the  left 
St.  Joseph  stood,  weak  from  age  and  travel,  leaning 
on  his  stafil  In  front  a  shepherd  prostrate  on  the 
ground  trailed  his  lamb  ofiering ;  behind  him  to  the 
left  were  two  herdsmen,  one  of  them  doflfing  his  cap 
and  leading  the  ox,  the  other  dragging  at  the  head  of 
the  ass.  On  the  hinder  waU  of  the  pent-house,  two 
men  watched  the  cradle,  whilst  the  grove  behind  was 
lighted  by  the  moon,  which  shed  its  rays  on  field  and 
trees  and  a  flock  tended  by  its  keeper.  This  subject, 
engraved  by  Boldrini,  is  depicted  in  a  small  panel 
catalogued  as  a  Titian  in  the  Pitti  collection  at 
Florence,  but  recalling  the  peculiar  form  of  treatment 
familiar  to  us  in  the  works  of  Savoldo.  It  may  be 
that  the  picture  in  earlier  days  displayed  the  hand 
of  Titian.     Now  that  it  is  dimmed  by  varnishes  and 


*  We  have  fuU  accounts  of 
these  frescos  in  one  of  Dr.  Taddeo 
Jacobi*8  MS.  at  Cadore,  to  which 
Northoote  (Life  of  Titian,  u.  s,,  ii. 


pp.  301  and  &)  seems  to  have 
had  access.  See  also  a  record  of 
March  21,  ld67,  in  Ticozzi,  Ve- 
celli,  p.  319. 


880 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  DL 


disfigured  by  repainting  it  looks  like  one  of  Savoldo's 
night  scenes.* 

Whilst  this  and  other  work  was  proceeding  at 
Venice  and  Cadore,  Titian  had  finished  the  *'  Martyr- 
dom of  St.  Lawrence"  for  Philip  the  Second,  and 
waited  with  impatience  for  the  moment  when  he , 
could  send  and  claim  payment  for  it.  He  had  given 
notice  to  the  King's  secretary,  Garcia  Hernandez^ 
that  the  picture  was  ready  for  delivery ;  but  sickness 
had  prevented  that  diplomatist  from  attending  to 
him,  and  his  death  a  short  time  after  had  thrown 
Titian's  communications  with  Spain  into  some  sort  of 
confusion.  The  only  Spanish  agent  then  remaining  in 
Venice  was  a  consul,  and  to  him  Titian  now  applied ; 
writing  to  the  King  to  announce  the  despatch  of  a 
"  Nude  Venus ''  in  addition  to  the  "  Martyrdom,''  and 
proposing  to  paint  a  whole  series  of  scenes  from  the 
life  of  St.  Lawrence. 


titian  to  philip  the  second. 

"Most  Invincible  and  Potent  King, 

"  I  gather  from  the  letters  of  your  Majesty 
to  Secretary  Garcia  Ernando,  of  good  memory,  the 


*  Ktti,  No.  423,  panel,  with 
BinaU  figures,  so  injured  that  the 
oolours  are  dropping  from  fhe 
wood.  The  hest  preseryed  part 
is  the  Virgin  and  Child,  which  is 
a  richly  coloured  group. 

A  copy  of  this  panel,  said  to  be 
identical  with  the  "  Nativity  **  by 
Titian,  once  in  the  collection  of 
Charles  the  Fii-st,  is  in  the  Qal- 


lery  of  Christchurch  at  Oxford. 
It  is  also  on  panel,  but  almost 
completely  repainted.  Compare 
Bathoe's  Catalogue,  p.  14.  The 
same  subject,  by  Titian  was  no- 
ticed by  Bidolfi  (Maraviglie,  i. 
198)  amongst  the  pictures  be- 
longing in  his  days  to  the  painter 
Gfamberato. 


Chap.  IX.]     MABTYEDOM  OF  ST.  LAWEENOE.  .    881 


desire  that  your  Majesty  has  of  receiving  the  *  Beato 
Lorenzo/     Your  Majesty  would  have  had  the  picture 
delivered  months  ago  in  Spain  but  for  the  delays, 
indisposition,  and  death  of  the  said  secretary.     Now  I 
shall  consign  the  canvas  to  the  Spanish  consul,  who 
will  forward  it  to  its  destination.     I  have  heard  that 
your  Majesty  wishes  to  have  paintings  of  all  the  inci- 
dents in  the  life  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  if  this  be  so,  I 
beg  to  be  informed  in  how  many  parts  and  the  height 
and  breadth  and  lighting  of  each  part,  as  the  life 
might  be  illustrated  in  eight  or  ten  pieces,  besides 
that  of  the  death,  which  measures  four  and  a  half 
braccia  in  breadth  and  six  in  height.     When  I  have 
ascertained  your  Majesty's  wishes,  I  shall  do  all  I  can 
to  put  the  matter  in  train  quickly,  and  use  the  assist- 
ance of  my  son  Orazio  and  another  clever  assistant,  so 
that  the  thing  shall  be  done  at  once,  as  I  am  disposed 
to  spend  aU  that  remains  of  my  life  iu  your  Majesty's 
service.     I  also  humbly  beg  your  Majesty  to  deign  to 
assist  me  in  my  wants  in  my  old  age  if  in  no  other 
way  than  in  commanding  the  officials  to  pay  my  pen- 
sions without  delay,  as  I  do  not  receive  a  quatrino 
but  the  half  of  it  goes  in  commission  and  interest,  or 
in  fees  for  agency  and  other  expenses,  or  in  bills  and 
presents.     The  Chamber  of  Spain  owes  me  pay  for 
three  years  and  a  half,  the  Milan  Chamber  even  more 
than   that,  and  in   months  past  the  latter  retained 
certain  annates,  which  I   did  not   expect   of  these 
officials,   considering    my    continuous    service   under 
your  Majesty.     Besides  this,  when  p9.ying  400  scudi 
they  gave  me  a  warrant  for  400  some  of  rice,  for 


382  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 

the  discount  of  which  I  was  obliged  to  give  two  reals 
per  scynia,  makiDg  up  a  loss  of  about  80  scudi.  To  b31 
this,  I  should  add  that  my  claim  on  Naples  has  never 
been  settled,  in  spite  of  the  numerous  orders  of  your 
Majesty  to  that  effect ;  and  so  I  beg  your  Majesty  to 
give  commission  that  if  no  copies  of  this  grant  are  to 
be  found,  and  though  the  originals  may  have  been 
destroyed,  it  should  be  renewed,  which  I  pray  to  God 
and  your  Majesty  may  be  possible,  in  order  that  I 
may  clear  myself  some  day  firom  the  infinite  expenses 
which  I  have  had  to  make  up  to  the  present  time, 
having  had  more  outgoings  than  the  whole  value  of 
the  original  grant,  in  respect  of  salaries  and  presents 
uselessly  laid  out  in  favour  of  various  gentlemen  and 
agents.  In  conclusion,  I  beg  to  be  recommended  and 
excused  if,  through  the  fault  of  your  Majesty's  minis- 
ters,  I  have  delayed  sending  the  *  St.  Lawrence.'  I 
may  add  that  I  send  with  that  picture  a  *  Nude 
Venus,'  which  I  finished  after  the  *  St.  Lawrence ' 
was  completed  ;  and  with  all  devotion  and  reverence, 
"  I  remain,  &c., 

"Your  Majesty's  most  humble  servant, 

"TiTIANO   VeCELLIO.* 
**  From  Venice,  December  2,  1667." 

We  may  presume  that  the  "  Venus  "  which  accom- 
panied the  "  St.  Lawrence  "  was  one  of  those  Spanish 
pictures  which  perished  by  neglect  or  by  fire,  a  replica 
perhaps  of  the  "  Venus  with  the  Mirrors  "  preserved  in 
Titian's  work-room  till  his  death. 

*  Tho  original  is  in  Appendix. 


Chap.  IX.]     MAETYEDOM  OF  ST.  LAWEENCE.  388 

The  "  St  LawreDce  "  was  sent  in  safety  to  Madrid, 
and  placed  on  the  high  altar  of  the  old  church  of  the 
Escorial,  where  it  still  remains  injured — it  may  be 
feared — without  redemption  by  smoke  and  repainting, 
yet  still  a  grand  and  majestic  work.  .  It  differs  neither 
in  general  form  nor  in  treatment  from  the  original  at 
the  Gesuiti  of  Venice,  though  marked  by  some  inte- 
resting varieties.  The  martyred  saint  lies  with  one  leg 
raised,  and  the  right  foot  writhing  under  bums  on  the 
grating.  The  canvas  is  semicircular  at  the  top.  A 
triumphal  arch  takes  the  place  of  the  Eoman  temple 
in  the  distance,  and  the  sky  seen  through  the  arch 
is  dimly  lighted  by  the  crescent  of  the  moon.  To 
the  right  in  the  foreground  a  dog  is  snarling.  In 
the  air  in  front  two  angels  fly  above  the  Saint's  head, 
one  of  them  holding  a  crown,  the  counterpart  of  those 
which  used  to  float  amongst  the  trees  of  the  "  Peter 
Martyr  "  on  the  altor  of  San  Giovanni  e  Paolo.  ^ 

Whilst  this  picture  was  on  its  way  to  Spain,  Titian 
was  finishing  the  three  canvases  ordered  by  the 
Brescian  municipality.  The  *^ deputies''  of  Brescia 
had  generously  left  it  to  the  "  king  of  painters  '*  to 
draw  the  figures  of  such  a  size  that  they  should  look 
larger  than  life  when  seen  from  the  floor  of  the  Brescian 
HaU,  but  they  stiffly  upheld  their  right  to  dictate  the 


♦  Two  long  streaks  of  repaint-   '  graying  of  this  picture  by  C.  Cort, 


ing  are  Tisible,  running  upwards 
from  the  head  of  St.  Lawrence  to 


inscribed,  **  Titian  invenit,  -Slques 
OsBS.    1671,    Comelio  Cort,    fe.'' 


the  figures  of  angels  in  the  air,  On  the  base  of  the  pedestal  in  the 
which  they  cut  in  halves.  On  picture  at  Madrid  is  written, 
the  edge  of  the  grating  we  read,  **  Invictiss.  PhilippoHispaniarum 
*'  TITIANO  F."    There  is  an  en-  \  regiD." 


384  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 

subject  and  the  detail  of  face  and  dress  in  every  one 
of  the  persons  delineated.  According  to  their  paper 
of  instructions,  the  central  canvas  was  to  represent 
Brescia  as  a  female  in  the  clouds  attended  by  Minerva, 
Mars,  and  Naiads.  Minerva  was  not  to  be  the  goddess 
of  war  but  the  goddess  of  peace.  Mars  in  classic  dress, 
armed  cap-dnpie^  of  powerful  frame  but  with  menace 
in  his  glance.  Brescia,  without  the  attributes  of  a 
queen,  was  to  be  dressed  in  simple  white,  one  hand 
to  hold  a  golden  statue  of  faith  with  a  cornucopia  as 
carved  on  one  of  the  pennies  of  Trajan,  the  other  to 
rest  on  her  bosom.  Her  form  and  face  were  to  be 
lovely,  dignified,  and  serene.  In  memory  of  Hercules 
the  founder  of  Brescia,  a  lion's  skin  was  to  grace  her 
shouldeis,  a  club  lie  at  her  feet.  Minerva's  tresses 
were  to  be  auburn  floating  in  the  wind,  her  eyes  blue, 
the  helmet  on  her  head  surmounted  with  a  sphinx. 
She  should  bear  an  olive  branch,  and  near  her  should 
be  placed  an  owl  and  a  crystal  shield.  The  naiads 
were  to  be  seated  below  on  the  sward,  with  wreaths  of 
reeds  and  water  lilies  and  urns  at  their  side.  The 
theme  of  the  second  picture  was  described  as  "  Cyclops 
forging  weapons  of  ofience  near  the  smithy  of  Vulcan," 
out  of  which  flames  should  be  seen  issuing,  whilst  Vulcan 
himself  stood  by,  and  a  lion  roared  sullenly  in  the 
foreground.  In  contrast  to  this,  the  third  piece  was 
to  represent  Ceres  with  Bacchus  and  two  river  goda* 
Titian  had  had  these  canvases  a  long  time  on  hand, 
when  the  Brescians  bethought  themselves  that  they 


*  See  the  records  in  Zamboni,  u,  a.,  A.p     lY.  pp.  132  and  fi^. 


Chap.  IX.]      -TITIAN  AND  THE  BRESCIANS.  385 

might  put  some  pressure  on  him,  by  means  of  their 
fiiend  the  procurator  Girolamo  Grimani  at  Venice. 
Grimani  did  not  fail  to  do  their  bidding,  but  Titian 
had  probably  some  complaint  to  make  on  the  score  of 
advances,  for  when  he  wrote  in  June,  1568,  to  the 
deputies  to  announce  the  completion  of  the  pictures, 
he  also  asked  for  immediate  payment.  Satisfied  with 
this  result,  the  Brescians  no  doubt  gave  Titian  the 
necessary  assurance,  and  after  two  of  the  canvases  had 
been  publicly  exhibited  in  October  in  the  church  of 
San  Bartolommeo  at  Venice,  all  three  were  packed 
and  consigned  to  Cristoforo  Eosa  at  Brescia.  A  short 
time  after  this  Orazio  set  out  to  visit  the  deputies,  and 
there,  to  his  surprise,  he  met  with  hostile  criticism  and 
discontent  The  Brescians  declared  that  the  pictures 
were  not  by  Titian,  the  referees  to  whom  they  sub- 
mitted them  for  valuation  only  thought  them  worth 
a  thousand  ducats,  and  Orazio  retired  in  dudgeon, 
refusing  to  accept  the  proflfered  payment.  For  some 
days  Titian  fumed  over  this  mishap.  He  applied  at 
last  to  Domenico  BoUani,  Bishop  of  Brescia,  with 
a  request  that  he  should  mediate  in  the  matter. 
Nothing,  however,  came  of  the  arbitration.  The 
deputies  remained  firm,  and  Titian  was  fain  at  last 
to  accept  the  1000  ducats  as  a  sufl&cient  return  for 
his  expenditure  and  trouble.*  The  Brescian  allegories 
perished  by  fire  on  the  18th  of  January,  1575,  two 
years  before  the  canvases  of  the  Hall  of  Great  Council 


*  See  Titian  to  BoUani,  Yen., 
June  3,  1569 ;  in  Zamboni,  ti.  0., 


App.  v.,    No.  4,   p.  143;    and 
Zamboni*8  text,  p.  80. 


VOL.   IL  CO 


386  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

at  Venice  underwent  the  same  fate.*    A  print  engraved 
by  Cort  in  1572  still  shows  the  composition  of  the  forge 
of  Vulcan  :  and  judging  from  this  print,  in  which  two 
Cydop,  «med  Jth  Cner.  .re  4tog  the  ci«,g«  on 
the  tube  of  a  piece  of  cannon,  the  figures  were  designed 
with  remarkable  boldness,  and  with  due  regard  to  the 
horizontal  position  of  the  canvas.     But  it  was  not  to  be 
expected  that  a  man  of  Titian's  age  should  execute 
pictures,  each  of  which  had  a  square  surface  of  a 
hundred  braccia,t  without  assistance  from  his  pupils, 
and  no  doubt  there  was  a  good  deal  of  truth  in  the 
statement  of  the  deputies  that  they  were  not  by  Titian, 
if,  by  saying  this,  they  meant  to  allude  to  the  work  of 
his  disciples.    For  years  Orazio  and  Girolamo  or  Marco 
Vecelli  and  Schiavone  had  been  the  mainstay  of  the 
workshop  at  San  Canciano.     So  long  as  Titian  with 
his  own  hand  worked  over  the  ground  which  they  had 
previously  covered,  the  picture  might  properly  be  called 
his.    But  if  it  happened,  as  it  sometimes  did,  that  Titian 
neglected  this  duty,  the  persons  who  bought  his  works 
could  not  be  said  to  have  complained  unjustly.    We 
shall  presently  see  that  Titian  sent  a  composition  of 
"  Christ  and  the  Tax  Gatherer  "  to  King  Philip,  which 
he  called  his  own,  and  yet,  if  this  piece,  which  is  now 
preserved  and  bears  his  name,  be  that  which  he  sent 
to  Spain,  it  shows  no  trace  of  his  hand.     In  many 
respects  the  old  master  was  labouring  under  blunted 
faculties.     But  he  was  perhaps  not  unaware  that  his 
powers  were  sinking.     In  his  last  letter  to  the  King 

*  See  Brognoli's  Ghiida  di  Bros-  I      f  Each  canvas  was  10  braccia 
cia,  V,  «.,  p.  58.  I  square.    Yas.  xi.  p.  268. 


Chap.  IX.] 


TITIAN'S   PATENTS. 


387 


of  Spain,  he  had  not  ventured  to  say  that  he  could 
finish  eight  or  ten  scenes  from  the  life  of  St.  Lawrence 
without  large  and  continued  assistance.  Many  of  his 
private  arrangements  point  to  the  conviction  that  he 
thought  he  could  not  last  much  longer.  The  only 
mistake  he  made  was  to  believe  that  his  favourite  son 
would  live  to  enjoy  his  succession,  for  whom  he  made 
constant  jprovision  in  view  of  that  contingency.  As 
early  as  June  19,  1567,  he  petitioned  the  Council  of 
Ten  to  transfer  his  brokers'  patent  to  Orazio,  and  a 
decree  was  issued  in  April,  1569,  in  accordance  with 
his  wishes.*  In  July,  1571,  he  obtained  a  patent 
from  Philip  the  Second  to  transfer  or  will  to  Orazio 
his  pension  on  the  Chamber  of  Milan.t  The  timber 
yard  at  the  Zattere,  where  we  find  the  municipality 
of  Murano  taking  its  supplies  in  August,  1568, J  be- 
longed to  Titian,  though  registered  in  the  name  of 
his  son.  But  it  was  willed  by  Providence  that  Orazio 
should  not  long  survive  his  father.  One  trait  remains 
firmly  impressed  on  Titian  to  the  very  last  His  letters 
to  princes  had  never  been  free  from  adulation;  but 
this  adulation  had  usually  concealed  some  bitter  pill  in 
the  form  of  a  demand  for  money.  The  last  numbers  of 
his  correspondence  are,  if  possible,  more  fulsome  than 


*  See  the  date  of  this  decree  in 
Cadorin,  DeUo  Amore,  u.  8.,  pp. 
9,  11,  &  65. 

t  The  patent  is  in  Gktye,  Car- 
teggio,  iii.  p.  297.  It  was  con- 
firmed by  the  senate  at  Milan  on 
Jnne  4,  1572.  The  record  is 
among  the  Jaoobi  MS.  Cadore. 

t  Order  of  the  Podeeta  to  the 


Camerlengo  of  Murano  to  pay  to 
Orazio Vecelli,  ''timber merchant 
alle  Zattere,"  280  lire,  and  16 
soldi,  for  wood  furnished  to  the 
camunitd  of  Murano  to  repair 
the  Ponte  Lungo.  MS.  T^  Jacobi 
of  Cadore.  The  order  is  dated 
Aug.  4,  1568. 

0  c  2 


988  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX, 

previous  ones,  but  they  show  no  diminution  in  the 
old  man's  powers  of  calculation,  or  his  canny  regard 
to  his  own  interest. 

TITIAN  TO  THE  KING  OF  SPAIN. 

"  Most  Invinciblb  and  Potent  King, 

"I  finished  within  the  last  few  days  the 
picture  of  '  Our  Lord  and  the  Pharisee  showing  the 
Coin,*  which  I  promised  to  your  Majesty,  and  I  have 
sent  it  with  the  prayer  that  your  Majesty  may  enjoy 
it  as  much  as  earlier  works  of  mine,  as  I  desire  to  close 
these  the  days  of  my  extreme  old  age  in  the  service  of 
the  Catholic  King  my  Signor.  I  am  now  busy  com- 
posing another  subject  of  large  compass  and  greater 
artifice  than  I  have  undertaken  for  years,  and  when  it 
is  done,  I  shall  lay  it  humbly  before  the  exalted 
presence  of  your  Majesty.  Meanwhile,  in  order  that  I 
may  more  freely  serve  in  this  matter,  and  clear  myself 
of  the  continual  labour  and  expense  to  which  I  am 
subjected  in  respect  of  this  blessed  order  for  grain  on 
the  kingdom  of  Naples,  which  has  never  yet  jdelded  any- 
thing after  so  many  years,  I  humbly  beg  your  Majesty 
to  command  that  the  said  order  be  despatched  without 
delay,  and  so  that  it  shall  be  free  from  the  deductions 
or  charges  of  that  Chamber ;  and  this  I  beg  in  recom- 
pense for  the  many  and  continuous  interests  that  have 
suffered  for  years  in  this  business,  and  in  consideration 
of  my  old  devotion  and  service.  Such  a  favour,  easy 
to  grant  to  the  infinite  goodness  and  munificence  of 
your  Catholic  Majesty,  will  be  an  alleviation  to  the 
great  want  in  which  I  find  myself  at  this  moment,  and 


Chap.  IX.]   THE  "SAYIOUE  AND  PHABISEB." 


369 


I  shall  consider  it  to  have  given  new  life  to  the  soul 
within  this  worn  body  which  is  so  entirely  devoted  to 
the  service  of  your  Majesty.  And  so,  recommending 
myself,  &c. 

"  I  am  of  your  Catholic  Majesty 

"  The  most  devoted  humble  Servant, 

"  TiTIANO  VeCELLIO.  ^ 
"  jFVowi  Venice,  26th  Oct.,  1568." 

If  the  "  Tribute  Money  "  to  which  Titian  alludes  in 
his  letter  be  that  which  once  formed  part  of  the 
treasure  brought  from  Spain  by  Marshal  Soult,  and 
now  belongs  to  the  National  Collection,  it  bears  the 
master's  name,  yet  displays  a  treatment  far  more 
crude  and  unsatisfactory  than  we  can  concede  even  to 
Palma  Giovine  in  his  bad  days.  Nor  can  it  be 
supposed  that  Titian  would  send  such  a  picture  as  his 
own  to  the  King  of  Spain,  unless  he  secretly  despised, 
and  could  with  impunity  challenge  the  taste  of  the 
Monarch.t 

That  Titian  at  this  period  was  gradually  resigning 


*  See  the  original  in  Appendix. 

t  No.  224  in  the  National  Gal- 
lary,  on  canyas,  4  ft.  h.  by  3  ff». 
4^,  signed  near  the  Saviour's 
head,  "Titiako  F."  Christ  is 
tamed  to  the  left,  and  points  up- 
wards with  the  right  hand  as  the 
<< Pharisee"  presents  the  coin. 
Behind  the  latter  is  a  man  wear- 
ing goggles.  A  stone  wall  to  the 
right,  sky  to  the  left,  form  the 
background  of  the  picture.  The 
flesh  is  of  a  bricky  red,  ill  painted, 
smeary,  and  raw.  The  figures  are 
at  the  same  time  altogether  below 


the  elevated  standard  of  Titian. 
Martin  Bota  has  engraved  this 
piece,  and  his  plate  is  inscribed, 
"TrriAinrs  invbntob,  Martino 
Buota  Sebenzan  F."  The  picture 
was  bought  at  the  sale  of  Marshal 
Soulfs  collection  in  1852.  But 
there  is  another  engraving,  in- 
scribed '  *  Titian pinxit :  Com.  Gall, 
sc.  et  exc,"  which  points  to  an- 
other now  missing  composition 
of  Titian,  where  Christ  addresses 
the  Pharisee  in  the  presence  cf 
three  others. 


380 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  EX. 


himself  to  a  life  of  less  activity  and  movement  than 
that  to  which  he  had  hitherto  been  accustomed,  might 
be  inferred  from  his  transaction  of  Cadorine  business 
at  Venice.  On  the  18th  of  September,  1568,  we  find 
him  making  an  order  of  legitimacy  in  favour  of 
Antonio  and  Giovanni  Battista,  the  two  sons,  aged 
seventeen  and  nineteen  respectively,  of  Pietro  Costan- 
tini,  curate  of  San  Vito,  in  Cadore.  Emmanuel  of 
Augsburg,  Titian's  disciple,  is  named  amongst  the 
witnesses  to  the  order.** 

Little  that  can  be  called  eventful  occurs  in  the 
painter's  life  at  this  time,  and  we  hardly  know  of  his 
existence,  except  by  squabbles  with  the  Brescian  de- 
puties, or  the  disputes  of  Stoppio,  Ott,  and  BrachierLf 

On  the  27th  of  November,  1570,  Jacopo  Sansovino 
died  at  the  fine  old  age  of  ninety-one,  and  was  buried 
in  the  church  of  San  Basso,  whither  perhaps  Titian, 
who  was  two  years  his  senior,  followed  his  remains  to 
the  grave.  The  death  of  this  industrious  sculptor  and 
architect  severed  the  last  of  the  links  which  united 
Titian  to  the  artists  of  the  previous  century.  It  left 
him  the  last  of  the  triumvirate  which  ruled  for  so 
many  years  over  literary  and  artistic  circles  in  Venice.^ 

To  the  letters — now  few  and  far  between — which 
Titian  addressed  to  Philip  the  Second,  responses  no 


•  A  copy  of  the  order  is  in 
Ticozzi,  Yecelli,  p.  241. 

f  See  antea, 

X  There  is  a  *'  portrait  of  San- 
BOTino  by  Titian,"  No.  676  in  the 
TJ£Bzi  at  Florence.  But  the  face 
and  figore  are  altogether  difiPerent 
from  those  of  another  portrait  of 


the  sculptor  by  Tintoretto,  No. 
638  in  the  same  collection.  As  to 
the  authorship  of  the  likeness 
nambered  576,  it  is  impossible  to 
give  any  opinion  in  consequence 
of  the  state  to  which  the  canvas 
has  been  reduced  by  repainting. 


Ohap.  rX.]         '*LUOEBTIA  AND  TAEQTJIN/'  391 


longer  came,  except  through  the  medium  of  ministers. 
Yet  he  persevered,  and  though  he  no  longer  received 
any  commissions,  he  persisted  in  sending  pictures,  and 
urging,  we  might  think  ad  nauseam^  his  claims  on  the 
treasuries  of  Naples  and  Milan.  Philip,  unfortunately 
for  Titian,  was  hardly  in  a  condition  to  devote  either 
time  or  money  to  luxurious  expenditure.  His  rule  in 
the  Netherlands,  being  upheld  by  force  and  terror,  was 
naturally  costly.  His  relations  with  France  being 
unfriendly,  were  necessarily  productive  of  expense. 
The  Turks,  too,  had  declared  war  against  Venice,  and 
threatened  the  peace  of  Europe.  In  spite  of  all  these 
complications,  Titian  again  sent  pictures,  and  wrote  to 
the  King  of  Spain  in  the  summer  of  1571. 

TITIAN  TO  PHILIP  THE  SECOND. 

"Most  Potent  and  Invincible  King, 

"  I  think  your  Majesty  will  have  received 
by  this  the  picture  of  *  Lucretia  and  Tarquin/  which 
was  to  have  been  presented  by  the  Venetian  am- 
bassador. I  now  come  with  these  lines  to  ask  your 
Majesty  to  deign  to  command  that  I  should  be  in- 
formed as  to  what  pleasure  it  has  given.  The  cala- 
mities of  the  present  times,  in  which  everyone  is 
suffering  from  the  continuance  of  war,  force  me  to 
this  step,  and  oblige  me  at  the  same  time  to  ask  to  be 
favoured  with  some  kind  proof  of  your  Majesty's 
grace,  as  well  as  with  some  assistance  from  Spain  or 
elsewhere,  since  I  have  not  been  able  for  years  past  to 
obtain  any  payment,  either  from  the  Naples  grant,  or 
from  my  ordinary  pensions.     The  state  of  my  affairs 


392  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX^ 

is  indeed  such  that  I  do  not  know  how  to  live  in  this 
my  old  age,  devoted  as  it  is  entirely  to  the  service  of 
your  Catholic  Majesty,  and  to  no  other.  Not  having^ 
for  eighteen  years  past  received  a  qucUrino  for  the 
paintings  which  I  delivered  from  time  to  time,  and  of 
which  I  forward  a  list  by  this  opportunity  to  the 
Secretary  Perez,  I  feel  assured  that  your  Majesty's 
infinite  clemency  will  cause  a  careful  consideration  to 
be  nude  of  the  services  of  an  old  servant  of  the  age 
of  ninety-five,  by  extending  to  him  some  evidence  of 
munificence  and  KberaUty.  Sending  two  prints  of 
the  design  of  the  heato  Lorenzo,  and  most  humbly 
recommending  myself . . . 

**  I  am  your  Catholic  Majesty's 

"  Most  devoted  humble  servant, 

"  TiTIANO  VeOELLIO. 
"  Fnm  Venice,  August  1, 1671." 

There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  Titian  entrusted  a 
picture  of  Tarquin  and  Lucretia  to  the  Venetian 
ambassador,  or  that  the  envoy  delivered  it  to  the 
monarch  to  whom  he  was  accredited.  But  fix)m  that 
day  forward  no  due  to  the  canvas  has  been  preserved. 
A  replica  probably  remained  at  Venice,  and  it  was 
perhaps  from  this  that  Cornelius  Cort  produced  his 
print  of  1571.  In  the  seventeenth  century,  the  Lord 
Marshall,  Earl  of  Arundel,  presented  a  picture,  the 
counterpart  of  Cort's  print,  to  Charles  the  First,  and 
this  piece  it  is  which  we  find  passing  into  the  gallery 
of  Louis  the  Fourteenth.  But  whether  that  again  is  the 
canvas  which  went  to  Spain,  and  thence  firom  hand  to 


Chap.  IX.]         '*TABQUIN  AND  LUCEETIA." 


393 


hand  into  British  collections  of  our  time^  it  is  impossible 
to  say.*  The  "  Tarquin  and  Lucretia"  of  Charles  the 
First  is  described  in  contemporary  manuscripts  as 
defaced,  in  L^pici^'s  catalogue  as  "greatly  injured." 
The  Northwick  "  Lucretia "  commends  itself  neither 
in  form  nor  in  treatment  to  modem  taste,  and  the 
damage  which  it  has  received  &om  patching  and  re- 
painting is  considerable ;  but  one  still  sees  that  it  was 
a  work  of  Titian's  advanced  age.  Lucretia,  surprised 
all  but  naked  on  a  couch,  resists  the  assaults  of  a  'man 
in  a  green  doublet  and  crimson  hose,  who  grasps  her 
right  arm  with  his  left  hand,  and  threatens  her  life 
with  a  dagger.  A  man  peeps  into  the  room  to  the  left 
by  raising  a  comer  of  a  green  hanging.  Lucretia's 
slippers  lie  to  the  right  at  the  foot  of  the  couch,  and 
one  of  them  bears  the  name  of  Titian.  Considerable 
liberty,  it  wiU  be  seen,  is  taken  with-  the  traditions  of 
costume.  Nature  is  strained  beyond  limit  in  the 
stride  and  action  of  Tarquin.     Yet  the  picture  is  still 


*  Tizianello's  Anonimo  tells  of 
the  possession  of  * '  Tarquin  forcing 
Lucretia''  by  the  Earl  of  Arundel. 
The  catalogue  of  Charles  the 
Eirst's  collection  (Ashmole  MS.) 
states  that  the  king  received  a 
'*  Tarquin  and  Lucretia,"  '^  entire 
figures  so  large  as  the  life,  6  ft. 
3  h.  by  4  ft;.  3,  from  the  Lord 
Marshall "  (Earl  of  Arundel)  as  a 
present.  (Bathoe,  u.  <.,  p.  96.) 
At  the  sale  of  the  Whitehall  col- 
lection, Jabach  bought  the  canvas, 
which  he  sold  to  Louis  the  Four- 
teenth. (Yillot's  Catalogue,  p. 
xzii.)    L^picie  describes  it  at  the 


LouTre  in  1752-4  as  a  ^uiyas 
6  ft.  h.  and  5^  broad.  (Catalogue 
raisonn^,  folio,  No.  12  of  the  re- 
gistered Titians.)  How  it  left 
the  Louyre  is  not  known ;  but  it 
is  not  there  now.  We  might 
therefore  infer  that  it  is  the  same 
picture  which  reappears  to  yiew 
in  the  collection  of  Joseph  Bona- 
parte, from  whence  it  goes  by 
purchase  to  Lord  Northwick  (No. 
871  of  the  Northwick  Catalogue), 
and  thence  to  Mr.  Conyngham, 
at  whose  sale  it  was  bought  for 
the  Marquis  of  Hertford  for  2dO 
guineas. 


394 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX, 


remarkable  for  its  contrafits  of  colour,  and  for  a  certain 
boldness  of  touch  in  stiff  impasted  pigments.* 

Not  without  cause  had  Titian  complained  to  King 
Philip  of  the  sufferings  inflicted  on  the  Venetians  by 
a  state  of  war.  Since  May,  1570,  Venice  had  been 
engaged  in  hostilities  with  Sultan  Selim,  and  had  lost 
Cyprus  and  numerous  places  in  the  Adriatic.  The 
Venetian  envoy,  who  took  with  him  the  pictures  of 
Titian,  had  been  bound  on  a  much  more  weighty 
errand  than  that  of  delivering  a  "  Tarquin  and 
Lucretia.'^  Barbaro  the  haile  at  Constantinople  had 
been  thrown  into  gaol,  and  lay  there  in  danger  of 
his  life.  Turkish  cruisers  insulted  the  coasts  of 
Greece  and  the  Ionian  islands,  and  the  Sultan  s 
squadrom  were  sailing  bo  near  to  Venice  that  the 
forts  had  to  be  armed,  the  passes  blocked  with 
sunken  ships,  and  the  sands  of  Malamocco  dug  up 
into  redoubts.  It  was  very  necessary  to  press  the 
preparations  of  Spain,  which  had  signed  a  faeaty  in 
May,  1571,  and  in  August  had  not  sent  a  single  ship 
to  t^e  rescue.  At  last  the  moment  of  action  came. 
Philip  ordered  Don  John  of  Austria  to  the  Straits  of 
Messina  with  a  fleet  Two  hundred  men  of  war 
rounded  the  capes  and  steered  for  the  coasts  of 
Greece,  and  there,  on  the  7th  of  October,  near  the 
classic  promontory  of  Actium  and  within  sight  of 


*  The  picture,  now  belonging 
to  Sir  Bichard  WaUace,  to  whom 
Lord  Hertford's  coUection  de- 
scended, is  patched  aU  round,  and 
measures  7  ft.  2  in  height,  by 
4  ft.  8.    The  surfaces,  where  com- 


paratiyely  firee  from  repainting, 
are  duUed  by  age  and  abrasion. 
On  the  slipper  we  read  '*  TrnANVS 
F."  Cort's  print  is  inscribed, 
'*  Titian  inven.  Comelio  Cort,  fe. 
1571." 


Chap.  IX.] 


BATTLE   OP   LBPANTO. 


395 


Sapienza,  where  Antonio  Grimani  had  met  with  defeat 
and  disgrace,  was  fought  the  celebrated  battle  of 
Lepanto,  in  which  the  Turkish  armada  was  anni- 
hilated at  a  single  blow,  and  universal  joy  was  spread 
throughout  the  lands  of  Christendom.  Sebastian 
Venier,  who  commanded  the  Venetian  division  of  the 
Spanish  force,  despatched  Giustiniani,  one  of  his 
captains,  to  carry  the  news  of  victory  to  Venice.  He 
entered  the  pass  qf  San  Martino  at  six  in  the  evening 
of  the  17th  of  October,  his  crew  waving  Turkish 
banners  and  his  rowers  wearing  the  spoils  of  their 
enemies.  The  people  quickly  learnt  the  glorious 
intelligence.  All  the  powder  that  could  be  purchased 
was  burnt  in  squibs  aud  fireworks  in  honour  of  the 
great  event.  Men  and  women  paraded  the  streets  in 
an  ecstasy  of  joy.  Giustiniani,  when  he  landed,  was 
carried  in  triumph  to  San  Marco,  whither  the  Doge 
and  council  and  foreign  ambassadors  proceeded  in 
state  to  hear  a  Te  Deum.  All  the  shops  were  shut, 
and  some  of  them  chalked  with  the  words  :  "  Closed 
for  the  death  of  the  Turks."  The  debtors'  prison  was 
broken  open,  and  the  inmates  escaped  to  share  in  the 
general  jubilation.*  Was  Titian  there  to  take  a  part 
in  this  universal  festivity  ?  We  may  think  that  a 
man  of  his  spirit  would  not  be  likely  even  at  ninety- 
five  to  let  these  popular  demonstrations  go  by,  and 
remain  a  passive  spectator  of  them.  The  Doge  and 
council  had  not  been  a  fortnight  in  possession  of  the 
news  of  the  battle  of  Lepanto,  when  they  thought  of 


*  See  a  coutemporary  descrip- 
tion of  these  soenee  in  Yriarte*s 


Vio  d'un  Patricien  de  Venise,  8vo, 
Paris,  1874,  pp.  208-9. 


396 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 


illustrating  it  by  a  picture.  The  council  met  on  the 
8th  of  November  and  passed  a  patriotic  decree : 
declaring  that,  "if  ever  a  noted  action  of  bygone 
times  deserved  to  bo  represented  and  kept  alive  in 
the  minds  of  the  people,  none  was  more  entitled  to 
such  a  distinction  than  the  victory  of  the  Holy 
League  over  the  Turkish  armada."  It  was  therefore 
decreed  that  the  chiefs  of  the  Ten  should  be  em- 
powered to  select  one  or  more  painters  in  Venice  or 
elsewhere  to  paint  the  "  Battle  of  Lepanto^*  in  the  Hall 
of  the  Library  in  the  Ducal  palace/^  and  Ridolfi  relates 
that  Titian  was  chosen  to  perform  this  distinguished 
service,  and  that  Salviati  was  selected  to  assist  him  ; 
but  delays  occurred,  and  Tintoretto  painted  the  "Battle 
of  Lepanto.^'t  That  Tintoretto,  as  a  reward  for  a 
canvas  representing  that  victory,  was  endowed  with  a 
Sanseria  by  the  Council  of  Ten  in  1574,  admits  of  no 
doubt  whatever.J  But  there  is  no  reason  to  think 
that  Titian  would  have  refused  a  commission  for  such 
a  picture  from  the  Venetian  government,  if  his  time 
had  not  been  engaged  upon  work  of  a  similar  nature 
for  a  more  exalted  patron ;  we  shall  presently  see  that 
in  1574,  when  Tintoretto  delivered  his  canvas  to  liie 
Council  of  Ten,  Titian  was  composing  "A  Battle'* 
for  Philip  the  Second,  which  is  probably  the  same 
composition  as  that  of  which  the  following  anecdote 
is  told  by  Martinez  in  his  life  of  Sanchez  Coello.§ 


*  See  the  decree  in  full  in  Lo- 
renzi,  p.  372. 

t  Eidolfi,  Marav.  ii.  206-7. 

%  Bidolfi,  u,  a.  But  the  original 
decree  of  the  27th  of  September, 


]o74,  is  in  Lorenzi,  u.  <.,  p.  391. 
§  See  poatea,  and  Titian  to  A. 
Perez,    Dec.   22,   1574,    in   Ap- 
pendix. 


Chap.  IX.]         "ALLEGOEY  OP  LEPANTO." 


397 


Philip  the  Second  having  written  to  Titian  to  prepare 
a  canvas  equal  in  size  to  that  of  his  equestrian  portrait 
of  Charies  the  Fifth,  sent  for  Coello  and  asked  him  to 
sketch  the  design  which  Titian  was  afterwards  to  use- 
Notwithstanding  his  aversion  to  such  an  order,  Coello 
was  obliged  to  obey.     Under  the  special  directions  of 
his  Majesty  he  represented  the  king  standing  with 
his  first-bom  son  in  his  arms,  and  the  boy  stretching 
his  hands  towards   an  angel,  who  was  to  be  seen 
descending  from  heaven  with  a  palm  and  a  crown, 
whilst  a  prostrate  Moor  lay  bound  in  the  landscape 
below.     Besides  this  sketch,  which  measured  about 
three  palms,  Sanchez  took  sittings  from  Philip,  and 
painted  hia  portrait  of  life  size,  and  both  were  sent  by 
the  shortest  road  to  Titian  at  Venice.     On  seeing  the 
head   and  the    sketch,   and    learning  what  he  was 
expected  to    do    with    them,   Titian    was  generous 
enough  to  write  back  that  so  clever  an  artist  as  the 
author  of  these  pieces  ought  to  suffice  for  the  King, 
who  from  that  time  forward  need  never  send  for 
pictures  abroad.    But  Philip,  though  he  acknowledged 
the  compliment,  declared  that  he  should  like  to  have 
the  work  from  Titian's  hand,  and  Titian  accordingly 
proceeded  to  execute  it.^'^    The  canvas  of  "  Philip  pre- 
senting his  Son  to  an  Angel,*'  is  now  in  the  Madrid 


*  Jusepe  Martinez,  DiBCursos 
praoticables  del  Nobilisimo  Arte 
de  la  Fintura,  in  Don  Pedro  de 
Madrazo's  Catalogae,  u.  «.,  p. 
343.  Don  Pedro  disbelieves  this 
anecdote,  chiefly  because  it  speaks 
of  Philip  as  presenting  his  *'  first- 
bom  "  son,  when  it  is  dear  that 


the  picture  was  paiated  after  the 
battle  of  Lepanto,  and  therefore 
more  than  three  vears  after  the 
death  of  Don  Carlos.  But  Mar- 
tinez no  doubt  alludes  to  the 
first-born  of  Philip*s  last  marriage 
with  Donna  Anna  of  Austria. 


398  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 


Museum,  and  clearly  displays  the  style  of  Titian  in 
his  old  age.     Its  size  is  within  a  couple  of  inches  that 
of  the  portrait  of  Charles  the  Fifth  at  Miihlberg.     It 
is  done  quickly  at  one  painting  and  without  impasting, 
showing  that  Philip  not  only  ordered  the  piece,  but 
asked  Titian  to  finish  it  quickly.     Two  months  after 
the  Battle  of  Lepanto,  the  Queen  Anna  of  Austria 
presented  Philip  with  a  son  known  as  the  Infante 
Don  Fernando.     At  a  time  when  all  Europe  was 
rejoicing  over  the  heroism  of  Don  John  of  Austria, 
and  exaggerating  the  consequences  of  his  victory, 
nothing  could    be    more    natural    than  that  Philip 
should  suggest  to  a  painter  the  theme  which  forms 
the  subject  of  Titian's  composition.     The^  picture  is 
full  of  allusions  to  that  great  engagement     Philip 
stands  at  an  altar  covered  with  crimson   cloth,  his 
frame  defended  by  armour,  his  legs  in  crimson  hose. 
He  holds  aloft  the  naked  babe,  who  stretches  his  hands 
towards  the  angel  bearing  the  crown  and  a  palm  with 
a  scroll  inscribed :  **  Maiora  Tibi."     At  the  foot  of 
the  altar  a  Turk  kneels  half  naked,  with  his  arms 
bound  behind  his  back,   his  turban,  a  kettledrum, 
quiver,  and  flag,  and  the  crescent  and  star  of  the 
Ottomans  lying  at  his  feet     But  Titian,  whether  he 
accepted  Coello's  sketch  or  not,  was  ill  inclined  to 
devote  much  care  to  this  allegory,  and  the  angel  who 
drops  from  heaven  is  drawn  in  a  bold  but  unnatural 
action,  whilst  the  rest  of  the  picture  is  thrown  off 
with  a  certain  amount  of  haste.     Imperfect  as  the 
work  appears  on  this  account,  the  portrait  profile  of 
Philip  is  fine  and  spirited;  the  remaining  parts  are 


CsiLF.  IX.] 


'CHRIST  DERIDED." 


399 


designed  with  a  playful  skill,  and  the  figures  are  full 
of  life-like  impulse,  as  they  show  themselves  strongly 
relieved  by  trenchant  light  and  shade,  and  glowing 
with  a  warm  richness  of  colour.* 

An  artist,  even  if  he  has  grown  grey  in  his  pro^ 
fession,  cannot  be  expected  to  put  forth  his  strength 
in  a  subject  dictated  by  others,  with  the  same 
spirit  as  when  the  theme  is  suggested  entirely  by  his 
own  thought  and  feeling.  The  contrast  between 
official  and  original  painting  at  this  late  period  of 
Titian's  life  is  well  illustrated  by  a  comparison  be- 
tween the  "  Allegory  of  Lepanto "  and  the  "  Christ 
Crowned  with  Thorns  "  at  Munich.  In  the  one  we 
detect  the  artist's  want  of  natural  inspiration,  in  the 
other  we  see  Titian  labouring  for  his  own  satisfaction. 
The  *'  Christ  Crowned  with  Thorns  "  was  not  commis- 
sioned by  any  one,  it  was  not  composed  for  any  known 
patron,  but  remained  unfinished  in  Titian's  workroom 
till  Tintoretto  saw  it  one  day  and  begged  the  master 
to  give  it  him  as  a  present.  Titian  did  so,  and 
Tintoretto  put  it  up  in  his  own  atelier  as  a  model  of 
what  a  modem  picture  ought  to  be.  Boschini,  who 
saw  it  in  the  hands  of  Tintoretto's  son,  justly  describes 
it  as  "  a  marvel  worthy  of  a  place  in  an  academy  to 


*  This  canvas,  No.  470  in  the 
Madrid  Museum,  is  m.  3.35  h.  by 
2.74,  and  is  known  to  have  been 
in  the  palace  of  Madrid  at  the 
death  of  Philip  the  Second.  The 
king  faces  to  the  left,  he  turns 
his  back  to  a  palatial  colonnade, 
on  one  of  the  pillars  of  which  a 
cartello  is  &8tened,  bearing  the 


words,  "Titianvs  Vec. .  .  .  iu. 
^ques  C»s.  fecit.*'  The  colours, 
originaUy  thin  and  painted  in  at 
one  sitting,  have  lost  more  of 
their  richness  and  clearness  than 
other  pieces  in  which  the  impast 
was  more  solid.  Photograph  by 
Laurent. 


I 


400  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Ohap.  IX. 


show  students  all  the  secrets  of  art,  and  teach  them, 
not  to  degrade  but  to  improve  nature/'  * 

The  composition  diflFers  from  that  of  the  Louvre  in 
lighting,  and  in  the  setting  of  some  of  the  dramatis 
personae.     Here  the  scene  is  laid  in  the  gloom  of  a 
passage,  lighted  in  part  by  the  smoky  flare  of  a  hang- 
ing lamp  of  five  branches.    The  man  who  spits  at  the 
Saviour  is  omitted,  and  the  guard  in  front  to  the 
right,  instead  of  kneeling  and  holding  fast  the  Re- 
deemer's hands,  ascends  the  steps,  trailing  a  battle- 
axe  in  his  left  hand,  and  grasping  a  wand  with  his 
right,  a  youth  behind  him  carrying  a  bundle  of  reeds. 
The  dress  of  the  man  with  the  battle-axe  is  variegated 
and  bright,  consisting  of  a  green  feathered  cap,  a  red 
and  green  coat,  and  a  lemon  coloured  sleeve.     The 
treatment,  though  it  is  partly  lost  to   view  under 
accidental  injuries  and  repainting,  is  similar  to  that 
of  the  "  Martyrdom  of  St.  Lawrence  "  at  the  Escurial, 
the  colouring  being  richer,  the  action  more  powerful 
than  in  the  earlier  though  more  finished  picture  of 
the  Louvre.     It  is  impossible  to  conceive  better  ar- 
rangement, greater  harmony  of  lines,  or  more  boldness 
of  movement.     Truth  in  the  reproduction  of  nature  in 
momentary  action  is  combined  with  fine  contrasts  of 
light  and  shade,  and  an  inimitable  richness  of  tone, 
in  pigment  kneaded,  grained,  and  varied  in  surface 
beyond  anything  that  we  know  of  this  time.     Such 
a  combination  might  have  thrown  into  despair  three 
such  men  as  Rubens,  Van  Dyke,  and  Rembrandt,  two 


*  Bioche  Minidre,  FrefieM^e;  Eidolfi,  Marayiglie,  L  270. 


Chap.  IX.]         YISITOBS  AT  BIRI  GBANDB. 


401 


of  whom  certainly  studied  the  picture  somewhere, 
since  they  almost  copied  it  in  canvases  at  Berlin  and 
Madrid,  whilst  the  third  may  have  seen  it  in  the 
Netherlands,  where  tradition  says  that  the  canvas  was 
once  preserved.  The  method,  too,  would  be  sympa- 
thetic to  Rembrandt,  being  th^  very  converse  of  that 
observed  in  the  **  Allegory  of  Lepanto,^'  displaying 
impact  frequently  repeated  in  heavy  and  substantial 
coats,  tints  broken  with  pure  primaries  or  studdings 
of  brilliance,  tormented  into  variety  of  surface,  and 
glazed  to  diversity  of  tint.*  ^ 

Pictures  of  this  merit  laid  up  in  store  speak  highly 
in  favour  of  Titian's  fertility  and  power,  but  they  also 
indicate  his  wish  to  keep  for  display  a  certain  number 
of  works  of  a  good  standard.  The  house  in  Biri 
Grande,  we  may  remember,  was  known  to  all  Vene- 
tians as  a  place  of  exhibition  for  masterpieces,  and  as 
such  was  also  visited  by  strangers,  whilst  Titian 
himself  had  personally  acquired  such  a  popular 
celebrity  that   princes   on  their  travels   and  potent 


*  This  canvas,  for  a  long  time 
preserved  at  Schleissheim,  is  now 
No.  1329  in  the  Munich  Gallery, 
and  measures  8  ft.  7^  h.  by  5  ft. 
7.8.  There  is,  as  above  stated,  a 
tradition  that  it  came  from  the 
Netherlands  to  Bavaria,  but  the 
history  of  the  picture  is  altogether 
obscure.  Certain  it  is  only  that  it 
is  a  genuine  Titian.  Probability 
akin  to  certainty  exists  that  it  is 
the  picture  that  belonged  to  Tin- 
toretto, which  was  sold  ''to  a 
foreigner"  by  Domenico  Tinto- 
retto (Boschini,  Miniere,  Preface). 

VOL.   IL 


The  surfaces  are  extensively  re- 
painted, ex,  gr,  the  profile  of  the 
man  on  the  right,  the  hands  of 
the  man  in  the  background  hold- 
ing a  reed  in  both  hands,  the 
head  of  the  man  with  the  battle- 
axe,  the  torso  of  the  figure  to  the 
leffc,  and  the  right  side  of  Christ's 
head.  But  some  of  the  restoring 
is  spirited,  and  looks  like  the 
work  of  Bubens  or  Van  Dyke. 
See  Bubens'  adaptation  of  the 
subject.  No.  783  at  Berlin,  and 
Yan  Dyke's  at  Madxid,  No.  490 
(old  numbering). 

D  i> 


402  TITIAN:   HIS  LEPB  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 

ministers  on  journeys  of  state  turned  off  the  road  to 
see  him.  We  noted  that  in  1572,  when  the  Spanish 
minister  Antonio  Perez  expressed  a  wish  to  Leonardo 
Donato,  the  Venetian  envoy  at  Madrid,  to  possess 
two  canvases  of  Titian,  the  council  asked  the  French 
ambassador  to  go  and  choose  what  he  thought  best  in 
Titian's  palace;*  we  recollect  that  some  of  the  pieces 
which  Pomponio  Vecelli  found  after  his  father's  death 
were  executed  in  Titian's  very  best  form.  A  well- 
known  anecdote  tells  of  the  coming  of  Cardinal 
GranveUe  and  Cardinal  Pacheco  to  the  painter's  house, 
and  asking  themselves  to  dinner,  upon  which  Titian 
flung  his  purse  to  a  servant  and  bid  him  prepare  a  feast, 
as  "  all  the  world  was  dining  with  him."t  Henry  the 
Third  of  France  showed  himself  not  less  curious  to  see 
Titian  than  anxious  to  purchase  some  of  his  creations. 
When  that  monarch,  on  his  way  from  Poland  to 
France,  was  received  with  honour  by  the  prince  and 
people  of  Venice  (June  1574)  he  stole  an  hour  from 
public  festivities  to  see  the  painter  ;  and  Titian  is  said 
to  have  made  him  a  present  of  all  the  pictures  of  which 
he  asked  the  price.  More  credible  than  this  un- 
accountable generosity  is  the  contemporary  statement 
that  Henry  offered  800  scudi  to  Paola  Danna  for  the 
great  "  Ecce  Homo."J 

Titian  at  this  period  was  not  only  hale  and  hearty 
enough  to  receive  royal  visits,  but  he  was  stiU  of 
sufficient  vigour  to  write  letters,  paint  pictures,  and 
superintend  the  labours  of  his  disciples.     No  one  who 


•  Antea,  p.  293. 

t  Ridolfi,  Mar.  i.  271-2. 


X  Morelli's  Anonimo,  p.  89. 


ClHAP.  rX.]        TITIAire  LIST  OF  PICTUEES.  403 

reads  the  following  despatch  to  Antonio  Perez  will 
•come  to  any  other  conclusion  than  that  he  still 
"Enjoyed  all  his  faculties  and  an  indomitable  spirit  of 
enterprise. 

TITIAN  TO  ANTONIO  PEEEZ. 

"  I  have  noted  with  infinite  pleasure  the 
contents  of  your  Illustrious  Lordship's  last  letters,  and 
rejoice  exceedingly  to  find  that  my  works  have  in 
Bome  measure  met  with  approval  from  your  Lordship, 
whom  I  shall  never  be  too  tired  to  serve.  I  am  also 
thankful  for  your  Lordship's  kind  offices  both  present 
and  future  with  his  Catholic  Majesty,  and  in  obedience 
to  your  Lordship's  directions  I  may  say  that  the  paint- 
ings, of  which  I  have  not  as  yet  had  any  payment,  are 
those  set  down  in  the  annexed  inclosure.  But  first  I 
should  advise  your  Lordship  that  I  have  received  800 
scudi  of  the  money  paid  to  GentUe  by  the  Royal 
Chamber  [of  Madrid],  and  that  300  scudi  stUl  remain 
due  to  me  ;  but  that  I  have  had  no  moneys  from  the 
Chamber  of  MUan,  though  I  hope  from  what  the  Lord 
Ambassador  tells  me  that  they  will  be  paid.  Mean- 
while I  am  not  neglecting  my  duty  to  his  Catholic. 
Majesty  either  in  respect  of  the  "Battle"  or  other  works 
commenced,  and  particularly  the  presepio,  which  I 
began  on  hearing  from  the  painter  who  came  hither 
from  Spain  to  see  me  the  other  day  that  His  Majesty 
wished  for  the  "  Nativity  of  our  Lord,"  that  being  the 
only  subject  wanting  in  all  his  collection.  I  am  also 
reducing  to  perfection,  as  far  as  the  season  will  allow, 
the  other  pictures  of  your  Lordship  and,  your  Lord- 

D  D  2 


404  TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX.. 

ship's  wife,  which  are  well  advanced.  I  write  also  by 
this  opportunity  to  his  Catholic  Majesty  in  reference 
to  the  payment  of  the  pictures  sent  him  in  past  years,, 
inclosing  a  memorial  similar  to  that  which  I  send  your 
Lordship.  I  pray  that  your  courteous  wishes  may 
have  effect,  as,  being  in  want  of  many  things  in  these 
calamitous  times^  this  will  probably  be  the  greatest 
favour  that  I  can  hope  to  obtain  from  your  Lordship^ 
excepting  the  continuance  of  your  Lordship's  good 
grace,  of  which,  though  I  may  not  with  my  humble 
powers  show  myself  worthy,  yet  I  shall  neglect  na 
occasion  to  prove  myself  deserving,  having  aU  the  will 
to  be  of  service,  and  so  I  recommend  myself  and  kiss 
your  Lordship's  hands. 

"  Your  most  Illustrious  Lordship's 

"  Most  obliged  servant, 

*'TiciANO  Veceluo. 

"  From  Venice,  22nd  of  December,  1574." 

Indosure  in  the  foregoing, 

"  Memorial  to  his  Catholic  Majesty  by  Titian  and 
his  son  Orazio. 

"  First,  that  the  Milan  pension  of  my  son  Horazio 
may  be  put  in  balance,  in  order  that  he  may  without 
trouble,  fatigue,  or  interest  enjoy  the  favour  done  him 
by  his  Majesty. 

"  Item, — The  pictures  sent  to  his  Majesty  at  divers 
times  within  the  last  twenty-five  years  are  these,  but 
only  in  part,  and  it  is  desired  that  Signor  Alons 
(Sanchez  Coello),  painter  to  his  Majesty,  should  add 
to  the  list  such  pieces  as  have  been  forgotten  here  : 


-Chap.  IX.]  TITIAN  AND  OOELLO,  405 

'**  *  Venus  and  Adonis '  [1556]. 

"  '  Calisto  pregnant  of  Jove  '  [1561]. 

"  '  Actfieon  entering  the  Bath  *  [1561]. 

'' '  Andromeda  bound  to  the  Bock '  [1556]. 

"  '  Europa  carried  off  by  the  Bull '  [1562]. 

"  '  Christ  in  Prayer  in  the  Garden  *  [1562]. 

'*  The  *  Temptation  of  the  Jews  with  the  Coin  to 

Christ  •  [1568]. 
"  '  Christ  in  the  Sepulchre '  [1561]. 
"  The  '  St.  Mary  Magdalen '  [1561]. 
"  The  '  Three  Magi  of  the  East '  [1561]. 
"  *  Venus,  to  whom  Love  Holds  a  Mirror '  [?]. 
"  The '  Nude;  with  the  Landscape  and  the  Satyr  [1567]. 
"  The  '  Last  Supper  of  Our  Lord '  [1564]. 
"  The  '  Martyrdom  of  St.  Lawrence  '  [1567]. 

"With  many  others  which  I  do  not  remember."  * 

^  This  letter  is  interesting  in  many  respects,  as  show- 
ing  that  Sanchez  Coello,  when  he  made  the  sketch  of 
the  "  Allegory  of  Lepanto  "  for  Philip  the  Second,  did 
not  "  send ''  it  by  the  shortest  road,  but  actually  took 
it  himself.  It  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the  "  Alle- 
gory "  was  painted  under  the  name  of  '*  The  Battle,'* 
and  sent  to  Madrid  after  Christmas  of  1574.  It  also 
.explains  the  existence  of  a  number  of  Titian's  works 
•at  Madrid  of  which  Titian  himself  had  forgotten  the 
number  and  the  subjects.  There  is  a  fine  canvas  of 
^*  Christ  bearing  his  Cross,"  which  deserves  to  be 
■noted  as  one  of  these  relics,  being  the  counterpart  of 
.a  similar  canvas  in  the  Gallery  of  St.  Petersburg.t 


*  See  letter  and  indosnre  in 
Appendix. 

t  Thiij  picture,  No.  487  in  the 


Madrid  Museum,  is  on  canvas, 
measuring  m.  0.67  h.  by  0.77. 
It  shows   the  Saviour   crowned 


406 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX- 


Equally  worthy  of  remembrance  is  the  large  but 
almost  ruined  "Adam  and  Eve/'  with  which  Rubena 
was  so  taken  that  he  made  a  copy  of  it,  by  which 
alone  the  beauty  and  form  of  the  original  are  now  to 
be  appreciated  or  understood**  But  another  important 
feature  in  Titian's  letter  is  its  confirmation  of  a  state- 
ment made  by  Spanish  historians  that  Sanchez  Coella 
made  a  list  of  Titian's  pictures  for  Philip  the  Second 


with  thorns,  seen  to  the  waist, 
moying  to  the  right  under  the 
weight  of  the  cross,  supported  in 
part  by  a  bare-headed  bearded 
man  in  a  red  and  blue  dress.  On 
the  beam,  of  the  cross  are  the 

words,    "TTTIANVB  -KQ.  CJBS.  P." 

The  man  whose  head  appears  at 
the  angle  of  the  cross  aboye 
Christ  is  a  portrait  giyen  in  the 
replica  at  the  Hermitage  of  St. 
Petersburg  as  Francesco  del  Mo- 
saico  (Zuccato).  The  tones  at 
Madrid  are  powerful,  the  face  of 
Christ  elevated  and  regularly 
moulded.  For  the  replica  at 
Madrid,  see  under  St.  Petersburg, 
in  a  list  of  genuine  extant  Titians, 
posted* 

*  This  large  canyas,  m.  2.40  h. 
by  1.86,  was  obscurely  hung  in 
the  first  years  of  the  seyenteenth 
century  in  the  sacristy  of  the 
royal  chapel  at  Madrid,  where 
Bubens  doubtless  saw  it.  (De 
Madrazo's  Catalogue,  u, «.,  p.  247.) 
It  is  now  No.  456  in  the  Madrid 
Museum,  haying  been  sayed — 
obyiously  with  pains — ^m)m  the 
great  fire  of  1734,  and  restored 
by  D.  Juan  de  Miranda  (Ibid.  p. 
678).  To  the  right  Eye  stands 
near  the  apple  tree,  and  holds  the 


fiuit  receiyed  from  the  tempter, 
whose  head  appears  at  the  junc- 
tion of  a  bough.  To  the  lefb 
Adam  is  seated  on  a  bank,  and 
stretches  out  his  hand  for  the 
apple.  The  figures  are  aboye  life 
size,  altered  in  shape  and  contour 
by  restoring.  In  the  left  hand: 
corner  of  the  foreground  are  the 
words,  "  TiTiANVS  F.'"  Bubens* 
copy,  though  it  is  unayoidably 
impressed  with  his  character  in 
the  rendering  of  form,  still  enables 
us  to  correct  the  outlines  altered 
by  retouching  in  the  original 
picture.  A  quaint  addition  which 
Bubens  has  yentured  to  make  is- 
a  parrot  on  the  tree  aboye  Adam's 
head.  There  is  a  photograph  of 
Titian's  <<Adam  and  Eye"  by 
Laurent.  A  yariety  of  the  "Adam 
and  Eye"  was  left  unfinished, 
according  to  Boschini,  by  Titian. 
It  belonged  to  the  Procurator 
Morosini.  Titian  only  finished 
the  figure  of  Eye.  Tintoretto 
added  that  of  Adam,  and  a  land- 
scape distance  was  painted  by 
Lodoyico  Pozzo,  of  Treyiso,  into 
which  animals  were  introduced 
by  Bassano.  (Boschini,  Carta  del. 
Nayegar,  p.  336.) 


Chap.  IX.]  TITIAN'S  LAST  LETTBES.  407 

in  1575.*  During  the  interval  which  elapsed  between 
the  delivery  and  final  examination  of  this  list,  Titian 
came  very  fairly  to  the  conclusion  that  Antonio  Perez, 
Philip  the  Second,  and  Coello  had  forgotten  his  exist- 
ence, and  he  accordingly  wrote  the  following  letters, 
which  are  the  last  that  we  possess  from  his  hand,  one 
of  them  being  dated  but  six  months  before  his  death, 
in  the  ninty-ninth  year  of  his  age. 

titian  to  philip  the  second. 

"  Catholic  and  most  Potent  King  my  Signor, 
"Knowing  the  great  kindness  with  which 
your  Catholic  Majesty  gave  orders  that  a  list  should 
be  made  out  of  the  pictures  sent  at  various  times  by 
command  of  your  Majesty,  I  now  proceed,  with  the 
confidence  of  an  old  servant,  to  forward  a  new  memo- 
rial of  the  same,  firmly  hoping  that  your  Majest/s 
royal  and  exalted  liberality  will  desire  that  your 
Majesty's  directions  for  my  benefit  should  be  carried 
out,  to  the  end  that  1  may,  with  a  more  joyful  heart, 
attend  to  the  other  works  dedicated  to  the  glory  of 
your  Majesty,  which  I  am  now  doing  in  this  my  last 
aoje.  There  is  so  much  ill-fortune  in  the  world  now 
that  I  feel  great  want  of  the  power  and  royal  liberality 
of  a  holy  prince  of  the  world,  such  as  your  Catholic 
Majesty,  whom  I  pray  that  God  may  keep  for  a  long 

time. 

"  Most  devoted  humble  servant, 

**TlTIANO  VeCELLIO. 
"  From  Venice,  on  Christmas  Day,  1575." 

*  See  Northcote's  Titian,  u.  a,  ii.  242. 


408  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chaf.  IX. 

THE  SAME  TO  THE  SAME. 

"Your  Catholic  and  Royal  Majesty, 

"The  infinite  benignity  with  which  your 
Catholic  Majesty — by  natural  habit — ^is  accustomed  to 
gratify  all  such  as  have  served  and  still  serve  your 
Majesty  faithfully,  emboldens  me  to  appear  with  the 
present  petter]  to  recall  myself  to  your  royal  memory, 
in  which  I  believe  that  my  old  and  devoted  ser- 
vice will  have  kept  me  unaltered.  My  prayer  is 
this :  Twenty  years  have  elapsed  and  I  have  never 
had  any  recompense  for  the  many  pictures  sent  on 
divers  occasions  to  your  Majesty ;  but  having  received 
intelligence  by  letters  from  the  Secretary  Antonio 
Perez  of  your  Majesty's  wish  to  gratify  me,  and 
having  reached  a  great  old  age  not  without  priva- 
tions, I  now  humbly  beg  that  your  Majesty  will  deign, 
with  accustomed  benevolence,  to  give  such  directions 
to  ministers  as  will  relieve  my  want  The  glorious 
memory  of  Charles  the  Fifth,  your  Majesty's  father, 
having  numbered  me  amongst  his  familiar,  nay,  most 
faithful  servants,  by  honouring  me  beyond  my  deserts 
with  the  title  of.cavaliere,  I  wish  to  be  able,  with  the 
favour  and  protection  of  your  Majesty, — true  portrait 
of  that  immortal  Emperor — to  support  as  it  deserves 
the  name  of  a  cavaliere,  which  is  so  honoured  and 
esteemed  in  the  world ;  and  that  it  may  be  known 
that  the  services  done  by  me  during  many  years  to 
the  most  serene  house  of  Austria  have  met  with  grate- 
ful return,  thus  causing  me,  with  more  joyful  heart 
than  hitherto,  to  spend  what  remains  of  my  days  in 


Chap.  IX.]  THE  PLAGUE  AT  VENICE.  409 

the  service  of  your  Majesty.  For  this  I  should  feel 
the  more  obliged,  as  I  should  thus  be  consoled  in  my 
old  age,  whilst  praying  to  God  to  concede  to  your 
Majesty  a  long  and  happy  life  with  increase  of  his 
divine  grace  and  exaltation  of  your  Majesty's  king- 
dom. In  the  meanwhile  I  expect  from  the  royal 
benevolence  of  your  Majesty  the  fruits  of  the  .favour 
I  desire,  and  with  due  reverence  and  humility,  and 
Jdssing  your  sacred  hands, 

"  I  am  your  Catholic  Majesty's 

"  Most  humble  and  devoted  servant, 

"TiziANO  Vecellio. 

**  From  Venice,  27th  February,  1576." 

Titian's  appeal  to  the  benevolence  of  the  King  of 
Spain  looks  like  that  of  a  garrulous  old  gentleman 
proud  of  his  longevity,  but  hoping  still  to  live  for 
many  years.  Yet,  as  he  himself  observed,  there  was 
much  ill-fortune  then  threatening  the  world,  ill-for- 
tune particularly  threatening  Venice  ;  not  politically, 
for  after  Lepanto  there  was  peace  between  the  re- 
public and  the  Turks  ;  but  a  plague  was  beginning  to 
rage  which  threatened  to  carry  off  more  people  than  a 
similar  visitation  in  1510.  The  seeds  of  this  plague 
had  been  sown  in  1575,  when  deaths  began  to  occur 
in  increasing  numbers.  In  1576  the  mortality  be- 
came so  great  that  a  general  panic  ensued.  The  fear 
of  contagion,  though  but  a  spur  to  exertion  in  minds 
seasoned  with  charity  or  strengthened  by  feelings  of 
duty,  only  called  forth  the  most  abject  display  of 
selfishness   and    cowardice    in  many   classes   of  the 


419 


HIS  IJFK  AND  TDCES.     [Chjlf.  IX- 


commnnTtT,  Sach  as  had  the  means  withdrew  to  the 
mainland.  Those  who  remained  were  in  danger  not 
only  of  catching  the  contagion,  bat  if  they  fell  sick, 
of  dying  for  want  of  attendance.  It  was  fsriad  to  any 
one  at  the  time  to  &11  ill,  for  whatever  his  ailing 
might  b^  he  was  doomed.  In  donbt  as  to  the  nature 
of  symptoms  ''  fsithers  forsook  their  sons,  sons  aban- 
doned their  sires,  wives  their  husbands,  husbands  their 
wives,  and  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were  carried  un- 
accompanied to  the  Lazzarettos.''*  All  that  human 
ingenuity  could  discover  as  a  remedy  for  so  fearful  an 
evil  was  attempted  by  the  government  of  the  day. 
Hospitals  were  established  in  the  islands  of  the 
lagoons;  and  at  the  Lazzaretto  Yecchio,  towards 
Malamocco,  or  the  Lazzaretto  Nuovo,  and  San  Gia- 
como  di  Palu,  between  Murano  and  Mazzorbo,  it  was 
a  familiar  sight  to  see  the  daily  transport  of  clothes 
and  furniture  from  houses  aflFected  by  contagion,  and 
the  destruction  of  infected  apparel  by  fire.t  But 
nothing  that  care  and  forethought  could  devise  ap- 
peared to  control  the  plague.  It  went  its  way  and 
marked  its  path  by  the  destruction  of  50,000  souls  in 
a  population  of  190,000  people.  The  Venetian  Senate 
vowed  to  build  a  church  to  the  Redeemer,  and  then 
pity  was  extended  to  the  helpless  city,  which,  it  is 
said,  suddenly  reverted  to  a  state  of  health4 

Titian   had   never  suffered   from    any    serious   or 


*  SansoTino,  Ooae  Notabili, 
n,  9,f  p.  32. 

t  Cioogna,  Isc.  Yen.,  u.  «.,  y. 
495,  yi.  649. 

X  SaosoTino,     Cose    Notabili, 


u.  8,,  p.  32;  and  see  the  History 
of  the  founding  of  the  church 
"del  Bedentore  alia  GHudeoca,*' 
on  the  plans  of  Palladio  in  1577. 


Chap.  IX.]  TITIAN'S  LAST  PICTURE.  411 

dangerous  sickness,  nor  had  lie  stood  face  to  face 
with  death  under,  any  circumstances,  yet  as  he  grew 
old  he  was  not  unmindful  of  the  common  lot  of  man- 
kind, and  he  prepared,  after  the  fashion  of  the  age, 
for  the  disposal  of  his  remains.  He  sent  to  the 
Franciscans  at  the  Frari  and  bargained  with  them  for 
a  grave  in  the  chapel  *'  Del  Crocifisso,'^  paying  for 
the  privilege  of  resting  in  the  church  so  nobly  de- 
corated by  two  of  his  finest  works  with  a  promise  of 
a  third  great  composition  of  the  "Christ  of  Pity." 
The  friars  accepted  the  offer,  and  Titian  undertook  the 
picture,  which  he  nearly  finished  before  he  died.  But 
differences  arose,  a  quarrel  ensued,  and  Titian  left  his 
work  unfinished,  and  willed  that  his  corpse  should  be 
taken  to  Cadore  and  buried  in  the  chapel  of  his  family 
at  the  Pieve.*  But  the  noble  canvas  of  the  "  Piet^'* 
was  rescued  firom  loss  by  the  pious  care  of  Palma 
Giovine,  who  gave  some  finishing  strokes  to  it,  and 
wrote  upon  a  tablet  the  well-known  lines  : — 

*'  Quod  TitianuB  inchoatom  reliquit, 
Palma  reyerenter  absolyit 
Deoq.  dicaTit  opus."t 

It  is  doubtful  whether  due  attention  has  been 
bestowed  on  this  remarkable  piece,  the  touchstone 
to  Titian's  art  in  his  very  la^t  days,  though  time 
and  repeated  restoring  have  greatly  increased  the 
diflS.culty  of  distinguishing  the  labours  of  the  master 
from  those  of  Palma  Giovine  and  his  less  gifted 
followers.     

*  Tizianello's  Anon»,  and  Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  269.  f  Bidolfi,  i.  269. 


412  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  TSL 

The  Saviour  rests  in  death  on  the  lap  of  the  Virgin, 
who  grieves  as  she  supports  the  head  and  the  stigma- 
tised hand.    Joseph  of  Arimathea  kneels  to  the  right, 
looking  up  at  Christ's  face,  and  holding  his  left  arm. 
In  tragic  action,  with  dishevelled  hair  and  anns  out- 
stretched, the   Magdalen  comes  in  to  the  left  and 
wails,  whilst  an  angel  on  the  ground  stoops  over  the 
vase  of  ointment     A  second  angel  hovers  in  the  air 
and  bears   a  lighted  torch.     The  gilt  mosaic  niche 
behind  the  group,  emblazoned  with  a  pelican  stripping 
its  breast,   is  skirted  and  roofed  with  marbles,  on 
which  seven  crystal  lamps  axe  burning.     On  marble 
plinths  at  the  sides  of  the  niche  are  statues  of  Moses 
and  the  Hellespontic  Sibyl,  and  on  a  scutcheon  at  the 
Sibyl's  feet  we  see  the  arms  of  Titian,  a  set  square 
sable  on  a  field  argenVbeneath  the  double  eagle  on  a 
field  Or.     A  small  tablet  leaning  agaii^t  the  scutcheon 
•contains  the  defaced  portr^ts  of  Titian  and  his  son 
Orazio,  kneeling   before  a  diminutive  group   of  the 
*' Christ  of  Pity.''      Through  the  various  deposits  of 
former  ages,  fragments  of  this  splendid  composition 
may  be  discerned  from  which  we  judge  of  Titian's 
work   in  its    latest  development.     Here,  as  in  the 
''Scourging  of  Christ"  at  Munich,  the  touch  is  massive, 
broad,  and  firm,  telling  still  of  incomparable  readiness 
of  hand.     It  is  truly  surprising  that  a  man  so  far 
advanced  in  years  should  have  had  the  power  to  put 
together  a  composition  so  perfect  in  line,  so  elevated 
in  thought,  or  so  tragic  in  expression.     We   cannot 
tell  how  far  Titiail  was  supplemented  by  Palma,  or 
Palma's  strokes  were    concealed  by  those   of  later 


Chap.  IX.]  TITIAN'S  LAST  PICTUBE.  41S 

craftsmen.     But  no  injury  produced  by  centuries  of 
neglect  and  destructive  agencies  can  conceal  from  us 
the  purpose  of  a  modelling  carried  out  with  pigments  ^ 
of  abundant  impast,  or  hide  the  searching  after  form 
in  primaries  kneaded  into  shape  like  the  clay  under 
the  tool  of  a  sculptor.     Even  the  subtle  rubbings  and 
glazes  by  which  life  and  morbidity  were  given  are  not 
as  yet  all  lost.    "We  see  the  traces  of  a  brush  mani- 
pulated by  one  whose  hand  never  grew  weary  and 
never  learned   to  tremble.      The   figures  and  faces 
which  display  their  passion  before  us,  are  those  which 
grew  with  Titian's  growth  from  the  fresh  idyllic  daya 
when  the  bloom  of  youth  lay  on  all  his  canvases,  to 
the  later  period  when  maturer  charms  and  swelling 
shapes  were  favourite  creations,  and  the  final  stage 
when   a   masculine  realism  prevailed.     The  Virgin, 
Joseph  of  Arimathea,  and  the  Magdalen  are  all  types 
which  have  ripened  and  expanded  to  the  fulL     The 
Magdalen  of  the  Mantuan  "Entombment"  and  that  of 
the  Pieti  of  1576,  are  as  it  were  the  first  and  last 
rungs  of  a  ladder,  the  intermediate  steps  of  which 
we  have  aU  seen  the  master  ascending.     It  may  be  ^ 
that  looking  closely  at  the  "Pietk"  our  eyes  will  lose 
themselves  in  a  chaos  of  touches ;  but  retiring  to  the 
focal  distance,  they  recover  themselves  and  distinguish 
all  that  Titian  meant  to  convey.     In  the  group  of 
the  Virgin  and  Christ — a  group  full  of  the  deepest 
and  truest  feeling — there  lies  a  grandeur  comparable 
in  one  sense  with  that  which  strikes  us  in  the  "  Pietk'* 
of  Michaelangelo.     To  the  sublime  conventionalism  by 
which    Buonarroti    carries   us   into   a    preternatural 


414 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 


atmosphere,  Titian  substitutes  a  depth  of  passion  almost 
equally  sublime  and  the  more  real  as  it  is  enhanced 
I   by  colour.* 

And  now  the  time  came  when  the  great  master 
was  to  be  called  away.  The  plague  entered  the  house 
of  Titian  at  Biri  Grande,  and  on  the  27th  of  August, 
1576,  he  expired  in  the  midst  of  a  population  stricken 
with  terror  and  heartless  from  panic.  Swiftly  the 
ncAvs  spread  through  the  city  that  the  greatest  of  all 
Venetian  artists  had  died.  Swiftly  the  loss  was  com- 
municated to  the  supreme  authorities.  Laws  had 
been  passed  to  meet  the  plague  then  afflicting  Venice, 
which  forbade  the  burial  of  a  victim  of  the  contagion 
in  any  of  the  churches  of  the  city.  This  law  was 
quickly   set  aside    in   Titian's   case.      He  had   once 


*  The  "  Piea,"  now  No.  33  in 
the  Venice  Academy,  was  removed 
to  that  place  from  the  suppressed 
church  of  Sant*  Angelo  at  Venice. 
It  measures  m.  3.50  h.  by  3.93, 
and  is  painted  on  canvas.  Injured, 
it  is  said,  by  the  daubing  of  one 
Veglio,  it  was  restored  in  1825  by 
Signer  Sebastiano  Santi,  whose 
work  is  easy  to  recognise  in  the 
long  strip  of  modem  repainting 
which  runs  down  one  vertical  side, 
along  the  base,  and  up  the  other 
vertical  side.     Most  of  the  figures 
are  more  or  less  injured  by  re- 
touching, but  some  of  the  dra- 
peries,  and  especially  the    blue 
mantle   of   the  Virgin   and    the 
green  mantle  of  the  Magdalen, 
are  quite  darkened  by  superposed 
pigment.    The  angel  in  the  fore- 
ground has  lost  some  of  Titian's 
contour,    as   well    as    much   of 


Titian's  colour ;  and  the  angel  in 
the  air  is  Titian's  only  in   the 
movement.    It  is  a  pity  that  the 
inscription  on  the  tablet  with  the 
portraits    is    rubbed  away.     On 
the  pedestals  of  the  statues  wo 
read,  *  *  moises  "  and '  *  helespon- 
TICA."     Moses    stands,    homed, 
with  his  right  on  the  tables  of  tho 
law,  which  rest  on  the  ground, 
with  his  left  holding  a  smaU  staff. 
Above  his  head  are  the  words, 
"  MOY2H2IEPON."      The      sibyl 
supports  a  large  cross,  and  wears 
a  crown  of  thorns.    Above  her 
head  are  the  words,  **  GEOS  ANOS 
ENE2TIKH."    A  line  engraving 
by  Viviani  will  be  found  in  Za- 
notto's  Pinacoteca  Veneta;  con- 
sult   also  Boschini,  B.  Miniere. 
Sest.  di  S.  Marco,  p.  93 ;  and  Za  - 
notto's  Yenetian  Guide,  u.  s. 


Chap.  IX.] 


TTTIAira  DEATH. 


415 


desired  to  be  buried  at  the  Fran,  and  later  had 
expressed  a  wish  that  his  bones  should  be  taken  to 
Cadore.  It  was  ordered  that  he  should  find  a  place 
of  rest  in  the  '^Chapel  of  the  Crucified  Saviour"  at  the 
Frari,  for  which  he  had  been  preparing  his  last  picture. 
On  the  28th  of  August  the  canons  of  St.  Mark  came 
in  procession  to  San  Canciano ;  the  body  was  taken 
solemnly  to  the  Frari  and  laid  in  the  earth,  where 
now  a  stately  monument,  tribute  of  wonder  and  ad- 
miration of  the  latest  generation  of  Titian's  admirers, 
stands  in  all  the  splendour  of  marble  to  do  honour  to 
his  memory.  When  Perugino  died  of  plague  he  was 
obscurely  buried  in  a  field.  Ghirlandaio,  who  perished 
of  the  same  disease,  was  taken  to  his  rest  hurriedly 
and  in  the  dead  of  night.  Titian,  a  man  of  greater 
fame  than  either,  was  better  treated  by  his  grateful 
countrjTnen.  He  was  taken  to  his  grave  by  day,  in 
presence  of  the  highest  dignitaries  of  the  church,  and 
the  shell  which  once  held  a  life  so  stronor  and  resistincr 
that  it  seemed  able  to  withstand  all  the  assaults  of 
time,  reposes  near  one  of  the  finest  creations  of  the  art 
of  all  ages,  the  *^  Madonna  di  Casa  Pesaro."  ^ 


The  scenes  which  occurred  in  Titian's  house  after 
his  death  were  melancholy  beyond  description.t  It 
is  not  known  whether  Orazio  was  attacked  by  plague 


*  Soe  as  to  the  facts  in  the 
text  the  records  in  Cadorin, 
DeUo  Amore,  pp.  74,  95,  &  102  ; 
and  compare  Borghini,  Biposo, 
8vo,  Sienna,    1787   (the  original 


edition  was  published  in  1584), 
vol.  iii.  p.  89. 

t  The  company  of  painters 
planned  a  grand  funeral  ceremony 
in  honour  of  Titian,  in  emulation 


416 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 


during  his  father's  lifetime,  but  he  certainly  died  of 
the  contagion  almost  immediately  afterwards^  and  he 
(lied,  not  in  his  father's  dwelling  but  in  the  Lazzaretto 
Vecchio,  near  the  Lido.*  No  one  was  left  to  take  care 
of  the  painter's  place.  Thieves  broke  into  the  house^ 
and  before  Pomponio  or  the  officers  of  public  security 
could  interfere,  many  precious  relics  were  stolen  and 
destroyed.t  What  was  spared  besides  the  master- 
pieces enumerated  in  the  foregoing  pages  may  be 
condensed  into  a  short  space.  The  following  list  is  one 
which  cannot  pretend  to  absolute  completeness,  though 
it  may  be  accepted  as  very  nearly  exhaustive  : 


Venice  Academy :  Private  Meeting-haU. — ^In  this  hall  are 
nineteen  panels  containing  cherubs'  heads  and  the  symbols  of 
the  EyangelistB  by  Titian,  originally  in  the  Scuola  di  San 
GioTanni  Evangelista  at  Venice.  They  are  finely  coloured, 
of  golden  tone,  and  executed  with  great  masteiy,  but  some  of 
them — ^the  cherubs  especially — ^are  injured  by  stippling. 
Two  of  the  heads  of  angels  are  imitations  by  the  Venetian 
painter,  Giuseppe  Lorenzi.  Titian's  orginals  are  noted  in 
their  place  by  Sansovino  (Pitt.  Ven.  p.  284),  Ridolfi  (Mar.  i, 
267),  and  Zanetti  (Pitt.  Ven.  p.  171).  The  picture  of  the 
Evangelist  John,  in  the  ceiling,  was  greatly  damaged,  and 
sold,  according  to  Zanotto  (Pinac.  Ven.)  to  a  private  collector 
at  Turin.  Line  engravings  of  the  above-mentioned  pieces  (the 
Evangelist  John  excepted)  are  in  Zanotto's  Pinac.  Veneta. 

Ragvsa:  San  Domenico. — "St.  Mary  Magdalen"  between 
"St.Blaise"  and  the  "Angel  andTobit*';  in  front  to  the  right 


of  that  wliicli  the  Plorentines  had 
carried  out  as  a  token  of  respect 
for  Michaelangelo.  But  the  times 
were  not  favourable  for  such  a 
spectacle,  and  it  was  abandoned. 


See  Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  275. 

*  Cadorin,  DeUo  Amore,  u,  $,^ 
95-6. 

t  Cadorin,  «. «.,  97,  98. 


Chap.  IX.]  GENUINE  TTTIANS.  417 

is  a  kneeling  figure  of  Goont  Gozzi ;  canvas,  figures  as  large 
as  life.  This  picture,  of  Titian's  late  time,  was  seen  by  the 
authors  in  the  studio  of  Signer  Paolo  Fabris,  who  was  engaged 
in  restoring  it. 

Genoa:  Balhi  Palace. — At  the  foot  of  a  wall  which 
partly  intercepts  a  pleasant  landscape,  the  Virgin  Mary  sits 
with  the  naked  infant  Christ  standing  on  her  knees.  She 
looks  with  kindly  grace  at  a  donor  in  black  silk  dress,  who 
kneels  to  the  right  recommended  by  St.  Dominick.  To  the 
left  is  St.  Catherine,  partly  concealed  by  a  carved  marble 
screen.  Canvas,  with  figures  under  life  size.  This  charming 
picture  of  the  time  of  the  bacchanals  is  thrown  out  of  focus 
by  abrasion,  washing,  and  repainting;  but  is  still  pleasing 
on  account  of  the  grace  of  the  attitudes  and  the  beauty  of 
the  landscape. 

Florence :  Pitti.  No.  92. — Portrait  of  a  man  in  black, 
his  left  hand  on  his  haunch,  his  right  holding  a  pair  of 
gloves ;  canvas,  half-length,  of  life-size.  This  portrait  is  one 
which  ought  to  have  found  a  place  in  the  Ufe  of  Titian,  being 
one  of  the  finest  and  grandest  productions  of  his  best  time. 
But  we  know  neither  the  date  of  execution,  nor  the  person 
represented.  The  dress  is  black  silk,  showing  white  linen  at 
the  neck  and  wrists,  with  double  sleeves  hanging  from  the 
shoulders.  The  face  is  that  of  a  man  in  the  prime  of  life, 
with  short  curly  chestnut  hair  and  beard.  There  is  Ufe  in 
every  feature  of  this  grand  likeness,  life  in  the  eye,  life  in 
the  pose,  but  life  displayed  in  its  most  elevated  form,  and 
vrith  all  the  subtlety  of  Titian's  art  in  his  best  days. 

FUn-ence :  PiUi.  No.  228.— The  "  Saviour,"  a  bust  on 
canvas  from  the  collection  of  the  Dukes  of  Urbino.  The 
Saviour  is  almost  in  profile  to  the  left,  long  haired  and 
bearded,  in  red  tunic  and  blue  mantle,  his  right  hand  of 
beautiful  shape  on  his  breast.  The  distance  is  a  landscape 
under  a  sky  streaked  with  cloud.  This  handsome  picture  of 
Titian's  earlier  time,  was  painted  apparently  without  a 
model,  and  on  that  account  without  the  subtle  delicacy  of 
some  of  his  better  works.  A  copy  under  Titian's  name  is  in 
the  Christchurch  Gallery  at  Oxford.     The  Pitti  canvas  has 

VOL.  II.  E  £ 


418  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

been  photographed  by  the  Photographic  Company,  and  by 
Alinari. 

Florence:  Pitti.  No.  80. — "Portrait  of  VesaKus  the 
Sorgeon."  Canyas,  half-length,  of  life-size.  YesaliuB  here 
i8«  fiat  old  man  with  a  fall  beard,  seated,,  resting  his  elbow 
on  the  back  of  a  chair,  and  supporting  in  the  right  hand  a 
folio.  The  lefii  hand  holding  a  pair  of  goggles,  rests  on  the 
arm  of  the  chair.  The  figure  and  head  are  turned  slightly  to 
the  lefii,  the  frame  being  dressed  in  a  black  vest  and  fur 
pelisse.  An  authentic  portrait  of  Yesalius,  by  Calcar, 
engraved  in  "  De  Humani  Corporis  Fabrica,*' ^printed  in  folio 
at  B&le,  in  1548,  represents  the  great  anatomist  at  the  age 
of  about  40.  It  is  possible  that  years  and  fat  may  haye 
changed  his  appearance  to  that  which  marks  the  Pitti  like* 
nesB.  But  the  surface  of  this  piece  is  so  injured,  that 
hardly  anything  remains  to  test  the  authorship  of  Titian, 
though  fragments  here  and  there  would  justify  any  one  in 
assigning  the  picture  to  him.  Under  these  circumstances,  it 
is  hardly  practicable  to  give  a  decided  opinion.  It  may  be 
worthy  of  remark,  that  the  so-called  portraits  of  Yesalius  all 
differ  in  features,  ex.  gr.  Yienna:  Belvedere  by  Morone, 
though  assigned  to  Titian.  Yienna:  Ambras  Gallery, 
erroneously  ascribed  to  Tintoretto.  Munich:  Pinakothek, 
falsely  given  to  Tintoretto  and  Padua  Gallery,  attributed  to 
Calcar.  The  Pitti  canvas  has  been  engraved  in  reverse  by 
T.  Yer  Cruys. 

Borne :  Doria  Palace.  1st  Gallery,  No.  14. — ^Portrait  of 
a  man  at  a  table,  on  which  a  jewel  is  lying.  His  right  hand 
is  on  the  table,  which  is  covered  with  a  green  cloth.  In  his 
left  he  holds  a  pocket-handkerchief.  The  head  finely  set  on 
the  shoulders,  is  turned  three-quarters  to  the  leffc.  The  hair 
and  beard  are  grey.  The  figure,  a  half-length  of  life-size  on 
canvas,  is  dressed  in  black  silk.  Though  much  repainted, 
there  is  evidence  that  this  was  once  a  very  fine  likeness  by 
Titian.  On  the  upper  part  of  the  brown  background  we 
read:  "mab.  polvs,  ven.*'  But  these  letters  are  a  recent 
addition  to  the  picture.  The  canvas  is  patched  all  round 
with  strips  of  new  stuff. 


Chap.  IX.]  GENUINE  TJTIANS.  419 


Rome:  Doria  Palace.  2nd  Gallery,  No.  62. — "Portrait 
of  JanseniuB."  This  is  a  likeness  of  a  man  in  an  arm- 
chair, turned  to  the  left,  but  looking  at  the  spectator ;  on 
canvas,  seen  to  the  ancles,  and  large  as  life.  The  man 
wears  a  dark  grey  triangular  cap  and  a  black  silk  furred 
pelisse,  his  left  hand  is  on  the  arm  of  the  chair,  his  right  on 
a  book  lying  on  his  knee,  his  elbow  on  a  table  covered  with 
a  Persian  cloth.  Behind  him  is  a  deep  crimson  hanging. 
The  face  is  long  and  bony,  the  eye  bright  and  sparkling,  the 
forehead  high,  the  beard  short,  but  deep  brown,  thoagh  the 
liair  on  the  temples  is  turning  to  grey.  Much  of  the  picture 
has  been  touched  up  with  new  paint,  and  particularly  so  the 
hands  and  the  beard.  Who  '^  Jansenius ''  may  be  it  is 
impossible  to  say,  but  the  picture  is  clearly  by  Titian. 

Borne:  Borghese  Palace.  Boom  X.,  No.  16. — "St. 
Dominick;"  half-length,  on  canvas.  &t.  Dominick  is  stand- 
ing, and  points  upwards  with  the  fore-finger  of  his  right 
hand.  With  the  left  he  holds  the  black  mantle  which  winds 
round  his  waist.  The  face  inclined,  and  seen  at  three- 
quarters  to  the  right,  is  encircled  with  a  nimbus,  a  ray  fiedls 
on  the  figure  from  the  left.  The  track  of  the  brush  laying  in 
the  colour,  the  bold  free  touch  of  Titian,  are  to  be  seen  in  this 
piece,  which  is  executed  at  one  painting  with  great  mastery. 
The  treatment  recalls  that  of  the  "Baptist  in  the  Desert "  at 
the  Venice  Academy.  The  eyes  glisten  with  life,  and  one 
sees  the  bilious  humours  in  the  sacks  of  the  lower  eyelids. 

Borne :  Colanna  Gallery. — "  Onufrius  Panvinius." — ^Portrait 
of  a  Franciscan  friar  seated  and  turned  to  the  right ;  canvas, 
knee-piece,  large  as  life.  The  head  is  fine, — ^in  features, 
which  are  those  of  an  ascetic,  the  hair  of  whose  tonsure  is 
already  grey, — in  treatment,  being  painted  with  strong  im- 
pasted pigment  without  much  glazing — ^in  a  warm  brown 
general  tone.  On  what  grounds  the  name  of  Panvinius  was 
given  to  this  picture,  it  is  hard  to  say.  We  have  here  a  fine 
study  from  nature  by  Titian  in  the  years  of  his  prime. 
There  is  no  reference  in  contemporary  literature  to  Titian's 
portrait  of  a  friar.  But  a  letter  exists,  dated  June  1549,  in 
which  Aretino  sends  Titian's  remembrances  to  "  the  Beverend 

K  E  2 


4aO  TTTfAX:  HIS  LIFE  AXD  TIMEa     [Chap.  IX. 

&tha'  Fdidano  at  Chioggia,"  mud  expresses  the  master's 
impttience  to  see  him,  that  he  may  "  paint  his  portrait  and 
hear  him  preach  in  St.  Maik  at  the  bidding  of  the  Doge." 
(Aretino,  Lett.  m.  f.  t.  124).  Who  this  finiher  Feliciano 
may  be,  whether  identical  with  Beinardino  Feliciano,  a  pablio 
i^eaker  and  pioCessor  at  Teniee  during  the  Dogeship  of 
Frueeaoo  Dcmato,  we  cannot  at  present  ascertain. 

Rome  :  Sciarru-ColoRHa  Palact. — ^Boom  1.  The  '\^igin  in  a 
room  hung  with  green  cortains,  stoops  oTer  and  fondles  the 
infiuit  Christ  on  her  lap.  CanTas,  1  fL  9  in.  high,  inscribed 
on  a  fiDotstool  to  the  left  in  gold  letters,  ^*  imAirvs."  This 
is  a  heantifal  litde  specimen  of  Titian*s  art,  the  right  hand 
holding  the  back  of  the  infimt  is  of  a  lovely  pearly  tone 
beantifhlly  contrasting  with  white  dnqpeiy. 

Madfid  Museum,  No.  463.— ''Portrait  of  aMaltese  Knight ; '' 
knee-piece,  on  canvas,  m.  1.  22h.  by  1.01.  This  is  the 
likeness  of  a  man  of  abont  85,  bare-headed,  and  bearded, 
standing  at  a  table  on  which  a  clock  lies.  The  dress  is  black 
silk  trimmed  with  satin,  and  the  vest  is  embroidered  with  a 
large  Greek  cross.  This  noble  portrait  has  not  yet  been 
identified.  It  has  lost  some  of  its  delicate  finish  in  the  head, 
bnt  is  still  a  very  fine  example  of  the  master's  middle  time. 
Particularly  admirable  is  the  way  in  which  the  black  dress  i& 
detached  on  the  lighter  yet  still  gloomy  backgronnd. 

Madrid  Museum:  (not  exhibited,  bnt  numbered  485,  in 
the  catalogue  of  1845)  "  Ecce  Homo,"  on  panel  8  ft.  7  in. 
sqnare.  The  Savioar,  crowned  with  thorns,  tamed  to  the 
right  stands  holding  the  reed  in  his  bound  hands.  In  front 
to  the  right,  a  soldier  in  chain  mail  with  his  back  to  the 
spectator,  rests  his  arm  on  a  parapet  of  stone,  whilst  Pilate 
in  a  red  jewelled  cap  raises  his  hand  and  speaks.  Jnst  aboTO 
the  parapet  to  the  left,  the  head  of  a  man  in  an  orange  cap 
appears,  whose  oatstretched  hand  raises  the  fold  of  Christ's- 
red  tnnic.  In  the  backgronnd  to  the  left  is  a  window  with 
a  lattice  of  bars.  The  eye  of  the  last-mentioned  figure,  a 
fragment  of  Christ's  shoulder,  is  all  that  can  be  seen  of  the 
original  colour  in  this  picture,  which  appears  to  have  suffered 
irreparable  injury  from  accidents  and  repainting.    But  these 


Z    »   *  I- 


/^«ri  t^ 


Chap.  IX.]  GENUINE  TTTIANS.  421 

fragments  show  that  the  panel  was  once  a  fine  work  of  Titian. 
An  old  and  feeble  copy  of  this  piece  without  the  soldier  in 
chain  mail^  is  No.  694,  in  the  gallery  of  Hampton  Court.  A 
duplicate  of  the  latter  is  catalogued  in  the  Dresden  Museum, 
(No.  289)  as  by  Francesco  Vecelli. 

Louvre,  No.  473.  —  **  L'Homme  au  Gant ;  *'  canvas, 
m.  1.0  h.  by  0.89  half  length,  of  life  sizeinscribed  ^'ticiakys  f." 
This  is  a  portrait  of  a  young  man  three  quarters  to  the  right, 
bare-headed,  dressed  in  black,  the  left  elbow  on  a  console, 
the  hand  bwe  holding  a  glove,  the  right  hand  gle¥ed.  The 
black  pelisse  is  crossed  over  a  frilled  white  shirt.  This  is  a 
noble  portrait  of  Titian's  middle  period,  strongly  impasted 
with  pigment  of  deep  flesh  tone.  Light  and  shade  are 
contrasted  with  great  mastery,  the  touch  is  broad  and  free, 
the  hand  admirably  modelled.  This  picture  belonged  to 
Louis  the  Fourteenth.  A  copy  of  it  is  in  the  gallery  of 
Brunswick  signed :  **  titianvs."  But  the  signature  is  merely 
copied,  and  by  no  means  proves  that  the  picture  is  a 
duplicate  by  the  painter  himself.     Photograph  by  Braun. 

Louvre,  No.  472. — Portrait  of  a  man  ;  canvas,  m.  1.18  h. 
by  0.96.  Portrait  of  a  man  in  black,  the  right  hand  on  the 
haunch,  the  thumb  of  the  left  in  the  belt  of  the  doublet. 
The  face  is  turned  slightly  to  the  left,  and  the  hair  cut 
straight  across  the  forehead.  This  grand  piece  also  belonged 
to  Louis  the  FourtjBenth.  It  is  of  the  same  period  as 
**  L'Homme  au  Gant,"  and  suggests  the  same  remarks.  It 
is  also  copied  in  a  canvas  of  the  Brunswick  Museum. 
Photograph  by  Braun.  \ 

Louvre,  No.  460. — "The  Virgin  and  Child,  St.  Agnes 
and  the  Young  Baptist;"  canvas  m.  1.67  h.  by  1.60,  but 
enlarged  with  a  strip  of  stuff  at  the  left  side.  The  Virgin 
sits  to  the  right  near  a  pillar  in  front  of  a  hanging.  The 
infjEtnt  Christ  stands  pensive  on  her  lap.  She  looks  round 
at  St.  Agnes  prostrate  before  her,  and  presenting  with  her 
left  hand  a  palm,  whilst  with  her  right  she  caresses  the  lamb 
led  in  to  the  left  by  the  infant  Baptist.  The  distance  is  a 
Chorine  landscape.  Large  developed  forms,  marked  outlines, 
and  sharp  tints  create  the  impression  that  Titian  was  assisted 


422  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX* 

in  this  picture  by  Cesare  Yecellio.  The  colour  is  rich  and 
well  modelled,  but  not  so  harmonious  as  usual.  This  canyas 
was  in  the  collection  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth,  is  engraved  in 
Landon,  and  photographed  by  Braun. 

St  Petersburg :  Hermitage,  No.  102. — Canvas  m.  1.8  h.  by 
1.19,  representing  Cardinal  Antonio  Pallavicini,  a  prelate, 
who  died  in  1507,  but  who  seems  to  have  been  painted 
posthumously  by  Titian  about  the  time  of  his  stay  at  Rome 
in  1545.  The  prelate  is  seated  in  a  chair  in  white  surplice 
and  red  cap  and  cape.  His  left  hand  is  on  the  arm  of 
the  chair,  his  right  on  a  book  on  his  knee.  Through  a 
window  to  the  left  a  landscape  is  seen.  On  a  pillar  behind 
the  chair  one  reads  '^ANTONiva  pallavicikvs  cabdinalis  s. 
PBASSEDis."  The  treatment  is  broad,  and  the  forms  are 
largely  presented  as  if  under  the  influence  of  Michaelange- 
lesque  reminiscences.  But  the  colours  have  less  than  usual  of 
-Titian's  brilliancy  and  richness ;  whilst  the  landscape  appears 
somewhat  leaden.  The  picture,  however,  has  suffered  from 
stippling,  which  produced  opaque  and  blind  surfaces.  It  comes 
from  the  Crozat  collection,  and  was  engraved  in  reverse  by 
Arnold  de  Jode.     (See  Famese  collection,  postea.) 

St  Petersburg :  Hermitage,  No.  97. — Christ,  crowned  with 
thorns,  bears  the  cross  which  he  supports  with  both  hands  on 
his  left  shoulder.  Behind  him  Simon  of  Cyrene.  Canvas 
m.  0.89  h.  by  0.77.  This  piece,  from  the  Barbarigo  col- 
lection, is  supposed  to  represent  Francesco  Zuccato  imder 
the  garb  of  Simon.  The  fa^ce  differs  from  that  of  the  so-called 
Zuccato  in  the  portrait  at  Cobham.  Like  others  of  this  dass, 
this  picture  is  in  Titian's  latest  style,  and  executed  in  his 
broadest  manner.  It  is  a  duplicate  of  a  canvas,  at  Madrid, 
but  injured  by  restoring  and  old  varnish,  the  dress  of  the 
Saviour  being  altogether  renewed. 

St  Petersburg :  Hermitage,  No.  95. — Christ  in  benedic- 
tion with  the  orb  in  his  left  hand ;  half  length,  on  canvas 
m.  0.96  h.  by  0.78.  This  picture  belonged  to  the  Barbarigo 
collection,  and  is  one  of  the  pictures  found  in  Titian's  house 
after  his  death.  It  is  much  repainted,  but  still  shows  the 
treatment  of  the  master's  latest  time. 


Ohap.  IX.]  GENUINE  TITIANS.  423 

Su  Petersburg :  Hermitage,  No.  94. — Christ  crowned  with 
thomSy  holds  a  reed  between  his  bound  hands.  To  the  left 
in  rear,  Pilate  in  red,  to  the  right  the  executioner.  Canyas 
m.  0.96  h.  by  0.78,  from  the  Barbarigo  collection,  and  in  the 
master's  latest  manner.  But  these  half-lengths  are  at  best 
coarse  and  hastily  executed.  And  time  has  not  improved 
their  look — ^the  colours  being  dim  from  age,  and  changed  by 
retouching. 

St.  Petersburg:  Hermitage,  (not  exhibited). — St.  Sebas- 
tian, full  length  on  canvas,  bound  to  a  tree,  with  an  arrow  in 
the  middle  of  his  breast.  This  figure,  large  as  life,  and  once 
no  doubt  fine,  was  originally  in  the  Barbarigo  collection,  but 
is  now  so  injured  that  it  cannot  be  shown.  It  may  have  been 
the  original  example  of  the  ''  St.  Sebastian/'  once  in  the 
Escorial,  but  now  lost,  of  which  Bidolfi  says  (Mar.  i.  240), 
that  it  was  painted  for  Charles  the  Fifth. 

St.  Petersburg :  Hermitage,  No.  96. — The  Virgin  holds 
the  infant  Christ  on  her  knee,  and  receives  a  small  vase  from 
the  kneeling  Magdalen  on  the  left ;  half  lengths  on  canvas, 
m.  0.98  h.  by  0*82.  This  too  is  a  Barbarigo  Titian  replica, 
with  a  slight  variety,  of  one  at  the  Ufi&zi,  and  one  in  the 
Naples  Museum.  The  colour  is  rich  and  the  faces  are  pleasing, 
but  the  execution  seems  to  have  been  entrusted  in  a  great 
measure  to  a  pupil  of  the  class  of  Marco  Yecelli,  whose  forms 
are  always  fuUer,  and  whose  colours  are  invariably  sharper 
than  those  of  Titian.  This  is  an  heirloom  of  the  Barbarigo 
family,  the  original  no  doubt  of  a  picture  in  the  Famese  Col- 
lection, noted  in  the  Famese  inventory  of  1680.  (See  Cam- 
pori,  Race.  ti.  8.  p.  224). 

Dresden  OaUery,  No.  228. — ^Portrait  of  a  man  carrying 
a  palm  leaf;  canvas  4  ft.  10  h.  by  8  ft.  2,  a  knee-piec6, 
originally  in  the  palace  of  the  Marcello  family  at  Venice, 
where,  according  to  the  Anonimo  (ed.  Morelli,  p.66  ),  there 
was  a  collection  of  pictures,  some  of  which  were  by  Titian. 
The  person  represented  is  tall,  bony,  and  sallow,  very  bald, 
but  with  short  black  hair  still  visible  behind  the  temples, 
and  a  short  dark  beard.  He  looks  to  the  right  though  turned 
three-quarters  to  the  left,  and  sits,  dressed  in  black  silk,  at  a 


424  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

table  on  which  a  shallow  box  with  a  paUet-knife  or  an  apothe- 
cary's spatula  is  lying.  Through  an  opening  to  the  left  a 
landscape  is  seen.  Bound  the  head,  and  dimly  traceable 
under  a  repainted  backgronnd,  is  the  line  of  a  circular  nimbus. 
The  whole  surface  of  the  picture  has  been  more  or  less  re- 
touched, but  the  landscape  suffered  less  than  the  rest  of  the 
canvas,  and  there  as  well  as  in  small  spaces  of  the  flesh,  we 
distinguish  the  hand  of  Titian.  It  must  have  been  a  fine 
likeness  in  its  day ;  so  fine  that  attempts  were  made  to  give 
the  person  represented  a  name,  and  this  was  done  by  help  of  the 
following  inscription:  icdlxi  ||  inh.  petbys  abetinys  ||  jstatis 

8yA(!)  XXXXYI  II  TITIANYS  PICTOR  ET  ||  £Q7ES  OiBSARIS.    As  it  WaS 

clear  that  the  fa^ce  was  not  that  of  Aretino,  clear  likewise  that 
the  inscription  was  forged,  the  letters  were  recently  washed  over, 
and  an  inscription   as  follows  recovered :  mdlxi.  ||  anko..  i. 

APT..A.  NATVS  ||  -ETATI8  BVA  XLVI  ||  TITIANVS  PICTOR  ET  ||  JSQVES 

CJESARis.  The  first  line  is  darker  in  colour  than  the  second 
and  third,  in  which  the  character  also  differs  from  that  of  the 
fourth  and  fifth  line.  The  letters  are  written  by  a  house 
painter,  sharp  cornered,  and  crossed  at  the  ends.  They  are 
probably  not  of  Titian's  time ;  yet  the  picture,  as  above 
remarked,  is  a  fine  and  genuine  work  of  Titian. 

Munich  OaUery,  No.  587. — The  Virgin  sits  under  a  tree 
in  a  landscape,  holding  the  in&nt  Christ  on  her  knee,  who 
turns  to  look  at  the  boy  Baptist  on  the  left.  To  the  right  a 
donor  in  a  black  pelisse  is  kneeling.  Canvas,  2  ft.  3f  h.  by 
2  ft.  10.  The  head  and  foot  of  St.  John,  and  the  head  of  the 
Virgin  are  damaged  by  abrasion  and  retouching ;  yet  the 
picture  is  still  a  lovely  one  of  Titian,  and  the  landscape  to 
the  right,  with  blue  mountains  and  nearer  ranges  dotted 
with  church  and  campanile,  is  beautifully  painted.  The  date 
of  this  masterpiece  may  be  set  down  as  between  1520  and 
1525 ;  and  the  treatment  in  the  style  of  that  period  is  perfect. 
The  profile  of  the  donor,  a  man  in  the  prime  of  life,  is  very 
fine. 

The  same  subject,  with  a  figure  of  St.  Catherine  in  place 
of  the  donor,  is  catalogued  as  a  Titian  in  the  Fenaroli  collec- 
tion at  Brescia.     We  read  the  words   **  titia.  pin."  on  a 


Chap.  IX.]  GENUINE  TITIANS.  425 

comer  of  the  canvas.    Bpt  the  handling  is  not  Titian's,  but 
that  of  an  imitator  of  his  manner. 

Munich  Gallery,  No.  691. — The  Virgin  sits  in  front  of  a 
bnilding  in  a  landscape  at  sunset,  and  holds  in  her  arms  the 
naked  infant  Christ.  The  movements  of  the  figures  are 
grand,  and  the  treatment  exhibits  Titian  still  in  possession 
of  great  power,  though  in  the  period  of  his  old  age.  The 
colours  are  brushed  in  with  bold  freedom,  and  shaded  with 
dark  tones.  But  the  surfaces  are  partially  rubbed  down. 
This  picture  is  said  to  have  been  brought  to  Munich  from 
Spain ;  it  measures  5  ft.  8^  h.  by  4  ft.  1.  It  is  signed  with 
a  dubious  signature :  "  titianvs  p." 

A  variation  of  the  same  motive  is  in  a  small  Madonna  in 
the  Sciarra  Colonna  Palace  at  Home.  (See  anted). 

Munich  Gallery,  No.  467. — Portrait  of  a  man  in  black 
turned  to  the  right,  but  looking  out  to  the  left,  bare-headed, 
with  his  right  hand  on  a  table,  his  left  on  a  dagger.  A  white 
flhirt  shows  its  plaits  at  the  breast,  the  coat  is  of  black  silk. 
This  noble  portrait  is  painted  with  great  force  and  finish, 
and  looks  like  one  of  those  aristocratic  creations  of  Titian 
which  Van  Dyke  liked  to  study.  In  the  gaUery  of  Diisseldorf 
where  it  was  long  preserved,  it  was  called  erroneously  a 
likeness  of  Aretino  (see  Georg  Forster's  Ansichten  vom 
Niederrhein,  &c.,  8vo.  Leipzig,  1868,  l^*"  Theil,  p.  77). 

Vienna  GaUery. — Portrait  of  "Titian's  Doctor,  Parma," 
turned  to  the  left,  a  beardless  old  man,  with  fine  grey  hair, 
in  black  silk  robes,  the  left  hand  grasping  the  hem  of  the 
dress  at  the  breast.  This  masterly  portrait  is  one  of  the 
noblest  creations  of  its  kind,  finished  with  a  delicacy  quite 
surprising,  and  modelled  with  the  finest  insight  into  the 
modulations  of  human  flesh.  Though  some  of  the  minute 
details  have  been  removed  by  abrasion,  enough  remains  to 
produce  a  magic  effect.  The  hair,  where  preserved,  is  of  such 
gossamer  texture  that  one  fancies  it  might  be  blown  about 
by  the  air.  Notwithstanding  all  this  the  touch  and  the 
treatment  are  utterly  unlike  Titian's,  having  none  of  his 
well-known  freedom,  and  none  of  his  technical  peculiarities. 
Yet  if  asked  to  name  an  artist  capable  of  painting  such  a 


426  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 

likeness,  one  is  still  at  a  loss.  A  piece  Tvas  added  to  the 
bottom  of  the  canyas  at  no  very  distant  date.  This  and  clean- 
ing, to  which  we  may  add  some  retouching,  may  have  alteied 
the  picture  materially.  In  its  present  state  the  canvas 
measures  8  ft.  6  h.  by  2  ft.  7.  It  is  considered  to  be 
identical  with  the  portrait  mentioned  by  Ridolfi  as  that  of 
*'  Parma  **  in  the  collection  of  B.  della  Nave  (Marav.  i.  220). 
But  this  is  not  proved ;  nor  is  there  any  direct  testimony  to 
show  that  it  is  by  Titian  at  all  (engraved  in  Teniers'  Gallery). 

Vienna  Oallery, — ^Portrait  of  "  Philip  Strozzi,"  the  body 
and  head  turned  three-quarters  to  the  left ;  the  dress,  a  black 
sUk  vest,  partly  covered  by  a  black  pelisse  with  a  collar  of 
white  and  black  fur.  Canvas,  3  ft.  6  h.  by  2  ft.  7.  The 
hair  and  short  beard  are  coal  black,  the  complexion  bronzed 
apd  bilious.  The  right  hand  at  the  waist  is  well  preserved. 
There  is  no  .proof  that  the  person  represented  is  Philip 
Strozzi.  But  the  picture,  though  much  over-painted  (fore- 
head and  vest),  looks  as  if  it  had  once  (1540)  been  a  fine  one 
of  the  master.  The  colour  is  broadly  laid  down  on  a  plaited 
canvas. 

Vienna  Gallery. — Portrait  of  "Benedetto  Varchi;"  a 
bearded  man,  whose  body  is  turned  to  the  left,  whilst  the 
head  looks  round  to  the  right.  The  right  elbow  leans  on 
ax^onsole;  the  left  hand  holds  a  richly  bound  book.  Near 
a  pillar  of  veined  noArble  is  a  fall  of  burnt-red  drapery. 
Here  again  the  person  represented  is  not  proved  to  be 
the  Florentine  Benedetto  Yarchi.  But  the  portrait  is  fine, 
the  glance  of  the  eye  is  lively  and  bold,  the  attitude  grand. 
The  colours  are  stiffly  impasted  on  a  coarse  canvas.  Time, 
circa  1650.  Unfortunately  there  are  touches  of  new  paint 
about  the  face.     Canvas,  8  ft.  8  h.  by  3  ft. 

Vienna  Gallery, — Lucretia  striking  at  herself  with  a 
dagger.  Canvas,  8  ft.  2  h.  by  2  ft.  4,  half  length  in  full 
front,  of  a  woman  with  curly  yellow  hair,  and  bare  neck 
pointing  the  dagger  in  her  right  hand  at  her  bosom.  A 
striped  veil  on  one  shoulder,  a  burnt  crimson  pelisse  with  a 
fur  collar  on  the  other,  a  white  sleeve,  make  up  the  picture, 
which  is  rubbed  down  and  injured  to  a  considerable  extent. 


pHAP.  IX,]  GENUINE  TrriANS.  427 

Some  years  ago  the  wqrds:  "sibi  titunts  pinxit."  were 
legible  on  the  dark  ground  beneath  the  arm  holding  the 
dagger.  The  picture  was  probably  executed  in  the  master's 
later  time,  if  we  judge  of  the  fragments  stiU  free  from 
retouching,  but  it  was  not  at  the  best  a  very  fine  or  attractive 
production. 

Vienna:  Harrack  Collection. — "  St.  Sebastian/'  of  life  size 
in  a  niche,  his  hands  bound  behind  his  back,  looking  up  to 
heaven ;  canvas  stretched  on  panel ;  of  life  size.  A  white 
cloth  covers  the  hips ;  one  arrow  pierces  the  breast,  another 
the  left  leg.  The  bend  of  the  niche  is  coloured  in  mosaic, 
with  a  line  in  Greek,  of  which  we  read  the  letters:  ^^o\y — 
7to9."  This  picture  is  corroded  by  time,  the  shadows  of  the 
head  and  the  pigment  on  the  feet  and  legs  being  almost 
eaten  away.  But  the  attitude  is  finely  rendered,  and  the 
execution  seems  worthy  of  Titian.  There  is  a  tradition  that 
this  piece  was  once  in  the  sacristy  of  the  Salute  at  Venice. 
But  the  Harrach  collection  was  brought  together  partly  at 
Naples,  and  partly  in  Spain,  and  it  may  be  that  the  picture 
is  that  described  in  books  as  once  existing  in  the  Escorial. 
(See  Sir  A.  Hume's  Titian,  p.  82). 

Cassel  Gallery y  No.  25. — ^Portrait  of  a  man,  full  length, 
large  as  life,  on  canvas,  7  ft.  2  h.  by  5  ft.  5,  in  the  plumed 
cap  of  a  Duke,  standing  in  a  red  striped  doublet  and  red 
hose,  in  a  hiUy  landscape.  His  left  hand  is  on  his  haunch, 
his  right  grasps  a  spear.  At  his  feet  on  the  right  is  a  dog ; 
on  the  left  a  winged  Cupid  raising  aloft  a  plumed  helmet, 
whilst  a  bow  and  quiver  lie  on  the  ground.  Signed  to 
the  right  of  "Amor,"  **titianvs  fecit."  This  figure  is 
stated  to  be  Davalos,  Marquis  of  Yasto,  which  requires  con- 
firmation. It  brings  to  mind  Aretino's  sonnet  to  Titian's 
portrait  of  Alva  in  1649  : 

«  La  effigie  adoranda  della  pace 
L'lmagiQe  tremenda  della  guerra.*' 

(Aretmo,  Lettere,  v.  105.) 

But  the  fEUse  is  not  that  of  the  Duke  of  Alva,  although  the 
figure  may  be  that  of  a  Spaniard.     The  style  is  that  of  Titian 


428  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 

in  1549-60.  The  treatment  is  rapid  and  bold.  The  sitter 
is  a  man  of  forty,  close  cropped,  with  a  short  black  beard, 
losing  itself  in  the  frill  of  a  white  shirt  collar ;  the  figure  is 
slender  and  well  made.  Sword  and  dagger  are  belted  to  the 
waist.    Photograph  by  Gustav  Schaner  of  Berlin. 

London :  National  OaUery,  No.  4. — '*  Holy  Family  with 
an  Adoring  Shepherd ; "  canvas^  8  ft.  5^  h.,  by  4  ft.  8. 
To  the  left,  under  a  rocky  bank,  the  Virgin  sits  on  the 
ground  with  the  infant  Christ  nestling  in  her  lap.  St.  Joseph 
is  seated 'to  the  right  with  one  hand  supported  by  a  staff. 
He  looks  at  a  shepherd  kneeling  on  the  right  foreground  in 
yellowish  hose  and  red  jacket.  In  the  distance  a  blue  sky 
with  few  clouds,  a  hilly  landscape,  in  which  the  angel  appears 
to  the  shepherds.  This  pictui'e,  once  in  the  Borghese  Palace, 
is  painted  in  Titian's  early  style,  and  recalls  at  once  the 
schooling  of  Oiorgione  and  Palma.  But  there  is  more  empti- 
ness in  the  forms  than  we  like  to  admit  in  Titian,  and  much 
in  the  picture  would  seem  to  indicate  the  hand  of  Lotto.  But 
these  are  only  conjectures,  and  it  is  still  possible  that  Titian 
was  the  painter.  The  picture  was  bequeathed  to  the  nation 
by  Mr.  Holwell  Carr.    Engraved  by  J.  Bolls. 

Dudley  Home, — "Virgin  and  Child.'*  This  fine  canvas 
was  in  very  much  better  condition  when  at  Bome  in  the 
Bisenzio  Collection.  It  represents  the  Virgin  seated  on  the 
ground  near  a  brown  curtain,  giving  the  breast  to  the  infant 
Christ,  whose  waist  is  covered  with  a  white  cloth.  Much  of 
the  old  power  and  freedom  of  Titian's  later  style  was  visible  a 
few  years  ago,  but  is  now  lost  in  cleaning  and  repainting. 

Hampton  Court,  No.  964. — The  "  Marquis  of  Guasto  and 
Page."  Ejiee-piece  of  life-size  on  canvas.  This  is  a  portrait 
of  a  captain  in  armour,  turned  slightly  to  the  right,  with  the 
right  hand  on  a  table,  on  which  his  helmet  lies.  A  bearded 
servant  in  profile  to  the  right,  dressed  in  striped  yellow,  ties 
the  laces  of  the  breastplate.  Here,  as  at  Cassel,  it  is  hard  to 
say  on  what  grounds  this  captain  is  called  Marquis  of  Guasto. 
Drawing,  modelling,  and  colour  are  lost  in  abrasions,  and  the 
surfaces  are  so  injured  that  Titian's  handling  is  hardly  to  be 
recognised ;  yet  fragments,  such  as  the  profile  and  hand  of 


''•>V  '• 


Chap.  IX.]  GENTJINE  TTTIANS.  429 

the  *'  page/'  are  worthy  of  Titian,  who  is  probably  the  painter 
of  the  picture.  As  regards  the  person  represented,  it  is 
worthy  of  remark  that  the  features  are  not  unlike  those  of  the 
Duke  of  Alva,  as  painted  by  Antonio  Moro  in  a  picture  at 
Windsor  Castle ;  not  unlike  those  of  a  portrait  erroneously 
ascribed  to  Titian,  but  called  the  '*  Duke  of  Alva,"  in  the  col- 
lection of  the  Duke  of  Buccleuch  at  Dalkeith.  We  should  be 
better  able  to  judge  of  this  matter  if  we.  had  a  clue  to  Titian's 
original  portrait  of  Alva,  or  even  to  the  copy  of  that  original 
executed  by  Bubens.     (See  Sainsbury's  Papers,  u,8,,  p.  287.) 

Hampton  Court  GaUery,  No.  114.  — "  Titian's  Uncle." 
Portrait  of  a  man,  turned  to  the  right,  standing  at  a  table, 
bare-headed,  and  dressed  in  black,  with  a  book  in  his  right 
hand,  a  piece  of  fruit  in  his  left.  To  the  left,  on  a  bracket, 
is  a  statue ;  through  an  opening  to  the  right  a  fine  land- 
scape. Most  of  the  picture  is  repainted,  but  fragments  of  it, 
and  particularly  the  landscape,  display  the  hand  of  Titian 
about  his  middle  period.  The  person  represented  is  about 
fifty  years  old,  but  on  what  grounds  he  is  called  Titian's 
uncle  it  is  impossible  to  say. 

Cobham  HaU. — "  Christ  in  Benediction."  Bust  on  panel. 
Though  much  injured,  this  seems  to  have  been  a  good  and 
genuine  picture  by  Titian.  The  parts  about  the  collar  bone 
are  the  best  preserved.  An  inscription  on  the  panel  would 
suggest  that  it  belonged  to  Domenico  Ruzzini  at  Venice,  and 
we  find  in  Bidolfi  (Mar.  i.  261)  that  this  senator  owned  a 
picture  of  "  Christ  in  Benediction." 

London:  late  Northwick  Collection. — Portrait  of  a  lady  of 
life-size  in  a  turban,  holding  in  her  left  hand  a  fan  made 
of  feathers.  On  canvas,  3  ft.  8  h.,  by  2  ft.  8.  The 
dress  of  the  lady  is  Lombard,  and  recalls  that  of  Isabella 
d'Este  at  the  Belvedere  of  Vienna;  the  turban  yellow  with 
white  braiding,  the  boddice  cut  square  and  variegated  in 
black,  yellow,  and  green.  The  shoulder  pufis  black  and 
white  and  yellow,  a  chemisette,  and  a  chain  round  the  bare 
neck.  The  form  is  full,  the  bend  of  the  head,  seen  at  three- 
quarters  to  the  left,  slightly  affected.  The  treatment  is  like 
tiiat  of  Titian,  but  the  sur&ces  are  almost  entirely  concealed 


430  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

by  repainting,  and  the  restdt  of  this  is  an  appearance  of  feeble 
execution. 

Late  Northwick  Collection,  No.  872. — "Henry  Howard, 
Earl  of  Surrey."  The  identity  of  this  portrait  is  not  proved. 
It  represents  a  man  of  middle  age  in  a  black  plumed  cap,  and 
bottle  green  damasked  doublet,  with  red  sleeves.  The  right 
hand  is  on  a  dagger  at  the  belt,  the  left  fondles  a  dog.  Some 
fragments  of  this  canvas,  which  is  almost  entirely  repainted, 
show  a  treatment  akin  to  that  of  Titian. 

Viscount  Powerscourt, — ^Amongst  the  pictures  exhibited  at 
the  first  Dublin  International  Exhibition,  was  one  belonging 
to  Lord  Powerscourt,  representing  a  bare-headed  youth  of  life- 
size  to  the  knees,  in  a  black  dress,  with  his  right  arm  on  a 
table  strewed  with  books  and  papers,  with  his  left  hand 
holding  a  plumed  cap;  a  chain  hangs  from  his  neck  and 
supports  a  medal.  Over  the  dark  brown  ground  to  the 
right  a  hanging  of  green  stuff  is  falling.  The  youth  is 
about  twenty,  of  agreeable  character,  and  natural.  This 
figure  may  be  acknowledged  as  fairly  displaying  the  style  of 
Titian. 

Omnia  Vanitas, — Under  this  title,  two  or  three  pictures 
are  preserved,  which  bear  the  name  of  Titian.  A  drawing 
also  exists,  from  which  these  pictures  seem  to  have  been 
executed.  But  doubts  may  be  entertained  as  to  its  genuineness. 
Equally  doubtful  is  the  question  whether  Titian  ever  carried 
out  in  person  the  pictures  representing  the  subject. 

Dilsseldorf  Academy. — The  drawing  represents  a  female 
lying  (with  her  head  to  the  left)  on  a  couch,  half-raised  on  one 
arm,  and  looking  up  so  as  to  show  her  face  in  foreshortened 
profile.  At  her  side  to  the  right  is  a  vase,  behind  a  faU  of 
drapery.  The  drawing  is  washed  in  sepia,  and  outlined  with 
a  pen  on  rough  paper,  and  has  some  of  the  characters  of  an 
original  Titian. 

Rome :  Academy  of  San  iMca, — The  figure  above  described 
is  painted  reclining  on  a  couch,  with  a  vase  near  the  shoulder, 
and  a  crown  and  sceptre  at  the  feet.  In  the  distance  to  the 
left  a  landscape  represents  Cadorine  hills,  and  above  the 
whole  is  a  tablet  inscribed  ^'  Omnia  Yanitas."     The  canvas  is 


Chap.  IX.]  IFNOERTIPIBD  TITIANS.  431 

much  injnred  by  flaying  and  repainting.  It  is  not  handled 
with  the  mastery  of  Titian,  but  looks  as  if  it  had  been  executed 
by  Gjome  of  his  disciples  or  imitators,  perhaps  by  Cesare 
Yecellio.  It  is  said  that  this  piece  was  once  in  the  Capitol, 
and  was  presented  by  Gregory  the  Sixteenth  to  San  Lnca* 
From  it  obviously  Le  Febre  took  his  print  of  the  Omnia 
Yanitas,  and  if  so,  the  picture  was  then  in  the  Yidman 
Collection  at  Yenice.  The  same  piece  was  also  engraved  by 
G.  Saiter.     (Compare  Sir  A.  Hume's  Titian,  p.  65.) 

Olasgow  Mriseum,  No.  236. — The  same  subject  is  here 
called  "  Danae."  On  the  edge  of  the  white  couch,  besides  the 
Tase,  there  are  some  golden  pieces.  On  the  tablet  above, 
instead  of  '*  Onmia  Yanitas,"  we  read  "  Titian  cadvbm." 
The  execution  is  very  free,  the  pigment  thin,  as  if  some  bold 
executant  had  imitated  Cesare  Yecelli.  The  canvas  has  been 
injured,  and  the  flesh  has  gained  a  yellow  tinge  from  time  and 
varnish.  The  signature  of  Titian  is  of  dubious  antiquity.  In 
a  catalogue  of  pictures  for  sale  at  Yenice  at  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  we  find  the  ''Omnia  Yanitas."  (See  this 
catalogue  in  Stockbauer's  Kunstbestrebungen  am  Bayrischen 
Hof,  U.8,  vol.  viii.  of  Quellenschriften,  p.  48.) 

Kingston  Lacy. — ^Here  is  a  third  replica  of  the  same  piece, 
with  "  Omnia  Yanitas  "  on  the  tablet.  The  figure. is  large  as 
life,  on  canvas,  but  of  uniform  tone  and  thin  colour.  The 
execution  is  exactly  similar  to  that  of  the  Glasgow  example. 


It  is  natural  that  there  should  be  a  wish  on  the  part 
of  numerous  collectors  to  assign  to  Titian  works  of  art 
which  sometimes  closely,  at  others  but  distantly,  recall 
the  treatment  of  the  master.  The  following  is  a  list 
of  pictures  in  which  the  authors  have  not  been  able  to 
discern  the  distinctive  marks  of  Titian's  style. 

Venice :  Zecca. — "  Yirgin  and  Child."  This  is  a  fresco  on 
the  ground  floor  of  the  old  Zecca,  showing  a  certain  form  of 
afiectation  in  the  attitude  of  the  Yirgin,  which  looks  like  a 
reminiscence  of  the  Yirgin  and  Child  of  Baphaers  ^'Ma- 


432  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

donna  di  Foligno."    The  fresco  has  lost  much  of  its  colour, 
and  it  is  impossible  to  express  an  opinion  as  to  the  author. 

Venice  Academy,  No.  350. — ^Portrait  of  the  Pirocaiator 
Priamo  di  Lezze.  This  portrait  was  taken  from  the  Procaratie, 
and  patched  and  restored.  The  head,  with  short  white  hair 
and  fall  beard,  is  all  that  is  not  absolutely  new,  but  even  that 
is  changed  by  stippling,  and  now  looks  like  work  from  the 
hand  of  Damiano  Massa.  Canvas  bust  in  red,  m.  0.52  h.  hy 
0.68. 

Venice :  Prince  GiovaneUi, — Two  pictures  in  this  collection 
are  assigned  to  Titian,  ''  St.  Boch  and  the  Angel,"  which  is 
an  undoubted  picture  by  Lotto  (see  Hist,  of  N.  Ital.  Punting, 
ii.  p.  526),  and  a  "  St.  Jerom  "  by  Basaiti.     (lb.  i.  269.) 

Venice :  Santa  Caterina, — "  The  Angel  and  Tobit,"  on 
panel.  The  position  of  the  figures  and  the  dog  is  the  same 
relatively  as  that  of  Titian's  original  in  S.  Marciliano,  but  the 
style  is  not  the  masculine  and  powerful  style  of  Titian,  and 
we  may  believe  that  Bidolfi  is  less  correct  in  assigning  it  to 
Titian  (Mar.  i.  197)  than  Boschini  in  ascribing  it  to  Santo 
Zago.     (Bicche  Miniere,  S.  di  Canareggio,  pp.  19,  20.) 

Venice :  S.S,  Ermagora  e  Fortunato.  —  Christ  with  the 
Orb,  on  a  pedestal  between  the  standing  figures  of  St.  Andrew 
and  St.  Catherine  ;  a  Titianesque  panel  in  the  style  of  Fran- 
cesco Yecelli,  or  Santo  Zago,  but  not  a  genuine  Titian.  (Com- 
pare Boschini,  Bicche  Miniere,  S.  di  Canareggio,  p.  58,  and 
Moschini,  Guida  di  Yenezia,  ii.  861.) 

Cadore :  {Pieve  di)  Casa  Coletti, — Here  is  the  house  once 
inhabited  by  Tiziano  Yecelli,  the  orator,  Titian's  kinsman. 
A  hall  in  the  basement  of  the  house  is  painted  with  arabesques 
and  figures,  one  of  the  latter  an  old  woman  spinning,  with  a 
cat  playing  near  her.  Benaldis  (Pittura  Friulana,  u.8.  p.  65) 
ascribes  these  waU-paintings  to  Titian,  but  they  are  work  of 
a  later  time. 

Venas  (Cadore)  Church. — The  Yirgin  adoring  the  infant 
Christ  on  her  knees,  between  two  angels  in  a  landscape ;  on 
two  canvases  at  the  sides  St.  Mark  and  two  saints  in  converse. 
This  pretty  and  gracefully  executed  picture  is  by  some  painter 
of  the  school  of  the  Yecelli  of  the  seventeenth  centuiy. 


Chap.  IX.]  UNOEETIFIED  TITIANS.  438 

Vmigo  Church, — The  Virgin  enthroned  with  the  Child  in 
Benediction  erect  on  her  knee ;  at  her  sides  St.  John  the 
Baptist  and  St.  John  the  Evangelist ;  an  angel  seated  on  the 
step  of  the  throne  plays  the  tamhonrine.  This  canvas,  with 
figores  of  life-size,  is  greatly  injured  by  restoring,  but  is 
clearly  not  by  Titian.  (Ticozzi,  Yecelli,  u.  8,  p.  96.)  The  treat- 
ment points  to  a  disciple  of  the  schools  of  Francesco  or  Cesare 
Vecelli. 

Domegge :  Caaa  Bemabo, — Church  standard,  representing 
the  Virgin  and  Child  between  St.  Boch  and  St.  Sebastian, 
with  an  angel  on  the  step  playing  a  tambourine.  This  also 
is  assigned  to  Titian,  but  is  executed  by  an  artist  of  the 
seventeenth  centuiy,  whose  work  is  almost  completely  lost  in 
subsequent  daubing.  A  copy  of  this  piece,  assigned  to  Orazio 
Vecelli  in  the  church  of  the  Pieve  at  Cadore^  is  inscribed 
with  the  date  of  1647. 

Pozzale:  Church  of  San  Tommaso, — Church  standard, 
with  a  figure  of  St.  Thomas.  The  surface  of  this  canvas  is 
covered  with  repaints,  but  it  was  never  executed  by  Titian, 
whose  name  it  undeservedly  bears. 

Candide  Church. — The  Virgin  and  Child  enthroned,  with 
an  angel  playing  a  tambourine,  St.  Andrew  and  St.  John  the 
Baptist, — a  set  of  three  canvases  in  this  church,  assigned  by 
Ticozzi  to  Titian  (Vecelli,  p.  94),  are  by  Cesare  Vecelli. 

Mel,  in  Cadore, — In  past  years  there  stood  on  the  high 
altar  of  the  church  of  Mel  an  arched  canvas,  with  life-size 
figures  of  St.  Andrew,  St.  Sebastian,  and  St.  Paul,  set  on  a 
base  or  predella,  with  hexagonal  panels  representing  the 
Samaritan  woman  before  Christ  at  the  Well,  the  Besur- 
rection,  and  the  Epiphany,  each  of  these  little  subjects 
being  parted  by  a  square  panel  containing  an  angel's  head. 
The  central  piece  is  now  in  the  choir,  a  copy  of  it  being  in 
the  sacristy,  where  we  likewise  find  halves  of  the  Samaritan 
Woman  and  Besurrection  put  together  as  one  picture, 
together  with  the  Epiphany  and  Angels.  According  to  the 
tradition  of  Mel,  the  altar-piece  now  in  the  choir  is  by  Titian, 
but  the  work  does  not  confirm  the  tradition.  It  is  boldlv 
painted,  incorrect  in  drawing,  and  discordant  in  tone.    In  the 

VOL.  IL  F  F 


434  TITIAN:  HIS  UFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 


white  haired  centaral  figure  of  St.  Andrew,  there  is  much  to 
remind  ns  of  Andrea  Schiavone.  St.  Sebastian  bound  to  a 
pillar  on  the  left  recalls  the  school  of  Paris  Bordone.  The 
Uttle  panels  in  the  sacristy  are  better  than  the  principal 
canvas.  The  style  of  aU  is  that  which  prevails  amongst  the 
painters  of  the  Titianesque  school  at  Belluno,  and  particularly 
that  of  Niccold  de'  Stefani  of  Belluno.  (Compare  Ticozzi, 
Yecelli,  p.  96,  and  Beltrame's  Titian,  p.  83.) 

Cencenighe  by  Agordo, — On  the  high  altar  of  the  church  of 
this  village,  a  picture  of  St.  Anthony  enthroned  between  St. 
Boch  and  St.  Sebastian  is  described  as  a  work  by  Titian.  On 
close  examination,  it  seems  to  be  by  a  Bellunese  disciple  of 
Niccold  de'  Stefani. 

Lentiai :  Santa  Maria. — Composite  altar-piece.  The  As- 
sumption between  St.  Paul  and  St.  John  Evangelist  and  St. 
Peter  and  a  saint  in  episcopals.  Above  in  half  lengths  the 
PietiL  between  four  saints.  This  picture,  assigned  to  Titian, 
betrays  the  hand  of  his  assistants,  and  more  particularly  that 
of  Cesare  Yecelli,  who  painted  the  whole  of  the  ceilings  of  this 
church  in  company  of  Jacopo  Constantini  in  1678. 

Serravalle:  Casa  CamelivMi,  —  The  house  called  Casa 
Cameliutti  is  that  which  was  inhabited  of  old  by  Lavinia 
Yecelli  and  her  husband  Sarcinelli.  Here  the  wall  of  an 
apartment  is  still  covered  with  remnants  of  a  fresco  represent- 
ing a  nude  female  figure  in  a  recumbent  position,  with  a 
basket  of  fiowers  near  her.  She  lies  with  her  head  to  the  left, 
her  right  elbow  resting  on  a  white  cushion,  and  her  head  sup- 
ported by  the  fingers  of  her  right  hand.  The  left  hand,  as  at 
present  seen,  is  extended  horizontally  in  a  somewhat  meaning- 
less manner.  It  is  hard  to  say  whether  this  picture  was 
really  executed,  as  alleged,  by  Titian.  The  left  arm  is  quite 
modem,  the  other  is  retouched.  Fragments  of  old  colour 
crop  up  through  the  newer  fiesh  tint  of  the  bee,  showing  the 
eyes  and  features  in  a  difierent  form  from  the  present  ones. 
Similar  discoveries  may  be  made  in  other  parts,  and  it  is 
evident  that  whoever  may  have  been  the  author  of  this 
painting,  his  work  is  efiectually  concealed  by  that  of  a  later 
and  less  competent  hand. 


Chap.  IX.]  TJNCEETIFIED  TTTIANS.  435 

San  Salvatore  di  Colalto. — ^Fragments  of  frescoes,  chiefly 
heads,  originally  in  the  canonry  of  Castions.  1.  Titian  ?  2. 
Pierio  Valeriano.  8.  Urbano  Bolzanio.  These  pieces,  though 
assigned  to  Titian,  are  painted  in  the  bold  manner  of  Cesare 
Yecelli.  A  portrait  of  "  Valeriano,"  the  counterpart  as  regards 
&ce  and  features  of  the  above,  is  preserved  under  the  name  of 
Titian  in  Casa  Palatini  at  Belluno.  It  is  probably  also  by 
Cesare. 

BeUuno:  San  Stefano. — "Adoration  of  the  Magi."  This 
picture,  ascribed  by  Ticozzi  (Vec.  p.  98)  and  Beltrame  {u,s. 
p.  33)  to  Titian,  is  by  Cesare  Vecelli. 

Fonzaso  :  Casa  Ponte.— The  "  Nativity"  till  1806  in  the 
suppressed  church  of  San  Giuseppe  of  Belluno.  This  canvas, 
assigned  by  Ticozzi  to  Titian,  is  by  Francesco  Yecelli  his 
brother.  (See  Ticozzi,  Vecelli,  u,  «.  p.  78-4,  and  compare 
Count  Florio  Miari's  Dizionario  Bellunese,  fol.  Belluno,  1848, 
p.  143.) 

Casteldardo :  Casa  PUoni. — ^Portrait  of  Oderico  Piloni, 
half  length  on  canvas  turned  to  the  left ;  an  old  man  with  a 
grey  beard,  white  frill  and  brown  dress,  holding  a  glove  in  his 
left  hand.  This  portrait  is  not  by  Titian,  but  probably  by 
Cesare  Vecelli. — ^In  the  same  collection,  two  fragments  of 
frescoes,  representing  a  boy  of  six  and  a  boy  of  seven  years,  are 
probably  by  the  same  hand.     (See  Alnwick). 

Belluno :  Casa  Pagani. — ^Head  of  a  youth  :  inscribed  An- 
tonio (Piloni)  on  panel ;  two  heads  on  canvas  of  Scipio  and 
Gio.  Maria  (Piloni).  These  are  part  of  a  series  of  which  the 
rest — ^two  in  number — namely  Csesar  and  Paul  Piloni,  re- 
spectively aged  six  and  three,  are  in  the  Casa  Agosti  at 
Belluno.  All  these  pictures  are  assigned  to  Titian,  but  are 
probably  by  Cesare  Vecelli. 

BeUuno :  Casa  Piloni. — ^A  single  head  of  a  female — a  fresco 
— ^is  shown  in  this  house,  which  once  belonged  to  a  fresco  of 
the  rape  of  the  Sabine  women,  of  which  there  is  an  engraving 
inscribed:  ''Opus  Titiani  Vecelli  existens  in  atrio,  D.D. 
nobilium  Comitum  Piloni  in  civitate  Belluni,  G.  G.  F."  The 
fiugment  now  preserved  shows  pretty  clearly  that  the  painter 
must  have  been  Cesare  Vecelli,  the  treatment  being  similar 

F  F  2 


436  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

to  that  of  the  wall  pamtings  of  Cesare's  last  period,  in  the 
Pieve  di  Cadore  and  elsewhere. 

SpUiTnherg :  CasaMonaco — Portrait  of  "  GngUelmns Monaco 
Bergomensis  "  with  the  date  mdl,  at  a  table,  pen  in  hand, 
turned  three  quarters  to  the  right;  on  the  table  is  a  book  with 
the  word,  '^p.  f.  oomedia."  The  name  and  date  aboye 
given  are  on  the  brown  background  of  the  canvas,  but  they  are 
either  repainted  or  modem.  The  picture  itself  is  erroneously 
assigned  to  Titian,  being  by  a  feeble  disciple  of  Pomponio 
Amalteo. 

Pat:  Casa  ManzonL — ^Profile  bust  to  the  right  of  a  man  in 
a  black  cap,  falsely  assigned  to  Titian.  The  real  painter  of 
this  piece  may  be  Niccold  de'  Stefani,  whose  pictures  are 
numerous  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Pat. 

Rovigo  Gallery,  No.  8. — Portrait  of  a  bearded  man  in  a 
black  cap,  pointing  with  the  right  hand  to  a  passage  in  a  book 
which  he  holds  in  his  left.  Half  length  on  canvas  turned  to 
the  right.  The  picture  is  in  too  bad  a  state  to  warrant  an 
opinion.  It  looks  as  if  it  might  have  been  originally  a  work 
of  Bernardino  Licinio. 

Rovigo  Gallery,  No.  2. — "  Virgin  and  Child  "  a  copy  of  a 
picture  by  Titian  in  the  Belvedere  of  Vienna.  (See  anten,  i. 
p.  56.) 

Rovigo  Gallery,  No.  118. — "Apollo  and  Daphne."  A 
picture  by  Andrea  Schiavone. 

Rovigo  Oallery,  No.  9.— "Death  of  Goliath."  No.  10, 
"Portrait  of  Titian  by  Himself."  Both  very  poor,  and 
spurious  productions. 

Vicenza  Gallery, — "  Virgin  and  Child."  Half  length  in 
front  of  a  landscape,  in  part  concealed  to  the  right  by  a  green 
curtain ;  panel,  with  figures  of  life  size.  This  picture  is  more 
in  the  style  of  Francesco  Vecelli  than  in  the  style  of  Titian. 

Verona  Gallery. — "  Virgin  and  Child  and  young  Baptist." 
This  canvas,  with  figures  of  half  the  life  size,  was  bequeathed 
to  the  Verona  Gallery  by  Mr.  Bemasconi  as  an  original 
Titian.  It  is  however  a  pretiy  creation  of  Cesare  VeceUi. 
Photograph  by  Naya. 

Feltre :  Episcopal  Palace, — ^Portrait  of  a  bearded  man  at  a 


Chap.  IX.]  UNOEETIFIEB  TTTIANS.  437 

table,  on  which  a  pair  of  goggles  is  lying.  The  figure  is  on 
canvas,  half-lengtih,  large  as  life  and  turned  to  the  right.  It 
is  by  Tintoretto  and  not  by  Titian. 

Padua:  Casa  Maldura. — The  Virgin  with  the  Child 
naked  and  recumbent  on  her  lap,  in  firont  of  a  green  curtain, 
beyond  which  to  the  right  a  landscape  is  seen.  This  canyas, 
with  half  lengths  assigned  to  Titian,  and  much  damaged  by 
restoring,  looks  like  a  work  of  Cesare  Yecelli. 

Lovere :  Tadini  Collection,  No.  78. — "  Portrait  of  Gabriel 
Tadino"  turned  in  profile  to  the  lefb,  with  a  white  cross 
and  a  medal  hanging  from  his  neck.  On  the  medal  are 
fragments  of  letters  which  are  all  but  illegible,  and  the 
date  MCCCCOXxxYm ;  on  the  lower  part  of  the  picture  : 
"GABRIEL  TADiNO."  This  may  once  have  been  by  Titian, 
but  is  now  repainted  to  such  an  extent  that  the  original 
pigments  are  no  longer  visible. 

No  408  in  the  same  collection  is  a  portrait  of  a  man  in  a 
dark  pelisse  looking  to  the  right  with  a  paper  in  his  right 
hand,  and  his  left  on  the  hilt  of  his  sword.  It  is  a  copy 
imitating  Moretto  rather  than  Titian. — No  880  represents 
Titian.  A  bust  with  (!)  the  Order  of  the  Golden  Fleece.  A 
modem  work  of  the  18th  century.  No.  84. — "Portrait  of  a  lady 
with  a  lapdog  on  her  knees."  Much  injured  piece  of  a  time 
subsequent  to  Titian's  death.  In  the  same  gallery  is  a  copy 
of  the  "  Woman  taken  in  Adultery,"  which  we  shall  find  as- 
signed to  Titian  in  Sant'  Afra  of  Brescia. 

Btescia:  St.  Afra. — "Christ  and  the  Woman  taken  in 
Adultery."  The  Saviour  turns  to  address  one  of  the  Pharisees, 
a  bearded  man  in  a  turban  on  the  lefb  of  the  picture,  whilst 
to  the  right  the  woman  bends  before  him  as  she  stands 
surrounded  by  her  accusers.  In  the  distance  a  grove  and  a 
temple.  To  the  lefb  in  the  foreground  two  figures  stand, 
portraits  probably  of  members  of  the  family  for  which  the 
composition  was  designed.  Canvas,  half-lengths  of  Ufe  size. 
This  picture  is  painted  in  the  Venetian  manner,  but  by  a  pro- 
vincial and  not  by  Titian,  and  there  is  a  modem  polish  in  the 
colours  and  a  weight  in  the  forms  which  betray  the  hand  either 
of  Pietro  Bosa  or  of  Giulio  Campi.    The  latter  is  probably  the 


t 


438  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 

author  of  the  picture,  which  till  quite  recently  hung  above 
the  lateral  portal  inside  St.  Afra,  but  within  the  last  two 
years  has  been  withdrawn,  and  has  passed  into  private  hands. 
Photograph  by  Giacomo  Bossetti  of  Brescia,  engraving  in  line 
by  Sala.     A  feeble  copy  in  the  Tadini  collection  at  Lovere. 

The  same  subject  with  figures  in  full  length  and  with  the 
variety  of  Christ  pointing  to  the  sentence  on  the  stone  at  his 
feet,  which  one  of  the  Pharisees  stoops  to  read,  was  20  years 
ago  under  Titian's  name  in  the  Casa  Pino  Friedenthal  at 
Milan. 

Brescia:  Erizzo-Maffei  Gallery,  No.  21. — Portrait  of  a 
man  in  a  plumed  cap  dressed  in  yellow  and  green  damask, 
turned  to  the  left  near  an  opening,  his  left  hand  on  the  hilt 
of  his  sword.  Behind  the  figure— a  half-length  of  Ufe  size 
on  panel— ris  a  green  curtain.  The  picture  is  much  repainted, 
but  may  still  be  recognised  as  a  work  of  Moretto. 

Brescia:  Erizzo-Maffei  Gallery, — Portrait  of  a  grey- 
bearded  man,  with  the  left  hand  on  his  haunch,  in  a  black 
cap,  half-length.  This  portrait  is  not  by  Titian,  but  by 
Tintoretto. 

Brescia :  Fenaroli  Collection, — "  The  Zingara,*'  a  woman 
in  a  black  silk  mantilla  turned  to  the  left  near  a  table  with  a 
vase  on  it.  In  the  distance  a  view  of  Venice  and  the  lagoons. 
This  fine  picture  is  by  Savoldo. 

Brescia:  Fenaroli  Collection. — "Venus  and  the  Oi^an- 
player."  An  old  copy  of  Titian's  picture  in  the  Madrid 
Museum  (now  No.  459). 

Bagolino  {Province  of  Brescia)  :  Parish  Church  of  San 
Giorgio, — ^Virgin  in  glory  attended  by  angels  and  adored 
by  a  kneeling  saint.  Below,  St.  Boch,  St.  Mark  curing  the 
shoemaker,  and  St.  Sebastian.  Arched  canvas  with  figures 
of  life  size  on  the  3rd  altar  to  the  right  of  the  portal.  This 
picture,  though  assigned  to  Titian,  is  probably  by  Pietro  Bosa 
of  Brescia. 

Bergamo :  Lochis  Carrara  GaUery,  No.  183. — "  Virgin 
and  Child  ;  "  half-length,  on  panel.  Ascribed  to  Titian,  but 
by  Santo  Zago. 

Bergamo:  Lochis  Carrara,  No.  111. — "  The  Betum  of  the 


CT 


Chap.  IX.]  UNCEETIFIBD  TITIANS.  439 

Prodigal  Son."  The  son  kneels  before  his  father,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  numerons  spectators,  in  a  landscape  in  front  of  some 
houses.  The  style  is  like  that  of  Andrea  Schiavone,  but  is 
even  too  hasty  to  be  his.  On  a  scutcheon  to  the  right  are 
the  arms  of  the  family  of  Colalto. 

Bergamo :  LochVa  Carrara^  No.  132. — ^A  kneeling  votary 
before  a  crucifix  in  a  landscape;  small  panel  inscribed  with 
the  date  1518.  The  treatment  is  that  of  a  local  Brescian 
painter. 

Fano:  Casa  Montevecchio. — ^Portrait  of  Julius,  Count  of 
Montevecchio,  in  armour  and  mail,  bareheaded,  ivith  his 
right  hand  on  a  helmet,  and  his  left  on  the  hilt  of  a  sword. 
In  the  background  to  the  left  a  hilly  landscape  is  represented 
with  a  fortress,  troops,  and  cannon ;  canvas,  knee-piece  of 
life  size.  On  the  old  frame  of  the  time  is  the  following 
inscription:  "Julius  comes  Montisveteris  Urbini  Pr(5[veditor] 
armorum  reipubUcsB  Plumbini  contra  Turcos  et  in  Tuscia 
contra  Senenses  Dux,  et  locumtenes  generalis  anno  MDLin." 
Thin  pigments  and  hasty  execution  would  show  that  Titian, 
if  he  painted  this  picture  at  all,  of  which  no  opinion  can  here 
be  given,  produced  a  portrait  beneath  his  usual  powers. 

Genoa:  Durazzo  Palace. — Venus  initiates  a  Bacchante  (five 
figures).  This  is  a  variety  of  the  composition  of  which  a 
repetition  is  in  the  gallery  of  Munich  (No.  524).  It  is  greatly 
injured,  but  was  apparently  executed  by  some  imitator  of 
Titian. 

Modena  Galiery,  No.  114. — Portrait,  half-length,  of  life- 
size  of  a  man  past  the  middle  age,  sitting.  He  wears  a  black 
cap,  and  rests  his  right  arm  on  a  table.  This  picture, 
purchased  at  Venice  by  Francis  the  Fifth  of  Modena,  is  on 
canvas  stretched  on  panel,  and  little  of  it  except  the  head 
and  shoulders  is  original.  But  even  this  part  is  much 
damaged,  and  so  a  mere  relic  of  what  may  once  have  been  by 
Titian. 

Modena  Oallery,  No.  117. — "La  Moretta."  This  is  a 
Bolognese  copy  of  the  portrait  of  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara, 
with  the  negro  page,  so  often  alluded  to  in  these  volumes. 
The  word  "  tio  . .  anvs  "  on  the  bracing  of  the  sleeve  to  the 


440  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 

left  can  only  point  to  the  existence,  at  some  unknown  period^ 
of  an  original  from  which  this  picture  was  copied.     (Sec^ 
Stockholm.) 

Modena  OaUery,  No.  181. — Portrait-bust  of  a  man  in  a 
black  cap  and  dress,  tnmed  to  the  left  on  a  green  background  ; 
canyas  m.  0.64  h.  by  0.45.  This  portrait  is  not  by  Titian, 
but  executed  in  a  manner  reminiscent  of  Cesare  Yecelli. 

Modena  GaUery,  No.  180. — Portrait-bust  of  a  man  in 
black  with  a  white  shirt-collar ;  canvas,  m.  0.42  h.  by  0.84. 
In  the  siyle  of  Appollonius  of  Bassano,  or  some  similar 
disciple  of  the  schools  of  Tintoretto  and  Bassano. 

Milan :  Amhrosiana. — Christ  carrying  his  cross,  preceded 
by  St.  Veronica  with  the  sudarium,  and  groups  of  soldiers. 
To  the  right  the  Virgin  faints  in  the  arms  of  the  Marys. 
This  small  canvas  was  once  attributed'  to  Diirer,  is  now 
assigned  to  Titian,  and  was  probably  painted  by  Gariani. 

Milan :  Brera,  No.  284.  Profile-bust  of  a  bald  man  with 
a  large  beard,  turned  to  the  right.  A  picture  of  the  school  of 
Bologna. 

Milan :  Brera,  No.  266. — Bust-portrait  of  a  man,  profile 
to  the  left;  injured  by  restoring,  but  still  Titianesque  in 
Btyle. 

Florence :  Uffizi,  No.  690. — The  Virgin  Mary,  in  a  halo 
of  cherubs*  heads,  suppoirts  the  infant  Christ  erect  on  her  knee. 
He  leans  his  face  on  hers,  whilst  the  boy  St.  John  to  the  left 
holds  his  foot ;  canvas,  knee-piece.  On  the  Baptist's  arm  a 
scroll  is  lying,  on  which  the  words  are  written :  "  Ecce  agnus 
Dei."  Too  feebly  drawn  and  modelled,  as  well  as  too  thin  and 
raw  in  its  pigments  for  Titian,  this  picture  is  by  a  follower 
and  imitator  of  Titian,  whose  treatment  is  less  telling  than 
that  of  the  copyist,  who  painted  the  same  subject  in  a  similar 
form  at  Bowood.    Engraved  in  the  Florentine  Gallery. 

Florence :  Uffizi,  No.  1002. — ^Virgin  and  Child  between 
two  angels,  in  a  glory  of  cherubs'  heads.  Panel,  knee-piece. 
This  picture  is  not  a  Venetian,  but  a  Lombard  production, 
and  therefore  not  properly  assignable  to  Titian. 

Florence:  Vjffizi,  No.  626. — The  Virgin  holds  the  naked 
infant  Christ  on  her  lap,  whilst  St.  Catherine  to  the  right 


Chap.  IX.]  UNCEBTIPIED  TITIANS.  441 

offers  him  a  pomegranate.  This  composition  is  but  a  varieiy 
of  that  nmnbered  96  in  the  Hermitage  at  St.  Petersburg,  the 
Saint  there  being  a  Magdalen  offering  flowers.  The  picture 
is  Titianesque,  but  in  the  style  of  Titian's  disciples,  and  par- 
ticularly of  Marco  Yecelli.  Another  but  inferior  replica  we 
shall  find  in  the  Naples  Museum.     Engraved  by  Picchianti. 

Florence :  Pitti,  No.  17. — "  Marriage  of  St.  Catherine ; " 
canvas.  This  graceful  picture  is  a  curious  illustration  of  the 
habit  which  painters  had  of  preserving  and  repeating*  certain 
combinations  of  figures.  The  Virgin  holds  the  infant  Christ 
on  her  lap,  and  St.  Catherine  leans  over  the  child  and  plays 
with  it,  whilst  the  boy  St.  John  kneels  to  the  right,  and  rests 
on  the  reed  cross:  Titian  painted  the  principal  group  early 
in  a  picture  now  (No.  685)  at  the  National  Gallery,  placing 
the  boy  Baptist  to  the  left.  The  replica  here  under  his  name 
may  have  been  executed  in  his  atelier,  but  there  are  signs 
that  it  was  not  handled  by  himself,  but  by  Cesare  Yecelli. 
The  figures  are  too  feebly  drawn,  the  colours  are  too  sharp 
and  untransparent,  the  balance  of  light  and  shade  is  too 
unequal,  and  the  drapery  too  poor  for  the  master  himself. 
The  distance  is  a  landscape  of  trees  and  hills,  where  a  shep- 
herd in  a  turban  tends  his  flock.  A  picture  representing  this 
subject  is  noted  by  Bidolfi  (Mar.  i.  260)  as  then  existing  in 
the  Gussoni  Collection  at  Venice. 

Florence :  Pitti,  No.  88. — Portrait  of  *'  Luigi  Comaro  " 
seated  and  turned  to  the  right.  This  fine  likeness  is  not  by 
Titian,  but  by  Tintoretto. 

Rome :  Corsini  Palace,  No.  55. — "  Jupiter  and  Antiope." 
This  is  a  copy  with  varieties  in  the  landscape  distance  of 
Titian's  composition  at  the  Louvre,  representing  the  Satyr 
looking  at  Venus  asleep.  The  style  is  that  of  a  painter  of 
the  seventeenth  century. 

Rome:  Corsini  Palace,  No.  86. — ^Bust-portrait  of  a  lady 
with  a  book  in  her  hand.  This,  though  much  injured  by  re- 
painting, is  not  a  genuine  Titian,  but  a  work  of  a  Venetian  of 
the  seventeenth  century. 

Rome:  Corsini  Palace,  Boom  7,  No.  80. — "The  Woman 
taken  in  Adultery."      This    picture  is  not  by  Titian,  but 


442  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 

one   of  the  nnmerous   varieties   of  the   subject   by  Bocco 
Marcone. 

Rome  :  Corsini  Palace,  Boom  4,  No.  28. — "  St.  Jerom  " 
turned  to  the  left,  kneeling,  with  the  stone  im  his  right.  In 
the  foreground  is  a  skuU  and  tha  Cardinal's  hat.  This  is  a 
Venetian  picture  of  the  teYenteenth  century. 

Rome  :  Corsini  Palace.—"  The  Sons  of  Charles  the  Fifth." 
Two  youths  in  a  room,  one  to  the  left  leaning  on  a  sword,  the 
other  to  the  right  offering  flowers.  Both  are  richly  dressed ; 
canvas,  with  figures  half  as  large  as  life.  By  a  painter  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  who  was  surely  not  a  Venetian. 

Rome  :  Sciarra — Colonna  Palace, — *'  La  Bella  di  Tiziano." 
This  is  a  fine  portrait  by  Palma  Vecchio. 

Rome :  Barberini  Palace, — "  La  Schiaviet  di  Tiziano.*' 
This  is  a  picture  by  Palma  Vecchio, 

Rom^ :  Colonna  Palace, — "  Virgin  and  Child  in  a  landscape, 
with  Saints."  The  Virgin  takes  fruit  from  a  basket  carried  by 
an  angel,  near  whom,  to  the  right,  is  St.  Lucy.  To  the  left 
St.  Joseph  also  brings  an  offering  of  fruit,  and  in  front  of  him 
is  St.  Jerom  reading.  This  is  not  a  Titian,  but  a  picture  by 
Bonifazio.     Photograph  by  Alinari. 

Rome :  Academy  of  San  Luca. — Bust-portrait  of  a  lady 
with  a  dog,  on  panel.  This  Venetian  picture  is  not  by  Titian. 
The  ruddy  flesh  tones  and  bold  treatment,  combined  with 
a  certain  neglect  of  drawing,  might  point  to  Alessandro 
Maganza. 

Rome :  Spada  Gallery, — Portrait  of  a  man  turned  to  the 
left,  with  a  violin,  the  handle  of  which  only  is  visible.  This 
canvas,  assigned  to  Titian,  is  not  original,  but  might  be  the 
portrait  of  Battista  the  violin  player,  whose  likeness,  ac- 
cording to  Vasari  (xiii.  p.  86),  was  executed  at  Home  by 
Orazio  Vecelli. 

jRome :  Spada  Gallery,  No.  81. — ^Portrait  of  a  man  in  a 
black  feathered  cap,  turned  to  the  right,  and  dressed  in  a 
black  pelisse.  The  left  elbow  reposes  on  the  plinth  of  a  piUar, 
on  which  a  crown  is  placed.  On  a  table  before  the  figure  is  a 
flute  and  music.  The  right  hand  rests  on  a  book,  the  edge  of 
which  lies  on  the  table.     This  fine  picture  of  the  Venetian 


Chap.  IX.]  TJNOEBTIFIED  TTTIANS.  443 

school  is  hung  in  a  high  place  and  in  a  bad  light.  It  looks 
at  a  distance  like  a  good  portrait  by  Girolamo  da  Treviso.  It 
is  painted  on  canvas^  and  is  of  life-size. 

Rome  :  Spada  Oallery,  No.  66. — "  Orazio  Spada ;  "  round, 
on  copper.  If  this  bust  really  represents  Orazio  Spada,  who 
was  bom  in  1660,  it  cannot  be  by  Titian.  The  treatment  is 
like  that  of  Scipione  Pulzone  of  Gaeta. 

Rome :  Spada  Gallery,  No.  17. — "  Cardinal  Spada  and 
his  Secretary."  No.  51. — "  Cardinal  Paolo  Spada  "  seated  at 
church,  turned  to  the  left.  None  of  the  Spadas  were 
Cardinals  till  afber  the  death  of  Titian.  Their  portraits  here 
are  not  by  that  master,  but  in  the  style  of  Scipio  of  Oaeta. 

Rome  :  Spada  Gallery,  No.  9.—"  Paul  the  Third."  This 
is  a  copy  of  Titian's  great  portrait  in  the  Naples  Museum,  by 
a  painter  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

Rome:  Borghese  Palace,  Room  11,  No.  8. — ^An  angel 
bends  to  the  right  over  the  sleeping  infant  Christ,  which  he 
holds  on  a  cushion.  To  the  left  the  boy  Baptist  kisses  one 
of  Christ's  feet,  and  in  rear  the  Virgin  kneels  with  her  hands 
joined  in  prayer  in  front  of  a  dark  hanging.  Distance,  a 
landscape.  Canvas,  life  size.  A  picture  similar  to  this  at 
Alnwick  Castle  is  catalogued  under  the  name  of  Orazio 
Vecelli.  The  repetition  at  the  Borghese  Palace  seems 
executed  by  a  German  or  a  Fleming  imitating  the  Venetian 
manner. 

Rome:  Borghese  Palace,  Boom  11,  No.  17.  —  Samson 
bound  naked  in  a  niche,  the  jawbone  at  his  feet ;  canvas, 
over  life-size.  This  canvas  has  been  patched  at  the  bottom. 
It  is  much  injured  by  repainting,  yet  still  imposing,  but  the 
superposed  colour  precludes  a  decided  opinion. 

Rome :  Doria  Palace,  1st  Gallery. — "  The  Sacrifice  of 
Abraham."  It  is  curious  to  find  the  name  of  Titian  attached 
to  a  picture  which  bears  all  the  marks  of  being  a  work  of 
Bembrandt's  contemporary  and  colleague,  Jan  Livens.  The 
same  subject  by  Livens  is  in  the  Brunswick  Gallery  (No.  515). 
Here  the  figures  are  large  as  life. 

Rome :  Doria  Palace,  Boom  5,  No.  22. — "  The  Virgin  and 
Child,  with  St.  Joseph,  St.  Catherine,  and  Shepherds;"  panels 


444  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

with  figures  one  quarter  of  the  Ufe  size.  This  picture  is 
described  as  a  youthful  production  of  Titian,  but  it  is  nothing 
of  the  kind.  Though  injured,  it  still  shows  the  manner  of  a 
Trevisan  painter  of  the  schools  of  Palma  Vecchio  and  Paris 
Bordone. 

Rome  :  Doria  Palace,  2nd  Gallery,  No.  80. — "  Titian  and 
his  Wife ;  "  half-lengths  on  a  brown  background.  A  lady  is 
seated;  her  husband  to  the  right  rests  both  hands  on  her 
shoulder.  These  are  cleverly  painted  figures  in  the  manner 
of  Sophonisba  Anguisciola. 

Rome :  Doria  Palace,  8rd  Gallery,  No.  10. — "  Titian*8 
Wife."  This  Ukeness  of  a  female  is  by  a  painter  of  the  17th 
century,  and  does  not  even  distantly  recall  the  portrait  No.  80 
of  the  2nd  Gallery  in  this  palace. 

Rome :  Doria  Palace,  2nd  Gallery,  No.  17. — Portrait  of  a 
man  turned  to  the  left,  standing  and  leaning  his  left  hand  on 
a  book  resting  on  a  table.  The  red  flesh  tones  of  the  full 
face  fronting  the  spectator  remind  us  of  similar  work  by 
Bomanino. 

Rofne :  Doria  Palace,  2nd  Gallery,  No.  57. — ^Portrait  of  a^ 
poet  with  a  sprig  of  laurel  in  his  right  hand.  This  repainted 
picture  is  so  disfigured  by  restoring,  that  no  opinion  can  be 
given  in  respect  of  it. 

Naples  Gallery :  Venetian  School,  No.  11. — Portrait  of  a 
lady  of  twenty,  turned  to  the  left,  bare-headed,  in  white  muslin 
with  bodice,  sleeves,  and  skirt  of  green  velvet  slashed  with 
white ;  canvas  half-length  of  life  size  on  a  brown  ground. 
This  picture  is  so  injured  by  restoring  and  varnish  that  one 
can  only  guess  that  it  was  once  a  work  of  Titian.  The 
features  resemble  distantly  those  of  Titian's  ''Danae,"  at 
Naples.     The  Farnese  lily  is  on  the  back  of  the  canvas. 

Naples  Gallery :  Venetian  School,  No.  21. — Portrait  of  a 
lady;  half-length,  three  quarters  to  the  left.  She  wears  a 
light  veil,  and  is  dressed  in  black.  In  her  right  hand  she 
holds  a  handkerchief,  in  her  left  a  yellow  glove.  Behind  to 
the  left  a  bas-relief  represents  the  Judgment  of  Paris.  The 
treatment  here  is  careful,  but  it  is  difficult  to  find  in  it  the 
hand  of  Titian. 


Chap.  IX.]  UNOEETrPIED  TITIANS.  445 

Naples  Gallery:  Venetian  School,  No.  48. — '^Virgin  and 
Child,  with  the  Magdalen  to  the  left  ofifering  the  box  of 
ointment."  Half-lengths  on  canvas.  This  is  a  copy  of  a 
picture  assigned  to  Titian  in  the  Hermitage  of  St.  Petersburg 
(No.  96),  and  much  inferior  to  the  Bussian  example.  It  is 
no  doubt  the  same  that  is  found  catalogued  in  the  inventory 
of  the  Famese  collection  (1680).  See  Campori,  Baccolta, 
u,  8.,  p.  224. 

Naples  Gallery :  Venetian  School,  No.  57. — Profile  of  a 
young  prince  in  red,  embroidered  with  gold,  turned  to  the 
left,  with  the  right  hand  on  the  breast,  the  left  on  the  hilt  of 
a  sword.  Canvas,  m.  0.80  h.  by  0.60.  On  a  table  to  the 
left  is  a  crown,  and  the  order  of  the  Golden  Fleece.  This 
picture  is  altogether  daubed  over  with  modem  repaint,  and 
baffles  criticism  on  that  account.  On  the  back  of  the  canvas 
is  the  Famese  lily. 

Naples  Gallery  (not  exhibited). — "  The  Allocution."  This 
is  a  copy  of  the  '*  Allocution  "  representing  the  Marquis  of 
Yasto  addressing  his  soldiers  in  the  Madrid  Museum — ^a  copy 
not  by  Titian  but  interesting  as  confirming  that  the  portrait 
of  the  Cassel  Museum  (see  under  that  head),  supposed  to  be 
a  likeness  of  Del  Yasto,  cannot  represent  that  general. 

Besides  this  copy  there  exists  a  second  in  the  same  place 
representing  another  general  addressing  his  soldiers. 

Spain:  Escorial  Sacristy. — "  Christ  crucified;"  life  size  on 
canvas.  This  picture  being  high  up,  and  in  a  dark  place, 
cannot  be  properly  seen ;  apart  from  these  considerations  it 
looks  as  if  it  had  been  seriously  injured  and  restored,  and  if 
a  genuine  picture,  is  a  feeble  one  of  the  master. 

Madrid  Museum,  No.  472. — **  Best  during  the  Flight  in 
Egypt ;  "  canvas  1.65  h.  by  3.28.  The  Yirgin  rests  with 
the  child  on  her  lap,  under  a  red  cloth  hanging  between  two 
trees.  The  infiAnt  Christ  lays  his  hand  in  that  of  Joseph, 
who  stands  to  the  right,  leaning  on  his  sta£f.  To  the  left  a 
boy  presents  cherries  to  the  Yirgin,  whilst  a  young  girl 
further  to  the  left  pulls  the  fruit  from  a  tree.  The  ass 
grazes  in  the  background,  and  the  ground  in  front  is  en- 
livened with  two  ducks  and  two  rabbits.     A  picture  like  this 


i46  TTTIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 

is  minntely  described  by  Yasari  (xiii.  p.  42)  in  the  Assonica 
collection  in  Padua.  Bnt  Bidolfi,  who  mentions  eyeiy  other 
Titian  in  that  collection,  is  silent  respecting  this  one.  It 
is  fair,  on  that  account,  to  sappose  that  the  Madrid  can- 
vas, which  was  taken  to  Spain  by  Velasquez  in  1651  (see 
Madrazo's  Madrid  Mus.  Gatalogne,  u.  s.  p.  681),  is  identical 
with  that  which  Yasari  describes.  Yet  the  composition  of  the 
Madrid  canyas  is  very  much  below  Titian's  powers,  and  the 
technical  treatment  seems  likewise  unworthy  of  him,  the  style 
being  a  mixture  of  that  of  the  disciples  of  Titian  and  Poide- 
none  such  as  Zelotti,  or  Polidoro  Lanzani.  An  engraying, 
the  counterpart  of  this  picture  in  reyerse,  bears  the  following 
inscription:  '' Titian  inyentor,  1569;  Martin  Sota."  Another 
engraying,  the  reyerse  of  Beta's,  is  marked  "  Julio  B.  F." 

Madrid  Mvseum,  No.  480. — Bust  portrait  of  a  man  in  a 
pelisse  trimmed  with  ermine,  turned  three-quarters  to  the 
right.     This  is  a  fine  portrait  by  Tintoretto. 

Madrid  Museum,  No.  481. — ^Bust  portrait  of  a  bearded 
man  in  a  dark  coat,  turned  to  the  left  and  seen  at  three- 
quarters.  This  fine  portrait  of  a  young  man  is  not  quite  as 
finely  modelled  or  as  powerfully  touched  as  it  would  haye 
been  by  Titian.  It  betrays  the  comparatiyely  lower  art  of 
Pordenone. 

Madrid  Museum,  No.  486. — "  St.  Margaret ;  **  half-length 
canyas,  m.  1.24  h.  by  0.98.  The  Saint  raises  her  arms  in 
terror  before  the  dragon,  who  twines  his  form  on  the  fore- 
ground. In  her  left  hand  she  holds  the  cross.  This  figure,  if 
animated  in  moyement,  is  not  executed  with  the  full  power  of 
Titian,  but  may  haye  been  thrown  off  with  the  help  of  Titian's 
assistants.  The  surfaces  are  here  and  there  seriously 
damaged.     This  picture  was  in  the  sacristy  of  the  Escorial. 

Stockholm:  Royal  Palace,  No.  265. — ^Full-length  of  the 
**  Duke  of  Urbino  "  in  a  black  plumed  cap  ;  the  right  hand 
on  the  haunch,  the  left  leaning  on  the  pommel  of  a  double 
handed  sword.  Behind,  to  the  left,  a  red  curtain,  to  the 
right  an  opening  through  which  a  landscape  is  seen ;  on  the 
foreground  to  the  left,  a  dog.  This  picture  is  so  much 
daubed  oyer  that  no  opinion  can  be  giyen  respecting  it. 


Chap.  IX.]  UNCERTIFIED  TITIANS.  447 

Stockholm :  Royal  Palace. — Portrait  of  a  little  girl  of  four 
years  of  age ;  full-length,  with  a  basket  of  fruit,  inscribed : 

iETATIS   SY£   4.   NEL  MAIO.    .    .   PEB  TITIAKO  E  FATTO  A  CADOBO 

.  .  .  1518.  Panel  of  the  seyenteenth  century,  not  even  by  a 
yenetian-. 

Stockholm:  Royal  Palace. — Portrait  of  the  Duchess 
of  Ferrara  with  a  negro  page.  This  is  a  copy  of  the  picture 
engrayed  by  Sadeler  (see  anteay  toI.  i.,  p.  186),  of  which 
there  is  a  copy  in  the  Modena  Gallery,  and  another  in  posses- 
sion of  the  painter,  Signer  Schiavone,  at  Venice.  But  none 
of  these  copies  dates  earlier  than  the  eighteenth  centuiy. 

Stockholm :  Royal  Palace,  No.  102. — ^Bust  of  a  man 
turned  to  the  left.  Much  injured  by  repainting,  and  not 
genuine. 

Stockholm:  Royal  Palace. — "Don  Carlos  as  a  Boy ; "  canvas, 
of  life-size.  A  boy  of  six  or  seven  years  old  is  here  repre- 
sented accompanied  by  a  dog.  The  style  is  not  that  of 
Titian,  but  that  either  of  Pantoja  de  la  Cruz  or  of  Sanchez 
Coello. 

Dresden  Museum,  No.  228.  —  The  infant  Christ  on  the 
Virgin's  knee  is  supported  on  the  left  by  St.  John  the 
Baptist,  and  presented  to  the  adoration  of  St.  Paul,  Maiy 
Magdalen  and  St.  Jerom.  Half-lengths  of  life-size  on  a 
panel  measuring  5  ft.  h.  by  6  ft.  10.  The  clouded  sky, 
upon  which  the  face  of  the  Virgin  and  the  heavily  bearded 
St.  Paul  are  seen,  is  intercepted  to  the  left  by  a  green 
hanging,  to  the  right  by  a  plinth  and  colonnade.  The 
Magdalen  is  in  profile  to  the  left,  splendidly  dressed  in  white 
and  green.  St.  Jerom  behind  her  in  red,  looks  up  at  the 
crucifix,  which  he  holds  in  his  hand.  This  celebrated  picture 
is  very  brilliant  and  highly  coloured  in  sharp  bright  tones. 
It  is  executed  at  one  painting,  on  a  canvas  primed  with 
white  gesso,  the  light  ground  of  which  is  seen  through  the 
flesh  tints.  The  drawing  is  resolute  without  being  correct. 
Most  like  Titian  in  cast  of  form  as  well  as  in  type  and 
colour,  is  the  infant  Christ,  whose  oblong  head  is  thrown 
against  a  lozenge-shaped  halo  of  rays.  The  Virgin's  face 
distantly  recalls  that  of  the  ''Assunta*'  of  the  Frari.    But 


448  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

neither  her  shape  nor  that  of  the  Savionr  is  as  lovely  as  we 
should  expect  from  Titian.  Thongh  gracefolly  posed,  the 
Magdalen  is  not  without  affectation,  and  a  curious  dis- 
harmony is  apparent  between  a  profile  of  small  features  and  a 
bust  and  frame  of  large  dimensions.  The  coarse  face  of 
St.  Paul,  the  colossal  build  and  wild  air  of  the  Baptist,  are 
in  contrast  with  the  sleekness  of  the  Virgin.  The  whole 
piece  is  a  mixture  of  Titian  and  Sebastian  del  Piombo.  The 
technical  handling,  the  mould  of  form,  the  bold  but  imperfect 
folding  of  the  drapery,  are  all  things  that  point  to  another 
hand  than  Titian's.  The  modelling  is  not  subtle  enough  for 
the  great  master.  We  miss  his  delicate  transitions  of  half 
tone,  his  transparent  shadows,  which  are  here  replaced  by 
bold  dark  planes  of  pigment.  No  doubt  some  of  these 
appearances  may  be  due  to  restoring,  for  the  panel  is  not 
free  from  retouches,  and  the  profile  of  the  Magdalen  has  been 
ground  away,  whilst  the  fskce  of  St.  Paul  was  made  opaque 
and  heavy.  Still  the  character  of  the  painting  is  clear 
enough,  and  it  seems  rather  to  be  a  fine  firstling  work  of 
Andrea  Schiavone  when  in  Titian's  atelier  than  a  master- 
piece of  the  consummate  artist,  Titian.  Originally  in  the 
Gasa  Chrimani  at  Venice ;  it  was  engraved  by  Jacob  Folkema, 
and  lithographed  by  Haufstangl. 

Dresden  Museum,  No.  231. — ^Portrait  of  a  lady  in  a  dress 
of  madder-red  stuff,  with  narrow  sleeves,  the  left  hand  on  the 
brown  cloth  of  a  table,  the  right  holding  a  marten  boa,  with 
a  golden  clasp.  Enee-piece,  on  canvas,  4  f.  9  h.  by  8  f.  1}. 
This  picture  is  of  a  peach-red  tone,  unrelieved  by  shadow, 
but  injured  by  stippling.  Yet  it  is  still  sufficiently  well  pre- 
served to  display  the  manner  of  Bernardino  Licinio.  The 
hands  are  fairly  preserved.  Originally  in  Modena;  it  was 
restored  at  Dresden  in  1826.     Lithographed  by  Hanfstangl. 

Dresden  Museum,  No.  227. — Portrait  of  a  lady  in  mourn- 
ing with  a  veil  and  rosary.  Enee-piece,  on  canvas,  3  f.  8  h. 
by  8  f.  1 ;  from  the  Modena  collection.  Here  again  we  have 
the  name  of  Titian  covering  the  treatment  of  an  imitator  of 
Tintoretto  and  the  Bassanos.    Engraved  by  Basan. 

Dresden  Museum,  No.  284.  —  "The  Angel  and  Tobit." 


Ch.vp.  IX.]  UNCERTIFIED  TTTIANS.  449 

Canvas,  6  f.  h.  by  4  f.  1.     This  is  a  copy  of  Titian's  picture 
in  San  Marziale  at  Venice  by  a  Venetian. 

Dresden  Museum,  No.  226. — ^Portrait  of  lady,  her  anbum 
hair  plaited  with  pearls,  her  throat  bare,  a  string  of  pearls 
round  her  neck,  bare  armed  in  a  red  plain  dress  with  a  laced 
bodice.  She  holds  with  both  hands  a  Greek  yase.  This 
canvas,  3  f.  8  h.  by  8  f.  1  is  so  completely  covered  over  with 
modem  repainting  that  it  is  hard  to  say  whether  it  was  ever 
an  original  by  Titian.  It  may  be  a  work  of  one  of  Titian's 
pupils.  Engraved  by  Felice  Polanzano.  Lithographed  by 
Hanfstangl. 

Dresden  Museum,  No.  224. — **  The  Virgin  and  Child,  and 
St.  Joseph  adored  by  a  kneeling  donor,  his  Wife  and  Child.'' 
This  is  not  an  original  Titian,  but  work  of  a  disciple.  (See 
antea,  note  to  vol.  i.,  p.  188.)  From  the  Modena  Collection, 
engraved  by  Jac.  Folkema  (ann.  1762)  and  E.  Fessard. 
Lithographed  by  Hanfstangl.     Canvas,  4  f.  1  h.  by  5  f.  9. 

Berlin  Museum,  No.  162. — "  Epiphany,"  wood,  1  f.  7i  h. 
by  2  f.  1\,  No.  164.—"  The  Visitation,"  wood,  1  f.  0^  h. 
by  1  f.  6J.  No.  168.  —  "  The  Epiphany,"  wood,  lOJ  in.  h. 
by  1  f.  2.  No.  171.—"  The  Epiphany,"  wood,  10^  in.  by 
1  f.  8.  No.  172.—"  The  Circumcision,"  wood,  1  f.  OJ  h. 
by  1  f.  6|.  Sketches,  in  themselves  spirited,  and  Titianesque 
in  style,  partake  of  the  character  of  the  school  of  Titian 
and  Bonifazio,  and  more  particularly  of  that  of  Schiavone 
or  Santo  Zago ;  the  best  is  No.  162,  the  poorest  No.  172. 

Berlin  Museum,  No.  170a. — "Parable  of  the  Steward;" 
canvas,  10  in.  h.  by  2  f.  6f ;  signed  "  Titianus."  The 
steward  comes  into  the  room,  and  the  rich  man  sits  at  the 
table.  Through  a  doorway  to  the  left,  the  steward  talking 
to  the  debtors.  No.  170b.,  companion  to  170a. — "  Parable 
of  the  Vineyard."  The  owner  of  the  vineyard  stands  with 
his  back  to  the  spectator,  pointing  to  the  husbandmen,  and 
sending  out  two  servants  on  the  left.  In  the  distance  to  the 
left  a  group  stands  round  a  changer's  table.  These  are 
pretty  and  clever  sketches  of  a  pleasant  tone  in  the  style  of 
Lorenzo  Lotto. 

Berlin  Museum  (not  exhibited). — ^Portrait  of  a  doge  seated 

VOL.    II,  0  0 


450  TITIAN :  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

and  turned  to  the  right.  This  picture  on  canvas,  half-length 
of  life-size,  was  purchased  as  a  Titian,  hut  is  a  fine  example 
of  Tintoretto. 

Berlin  Museum,  No.  159  and  No.  160. — ^Wood,  each 
2  f.  2^  h.  by  2  f.  8^.  The  first  of  these  panels  represents  two 
figures  of  Eros  wrestling,  the  second  two  figures  of  Eros  also 
wrestling  in  the  presence  of  a  third,  who  is  seated,  holding 
an  apple.  They  are  freely  executed  with  a  brush  full  of 
liquid  pigment,  but  in  a  rubby  and  sketchy  manner.  The 
shadows  are  dark  and  slightly  opaque.  The  treatment  is 
very  like  that  of  Schiavone. 

Berlin  Museum^  No.  202. — The  Virgin  enthroned  between 
St.  Peter  and  Paul  on  the  right,  and  St.  Francis  and  Anthony 
of  Padua  on  the  left.  An  angel  plays  a  guitar  at  the  foot  of 
the  throne,  and  two  angels  above  support  the  folds  of  a  green 
curtain.  Distance  landscape.  Canvas,  8  f.  11  h.  by  6  f.  8. 
There  are  several  points  in  this  picture  which  preclude  the 
authorship  of  Titian;  the  heavy  cast  of  form  and  coarse 
extremities,  bricky  untransparent  tone,  opaque  shadow,  and 
sharp  drapery  tints.  The  execution  is  like,  but  beneath 
that  of  Damiano  Mazza  or  Lodovico  Fiumicelli,  pupils  of 
Titian. 

Cdssel  Gallery,  No.  23. — Cleopatra  naked  to  the  waist, 
lying  insensible  on  a  couch  in  a  grotto.  To  the  right, 
through  the  opening  of  the  cave,  are  figures  of  Roman 
soldiers,  and  close  to  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  gaUeys 
lying  at  anchor ;  canvas,  half-length  of  life-size.  The  right 
hand  of  Cleopatra  on  the  blue  lining  of  her  coverlet  is  fine ; 
equally  so  the  left,  the  fingers  of  which  grasp  the  coverlet. 
A  snake  winding  under  the  armpit  to  the  bosom  explains 
the  subject  of  the  picture,  which  is  a  well  painted  though 
not  well  preserved  specimen  of  the  art  of  Cesare  Vecelli.  The 
head  and  right  arm  are  particularly  injured.  Photographed 
by  G.  Schauer  of  Berlin. 

Casael  Gallery,  No.  20. — Canvas  knee-piece  representing 
a  lady  turned  to  the  right,  holding  a  cross  in  the  right,  a 
book  in  the  left  hand.  This  is  a  much  injured  picture 
recalling  the  manner  of  Padovanino. 


Chap.  IX.]  UNOEETIFIED  TTTIANS.  451 

Cassel  Oallery,  No.  24. — ^Portrait  of  a  lady  in  black  in  a 
liat.  The  raw  pigments  disfigured  by  retouching  were  not 
laid  on  by  Titian. 

Cassel  Oallery,  No.  22. — Virgin  and  Child  adored  by  a 
Imeeling  man,  St.  Joseph  and  St.  Catherine  attending. 
Background  landscape.  This  picture  has  no  claim  to  the 
name  of  Titian,  which  it  bears. 

Brunstoick  Museum,  No.  227.  —  "  Cleopatra ;  "  panel. 
This  is  not  a  Venetian  picture.  No.  16. — ^A  girl  in  a 
feathered  hat ;  bust  on  canvas.  This  looks  like  a  Spanish 
picture  by  a  follower  of  Murillo. 

Ex  Binecker  Collection,  Wilrzburg. — The  Virgin  under  a 
tree,  on  which  a  green  drapery  is  hanging,  adores  the  infant 
-Christ  on  her  knee.  Two  angels  bend  in  adoration  at  the 
sides.  Distance,  a  mountainous  landscape  and  a  city.  This 
beautiful  composition  is  not  executed  in  the  manner  of 
Titian,  but  betrays  the  feebler  handling  of  Polidoro  Lanzani. 
When  in  possession  of  Mr.  Artaria  at  Mannheim,  the  picture 
was  engraved  by  Anderloni,  and  so  became  widely  known.  It 
is  on  canvas,  m.  0.49  h.  by  0.67. 

Mayence  Oallery,  No.  182. — ^A  Bacchanal,  in  which  a 
man  is  seated  drawing  wine  from  a  cask,  whilst  two  females 
are  sleeping  and  one  dancing,  and  a  man  in  the  foreground 
presents  his  back  to  the  spectator.  In  the  distance  to  the 
left,  a  man  holds  a  cup  aloft,  and  another  carries  a  standard ; 
on  a  wall  to  the  right,  we  read :  "  titiani."  This  picture  is 
by  some  unknown  artist  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Darmstadt  Museum,  No.  519. — Portrait  of  a  nobleman, 
bareheaded,  bearded,  turned  three-quarters  to  the  right,  his 
right  hand  on  his  haunch,  in  a  black  silk  dress  trimmed  with 
silk.     On  the   dark  ground  to  the   right  are  the  words: 

"  MDLXV  DIB   OCTOBRIS   ANNO  JETA  SVA   LX   .    .    .   XI."      This  is 

not  a  Titian,  but  a  fine  though  not  uninjured  Tintoretto. 

Stuttgardt  Oallery,  No.  10. — The  Virgin  sits  in  a  land- 
scape and  presents  the  infiEmt  Christ  to  the  kneeling  St. 
Jerom,  behind  whom  the  lion  couches.  To  the  left  St. 
Bosalie  takes  flowers  from  a  basket  at  her  side ;  canvas^ 
4  f.  7  h.  by  6.  f.  7.5.     This  picture  is  a  duplicate  of  one 

0  6  2 


452  TITIAN:   HIS  UFB  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

catalogued  in  the  Masettm  of  Olasgow  as  a  copy  from  Titian 
(No.  159).  It  is  greatly  disfigured  by  repaints,  bat  still 
shows  some  reminiscences  of  Pahna  Yecchio  and  Titian.  It 
may  be  by  Polidoro  Lanzani. 

Stuttgardt  Gallery,  No.  162 ;  canvas,  2  f.  4i  h.  by  1  f.  8. 
— The  Virgin  giving  the  infrnt  Christ  flowers  oat  of  a  basket. 
Bepainted  copy  or  imitation  of  some  Titianesqae  picture. 
No.  148. — The  same  subject  in  another  form  is  likewise  a 
spurious  Titian. 

Stuttgardt  OaUery,  No.  94. — ^Much  injured  canvas,  by  a 
follower  of  the  manner  of  Schiavone  and  Bonifazio.  The 
subject  is  the  Virgin  holding  the  Child,  who  gives  the  ring  to 
St.  Catharine. 

Stuttgardt  Gallery,  No.  206. — ^Bust  of  a  young  man.  Not 
genuine. 

Stuttgardt  Gallery,  No.  187. — Shepherds  and  their  flocks 
in  a  landscape,  at  eventide.  This  is  a  picture  altogether  out 
of  the  sphere  of  Titian's  practice. 

Mu/nich  GaUery,  No.  460. — The  Virgin  adoring  the  infant- 
Christ  on  her  lap.  St.  Anthony  the  Abbot,  to  the  right, 
supports  one  hand  with  his  staff  and  takes  the  foot  of  Christ 
with  the  other.  To  the  left  is  St.  Jerom,  with  St.  Francis  in 
front  of  him,  bending  before  Christ.  Distance  a  landscape. 
Though  this  canvas  is  handed  down  to  us  as  a  genuine  Titian, 
having  been,  we  may  believe,  in  the  Van  Uffel  Collection  at 
Antwerp  in  the  seventeenth  century  (Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  259),  the 
execution  is  not  that  of  the  great  Venetian  master.  Notwith- 
standing heavy  repainting,  we  still  discern  the  style  of  an 
artist  much  akin,  to  Francesco  Vecelli.  What  distinguishes 
the  treatment  from  that  of  Titian  is  a  certain  affectation  of 
grace,  a  combination  of  small  features  with  large  thick-set 
forms,  unctuous  medium,  and  a  reddish  uniformity  of  flesh- 
tint.  Amongst  the  parts  more  evidently  disfigured  by  re- 
touching we  should  note  the  head  and  hand  of  St.  Anthony, 
and  the  foot  of  the  Infant,  and  the  hands  of  St.  Francis,  and 
the  sky.  The  picture  is  on  canvas,  and  measures  8  f .  2  h. 
by  4  f.  8J. 

Munich  Gallery,   No.  624.  —  "Venus  initiating  a  Bac- 


-Chap.  IX.]  TJNOEETIFIED  TTTIANS.  453 

ohante."  This  canvas  is  a  reminisoence  of  the  '*  Education 
-of  Cupid  "  at  the  Borghese  Palace  and  the  Davalos  ''  Alle- 
gory" at  the  Louvre.  The  sharp  contrasts  of  the  colours 
and  the  developed  forms  of  the  figures  show  it  to  be  a  pic- 
ture of  a  date  subsequent  to  Titian's  time.  A  similar  subject 
similarly  treated  will  be  found  in  the  Durazzo  Palace  at 
Oenoa. 

Munich  OaUery,  No.  489. — Portrait  of  a  noble  with  his 
right  hand  on  a  long  wand  of  ofSce ;  his  left  on  the  handle  of 
his  sword ;  half-length,  turned  to  the  left,  and  dressed  in  a 
^dark  pelisse.  This  is  a  splendid  portrait,  injured  by  repaint- 
ing, but  originally  by  Tintoretto. 

Munich  Gallery,  No.  124. — Portrait  bust  of  a  man  in  full 
front  behind  a  parapet  on  which  are  the  ciphers  MDXxin. 
This  portrait,  long  held  to  be  Titian,  is  now  catalogued 
under  the  name  of  Moretto ;  but  in  spite  of  restoring  still 
looks  like  a  work  of  Paris  Bordone  in  his  early  style. 

Prague  Kunatverein,  No.  87. — "Portrait  of  the 'Duchess 
Anna  Catharina  Gonzaga ;  "  canvas,  representing  a  life-sized 
figure  of  a  little  girl  in  white.  She  stands  near  a  table,  on 
which  she  lays  one  hand  holding  a  rose.  Near  her  on  the 
table  a  little  dog  and  a  book.  In  the  upper  comer  to  the 
right,  a  curtain.  Inscribed:  "anna  oatherina  gonzaga,  ann. 
IX  HENS  .  .  .  ifDLXXV  GAL.  MAI.  This  pictuTO  is  neither  good 
in  itself  nor  is  it  by  Titian. 

Prague  Kunstverein,  No.  51. — Portrait  of  a  man  in  a 
black  silk  dress  and  cap  at  a  table,  holding  a  music-book. 
Though  much  repainted,  this  piece  still  recalls  the  manner 
of  Paris  Bordone. 

Vienna  Gallery. — "Christ  and  the  Woman  taken  in 
Adultery  ;  "  canvas,  8  f.  3J  h.  by  4  f.  2.  On  the  left,  Christ 
is  moving  away,  but  looks  round  to  the  right  as  he  hears  the 
charge.  His  hair  is  dark  and  long,  his  beard  close  cut,  his 
complexion  blanched,  his  features  full  and  plump.  The 
tunic,  which  should  be  red,  is  washed  down  to  the  grey  pre- 
paration, and  the  right  hand,  lying  on  the  breast,  is  partially 
lost  in  a  chalky  afi;er-tint«  Close  to  the  right  of  Christ,  and 
.staring,  as  with  one  hand  he  holds  up  the  scroll  engrossed 


454  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX^ 

with  a  copy  of  the  law,  an  old  grey-beard  appears ;  next  him, 
to  the  right,  a  man  pressing  forward  grasping  the  arm  of  the 
adulteress,  his  face  in  profile  looking  at  the  Sayiour.  Be- 
neath the  green  pigment  which  tints  the  cap  on  his  head  are 
traces  of  red  and  sweeps  of  brash  indicating  an  ear.  This 
man's  dress  is  of  a  reddish-brown.  He  drags  the  adulteress 
towards  the  Saviour  whilst  his  companion  at  the  other  side, 
holding  the  woman  by  the  skirt,  moves  away  in  an  opposite 
direction,  presenting  his  back,  clad  with  a  gown  of  indistinct 
yellow.  Between  the  two  the  adulteress,  with  bare  throat 
and  bosom,  her  white  under-garment  surging  up  out  of  a  grey 
bodice,  advances  with  downcast  head  and  eyes.  In  rear  of 
her,  two  men  show  their  heads  above  the  press — one  to  the 
right  in  shadow  against  the  sky,  one  to  the  left  half  concealed 
by  the  dark  fall  of  drapery  which  relieves  the  form  of  Christ 
and  the  lawyer.  The  whole  composition  has  an  unfinished 
and  sketchy  aspect,  with  traces  of  corrections  half  carried  out,, 
thin  washy  pigments,  and  impast  touches  here  and  there.  A 
strip  added  to  the  canvas  above  and  below  seems  to  counter- 
balance the  loss  of  strips  cut  off  the  vertical  sides  of  the 
picture.  The  questions  which  arise  in  respect  of  this  piece 
are  multilarious.  Is  it  a  genuine  Titian?  Was  it  ever 
finished  ?  Is  it  a  finished  picture  injured  and  but  partially 
retouched  ?  A  copy  of  the  piece  in  its  original  form  assigned 
to  Varottari,  but  probably  by  his  sister,  Ghiara  Varottari, 
exists  in  the  Gallery  of  Padua;  canvas,  m.  0.98  h.  by  1.50. 
Here  the  colours  are  preserved.  The  dress  of  Christ  is  red 
and  blue,  the  mantle  held  up  and  passing  through  the  fingers 
of  his  right  hand.  The  man  dragging  the  adulteress  forward 
wears  a  red  cap  and  a  red  mantle  with  a  striped  lining.  The 
bodice  of  the  adulteress  is  green,  the  gown  of  the  man  on  the 
right  red,  over  green  slashed  hose.  The  head  of  the  man  in 
rear  to  the  left  of  the  girl  is  not  concealed  in  any  part  by 
the  curtain.  The  whole  of  the  shoulders  of  Christ  and  of  the 
man  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  composition  is  seen.  If  it  be 
correct  to  assume  that  the  Paduan  duplicate  is  a  copy  of  the 
original  at  Vienna,  it  is  clear  that  the  latter  has  been  cut 
down,  washed  away,  and  retouched.     If  we  inquire  whether 


Ch.\p.  IX.]  UNOEETIFIED  TITIANS.  455 


the  Yieima  canvas  is  an  original  Titian  or  not,  there  is  some 
reason  for  thinking  that  it  is  not  so,  the  forms  being  much 
below  those  of  Titian  in  eleyation,  and  the  style  of  rendering 
less  grand.  The  execution,  too,  looks  more  modem,  whilst 
the  arrangement  betrays  none  of  the  consummate  skill  which 
we  acknowledge  in  the  master.  It  may  be  presumed  that  the 
Vienna  example  was  an  imitation  of  Titian  by  Yarottari^ 
altered  by  some  unfortunate  subsequent  manipulation.  The 
attempt  at  restoring  betrays  the  hand  of  a  Fleming,  whose 
style  is  not  very  far  removed  from  that  of  Van  Dyke.  The 
presumption  that  Varottari  originally  executed  the  picture  at 
Vienna  is  strengthened  by  such  of  his  pictures  as  are  met 
with  in  galleries  ;  for  instance,  his  copy  of  Titian's  ''  Salome 
^rith  the  Head  of  the  Baptist,'*  No.  287  in  the  Paduan  Gal- 
lery, and  the  head  of  a  female,  No.  843  in  the  Museum  of 
Dresden.  There  is  an  engraving  of  the  Vienna  example  in 
Teniers'  Gallery  work.     Photograph  by  Miethke  and  Wawra. 

Vienna  Oallery, — ^Portrait  of  a  young  giri  of  twenty ;  on 
canvas,  5  f.  h.  by  2  f.  4.  The  girl,  in  full  front  view,  wears 
a  dark  claret-coloured  dress  with  a  jewelled  girdle,  a  boa  is 
wound  round  her  wrist,  and  in  her  left  hand  she  holds  a  pair 
of  gloves.  Her  auburn  hair  is  plaited  and  twined  round  her 
head.  The  surface  has  been  rubbed  down  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  flesh  parts  look  empty  and  feeble;  and  this  may 
cause  the  impression  at  present  derived  from  the  picture,  that 
it  is  not  an  original  Titian  but  a  canvas  by  Andrea  Schiavone. 
The  gloves  in  the  left  hand  are  repainted. 

Vienna  Gallery, — Portrait  of  a  sculptor ;  canvas,  2  f.  8  h. 
by  2.2.  Profile  view  of  a  man  in  a  black  silk  dress  on  grey 
ground.  He  turns  to  look  at  the  spectator,  and  holds  in 
both  hands  a  small  torso.  This  was  long  considered  to  be  a 
portrait  of  the  surgeon  Vesalius  by  Titian.  But  no  likeness 
can  be  discovered  between  it  and  the  half-length  engraved 
in  the  Anatomy  of  Vesalius,  and  the  painter  is  not  Titian 
but  Mofone.  ICraflt  (Hist.  krit.  Catalogue,  u.s.)  and 
Waagen  (Kunstdenkmaler  in  Wien)  cling  to  the  identity  of 
Vesalius,  but  suggest  the  authorship  of  Galcar,  which  cannot 
be  sustained. 


456  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

Vienna  Oallery. — ^Portrait  of  a  man  in  a  black  cap  and 
black  silk  dress  with  His  left  hand  on  the  hilt  of  his  sword; 
canvas,  8  f.  6  h.  by  2  f.  7.  This  picture  has  been  damaged 
by  repainting,  but  fragments,  such  as  the  ear  and  hand,  dis- 
play a  treatment  different  from  that  of  Titian. 

Vienna  Oallery. — "Christ  with  his  Hand  on  the  Orb,"  2  ft, 
7  h.,  1  ft.  10 i.  The  figure  is  seen  nearly  in  full  front  and 
down  to  the  breast,  on  a  dark  ground.  There  are  reminis- 
cences in  this  piece  of  Titian  and  Bonifazio,  but  it  is  too 
feeble  for  either.  The  outlines  are  in  part  re-touched,  but 
one  still  traces  the  hand  of  a  modem  of  the  class  of  Padova- 
nino.  There  is  a  duplicate  of  this  work  in  the  Hermitage  at 
St.  Petersburg;  supposed  to  have  been  in  the  collection  of 
Bubens.     (See  Krafit's  Catalog.) 

Vienna  GaUery. — "  Amor  playing  a  tambourine  ;  "  on 
canvas  1  ft.  6^  square,  a  naked  boy  seated  in  a  landscape, 
bought  in  the  Netherlands  by  the  Archduke  Leopold  William, 
and  engraved  in  Teniers'  Gallery  work.  All  the  surface  glaz- 
ing having  been  removed,  the  flesh  looks  white  and  stony,  and 
unrelieved  by  shadow  of  any  kind.  It  is  hard  under  these 
circumstances  to  say  more  than  that  the  picture  is  not  by 
Titian.  The  landscape  is  certainly  more  like  the  work  of  a 
Fleming  than  that  of  a  Venetian. 

Vienna  Oallery, — "Adoration  of  the  Kings."  Wood  1  ft. 
10  h.  by  1  ft.  6.  This  is  probably  the  original  sketch  of 
<Ln  altar-piece,  by  Cesare  Yecelli  in  San  Stefano  of  Belluno, 
which  many  judges  have  held  erroneously  to  be  an  original 
Titian.  (Compare  Krafft,  u.8,,  and  Waagen's  Eunstdenk- 
m&ler,  p.  211.) 

Vienna  Oallery. — "  Jacob's  Dream;"  on  canvas,  3  ft.  5  h., 
by  5  ft.  8.  Under  a  black  stormy  sky  and  to  the  left  of  a 
group  of  high  trees,  the  ladder  is  seen  stretching  from  the 
ground  into  the  clouds.  There  are  figures  on  the  foreground 
of  shepherds  and  cattle.  This  is  not  a  Titian,  but  a  charac- 
teristic work  of  Pedro  Orrente,  a  Spaniard  who  was  born  at 
Montealegre,  and  died  in  1644  at  Toledo.  OiTente  studied 
under  Domenico  delle  Greche  at  Toledo,  and  from  him 
probably  acquired  a  partiality  for  the  works  of  Bassano,  which 


Chap.  IX.]  UNCERTIFIED  TTTIANS.  457 

he  snccessfnlly  imitated.  His  landscape  effects  are  described 
as  "worthy  of  Titian,"  and  this  is  true  of  the  "  Dream  of 
Jacob." 

Vienna  Gallery. — Portrait  of  a  jeweller  in  three  different 
Tiews.  Busts  on  canyas,  1  ft.  7  h.  by  2  ft.  6.  This  picture 
is  by  Lorenzo  Lotto. 

Vienna :  Academy  of  Arts,  No.  388. — "  Winged  Cupid  " 
with  the  quiyer  slung  to  his  shoulder,  the  bow  in  his  hand, 
seated  in  a  landscape.  This  smiling  child  is  plump  in  form 
and  hastily  painted  on  canyas.  But  the  surface  of  the  whole 
work  is  altered  by  washing  and  re-touching,  and  doubts  may 
well  be  entertained  as  to  its  genuineness. 

Vienna:  Czemin  CoUecUon, — "  The  Duke  Alfonso  of  Fer- 
rara  kneeling  before  an  angel,  who  presents  a  green  cloth,  on 
which  the  crucified  Sayiour  is  depicted."  Background,  land- 
scape. This  panel — 2  ft.  6  h.  by  2  ft.  9 — ^is  not  by  Titian, 
but  by  Paris  Bordone. 

Vienna:  Czernin  CoUectidn. — "  The  Magdalen."  Half 
length,  with  the  arms  crossed  oyer  the  bosom,  a  book  and  a 
yase  in  front.  This  is  not  a  ^genuine  Titian,  for  whom  it  is 
much  too  tasteless  and  coarse. 

Vienna :  Lichtenstein  CoUection,  No.  806. — "  The  Virgin 
and  Child,  attended  by  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  St.  Catherine." 
Half  lengths  on  canyas,  m.  0.65  h.  by  m.  0.94.  The  Virgin 
sits  to  the  right  with  the  infant  Christ  on  her  lap  in  front  of 
A  red  curtain.  To  the  left  St.  John,  bareheaded  in  a  green 
tunic,  next  him  St.  Catherine  in  profile.  A  yery  bright  little 
picture  of  the  early  period  of  Andrea  Schiayone.  Finely 
photographed  by  Miethke  and  Wawra. 

St.  Petersburg:  Hermitage,  No.  93. — "Virgin  and  Child," 
lialf  length,  in  a  niche,  on  panel  but  transferred  to  canyas. 
With  the  exception  of  the  forehead  and  mouth  of  the  Virgin 
most  of  the  surface  of  this  work  is  defaced.  If  by  Titian 
at  all,  it  is  a  picture  of  his  early  period. 

St.  Petersburg:  Leuchtemberg  Collection,  No.  82. — The 
Virgin,  seated  on  the  ground,  is  turned  to  the  right,  and 
holds  on  her  knee  the  infant  Christ,  who  giyes  a  hand  to  the 
kneeling   St.  Paul.     To  the  left,  St.  John   the  Baptist  is 


458  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

seated.  Distance,  trees  and  landscape.  Canvas  2  ft.  4  h.  bj 
8  ft.  10.4.  This  picture  shows  a  mixture  of  the  styles  of 
Palma  Yecchio  and  Titian.  The  contours  recall  Pordenone. 
The  colour  is  uniform  and  of  a  ruddy  tinge ;  the  total 
impression  is  that  of  a  work  by  Bernardino  Licinio.  The 
head  of  the  Virgin,  looking  round  at  the  Baptist,  is  injured  ; 
that  of  the  Baptist  equally  so. 

St.  Petersburg :  Leticktemberg  Collection. — ^Portrait  of  a 
man  turned  to  the  left,  standing  near  an  opening  through 
which  a  landscape  is  seen,  with  an  open  folio  on  a  table 
before  him.  He  wears  a  cap  and  is  heavily  bearded.  The 
left  hand  clings  to  the  hem  of  his  coat ;  canvas  8  ft.  2  h. 
by  2  ft.  7i.  This  picture  looks  most  like  the  work  of  a 
Bergamasque  of  the  stamp  of  Gariani. 

St.  Petersburg :  Leuchtemberg  Collection. — The  Virgin  sits 
at  the  foot  of  a  stone  plinth,  with  St.  George  holding  his 
lance  on  the  right,  and  St.  John  the  Baptist  on  the  left 
sitting  and  giving  his  hand  to  the  infant  Christ,  who  lies  on 
his  mother's  lap.  Canvas,  2  ft.  9.4  h.  by  8  ft.  8|.  This  is 
a  graceful  picture  by  Paris  Bordone. 

St.  Petersburg  :  Lazarew  Collection. — "  Ecce  Homo  be- 
tween two  Soldiers;'*  half  lengths,  on  canvas,  of  life-size. 
This  is  an  imitation  of  Andrea  Schiavone  in  the  manner  of 
Pietro  della  Vecchia.  (But  Compare  Waagen,  Hermitage, 
p.  429,  who  inclines  for  Tintoretto.) 

St.  Petersburg:  Collection  of  Count  Paul  Stroganoff. — 
''  The  Virgin  in  Lamentation  '*  (bust,  turned  to  the  left), 
wringing  her  hands,  a  white  veil  on  her  head.  This  canvas 
looks  like  an  imitation  of  Titian  by  a  painter  not  an  Italian. 

Louvre,  No.  475.—"  A  Knight  of  the  Order  of  Malta ; " 
canvas,  m.  0.60  h.,  by  0.51.  Bust  of  life-size,  three-quarters 
to  the  left.  The  man  has  a  red  beard  and  a  pelisse  with  a 
collar  of  white  fur  spotted  with  black.  The  treatment  is  not 
that  of  Titian.  The  rawness  of  the  tones  and  thinness  of  the 
pigment  recall  Calisto  da  Lodi  or  some  similar  imitator  of 
the  pure  Venetian  manner. 

Louvre,  No.  468. — "  Christ  between  a  Soldier  and  Execu- 
tioner.'*    Wood,   round,   m.   1.14    in    diameter,    Christ    is 


Chap.  IX.]  UNCERTIFIED  TITIANS.  4o9 

almost  in  profile,  with  his  hands  bound  behind  his  back* 
The  helmeted  soldier  in  armonr  is  on  the  left,  the  executioner 
on  the  right.     This  is  a  fine  work  in  the  style  of  Schiavone. 

Louvre,  No.  467.—"  The  Council  of  Trent."  This  is  a 
Titianesque  sketch  of  prelates  with  a  guard  of  officers  and 
soldiers  listening  to  a  bishop.  The  style  is  that  of  Andrea 
Schiayone. 

Louvre,  No.  474. — ^Portrait  of  a  man  half  length;  can- 
vas, m.  0.99  h.  by  0.82.  This  portrait  represents  a  bare- 
headed nobleman  with  a  long  beard,  his  left  elbow  on  the 
plinth  of  a  column,  his  right  on  the  hilt  of  his  sword.  It  is 
a  grand  creation  in  the  style  of  Pordenone  rather  than  in  the 
manner  of  Titian. 

Rouen  Museum,  No.  357. — Portrait  of  a  man  turned  to 
the  left,  in  a  black  cap.  The  plaited  shirt  falls  into  a  square- 
cut  vest ;  canvas,  m.  0.47  h.  by  0.85.  This  injured  picture 
is  retouched,  and  possibly  taken  from  some  older  picture ; 
but  whether  of  Titian  or  another  artist  it  is  hard  to  determine. 
In  the  same  collection  is  an  old  and  poor  copy  of  the  "  Christ 
of  the  Tribute  Money  "  at  Dresden. 

London:  National  Gallery,  No.  32. — "The  Bape  of 
Ganymede."  This  octogon  canvas,  5  ft.  8  in  diameter, 
may  have  been  executed  from  one  of  Titian's  designs.  It 
was  probably  painted  by  Domenico  Mazza.  (Bidolfi  Mar.  i. 
290.)  It  represents  Ganymede  carried  upon  the  back  of  the 
eagle.  Engraved  by  G.  Audran,  D.  Cunego  and  J.  Outrim ; 
it  was  once  in  the  Colonna  palace  at  Home,  and  in  remote 
times,  perhaps,  in  the  collection  of  Francesco  Assonica.  It 
was  brought  to  England  in  1800  by  Mr.  Day,  passed  into  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Angerstein,  and  was  bought  for  the  nation  in 
1824.  It  has  been  frequently  restored,  and  once  by  Carlo 
Maratta.     (See  Catalogue  of  the  National  Gallery.) 

London :  National  Gallery,  No.  3. — "  A  Concert,"  on 
canvas.  Five  figures,  half  length,  8  ft.  2  h.,  by  4  ft.  1* 
This  picture  was  in  the  Mantuan  and  Whitehall  Galleries, 
and  also  belonged  to  Mr.  Angerstein.  It  is  almost  a  coun- 
terpart of  a  similar  piece  in  the  Brunswick  Gallery,  and 
is  far  below  Titian's  powers,  betraying  rather  the  hand  of 


460  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  LX. 

Schiayone  or  Zelotti,  than  that  of  a  better  master.  EngraYed 
by  H.  DanckertSy  J.  Groensrelt,  and  J.  Gamer.  (Cioinpare 
Bathoe's  Catalogue,  and  Darco,  Pitt.  Mant.  ii.  160.) 

Late  Northroick  Collection,  No.  62. — "  Portrait  of  Bra- 
mante ;  "  half  length  on  canvas,  8  ft.  2  h.  by  2  ft.  4. 
This  is  the  likeness  of  an  old  grey-bearded  man,  in  a  pelisse, 
with  a  pair  of  goggles  in  his  right,  and  gloves  in  his  left 
hand.  He  leans  one  elbow  on  a  table — ground,  brown. 
There  is  reason  to  think  that  this  was  a  very  faithful  portrait 
of  some  one,  but  some  one  that  is  not  Bramante.  The 
features  are  the  exact  counterpart  of  those  of  Oderico  Piloni, 
painted  by  Cesare  Yecelli,  and  still  preserved  in  the  Villa 
Piloni  near  Belluno.  To  the  question  whether  this  is  a 
portrait  by  Titian  or  his  nephew,  the  answer  may  be  that  it  is 
too  good  for  Cesare,  though  but  moderately  good  for  Titian. 
But  we  may  think  Cesare  in  his  early  time  and  under  the 
direction  of  his  uncle,  might  paint  such  a  likeness,  and  it  is 
to  be  observed  that  the  face  of  Piloni  is  younger  than  it 
appears  in  Cesare's  canvas. 

Late  Northwick  Collection,  No.  107. — "  The  Virgin  and 
Child  with  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  the  Magdalen  presenting 
a  Chalice."  This  picture,  on  wood,  is  a  group  of  half-lengths 
ascribed  to  Titian,  but  with  some  marks  of  the  treatment  of 
Palma  Vecchio. 

London :  Labouchere  Collection. — The  Virgin  and  Child 
in  a  landscape,  ^ith  St.  Joseph  and  the  ass  and  St.  Anthony 
the  Abbot  reading  a  book  on  the  left.  In  front,  to  the  right, 
the  boy  Baptist  runs  up  holding  the  lamb  and  the  reed  cross, 
and  behind  a  bank  a  boy  is  peeping.  The  scene  is  laid  in  a 
landscape  of  hilly  character,  with  numerous  figures  at  various 
distances.  This  richly  toned  and  agreeable  piece  is  not  by 
Titian,  but  by  Paris  Bordone.  It  was  formerly  at  Stratton. 
The  figures  are  about  half  the  life-size.  (Compare  Waagen^ 
Treasures,  ii.  419.) 

London :  Mrs,  Butler- Johnstone,  late  Munro, — "  St.  Jerom," 
a  small  canvas,  is  wrongly  assigned  to  Titian,  being  painted 
in  the  manner  of  the  Bassani  and  Paolo  Veronese. 

London :  Mrs.  Butler- Johnstone,  late  Munro. — ^Virgin  and 


Chap.  IX.]  UNCERTIFIED  TTTIANS.  461 

Child,  with  the  young  Baptist  and  St.  Joseph,  on  panel,  once 
assigned  to  Giorgione,  now  called  Titian,  is  in  the  style  of 
Schiavone. 

London:  Lord  Yarborough,  No.  47. — The  Virgin  and 
Child  between  St.  Anne  and  Elizabeth,  and  St.  Catherine  and 
an  aged  nude  saint  in  a  landscape.  This  picture,  on  panel, 
with  fignres  of  half  the  life-size,  is  either  a  copy  from  an 
original  by  Bonifazio,  or  an  imitation  of  that  master. 

LoTidon :  Apsley  House. — "  Orpheus  charming  the  Beasts 
with  Music,"  upright  canvas  ascribed  to  Titian,  is  quite  in 
the  style  of  Padovanino,  the  principal  figure  being  seen  almost 
in  back  view.  The  picture  as  a  whole  corresponds  in  many 
respects  with  a  similar  one  in  the  Gallery  of  Madrid  (No.  819), 
which  belonged  to  Queen  Isabella  Famese,  and  was  for  many 
years  held  to  be  by  Titian,  but  is  now  properly  catalogued  as 
a  work  by  Yarottari. 

London  Mr.  Holford. — Portrait  of  "  A  Duke  of  Milan," 
with  a  &lcon  in  his  left  hand,  and  a  dog  looking  up  to  the 
fEtlcon.  Full  fEice ;  figure  to  the  knees  on  dark-brown  ground. 
This  portrait,  on  canvas,  is  Titianesque  in  style.  A  more 
decided  opinion  .would  require  a  renewed  examination. 

London:  Mr.  Holford. — Female  portrait,  fidl  face,  on 
canvas,  with  one  hand  the  lady  plays  with  pearls.  She 
wears  a  hat.  This  is  a  thinly  painted  Venetian  picture,  but 
not  a  genuine  Titian. 

London :  Orowenor  House,  No.  108. — "  Christ  and  the 
Woman  taken  in  Adultery ;  "  canvas  4  ft.  4  h.  by  5  ft., 
with  twelve  figures  of  life  size  seen  to  the  knees.  This  large 
picture  of  the  same  class,  reminds  us  of  one  once  in  Sant' 
Afra  at  Brescia,  and  there  called  Titian,  though  it  was  ob- 
viously by  a  Brescian  painter.  The  florid  style,  sharp  colours 
and  conventional  treatment,  recalling  Schiavone  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  Brescian  works  of  the  Rosas  on  the  other,  point 
to  Lattanzio  Gambara  as  the  real  author  of  this  piece.  (Ex- 
hibited 1871,  at  the  Boyal  Academy.) 

No.  110  in  this  collection  is  a  copy  of  the  female  in  the 
picture  of  the  Louvre  called  ''  Titian  and  his  Mistress." 

Lond&n :  Earl  Dudley, — ^A  nude  goddess  on  a  couch,  much 


462  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

in  the  character  of  the  Yenns  in  Titian's  ''Yenns  and  Adonis," 
reposes  on  a  bank  covered  with  a  red  cloth,  behind  which  two 
men  are  spectators,  one  of  whom  holds  a  mirror  to  the  goddess. 
Distance,  a  landscape  with  a  flock.  This  canvas,  with  figures 
large  as  life,  is  not  by  Titian,  bat  displays  some  of  the  pecn- 
liarities  common  to  the  disciples  of  the  mixed  school  of  Titian 
and  Pordenone.     It  is  probably  by  Giulio  Campi. 

London :  Lord  Cowper, — "  Portrait  of  Calvin."  This  is  a 
bust  of  a  man  in  a  black  cap,  with  a  white  shirt-frill,  in- 
scribed in  Roman  letters  with  the  name  of  Calvin  and  the 
date  1530.     The  treatment  is  not  even  Yenetian. 

London :  Lord  Malmesbury. — "  The  Duke  Alfonso  of 
Ferrara  and  Laura  Dianti; "  half-lengths  on  canvas,  2  ft.  11  h. 
by  2  ft.  5.  A  bearded  man  in  profile,  dressed  in  blue 
with  a  feathered  toque  on  his  head,  is  looking  up  at  a  lady 
with  her  neck  and  bosom  exposed,  her  hair  golden,  and  partly 
covered  by  a  turban  headress.  He  holds  a  ring  on  her  finger 
and  presses  his  right  hand  to  his  heart ;  she  leans  a  hand  on 
his  shoulder.  This  canvas,  once  in  the  Fesch  Collection,  is 
said  to  have  been  brought  from  Yenice  by  General  Bonaparte, 
in  1796.  It  is  probably  by  Pietro  della  Yegchia,  the  clever 
imitator  of  Giorgione,  under  whose  name  this  piece  was  sold 
(July  1,  1876)  in  London  for  £867  10«.  It  is  almost  need- 
less to  say  that  the  male  figure  does  not  represent  Duke 
Alfonso  of  Ferrara. 

London:  Lord  Malmeshury. — "Lucretia."  This  piece, 
called  a  Titian  but  really  a  copy  by  a  Bolognese  artist  of  a 
canvas  assigned  to  Titian  in  the  Gallery  of  Hampton  Court 
(see  that  heading),  was  sold  by  auction  in  London  on  the  1st 
of  July,  1876,  for  ^647  5«. 

London  :  Marquis  of  Bute. — ^Portrait  of  a  lady,  on  canvas 
to  the  knees,  large  as  life,  and  turned  to  the  left.  The  hair 
is  dressed  with  jewels,  a  collar  with  pearls  over  a  red  dress, 
and  puffed  sleeves.  In  the  distance  a  pillar.  Here  we  have 
the  technical  treatment,  not  of  Titian,  but  of  Bernardino 
Pordenone,  whose  manner  is  more  akin  to  that  of  Paris  Bor- 
done  than  to  that  of  Titian. 

London :  Marquis  of  Bute. — Portrait  of  a  grey-bearded 


C5HAP.  IX.]  UNOBETIFIED  TTTIANS.  463 

man,  tamed  to  the  left,  in  a  black  beret  cap  and  pelisse,  near 
a  table.    Much  injured  canvas  of  the  late  Venetian  School. 

London:  Lord  Ashburton. — ^Herodias'  daughter  followed 
by  an  old  man,  and  carrying  the  head  of  the  Baptist  on  a 
plate.  School  of  Bernardino  Licinio  or  Beccaruzzi  of  Cone- 
gliano. 

London :  Stafford  Home,  No.  18. — "  Education  of  Cupid ; " 
canvas,  with  three  figures  of  the  size  of  life.  Venus  to  the 
left,  with  a  sweep  of  yellow  drapery  round  her  hips,  is  standing 
in  a  grove  of  trees,  and  looking  on  as  Cupid  reads  in  a  music 
book  held  up  to  him  by  Mercury.  The  left  hand  of  Venus 
is  on  Mercury's  shoulder.  He  is  seated  with  the  winged  cap 
on  his  head,  the  caducous  at  his  back.  Cupid's  bow  and 
arrows  are  on  the  ground.  This  picture  belonged  to  Queen 
Christina,  who  held  it  to  be  a  genuine  Titian.  (Campori,  Bac- 
colta,  p.  889.)  It  passed  into  the  Orleans  Collection,  at  the 
I5ale  of  which  Lord  Gower  bought  it  for  £800.  The  picture 
is  Titianesque  indeed,  but  in  the  style  of  Schiavone,  to  whom  it 
should  be  assigned. 

London:  Stafford  House,  No.  26. — St.  Jerom  in  the 
wilderness,  his  head  resting  on  his  left  hand,  his  body  turned 
to  the  left.  This  canvas  represents  the  saint  of  the  full  size 
of  nature.  It  is  quite  as  much  in  the  style  of  Schiavone  as 
the  "  Venus  and  Mercury." 

London :  Stafford  House,  No.  86. — Portrait  of  a  cardinal. 
Here  we  have  the  brush-stroke  of  a  Bolognese  of  the  seven- 
teenth century. 

Dulivich  OaUery,  No.  81. — "  The  Infant  Jesus."  Neither 
this  nor  any  other  picture  assigned  to  Titian  in  this  gallery  is 
genuine. 

Hampton  Court,  No.  44. — Portrait  of  a  man  in  armour, 
with  a  sword  belted  to  his  waist  and  a  black  cap  on  his  head. 
Half  length  on  a  brown  ground,  and  turned  three  quarters  to 
the  left.  This  piece,  on  canvas,  is  of  the  Venetian  School, 
but  not  by  Titian.  The  treatment  points  to  a  follower  of 
the  schools  of  Tintoretto  and  Bassano. 

Hampton  Court  OaUery,  No.  465. — Panel  with  figures 
half  the  life  size.     The  Virgin,  turned  to  the  left,  is  seated 


464  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Ohap.  IX. 

in  a  landscape^  placks  a  flower  with  her  right  hand,  and 
holds  a  similar  one  in  her  left.  The  infant  Christ  lying  in 
her  lap  also  holds  a  flower.  In  the  distance  to  the  right,  the 
angel  accompanies  Tobit  with  the  dog.  In  the  foregronnd  is 
the  scutcheon  of  some  noble  f&mily.  This  pictnre  corre- 
sponds to  the  description  of  one  noted  by  Ridolfi  (Mar.  i. 
262)  in  the  Beinst  collection.  Beinst's  pictures  we  know 
were  in  part  purchased  by  the  Dutch  States^  to  be  presented 
to  Charles  the  Second.  The  panel  is  injured,  and  the  head 
of  the  Virgin  is  retouched,  but  the  drawing  is  less  clever  and 
appropriate,  the  execution  less  skilful  than  Titian's,  and  we 
can  scarcely  err  in  assuming  that  the  author  is  Santo  Zago,  a 
pupil  of  Titian.    Engraved  by  Yischer. 

Hampton  Court  OaUery,  No.  111. — '^  Ignatius  Loyola." 
Knee-piece  on  canvas  of  a  man  turned  to  the  left,  bare-headed 
in  black  with  his  right  hand  on  a  table  on  which  is  written ; 
'*  AK  XXV.  1545."  Dark  ground.  The  attitude  is  Titianesque, 
but  the  treatment  is  feeble,  and  although  the  surfaces  are 
much  damaged  by  time  and  retouching,  the  picture  should 
rather  be  assigned  to  a  disciple  of  Paris  Bordone  than  to 
Titian.  The  inscription  too  is  suspiciously  renewed.  En* 
graved  in  oval  by  Vignerson. 

Hampton  Court  OaUery,  No.  118. — "Portrait  of  a  Gentle- 
man ; "  canvas  bust  of  life  size.  The  head  is  in  profile  and  in 
the  style  of  a  later  Venetian,  such  as  Sebastian  Bicci. 

Hampton  Court  Gallery,  No.  124. — "Portrait  of  Titian." 
A  copy. 

Hampton  Court  OoMery,  No.  706. — ^Virgin  and  Child 
adored  by  St.  Catherine  and  John  the  Baptist.  This  piece  is 
not  by  Titian.     It  recalls  the  manner  of  Palma  Vecchio. 

Hampton  Court  Gallery,  No.  410.  —  "The  Death  of 
Lucretia ; "  canvas,  with  a  full  length,  half  the  size  of  life,  of 
Lucretia,  nude,  standing  with  a  sword  in  her  right  hand,  with 
which  she  is  preparing  to  stab  herself.  A  long  red  drapeiy 
floats  about  the  head  and  shoulders.  In  the  background  is  a 
landscape.  This  figure  has  none  of  the  grace  or  tone  of 
Titian's  creations.  The  coarse  herculean  form,  and  a  flush 
of  brown  tinting,  point  to  a  Venetian  disciple  of  the  master. 


\ 


Chap.  IX.]  UNCERTIFIED  TITIANS.  465 

Yet  the  picture  is  doubtlesB  identical  with  that  described  in 
the  Ashmolean  catalogue  (Bathoe,  u.  8.)  as  follows :  ^'  A 
Mantua  piece  by  Titian,  a  standing  Lucretia  holding  with 
her  left  hand  a  red  veil  over  her  face,  and  a  dagger  in  her 
other  hand  to  stab  herself,  an  entire  figure  half  so  big  as 
the  life,  8  ft.  2  h.  by  2  ft.  1."  This  piece  was  appraised 
and  sold  by  order  of  Cromwell  for  £200 ;  but  reappears  in 
the  catalogue  of  James  the  Second's  collection  (No.  480  of 
Bathoe's  catalogue).  A  copy  of  it  was  in  the  collection  of 
Lord  Malmesbury  (see  under  that  head).  A  similar  picture 
ascribed  to  Titian  is  noted  in  a  Mantuan  inventory  of  the  year 
.1627.     (See  Darco,  ii.  p.  155.) 

Hampton  Court  OaUery,  No.  79.  —  "Alessandro  de* 
Medici.'*  This  is  a  bust  portrait  on  canvas  of  a  man  turned 
to  the  left,  with  his  hair  parted  in  the  middle  and  brushed 
behind  the  ear.  A  slight  moustache  fringes  the  upper  lip, 
the  chin  is  beardless,  the  vest  is  cut  low  and  shows  a  MUed 
shirt.  Over  all  lies  a  dark  brown  pelisse  with  a  fur  collar. 
The  right  hand  is  on  a  book  bound  in  red,  lying  on  the  para* 
pet  in  front.  That  this  portrait  was  engraved  by  Peter  de 
Jode  and  A.  Bonenfant  as  *'  Giovanni  Boccaccio  "  by  Titian, 
hardly  helps  us  in  identifying  the  person  portrayed.  The 
modelling  of  the  head  is  lost  in  retouches,  and  the  forehead 
and  temples  are  especially  injured.  For  this  reason  it  is  im- 
possible to  decide  whether  the  picture  is  by  Titian  or  not,  or 
to  determine  to  which  of  his  disciples  it  can  be  assigned. 

Hampton  Court  Galleryy  No.  243. — "  David  and  Goliath,*' 
a  small  panel,  is  apparently  by  a  feeble  disciple  of  the  school 
of  Schiavone. 

Manchester  Exhibition,  No.  219. — ^A  portrait  of  Verdi- 
zotti,  property  of  Mr.  Francis  Edwards.  This  picture  was 
clearly  painted  after  Titian's  time. 

No.  228. — "  Girl  making  Lace,"  property  of  Mr.  Richard 
Baxter  (photographed) ;  canvas,  with  the  figure  of  the  girl 
turned  to  the  left,  a  little  dog  at  her  side,  on  her  lap  a  lace 
cushion.  Work  of  some  painter  of  a  later  time  than  that  of 
Titian. 

No.  284.—"  The  Dog  of  Charles  the  Fifth; "  property  of 

VOL.   II.  H  U 


466  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

J.  Smith  Barry,  Esq.     This  is  a  Bolognese,  not  a  Venetian 
picture. 

No.  241. — "  Marriage  of  St.  Catherine,"  property  of  G.  P. 
Grenfell,  Esq.  The  style  of  this  picture  is  akin  to  that  ci 
the  Venetian  Polidoro  Lanzani. 

Blenheim.—''  St.  Nicholas  "  and  "  St.  Catherine,"  of  life 
size,  on  canvas, — ^two  figures  copied  from  Titian's  ''Madonna" 
of  San  Niccold  de'  Frari  now  at  the  Vatican,  and  painted  in 
reverse, — seem  the  work  of  a  German  copyist  of  the  stamp  of 
Christopher  Schwarz. 

Blenhevfti,-^"  St.  Sebastian,"  of  life  size,  with  his  right 
arm  over  his  head.     The  figure,  covered  at  the  hips  with  a 
cloth,  is  seen  in  full  front  in  a  landscape.     This  is  a  fine' 
picture  without  the  masculine  strength  and  power  of  Titian. 
It  has  been  injured  by  repainting. 

Christchurch :  Oxford. — *'The  Duke  of  Alva;"  canvas, 
half-length  large  as  life.  The  figure,  bare-headed  and  in 
black,  wears  the  collar  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  and  stands  near 
an  opening  through  which  a  landscape  is  seen.  The  left 
hand  on  a  table  is  fairly  executed  in  the  Venetian  manner, 
but  the  rest  of  the  picture  is  utterly  ruined  by  repainting, 
and  it  is  impossible  to  recognize  the  style  of  Titian. 

The  ''  Virgin  and  Child,"  half-length,  assigned  to  Titian, 
is  a  very  feeble  and  not  genuine  production. 

Chatsivorthy  seat  of  the  Duke  oj  Devonshire. — "  St.  John 
the  Baptist  preaching  in  the  Wilderness."  The  Saint  to 
the  right  under  a  tree  speaks  with  outstretched  arm  to  a 
crowd  seated  in  the  centre  of  the  picture  ;  near  him  the  lamb 
is  resting.  To  the  left  several  women  are  standing.  In  the 
distance  Christ  is  seen  approaching.  Distance,  hills  and  sky. 
This  is  a  fine  spirited  sketchy  piece  of  Andrea  Schiavone's 
best  time.  Some  dulness  of  tone  is  due  to  retouching  and 
old  varnish,  and  the  sky  especially  is  repainted.  The  canvas 
is  large,  but  the  nearest  figures  are  under  a  quarter  of  life 
size.  (Compare  Waagen's  divergent  opinion  in  Treasures^ 
iii.  347.)  A  picture  with  this  subject  was  once  in  the 
Muselli  collection  at  Verona.  (See  Campori,  Baccolta  di 
Cataloghiy  p.  187.) 


Chap.  IX.]  UNCERTIFIED  TITIANS.  46T 

Chatsworth. — ^A  girl  presents  fruit  to  her  fiather  and 
mother,  the  latter  standing  in  the  foreground  at  the  side  of 
the  former,  who  is  seated.  This  canvas,  with  figures  to  the 
biees,  is  by  Paris  Bordone,  to  whom  it  is  properly  ascribed 
T)y  Dr.  Waagen.     (Treasures,  iii.  851.) 

Cliatsicorth. — The  Virgin  and  Child  with  St.  Joseph  in  a 
landscape.  The  boy  St.  John  approaches  from  the  right. 
This  picture  is  not  by  Titian,  but  by  a  painter  of  the  seven- 
teenth century. 

C/iatewor^fc.— r"  A  Mastiff  Dog  and  Cubs.'*  This  large 
<^anYas,  originally  in  the  Comaro  Palace  at  Venice,  was 
acknowledged  by  Sir  Joshua  Beynolds  as  a  genuine  Titian. 
It  is  much  repainted,  yet  still  displays  the  hand  of  an  artist 
of  the  seventeenth  century  such  as  Philip  Boos  or  Benedetto 
dastiglione. 

Longford  Castle,  No.  188. — ^Full-length  of  a  man  standing 
near  a  pillar  on  the  top  of  which  his  helmet  is  lying.  On  the 
helmet  he  rests  his  hand,  the  head  being  turned  to  look  at 
the  spectator.  On  the  ground  ,to  the  right  is  a  book.  This 
picture,  ascribed  to  Titian,  is  by  Morone. 

Longford  Castle,  No.  146. — ^Half-length  of  a  sculptor  with 
his  hand  on  the  head  of  a  statue.  The  face  is  that  of  a 
yoimg  man.     The  painter  is  not  Titian  but  Tintoretto. 

Bowood, — The  Virgin  is  seated  with  the  in£Emt  Christ 
standing  on  her  lap.  She  gives  the  Child  some  fruit,  whilst 
ihe  young  Baptist  on  the  lefb  holds  up  a  scroll  inscribed  with 
the  words  "  Ecce  Agnus  Dei."  A  glory  of  rays  and  cherubs' 
heads  surrounds  the  group.  This  is  a  duplicate  with  varieties 
of  a  similar  piece  (No.  590)  at  the  Uffizi  in  Florence,  where 
the  Baptist  holds  the  foot  of  the  infant  Christ,  and  the 
Virgin  is  not  presenting  a  fruit.  The  style  is  easily  recog- 
nised in  both  pictures  as  that  of  Marco  Vecelli.  The  Bowood 
duplicate  corresponds  to  the  description  of  a  canvas  noted  by 
lUdolfi  (Marav.  i.  262)  in  the  Vidman  collection  at  Venice. 
(Compare  also  Sansovino,  Ven.  Descritta,  p.  876.) 

Alnwick. — Portrait  of  an  admiral  in  a  feathered  cap  and  in 
armour  seen  to  the  knees  at  three-quarters  to  the  lefb,  with 
the  left  hand  on  a  chiselled  dagger,  and  the  right  on  a  helmet 

H  H  2 


468  TITIAN:  HIS  UPE  AND  TIMBS.      [Chap.  IX. 

restijig  on  a  table.  This  likenesSy  of  life-size^  was  originally 
in  the  Barherini,  then  in  the  Camnccini,  collections  in  Borne. 
It  looks  more  like  a  Moione  than  a  Titian. 

Alnwick.  —  '^  Portrait  of  a  Member  of  the  Barbarigo 
Family"  (?).  The  treatment  is  too  thin  and  empty  for  Titian^ 
and  recalls  Morto  da  Feltre  or  Pellegrino  da  San  Daniele. 

Edinburgh:  Boyal  Institution,  No.  65. — '^Adoration  of 
the  Magi ;  "  on  canTas,  7  ft.  9  h.  by  6  ft.  This  picture  i?as 
formerly  in  the  Palazzo  Balbi  at  Genoa,  iCnd  is  clearly  a  work 
of  Bassano. 

Edinburgh :  Royal  Institution,  No.  167. — ^A  landscape  on 
panel,  6  ft.  6  long,  by  1  ft,  8.  Bought  from  the  Duke  of 
Vivaldi  Pasqua,  This  is  a  Flemish  and  not  a  Venetian 
picture* 

Edinburgh :  Royal  Institution,  No.  166. — Panel,  1ft.  7  ht 
by  1  ft.  8^.  Virgin,  Child,  and  St.  Catherine  presenting 
flowers.  This  picture,  ascribed  to  Titian,  is  nearer  the  level 
of  Polidoro  Lanzani,  though  feeble  even  for  him. 

Longniddy,  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Wemyss, — A  girl  initiated 
to  the  mysteries  of  Venus.  Near  her  to  the  right  Venus  and 
the  boy  Cupid  with  an  arrow.  A  satyr  behind  raises  aloft  a 
basket  with  a  couple  of  doves ;  and  another  a  bundle  of  firuit. 
The  same  theme  is  worked  in  another  way  in  a  picture 
assigned  to  Titian  at  Munich  (see  Munich),  of  which  this  is  a 
variety.     But  the  execution  here  is  very  modem. 

Dalkeith  Palace, — **  The  Duke  of  Alva  in  Armour ;  "  half- 
length  on  canvas.  The  body  is  turned  to  the  right,  the  hee 
to  the  left.  The  right  hand  holds  a  helmet,  the  left  is  in  the 
act  of  pointing.  This  is  not  a  genuine  Titian,  though  a 
carefal  and  interesting  picture  and  probably  a  true  likeness  of 
Alva. 

Portrait  of  a  little  girl  in  leading  strings,  with  a  dog  near 
her.  To  the  right  is  the  hand,  arm,  and  part  of  the  figure  of 
a  person  holding  the  strings.  The  distance  is  architecture. 
The  name  of  Titian  is  not  justified.  The  treatment  is  that 
of  a  Bolognese  craftsman. 

Hamilton  Palace,  near  Glasgow, — Philip  the  Second  stand* 
ing  with  the  emblems  of  his  dignities,  near  a  pillar  at  the 


Chap.  IX.]  TJNOBETIFIED  TTEIANS.  46» 

entrance  to  a  temple.  Near  him  to  the  right  the  kneeling 
figmre  of  Fame.  This  canyas,  with  figures  of  life-size,  seems 
to  have  been  executed  by  a  German  or  Fleming  who  had 
some  personal  intercourse  with  Titian.  The  forms  are  too 
poor  and  slender,  the  drawing  and  modelling  are  too  triTial, 
for  the  great  master,  the  colour  too  liquid  and  thin.  Profuse 
ornament  reveals  a  taste  foreign  to  the  Venetian  school. 

Hamilton  Palace. — ^Half-length  on  canvas  of  an  admiral  in 
armour,  with  one  hand  on  his  hip,  the  other  near  a  helmet 
resting  on  a  table.  The  figure  is  turned  to  the  right.  In 
the  backgrotmd  is  a  pillar;  and  a  rod  curtain  partially 
intercepts  a  view  of  a  galley  floating  on  the  sea.  The  style 
is  that  of  Paolo  Veronese. 

Hamilton  Palace. — ^Full-length  of  life  size  on  canvas  of  a 
captain  in  armour.  He  stands  near  a  table,  on  which  his 
right  arm  reposes.  Near  the  arm  a  helmet.  This  picture, 
once  under  the  name  of  Giorgione,  is  now  called  a  Titian,' 
and  reminds  us  of  Morone,  but  it  is  injured  and  unworthy  of 
any  one  of  the  artists  named. 

Hamilton  Palace.  —  Portrait  of  an  old  man  seated  and 
turned  to  the  left.  His  hair  and  beard  are  white,  his  features 
are  dry  and  bony ;  on  the  book  we  read  "  L.  Gornabo  m,  sua. 
«  •  .  1566."  According  to  the  chronologies  Luigi  or  Alvise 
Comaro  of  Padua  died  in  1665.  If  this  signature  be 
genuine,  he  died  a  year  later  than  is  generally  supposed. 
(See  vol.  i.  of  this  Life,  p.  180.)  The  picture  is  not  by  Titian, 
but  by  an  imitator  of  Tintoretto  and  Bassano. 

Hamilton  Palace. — ^Portrait  of  a  man  in  a  dark  pelisse  and 
bare-headed.  This  bust  on  canvas,  though  carefully  painted 
by  a  Venetian  artist,  is  not  a  genuine  Titian. 

DMin  International  Exhibition. — ^Portrait  of  a  friar  facing 
and  looking  at  the  spectator  whilst  pointing  at  a  human 
skull.  This  picture,  though  assigned  to  Titian,  is  by  an 
artist  of  the  class  of  Gaspar  de  Grayer,  that  is,  by  a  follower 
of  Van  Dyke  and  Bubens. 

In  the  same  exhibition.  No.  67,  was  a  portrait  of  a  man  in 
a  plumed  cap  and  rich  dress  called  Cesar  Borgia,  and  assigned 
to  Titian.     The  picture  is  not  genuine* 


470  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  pictures  noticed  in  books 
as  works  of  Titian.  A  few  of  the  pieces  registered 
may  be  identical  with  some  of  those  noted  in  fore- 
going pages,  but  there  is  no  means  of  proving  their 
identity : — 

Venice :  8.  Andrea  della  Certoaa. — Christ  carrying  his 
cross.  This  piece  was  seen  by  Sansoyino  (Yen.  desc.  p.  79), 
but  must  have  been  removed  before  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  as  Boschini  does  not  notice  it.  Qesuati, 
— ^Pope  Urban  gives  the  dress  of  his  order  to  the  heato 
Golombini.  This  was  a  canvas  on  the  organ  shutter  of  the 
Gesuati  assigned  by  Yasari  (xiii.  110)  to  one  Jaoopo 
Fallaro,  but  by  Boschini  (Miniere  Sest  di  D.  Duro,  p.  19)  to 
Titian.  S.  Fantino :  Scuola, — St.  Jerom.  (Vas.  xiii.  29.) 
^his  picture  perished  by  fire.  S-  Gio.  e  Paolo. — ^Virgin  and 
Child,  S.  Anna,  and  other  saints.  This  monochrome,  origin- 
ally on  the  tomb  of  the  Doge  Trevisani,  was  seen  by  Zanetti 
(Pitt.  Yen.  p.  169)  in  a  room  of  the  convent,  and  has  since 
been  missing.  Casa  Pisani. — Portrait  of  a  lady.  (Yas.  xiii. 
43.)  Casa  C.  Orsetti. — Two  portraits  and  Christ  at  the 
column.  (Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  263.)  G.  B.  Rota. — ^Yirgin. 
(Eidolfi,  Mar.  i.  263.)  B.  deUa  Nave.—l.  Yirgin,  Child, 
and  Saints.  2.  Christ  and  the  Woman  taken  in  Adul- 
tery. 3.  Portraits.  (Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  263.)  Casa  Zuan 
Antonio, — Venier.  Two  half-lengths  of  men  assaulting  each 
other.  (Anon.  Morelli,  p.  73.)  Casa  Giovanni  Danna. — 
Yirgin  and  Child,  with  portraits  male  and  female,  including 
children.  (Yas.  xiii.  21 ;  Sansov.  Yen.  desc.  p.  212.)  Casa 
M.  P.  Servio. — St.  Jerom.  (Anon.  89.)  Casa  Qrimani  a 
Santa  Maria  Formosa. — Portrait  of  Cardinal  Domenico 
Grimani.  (Cicogna,  Isc.  Yen.,  i.  190.)  Casa  Grimani  a  S. 
Ermagora. — Portrait  of  a  Senator.  (Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  220.) 
Yirgin  and  Saints.  (lb.  i.  260.)  Casa  Assonica. — 
Portrait  of  Francesco  Assonica.  (Yas.  xiii.  43.)  Casa 
Odoni. — Yirgin  and  Child,  young  Baptist  and  a  female 
saint  in  a  landscape.  (Anon.  MoreUi,  p.  62 ;  and  see  National 


Chap.  IX.]  MISSING  PICTUEES.  471 

Gallery,  antea,  i.  p.  208.)  Signor  Cristofori  Oroboni  (seven- 
teenth century). — Christ  crowned  with  Thorns  with  a  Soldier. 
2.  A  Woman  with  anbum  Hair.  (Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  p.  875.) 
Grirolamo  e  Francesco  Contarini. — Portrait  qf  Charles  the 
Fifth.  (Ridolfi,  Mar.  i.  456.)  Casa  Bam.— Portrait  of 
Znanne  Bam  with  his  back  to  the  spectator.  (Anon.  ed. 
Morelli,  79.)  Palazzo  deU* Abate  Orimani. — The  Flight  into 
Egypt.  (SansoY.  Yen.  desc.  375).  Renier  ColL — St.  Sebas- 
tian bound  to  the  column. — Portrait  of  a  lady  with  blonde 
hair,  dressed  in  blue.  Portrait  of  a  widow  with  a  beautiful 
hand  called  Clelia  Famese,  wood.  St.  Francis,  full  length 
in  a  landscape,  holding  a  cross.  (See  Beinst  Coll.)  Bound  of 
an  angel  flying  in  air  having  struck  a  man  who  lies  on  the 
ground  with  a  sword  and  shield.  (Campori,  Bacc.  443.) 
Signor  Bernardo  GiuntL — ^A  Male  Portrait.  (Bidolfi,  Mar.  i. 
262.)  Casa  FranceschL— St.  Sebastian.  (Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  263.) 
Casa  GtissonL— The  Virgin  and  Child  and  an  aged  man  in  a 
black  vest  with  his  hand  on  his  haunch.  (Bidolfi,  i.  260.) 
Portrait  of  Cardinal  Ippolito  d'  Este.  (lb.)  Half  length  of 
a  female  with  two  men  in  armour.  (lb.)  Casa  Francesco 
Contarini, — The  Virgin  and  Child.  (Anon.  ed.  Morelli,  280 ; 
Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  260 ;  Tizianello*s  Anon.  11.)  Casa  Malipiero 
a  San  Savitiele. — The  Virgin  and  Child.  (Bidolfi,  Mar.  i. 
262.)  Portrait  of  Caterino  Malipiero,  who  died  in  a  naval 
encounter  in  1571.  (lb.)  Reinst  CoU. — ^Portrait  of  a 
Senator.  St.  Francis  in  tears  looking  at  a  crucifix  in  his 
hand,  with  a  landscape  distance.  (Bidolfi,  i.  262.)  Barharigo 
CoU. — Pan  and  Syrinx.  This  picture  was  still  in  the  Bar- 
barigo  collection  in  1845. 

Vicenza :  Casa  Negri. — ^Virgin  and  Child  seated  with  the 
boy  St.  John,  St.  Joachim  and  St.  Anna.  Half  length  of 
the  Saviour.     (Mosca,  Descr.  di  Vicenza,  8vo,  Vicenza,  ii.  74.) 

Padua :  Monsignor  Bonfio. — ^Magdalen.  (Bidolfi,  Mar. 
i.  259.)  Palace  of  ilie  Dogaressa  Orimani. — Christ  bearing 
his  cross,  near  him  the  executioner  with  a  dagger  at  his  side, 
(lb.)  Casa  Oaleazzo  Orologio. — ^Female  with  an  orb  of 
crystal  in  which  a  small  child  is  seen,  a  youth  with  snakes 
in  his  hand  and  a  monster  with  fruit.     (lb.) 


472  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

Mantua  Palace  in  1527. — 1-  Virgin  and  Child  wiQi  a  donor 
and  his  two  sons.  2.  Lncretia.  8.  Nativity.  4.  Virgin, 
Child,  and  St.  Catherine.  5.  A  naked  boy.  6.  A 
dishevelled  woman  and  a  boy  with  an  orb.  (Darco,  Pitt. 
Mant.  ii.  154—168.) 

Verona:  Casa  MuseUu — 1.  Virgin  and  Child,  to  whom 
St.  Catherine  kneels  and  gives  the  ring ;  at  the  other  side  the 
boy  St.  John ;  half  lengths,  a  little  under  size  of  nature.  2. 
Virgin  and  Child  caressed  by  the  young  Baptist ;  at  the  side 
St.  James.  Figures  of  more  than  one  braccia.  8.  Charles  the 
Fifth  in  a  brocade  dress  with  a  pelisse  of  ermine,  holding  a 
sceptre,  and  one  hand  on  the  hUt  of  his  sword,  more  than  half 
length  of  life  size.  4.  A  Magdalen  with  dishevelled  hair ; 
life  size.  6.  Portrait  of  a  man  without  a  beard  wearing  a 
cap  leaning  his  head  on  one  hand  ;  life  size.  6.  Virgin  and 
Child  turned  to  St.  Catherine,  who  gives  the  ring ;  St.  Joseph 
holding  the  Child ;  1  braccia  and  \  h.  by  1^.  7.  Virgin  with 
the  Child  turned  towards  a  saint  kneeling  with  her  arms 
crossed  over  her  breast  with  St.  Anna  and  St.  Joseph  at  the 
sides  (the  Child  and  Virgin's  mantle  injured).  8.  Landscape 
with  St.  John  preaching ;  ascribed  to  Titian  because  like  his 
style  in  the  trees  and  figures,  size  1^  braccia  h.  by  1^.  (See 
Chatsworth.)  9.  A  Venus  lying  on  the  ground,  her  head  on 
her  arms,  and  Amor  at  her  feet ;  ''  ascribed  to  Titian."  10. 
Portrait  of  a  jeweller — according  to  Bidolfi,  Pietro  de'  Bene- 
detti — at  a  table  on  which  are  lying  tools  and  a  gilt  helmet 
surmounted  by  a  white  eagle  holding  in  its  beak  a  column  and 
a  medal  inscribed  with  the  name  of  Sigismund  Augustus, 
King  of  Poland.  Distance,  architecture  and  landscape.  11 
and  12.  Portraits  of  a  man  without  a  beard  in  the  black  dress 
of  a  prelate,  and  a  bearded  man  with  one  hand  on  a  pedestal 
and  a  bundle  of  letters  in  the  other,  dressed  in  a  pelisse,  both 
2  braccia  square.  (Compori,  Eoccolta  di  Cataloghi,  pp.  178 — 
92 ;  Eidolfi,  Mar.  i.  252—258,  ii.  238 ;  and  ScaneUi,  Micro- 
cosmo,  222.)  Moscardo  ColL  (1672). — 1.  Portrait  of  a  man 
with  jewels  in  his  hand.  2.  Portrait  of  a  captain  in  armour. 
8.  Portrait  of  an  old  man.  4.  Virgin,  Child,  and  John  the 
Baptist.     5.  Sacrifice  of  Cain  and  Abel.     6.  The  Virgin  and 


€hap.  IX.]  MISSING  PICTUEES.  473 

Child  on  the  ass  with  St.  Joseph.  7.  Yenns,  Mars,  and 
Cnpid.  (See  the  Cnrtoni  Coll.)  8.  A  head  of  the  Virgin* 
9.  A  nude  Yenns.  10.  Head  of  an  old  man.  11.  Christ 
crowned  with  thorns.  12.  Small  portrait  of  the  Doge  Sebas- 
tiano  Yenier.  (Note  .  •  del  Museo  Moscardo,  4to,  Yerona, 
MDCLXxn.)  Casa  P.  Curtonu — ^Yirgin  and  Child  with  St. 
Catherine  and  the  Baptist.  The  same  subject  vntii  full 
lengths.  The  Saviour.  A  bust  of  St.  Sebastian.  Lot  and 
his  daughters.  Fragment  with  a  likeness  of  a  doge  and  two 
other  half  lengths.  Yenus,  Mars,  and  Amor.  Yenus.  Yenus 
and  Amor  (bis).  Joto  hurling  thunderbolts.  Sacrifice  of 
Calchas,  A  Satyr.  Portrait  of  a  Senator.  A  doge  of 
Yenice.  Shepherds  with  an  ox.  Yirgin  and  Child  with 
St.  Joseph.  Yirgin  and  Child,  St.  Joseph,  and  St.  John. 
Yirgin  and  Child,  St.  Joachim  and  another  saint.  Head  of 
an  old  man.  Head  of  a  youth.  Figure  of  Troy.  Death  of 
Hector.  (Bidolfi,  Mar.  ii.  304,  and  Campori,  Baccolta  di 
Cataloghi,  pp.  201—2.) 

Ferrara :  Canonici  CoU,  (1632). —  1.  Bust  of  Christ 
crowned  with  thorns  carrying  his  cross.  2.  Magdalen  re- 
pentant. 3.  Yirgin,  St.  Anna,  St.  Joseph,  the  infant  Christ, 
and  Baptist  both  playing  with  the  lamb,  all  in  a  landscape. 
4.  Yirgin  raising  the  coTering  of  the  infant  Christ,  before 
whom  a  shepherd  kneels  with  a  bound  lamb.  Behind  him  a 
shepherd  taking  off  his  cap  and  holding  a  bagpipe,  and  close 
by  a  peasant  with  a  pair  of  fowls  and  two  dogs.  Seated  near 
the  Yirgin  is  St.  Joseph,  asleep.  5.  Yirgin,  Child,  and  St. 
Joseph,  half  length,  large  as  life.  6.  Titian's  portrait  by 
himself.  (Campori,  Baccolta  di  Cataloghi,  pp.  108,  115—16, 
121  and  126.)  Coccapani  Collection  (1640). — Yirgin  and 
Child,  and  St.  John  with  the  lamb.  (Campori,  Bacc.  di  Catal., 
p.  160.)  A  nude  Yenus.  (Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  257.)  Cardinal 
of  Ferrara. — 1.  Sacrifice  of  Iphigenia.  2.  Sacrifice  of  Helen. 
8.  Fountain  of  Chastity.     (Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  268—9.) 

Parma:  Famese  Coll.  (1680). — 1.  A  man  in  red,  with  his 
head  turned  to  the  leffc,  an  ink-bottle  and  a  pen  are  on  the 
table.  (Campori,  Cataloghi,  p.  209.)  2.  Lucretia  in  red 
with  a  landscape  to  the  left.     (lb.  p.  210.)     3.  Portrait  of  a 


474  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 

female  seated  with  a  bust  of  Charles  the  Fifth  near  her.  (lb. 
211.)  4.  A  shepherd  in  a  dress  of  skins.  (lb.  220.)  5. 
Portrait  of  a  man  full  length  in  armour  to  the  knees,  the  left 
hand  on  a  helmet  on  a  pedestal.  (lb.  p.  229.)  6.  Portrait  of 
a  woman  at  a  table  on  which  are  a  skull,  a  mirror,  a  comb 
and  scissors.  She  is  dressing  her  hair  with  both  hands. 
Her  dress  yellow.  (lb.  281.)  7.  A  woman  in  black,  her 
right  hand  with  two  rings  on  the  fingers  lying  on  her  bosom. 
Auburn  hair,  antique  collar,  and  girdle  of  gold  buttons.  (lb. 
283.)  8.  A  woman  pointing  with  her  right  hand  at  her  te^ce, 
dressed  in  a  black  veil  which  coTers  her  head  and  part  of  her 
shoulders.  (lb.  283.)  9.  A  man  in  a  black  dress  and  cap,  and 
a  collar  round  his  neck  with  the  order  of  the  Oolden  Fleece, 
holding  a  paper  in  his  right  hand,  which  is  alone  visible.  (lb. 
285.)  10.  A  female  in  grey  with  a  pearl  hanging  from  & 
golden  braid  in  her  right  hand.  Her  dress  and  sleeves 
flowered  white ;  her  hair  blonde.  (lb.  236.)  11.  Portrait 
of  a  cardinal  in  a  red  cap,  a  ring  on  his  right  hand 
which  rests  on  the  arm  of  a  chair,  and  in  his  left  a  prayer- 
book,  distance  landscape.  (lb.  p.  25.)  This  description 
exactly  suits  the  Cardinal  Pallavicini  of  the  Hermitage  at 
St.  Petersburg. 

Modena :  Count  Givlio  Cesare  Gonzaga  di  NoveUara 
(1676).— St.  Peter  Martyr.     (Camp.  Cataloghi,  p.  204.) 

Bevilaequa  Coll, — Virgin  and  Child>  St.  Joseph  and 
the  boy  Baptist  and  two  angels  in  glory.  (Bidolfi,  Mar.  i. 
267.) 

Milan :  Domenico  Pelosi, — ^Virgin  and  Child  adored  by  St. 
Thomas  Aquinas.    (Ticozzi,  Vec.  186.) 

Rome:  Aldobrandini  Palace, — 1.  Two  shepherds  playing 
the  flute  in  a  landscape.  2.  Virgin  and  Child,  St.  Jerom, 
and  St.  Lawrence.  (Ridolfi,  Mar.  i.  257.)  Palazzo  Giustiniani. 
— The  Virgin  and  Child  and  young  Baptist.  (lb.  i.  258.) 
Collection  of  Prince  Pio  of  Savoy  (1742). — 1.  Virgin  and 
Child.  2.  Danae  and  boy.  8.  Nude  Venus  recumbent.  4. 
Nude  Venus  recumbent  with  a  boy  and  a  soldier.  6.  Venus 
nude  on  a  couch,  Cupid,  a  man  playing  an  organ,  and  a  little 
dog.   (Citadella,  Notizie  relative   a  Ferrara,   u,  8,  p.  566.) 


Chap.  IX.]  MISSING   PICTUEES.  473 

Scanelli  notes  the  Pio  collection  and  its  Titians  in  the  Micro- 
cosmo^  p.  221.  Cardinal  Sfondrato  (1596). — 1.  Christ  at 
the  column,  half  length.  2.  A  Virgin,  Child,  and  a  man 
cariTing  fruit  (Coradnsz  to  Emperor  Bndolph  the  Second, 
in  L.  Urlich's  article  in  Zeitschrifb,  f.  b.  Knnst,  u.  8.  v.  p.  49.) 
SavelU  CoU.  (1660).— Portrait  of  Charles  the  Fifth.  (Campori, 
Cataloghi,  p.  166.)  CoU.  of  Cardinal  d'Este  (1624).— 1. 
A  landscape  with  St.  Jerom.  2.  A  St.  Jerom  on  panel. 
8.  Duke  Alfonso  the  First  (copy).  (Campori,  Bacc.  di  Catal. 
68,  71.) 

Genoa :  Collection  of  the  Doria  Family. — ^Adonis.  (Anon. 
Tizianello,  p.  6.) 

London:  Duke  of  Somerset  (seventeenth  century). — 
Yenpis,  originally  in  possession  of  Daniel  Nys.  (Sainsbury 
Papers,  u.  s.  p.  274.)  Collection  of  the  Earl  of  Arundel. — 
Portrait  of  Constable  de  Bourbon.  This  portrait  is  only 
known  by  Yorstermann's  print,  showing  a  man  in  a  rich 
dress  with  a  jewelled  toque  on  his  head,  and  a  helmet  on  a 
table  before  him;  the  face  seen  at  three  quarters  to  the  right, 
the  whole  inscribed :  '*  Serenisi.  Caroli  Ducis  BorbonisB  .  .  . 
Connestabilis  vera  effigies  in  presentia  CaroU  Y.  Imperatoris 
depicta  a  Titiano,  qusB  latent  Londini,  &c.  .  .  .  Sculpta, 
Yorstermann."  Beneath  the  portrait :  "  omnis  salts  in  ferro 
EST,"  and  on  the  background,  **  Obyt.  Boma,  1257/* 

Antiverp :  Van  Uffel  CoU. — 1.  Death  of  Pyramus,  with 
Amor  breaking  his  weapons.  2.  The  Yirgin  adoring  the 
infant  Christ  with  St.  Jerom  in  cardinals,  St.  Francis  and 
the  archangel  Michael.  3.  St.  Jerom  in  prayer  in  a  cave.  4. 
Ecce  Homo.  5.  Portrait  of  Aretino.  6.  Portrait  of  a 
Greek  patriarch.  7.  A  jeweller  with  a  string  of  pearls.  8. 
Yirgin  and  Child,  St.  John  and  St.  Joseph.  (Bidolfi,  i. 
268-9.) 

Rubens'  CoU. — Psyche  with  a  bottle  in  her  hand.  (Sains- 
bury Papers,  u.  s.  p.  236.) 

Lisbon  (sixteenth  century).  Christ  scourged.  (Yas.  xiii. 
40.) 

Portraits. — Tasso's  mistress.  (Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  266.)  Sinistri. 
(Yas.  xiii.  p.  41.)     Marquess  of  Pescara.  (lb.  88.)     Niccola 


476  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  EC 

CrasBO  and  Lnigi  Crasso.  (Kdolfi  Mar.  i.  181,  258.)  Andrea 
Dona  and  Gastaldo.  (Lomazzo,  Trattato,  p.  686.)  Aretino 
and  his  daughter.  (Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  228.)  Cardinal  Oonzaga 
(Vas.  xiii.  81.)  Panl  ManntinB.  (Aretino,  Lett.  i.  p,  286.) 
Don  Carlos.  (Vas.  xiii.  87.)  Titian  and  his  confessor. 
(Bidolfiy  Mar.  i.  120.)  Martin  the  sculptor  as  a  young  man. 
(lb.  268.)  A  shayen  man  with  jewels  in  his  hand.  (Ib« 
268.)  Girolamo  Miani.  (Cicogna,  Isc.  Yen.  y.  875.) 
Mistress  of  G^  B.  Castaldo.  (Bottari,  Baccolta,  y.  69.)  Del- 
fini,  belonging  to  the  sculptor  Danese.  (Yas.  xiii.  42.) 
Gio.  Francesco  di  Bubeis,  a  bishop.  (Flaminio  Comaro,  in 
Cicogna,  Iscr.  Yen.  iy.  187.)  Marco  Mantoya  Benayides. 
(Anon.  Morelli,  p.  152.)  Monsignor  Bonfio.  (Bidolfi,  Mar. 
i.  259.)  Portrait  of  Cardinal  Ajrdinghello.  (Borghini,  Biposo, 
iii.  p.  89.)  Julius  the  Second.  (Yas.  xiii.  32.)  Sixtus  the 
Fourth.  (lb.)  Marini  q.  Francesco  Garzoni.  (Cicogna, 
Iscr.  Yen.  yi.  p.  892.)  Hannibal  the  Carthaginian.  (Urbino 
inyentory  in  Gotti's  Gall,  di  Firenze,  p.  884.)  Giulia  Gonzaga. 
(Campori,  Bacc.  di  Cataloghi,  p.  148.)  Cardinal  Accolti.  (Yas. 
xiii.  p.  42.)  N.  Zono.  (lb.)  Dame  Gattina.  (Bidolfi, 
Mar.  i.  219.)  Francesco  Filetto  and  his  son.  (Yas.  xiii. 
42.)  Girolamo  Fracastoro.  (lb. ;  Bidolfi,  Mar.  i.  252,  and 
Brognoliy  210.)     Torquato  Bembo  and  his  wife.     (lb.) 


Titian  is  reputed  to  have  been  jealous  alike  of  his 
pupils  and  of  his  own  brother  Francesco.  Kidolfi. 
indeed  says  that  when  Titian  saw  an  altar-piece 
completed  by  Francesco  Vecelli  for  a  Cadorine  church, 
he  trembled  for  his  own  fame,  and  diverted  Fran- 
cesco's activity  into  a  new  channel.*  But  it  is  hard 
to  reconcile  this  statement  with  that  of  Vincenzo 
Vecelli,  which  tells  of  Titian's  affection  for  the  truant 


*  Bidolfi,  i.  285. 


Ohap.  IX.] 


FEANCESCO  VECELLI. 


477 


who  once  gave  up  painting  for  the   profession  of 
arms.*     We  may  believe  that  if  Francesco  Vecelli 
at  last  preferred  the  ease  of  country  life  at  Cadore, 
it  was  because  he   felt  and  acknowledged  his  own 
inferiority.     The  earliest  picture  with  which  his  name 
is   connected    is    that  which  represents  the  Virgin 
and  Child^  between  St  Roch  and  St.  Sebastian  in  the 
Genova  Chapel  at  the  Pieve  di  Cadore,  i  tempera  on 
canvas  dubiously  assigned  by  Tizianello's  "  Anonimo  " 
to  Titian  and   Francesco.t    Though   injured  by  re- 
painting in  oU,  this  firstling  work  is  quite  in  the 
character  of  that  shown  in  the  gallery  of  Vienna  as 
one  of  Titian's  juvenile  efforts.    It  bears  the  impress  of 
a  Venetian  composition  carried  out  by  an  independent 
craftsman    who   scorns  to  swear  fealty  to  any  one 
master.     It  displays  a  decorous  and  well  calculated 
arrangement  of  figures,  appropriate  action,  good  pro- 
portion and  careful  outline.     Light  and  shadow  are 
fairly  distributed,   and    drapery   accurately  studied. 
Smooth  finish  and  some  inequality  in  the  mode  of 
realizing  form,   testify  to   the    youth  of  the  artist 
The  Virgin  is  large  and  plump,  the  Child  on  her  lap 
small  and  puny,  St.  Sebastian,  to  the  right,  is  tall, 
slender  and  dry,  whilst  St.  Eoch,  leaning  on  his  staff 
and  showing  the  plague-boil,  is  more  developed,  and 
recalls  a  similar  figure  in  Titian's  altar-piece  of  St. 
Mark   at  the  Salute.J     If  Francesco  Vecelli  painted 


♦  See  antea, 

t  TizianellOy  Anonimo,  p.  7. 

t  This  picfcure  is  not  on  panel, 
as  Tizianello*B  Anon,  asserts,  but 
on  canvas,  and  the  figures,  of  fall 


length  and  under  life  size,  are  in 
a  landscape.  Many  parts  are 
daubed  oyer  "with  oil  pigment, 
and  the  Virgin's  mantle  is  almost 
black  from  this  cause.    The  can- 


478  TTTIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

this  picture  in  the  earliest  years  of  his  career,  he 
began  with  ahnost  as  much  promise  as  Titian  himsel£ 
In  later  days  it  appeared  that  he  was  not  of  the  wood 
of  which  great  painters  are  made;  for  when  he 
produced  in  1524  the  Madonna  with  saints  at  San 
Vito  di  Cadore,  his  style  had  acquired  its  full  expan- 
sion, yet  showed  vastly  below  that  of  Titian's.  Here 
again  unhappily  the  canvas  is  patched  at  the  top, 
enlarged  at  the  bottom,  and  retouched  in  many  of  the 
most  salient  places ;  but  what  remains  of  Francesco's 
original  conception  and  execution  tells  as  much  as 
any  creation  can  reveal  of  the  stuff  in  the  creator 
himself.  The  Virgin  sits  on  a  throne  in  front  of  a 
green  curtain  between  four  saints,  of  whom  two  are 
bishops — Modestus  and  Gottardus ;  the  third,  to  the 
right,  is  St.  John  the  Baptist  with  the  lamb  at  his 
feet,  and  the  fourth  St.  Vitus,  who  recommends  the 
kneeling  figure  of  a  priest  The  step  of  the  throne 
is  partly  covered  by  a  cartello  on  which  we  read 
"  F.  V.  P."  [Francesco  Vecelli  pinxit  ?]  mdxxiiii.  At 
this  date,  let  us  recollect,  Titian  had  finished  the 
"  Madonna  of  San  Niccold  de'  Frari,"  and  was  com- 
pleting the  "Madonna  di  Casa  Pesaro."  Francesco 
must  have  had  before  him  his  brother's  portrait  of 
Baffo,  so  strong  is  the  reminiscence  of  that  master- 
piece in  the  patron  of  the  San  Vito  altar-piece.  But 
the  treatment,  though  it  be  Titianesque,  is  inferior  to 
that  of  Titian.     The  grouping  is  skilful,  the  action  of 


vas  is  now  in  the  choir,  to  the 
left  of  the  high  altar.  It  was 
stoien  in  1853,  and  recoyered  for 


700  fr.  at  a  Tillage  near  Mestre 
in  the  same  year. 


Chap.  IX.] 


PEANOESOO  VECELLI. 


479 


the  personages  telling  enough,  the  drawing  is  bold,  and 
the  finish  suflficient,  but  the  figures  are  mere  models, 
thrown  off  with  fi^edom  of  hand,  but  without  accuracy 
of  detail  or  breadth  of  touch,  and  without  the  subtlety 
or  delicacy  of  Titian  in  its  wide  stretches  of  uniform 
flesh.* 

An  earlier  altar-piece  in  the  parish  church  of  Sedico 
on  the  highroad  between  Belluno  and  Feltre — if 
shown  to  have  been  executed  by  Titian's  brother — 
would  prove  that  Francesco  in  his  first  form  was 
simpler  and  more  distrustful  of  conventional  ease 
than  in  1524.  The  Virgin  enthroned  with  two  boys 
in  the  foreground  playing  pipe  and  tabor,  and  angels 
flying  with  the  crown  of  glory  above  the  Virgin's 
head  ; — the  dead  Christ  with  a  seraph  above,  St.  Se- 
bastian and  St.  Eoch  full  length,  and  St.  Nicholas  and 
St  Anthony  half  length  at  the  sides,  make  up  one  of 
those  combinations  of  panels  which  were  still  much 
prized  in  the  Alpine  country  north  of  Venice  at  the 
opening  of  the  eighteenth  century,  an  altar-piece  in 
which,  under  a  mixture  of  styles  recalling  Titian 
and  Palma  Vecchio,  we  apparently  discern  the  true 
type  of  Francesco  Vecelli's  art  before  he  ventured  on 
imitations  of  his  brother's  bolder  and  more  impulsive 
style.  Figures  of  youthful  shape  and  short  stature, 
unctuous  pigment  uniformly  spread,  but  not  without 


*  This  canyas  is  now  at  the 
back  of  the  high  altar,  having 
heen  removed  from  its  original 
place  and  sent  to  the  painter 
Bertani,  at  Venice,  to  be  "re- 
stored"   in    1780.     The    upper 


curve  of  the  picture  and  its  base, 
with  two  angels  on  the  altar  step, 
are  modem  additions,  and  much 
of  the  rest  of  the  surfiEice  is  re- 
painted* 


480 


TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 


sharpness  of  tint,  caxeful  and  blended  treatment  are 
distinctive  features  of  the  picture,  which  is  the  work 
of  an  artist  unable  or  unwilling  to  apply  the  subtle 
methods  of  impasting,  glazing,  and  breaking  which  are  . 
so  familiar  to  us  in  the  technical  handling  of  Titian.* 
That  Francesco  Vecelli,  in  the  opening  years  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  should  have  been  employed  to  paint 
altar-pieces  for  country  churches  whilst  his  abler 
brother  was  busy  on  works  of  magnitude  at  Venice, 
seems  natural  enough  when  we  consider  the  relative 
value  of  their  productions.  It  may  indeed  be  pre- 
sume^ that  Titian  and  Francesco  at  this  time  lived 
together,  dividing  the  town  and  country  practice 
between  them.  But  Francesco  was  not  left  without 
commissions  even  in  Venice,  though  we  may  think  he 
received  them  chiefly  after  1524.  He  painted  a  fresco 
of  the  Resurrection  in  the  well  of  the  staircase  leading 
from  the  Ducal  Palace  into  the  cathedral  of  St  Mark, 
from  which  much  of  the  colour  has  now  disappeared, 
but  in  which  the  outlines  and  action  of  the  Redeemer 
and  guards  are  sufficient  evidence  of  the  painter's 
resolution  in  drawing  the  human  form  on  a  large  and 
muscular  scale.t  He  then  produced  the  "Annunciation" 
for  San  Niccold  di  Bari  now  in  the  Venice  Academy, 
which  displays  novelty  and  elevation  of  feeling,  espe- 
cially in  the  action  of  the  angel  pointing  to  heaven 
and  in  the  face  and  expression  of  the  Virgin.  J 


*  The  side  panels  are  aU  dis- 
figured by  vertical  splits,  but  they 
are  clean  splits,  which  do  not 
affect  the  painting  materially. 

t  Boschini,  B.  Min.   S.  di  S. 


Marco,  p.  54. 

t  No.  523  at  the  Yenice  Aca- 
demy ;  canvas,  m.  2.37  h.  by  1.85. 
Boschini  (Min.  S.  di  Castello, 
p.    11)    describes    this    pictiire» 


€hap.  IX.] 


FEANCESCO   VEOKiiLT. 


481 


In  1528  he  completed  for  the  Scuola  de'  Zoppi  a 
processional  standard  on  which  there  were  two 
figures  of  cripples  symbolizing  the  duties  of  the 
brotherhood,  and  an  angel  and  Virgin  annunciate. 
He  also  delivered  at  some  uncertain  date  a  church 
standard  for  San  Sta^  at  Venice  and  a  simHar  work 
for  the  brotherhood  of  the  Bombardieri,  with  a  Virgin 
of  Mercy  on  one  of  its  sides.*  But  the  most  im- 
portant labours  with  which  he  was  connected  about 
this  time  were  the  frescos  decorating  the  cloisters  and 
sacristy  of  San  Salvatore  of  Venice,  and  the  pictures 
of  "St.  Theodore''  and  "St.  Augustin,"  with  the 
"Resurrection''  aud  "Transfiguration"  on  the  shutters 
of  the  organ  set  up  in  1530  above  the  lateral  portal, 
of  which  Sansovino  was  the  architect.t  Boschini  in 
attempting  to  gauge  the  comparative  merits  of  the 
Vecelli,  says  that  the  work  of  Francesco  at  San 
Salvatore  was  so  fine  that  it  might  have  been  con- 
founded with  that  of  Titian  ;  |  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  he  showed  more  power,  more  freedom  of  handling, 
and  greater  spirit  in  these  than  in  any  other  works  of 
his  that  are  now  extant.  But  there  is  no  denying  at 
the  same  time  that  his  creations  lack  distinction, 
whilst  his  figures  are  marked  by  strained  action  and 
overweight  of  muscle ;  and  it  is  very  probable  that  the 


wbich  is  now  greatly  injured  by 
repainting.  The  Virgin  kneels 
at  a  desk  and  looks  up  at  the 
angel  flying  down.  Above  the 
alcoye  to  the  right  two  boy  angels 
are  flying.  To  the  left  is  a  land- 
scape. Engraved  in  line  in  Za- 
iiotto*B  Pinac.  Veueta. 

VOL.   II. 


*  Boschini,  Eicche  Miniere,  S. 
di  S.  Marco,  pp.  94,  95.  Bidolfi, 
Mar.  i.  281. 

t  Boschini,  B.  M.  S.  di.  S. 
Marco,  p.  105 ;  Bidolfi,  Mar.  i. 
284 ;  and  the  Guides  of  Selvatica 
and  Zanotto. 

t  Boschini,  Miniere,  Preface. 

I  I 


482 


TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.     [Chap.  IX. 


qualities  which  Boschini  detected  in  these  pieces 
were  such  as  Francesco  could  only  display  when  in 
company  or  in  partnership  with  his  abler  and  more 
gifted  brother,*  He  certainly  never  improved  after 
he  left  Venice  for  Cadore ;  and  of  all  the  pictures 
attributable  to  him  in  Cadorine  or  Bellunese  churches^ 
none  equal  in  power  those  of  San  Salvatore ;  as  the 
list  which  follows  will  sufloiciently  show. 


Fonzaso  near  BeUuno :  Casa  Ponte. — "  The  Nativity ;  " 
canyas,  with  figures  under  life  size.  The  infant  Christ  lies 
on  a  cushion  in  the  middle  of  the  foreground,  adored  by 
the  Virgin  (right),  St.  Joseph  (in  rear),  and  two  shepherds 
(left).  In  a  hut  to  the  right  are  the  ox  and  the  ass ;  and  in 
the  sky  above  a  landscape.  Three  angels  sing  '^  Gloria  in 
excelsis.''  Very  little  of  the  original  surface  in  this  canyas 
remains  free  from  repaints.  Ticozzi  assigns  it  to  Titian 
(Vec.  pp.  78 — 5),  but  Count  Florio  Miari,  in  the  Dizionario 
Bellunese  (4to,  Belluno,  1848,  p.  148),  affirms  that  it  is  by 
Francesco,  and  in  this  he  receiyes  confirmation  from  records 
discovered  by  Doglioni.  (Compare  Lanzi,  Roscoe's  transla- 
tion, Bohn's  ed.  1847,  ii.  167.)  The  picture  was  originallj; 
painted  for  San  Giuseppe  of  Belluno,  a  church  suppressed 
in  1806.    (Mian,  u.  8.)    It  is  a  Titianesque  creation,  which  is 


*  The  best  of  these  four  can- 
Tases  is  that  of  St.  Theodote,  who 
stands  in  armour,  lanoe  in  hand, 
before  the  prostrate  dragon,  in 
front  of  a  temple;  an  angel  of 
Titianesque  tyx>e,  but  heayier  in 
shkpe  and  more  rotund  than 
Titian's,  flying  in  the  air  and 
carrying  a  palm  leaf.  The  op- 
posite canyas  represents  St.  Au- 
gostin  reading  from  a  book  held 
up  to  him  by  a  priest,  in  £ront  of 
two  kneeling  canons.  Here  again 
we    see   Titian's  feeling  in  the 


execution,  but  the  canyas  is- 
heayily  repainted.  Worse  pre- 
seryed,  and  more  seriously  da- 
maged by  re-touching,  are  the 
**  Transfiguration  "  and  "  Besur- 
reotion,"  where,  howeyer,  the 
weight  and  unwieldiness  of  the 
figures  are  more  striking  than 
oyer.  So  £eir  as  one  can  judge  of 
colour  dimmed  by  time,  yamish, 
and  superposed  pigment,  it  was 
deep,  but  rather  sharp  than  glow- 
ing. The  shadows  particularly 
are  yery  dark. 


CHAP.  IX.]  FRANCESCO  VECELLI.  483 

all  that  can  now  be  said  of  it.  A  small  copy  called  an 
original  sketch,  as  much  repainted  as  the  altar-piece  itself,  is 
shown  in  the  Gasa  Pagani  at  Belluno. 

Berlin  Museum,  No.  178. — Arched  panel  with  figures  of 
life  size  (8  ft.  9  h.,  by  4  ft.  9  ^),  representing  the  Virgin  and 
Child  enthroned  in  a  church,  attended  by  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Jerom,  and  two  angels  on  the  foot  of  the  throne  playing 
the  viol  and  tambourine.  This  picture  was  once  in  Santa 
Croce  of  Belluno  (Doglioni,  Notizie  di  Belluno,  8vo,  Belluno, 
1816,  p.  86 ;  Miari,  u,  8.  141,  and  Cadorin,  Dello  Amore, 
p.  61),  and  was  bought  by  Mr.  Solly.  It  is  remarkable  for  the 
short  stature  of  the  figures,  and  their  coarseness  of  type.  The 
execution  is  Titianesque,  but  not  of  a  high  class,  and  it  is 
probable  that  Francesco  was  assisted  in  his  labours  by  a 
Bellunese  artist,  such  as  Francesco  degli  Stefani.  The  altar- 
piece  is  injured  by  restoring,  and  this  is  particularly  the  case 
with  regard  to  the  figure  of  St.  Peter.  The  colour  of  the  flesh 
tint  is  uniform  and  flushed  with  red.  The  drawing  and 
chiaroscuro  are  alike  defective.  The  church  of  Santa  Croce 
was  suppressed  in  1806,  and  subsequently  demolished. 

Venice  Academy,  No.  416. — "Best  during  the  Flight  into 
Egypt ;  "  canvas,  m.  1.06  h.  by  1.51.  The  Virgin  Mary 
sits  with  the  infant  Christ  on  her  lap  in  a  hilly  landscape ; 
near  her,  likewise  seated,  is  St.  John  the  Baptist,  and  in  the 
distance  St.  Joseph  with  the  ass.  If  this  be  a  genuine 
canvas  by  Francesco,  of  which  one  can  hardly  give  a  decided 
opinion  on  account  of  repainting,  it  is  beneath  his  usual  level. 
Oriago  Church. — Canvas,  originally  arched,  now  enlarged 
to  a  rectangle.  Christ  as  a  gardener  appears  to  the  Magdalen. 
An  angel  leans  on  the  side  of  the  sepulchre,  out  of  which 
another  angel  is  leaping.  The  best  part  of  the  picture,  and 
that  most  like  Francesco,  is  the  kneeling  Magdalen  in  profile. 
The  Saviour  to  the  left;  is  long,  lean,  and  false  in  action. 
The  angels  are  heavy  and  grotesque.  The  whole  piece 
makes  the  impression  of  a  work  of  the  close  of  the  16th 
century,  but  this  may  be  due  to  the  spotty  and  daubed 
condition  of  the  surface.     (Ridolfi,  Mar.  i.  285.) 

Modena  Gallery,  No.  188. — ^Half-length  on  canvas  of  a 

I  I  2 


484  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

bearded  man  in  a  brown  cap  and  black  pelisse  with  a  far 
collar.  His  left  hand  on  a  parapet  in  front  grasps  a  gloTe. 
This  picture  was  doubtless  a  fine  one  before  it  was  injured  by 
repainting.  It  is  quite  in  the  feeling  of  Titian's  school,  and 
may  well  be  by  the  artist  to  whom  it  is  assigned.  It  may  be 
that  this  is  the  portrait  described  by  Ticozzi  (YeceUi,  p.  262) 
as  a  portrait  of  ''a  Duke  of  Urbino  **  once  in  possession  of 
the  Marquis  Antaldi  at  Pesaro.     (Size,  m.  6.80  h.  by  0.67.) 

Dresden  Museum,  No.  289. — ''Pilate  presents  Christ  to 
the  people;"  canvas,  8ft.  h.  by  2  ft.  0^.  Christ  with  his 
arms  bound  is  seen  to  the  hips  in  front  of  Pilate,  who  stands 
in  a  red  cap  and  dress  to  the  right,  whilst  the  gaoler  to  the 
left  raises  the  Sayiour's  dress  and  gives  him  a  reed.  This 
picture,  of  the  17th  century;  is  similar  to  one  at  Hampton 
Court,  copied,  with  the  exception  of  one  figure  in  the  right- 
hand  foreground,  from  a  canvas  of  Titian  at  Madrid. 

Venice :  SS.  Ermagora  e  Fortunato. — Christ  with  the 
orb,  on  a  pedestal  between  St.  Andrew  and  St.  Catherine. 
This  panel,  ascribed  to  Titian  (see  antea),  may  be  a  work  of 
Francesco  Yecelli's  youth.  But  it  also  recalls  the  manner  of 
Santo  Zago. 

Vicenza  OaUery. — "  Virgin  and  Child;'*  half-length  of  life 
size.  This  panel,  ascribed  to  Titian,  is  executed  with 
decisive  but  neglectful  ease,  and  produces  the  impression  of 
an  early  work  by  Francesco  YeceUi. 


Titian,  towards  the  close  of  a  long  and  glorious  life, 
disposed  of  almost  all  he  possessed  in  favour  of  Orazio 
Vecelli,  his  second  and  favourite  son.  But  Orazio 
survived  his  father's  death  by  a  few  months  only,  and 
died  in  1576  at  the  plague  lazaretto  in  Venice 
without  distinguishing  himself  as  an  independent 
artist.*  We  saw  how  constantly  he  served  as  Titian's 
assistant     When  he  painted  pictures  which  passed 

*  See  antea,  and  Cadorin,  Dello  Amore,  55. 


Chap.  IX.]  OEAZIO  VECELU.  485 

into  circulation  as  his  own  he  no  doubt  had  advice 
and  help  from  his  father  in  producing  them.  In 
every  case  it  was  Titian  who  gave  life  and  breath  to 
the  clay  kneaded  by  his  son.  It  was  commonly 
asserted  in  1566  that  the  "Battle  of  Castel  Sant' 
Angelo  "  composed  for  the  Hall  of  Council  in  competi- 
tion with  Tintoretto  and  Paolo  Veronese  by  Orazio, 
"  was  done  with  the  assistance  of  Titian/'*  Numerous 
works  of  less  compass  were  probably  ushered  into  the 
world  imder  similar  conditions ;  and  it  is  a  melan- 
choly confession  to  make — ^we  fail  to  distinguish  the 
work  of  Orazio  from  that  of  the  school  generally,  and 
can  only  suggest  that  where  the  style  of  Titian  is  not 
strongly  impressed  on  pictures  of  a  Titianesque 
character,  we  have  to  presume  the  co-operation  of 
Orazio,  though  we  cannot  affirm  that  he  was  not 
assisted  or  even  superseded  on  occasion  by  Girolamo 
di  Titiano,  Cesare  or  Marco  Vecelli 

The  only  pictures  in  existence,  the  authorship  of  which  is 
undoubtedly  assignable  to  Orazio  Vecelli,  are  the  shutters  of 
the  altar  in  San  Biagio  of  Galalzo  near  Cadore,  a  set  of 
canvases  painted  on  both  sides  with  figures  of  Sts.  Peter, 
Paul,  Vitus,  and  Anthony  the  abbot,  backed  by  the  four 
subjects  of  the  Annunciation,  Circumcision,  Nativity,  and 
Epiphany.  None  of  these  pieces  are  free  from  extensive 
abrasions  and  overpainting,  but  such  as  they  are,  they  show  a 
regular  but  formal  and  Ufeless  style  of  composition,  whilst 
they  display  defective  modelling,  inequality  of  balance  in 
light  and  shade,  and  absence  of  transitions.  It  is  curious  to 
observe  that  in  spite  of  these  drawbacks  the  pictures  have  a 


*  Yasari,  xi.  322-3.    Lorenzi,  p.  326.    The  picture  perished  in  the 
firoof  1577. 


486  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

Titianesque  air  ;  but  this  only  proves  that  Orazio,  who  must 
have  been  familiar  with  every  turn  of  Titian's  thought  and 
every  trick  of  his  brushy  was  in  practice  unable  to  use  any  of 
his  advantages.  In  the  '^  Annunciation  "  we  see  Mary  turned 
to  the  right  and  kneeling  at  a  desk^  but  twisting  round  to 
look  up  at  the  angel  flying  down  from  the  clouds  to  the  left. 
Behind  this  subject  is  a  fine  St.  Peter.  The  "  Circum- 
cision **  is  a  composition  of  six  figures,  with  the  Virgin  to  the 
right,  Simeon  to  the  left,  St.  Joseph  in  rear,  between  both ; 
the  infant,  a  coarse  and  heavy  nude.  St.  Anthony  is  at  the 
back  of  the  canvas.  Similar  heaviness  of  shape  is  apparent 
in  the  ''Epiphany/'  where  the  king  kneels  to  the  right  and  the 
Virgin  sits  to  the  left  with  the  infant  on  her  knee,  and  in  the 
"Nativity,"  where  the  child  lies  on  the  foreground  to  the  left. 
Behind  the  "Epiphany"  is  St.  Vitus.  Most  of  the  drapery  in 
all  the  canvases  is  repainted.  Orazio's  receipt  for  payment 
is  dated  February  4,  1566.* 

As  a  portrait  painter  at  Home,  Orazio  was  praised  by 
Vasari.f  A  specimen  of  his  art  in  this  branch  is  to  be  found 
in  an  altar-piece  representing  the  Virgin  adoring  the  child  on 
her  knees,  in  the  church  of  Sorisole  near  Bergamo.  At  the 
sides  of  this  picture  there  are  half-length  portraits  of  the  Doge 
Lorenzo  Priuli  and  his  wife  Zilia  Dandola,  the  Doge  Girolamo 
Priuli,  and  an  unknown  member  of  the  Priuli  fsunily  whose 
initials  are  "  Pz.  P."  carrying  a  compass  and  square  in  his  hand. 
Girolamo  Priuli  succeeded  his  brother  Lorenzo  as  Doge  in 
1659,  and  died  in  1567 ;  and  one  of  the  portraits  must  for 
that  reason  have  been  executed  after  1559 ;  yet  on  a  tablet 
above  the  Madonna  we  read  the  words:  "  op.  or.  v.  1556."  J 
It  may  be  that  the  portraits  were  taken  at  different  periods. 
In  any  case  the  canvas  is  a  school  piece  with  eveiy  evidence 
of  being  by  a  disciple  in  Titian's  workshop — a  disciple  who 
lacks  neither  skill  nor  individuality,  but  who  certainly  has 
neither  the  spirit  nor  the  power  of  Titian  himself. 

At  Vienna,  we  find  a  portrait  assigned  to  Orazio  represen- 


*  Jacobi  MS. 
t  Yasari,  xiii.  36. 


X  It  may  be  that  this  ixLBcription 
is  more  modem  than  the  picture. 


•Chap.  IX.] 


OESAEB  VECELLI. 


4«7 


ting  a  bearded  man  in  a  black  cap  and  pelisse,  with  the 
thumb  of  his  left  hand  in  his  belt,  and  his  right  on  a  paper 
lying  on  a  table.  On  the  brown  background  we  read  :  ''  1588 
NATvs  ANNOS  35."  It  is  Sufficient  to  recall  the  fact  that 
Orazio  YeceUi  was  a  schoolboy  in  1584,*  and  could  not  paint 
a  picture  four  years  later  which  displays  mature  if  not  ex- 
iraordinaiy  power.  The  Virgin  adoring  the  infant  Christ, 
whose  foot  the  boy  Baptist  kisses,  whilst  an  angel  supports 
it  on  Maiy's  lap,  is  a  picture  attributed  to  Orazio  at  Alnwick. 
The  original  of  this  composition  in  the  Borghese  Palace  at 
Borne  is  apparently  by  some  transalpine  student  of  late 
Yenetian  art. 


Conte  Vecelli,  grandfather  of  Titian,  had  a  brother 
named  Antonio,  whose  son  Ettore  was  the  father  of 
Cesare  Vecelli,  the  painter.  Cesare  Vecelli  was  a 
native  of  Cadore.t  According  to  the  death  register 
of  San  Mois^,  at  Venice,  he  died  on  the  2nd  of  March, 
1601,  at  the  age  of  eighty,|  and  we  infer  from  this  that 
he  was  twenty-seven  years  old  when  he  attended  Titian 
at  Augsburg,  in  1548.  The  baptismal  register  of  San 
Mois^  contains  the  names  of  Cesare's  children,  born  in 
1579  and  1590,  Titian-Fabrizio  and  Cecilia,  by  Laura 
Moro,  niece  of  Piero  Moro,  "  scudiere  "  or  "  donzeUo  " 
(esquire)  of  the  Doge  Alvise  Mocenigo.  A  letter 
from  Piero  Moro,  addressed  to  "his  nephew"  at 
Ciadore,  on  the  3rd  of  October,  1570,  shows  that 
•Cesare  Uved  habitually  in  his  uncle's  house  at 
Vemce.§ 


*  See  Titian  to  Vendramo,  in 
Ticozzi,  YeceUi,  u.  a,,  p.  308. 

t  Piero  Moro  to  Cesare  Ve- 
celli, from  Venice,  Oct.  3,  1670, 
in  MS.  Jacobi  of  Cadore. 


X  Cicogna,  Isc.  Ven.  tl  887. 

§  lb.,  and  registry  of  San 
Mois^,  in  a  letter  from  Abate 
Cadoiin  to  Dr.  T.  Jaoobi,  in  MS. 
Jaoobi  at  Cadore. 


488  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

-     M,  I  H  !■■■         ■       _  ■      ■ _ -  -^^- 

The  earliest  record  of  Cesare  Yecelli*8  practice  is  a  ducal 
priyilege  giving  him  the  monopoly  of  the  issne  of  a  print  of 
the  ''  Adoration  of  the  name  of  Jesas/'  on  the  28th  of  October, 
1575.^  The  next  is  an  authentic  proof  of  his  activity  as  a 
monumental  draughtsman,  in  a  series  of  paintings  in  the 
parish  church  of  Lentiai,  between  Belluno  and  Feltre,  where 
a  panelled  ceiling  is  covered  with  twenty  episodes  of  the  life 
of  the  Virgin  certified  in  one  place  (the  Presentation  in  the 
Temple)  with  the  name  ''cjesab  vecelivs/'  and  in  another 
vrith  the  following  inscription :  ''ciESAB  vecell,  pinxit  et  ia^ 
coNSTANTiNi  iWENis  D.  c.  1578.*'  Ccsarc  also  covered  the 
ribbings  of  the  panelling  with  gospel  subjects  in  monochrome, 
— all  of  which  is  in  part  abraded,  in  part  injured  by  time, 
neglect,  and  retouching.  The  most  notable  features  in  these 
compositions  is  a  general  appropriateness  of  distribution  of 
groups,  and  of  figures,  and.  good  perspective  lines.  The 
human  form  is  always  cast  in  a  large,  muscular,  and  fleshy 
mould  which  produces  an  exaggerated  impression  of  weight 
and  herculean  strength.  The  handling  is  rapid  and  bold,  the 
pigment  copious,  the  flesh  tint  deep  in  tone  and  relieved  with 
dark  shadow  reminiscent  of  Schiavone  and  Tintoretto  rather 
than  of  Titian.  Cesare  was  clearly  a  man  of  great  skill  who 
stood  in  the  same  relation  to  Titian  as  Giulio  Bomano  stood 
to  Raphael.  He  was  an  enterprising  yet  on  the  whole  a  shallow 
disciple  of  a  great  master.  In  an  earlier  form  than  that 
which  distinguishes  the  ceiling  pieces  of  the  church  of  Lentiai, 
Cesare,  in  conjunction  perhaps  with  other  artists  of  the 
following  of  Titian,  probably  helped  to  execute  one  or  two  of 
the  works  of  art  which  decorate  the  church  in  question,  and 
principally  the  pictures  of  the  high  altar,  still  assigned  to> 
Titian,  which  hang  in  one  frame  on  the  walls  of  the  choir. 
Here  we  have  the  Assumption  of  the  Virgin  on  lines 
simUar  to  those  of  Titian's  great  composition  in  the  cathedral 
of  Verona,  a  Christ  in  the  tomb  supported  by  two  angels, 
reminiscent  of  the  same  subject  in  the  church  of  Sedico,  and. 
figures  in  full  and  half  length  of  several  saints,  amongst  which 


In  full  in  MS.  Jacobi  of  Cadore. 


€hap.  IX.]  CESAEE  YEOELLL  489 

we  note^  in  the  first  class,  St.  Peter,  St.  Paul,  St.  John  Evan- 
gelist, and  a  bishop,  in  the  second,  St.  Oeorge,  St.  Anthony, 
St.  Mary  Magdalen,  and  a  female  with  the  palm  and  crown 
of  martyrdom.  The  date  of  the  transfer  of  these  pieces  to  their 
present  position  is  given  in  an  inscription  on  a  framing  of  the 
period :  "  ad.  mdcclxxxxiv."  The  canvases  are  all  so  rotten 
as  to  threaten  the  very  existence  of  the  pigment  upon  them. 
But  enough  is  visible  to  show  that  the  treatment  is  Titian- 
esque,  though  made  up  of  various  elements  suggesting  recol- 
lections of  Francesco,  Marco,  and  Cesare  Vecelli.  In  almost 
aU  the  figures  we  shall  notice  energetic  character,  bold  move- 
ment, and  varied  expression,  combined  with  shape  of  a  large 
and  fleshy  kind ; — ^work  telling  of  Titian's  intervention  in  the 
execution,  if  not  directly,  at  any  rate  indirectly  by  means  of 
assistants,  at  whose  head  Cesare  Yecelli  may  have  been. 
Another  large  canvas  in  the  same  edifice,  '^  Christ  supported 
in  death  by  the  Marys,"  bears  the  initials  of  Cesare  C.  V.  P. 
with  the  addition:  "refeciato  sotto  il  s*  andrea  cristini." 
Though  in  a  very  bad  state  it  leads  to  a  natural  inquiry 
whether  Cesare  was  not  at  some  period  of  his  life  under  the 
influence  of  the  school  of  Parmegianino,  to  which  Schiavone 
at  one  time  was  so  partial.  Judging  from  these  productions  as 
the  result  of  a  series  of  visits  of  Cesare  Yecelli  to  Lentiai 
between  1552  and  1578,  we  become  very  fairly  acquainted 
with  his  style ;  and  venture  to  assign  to  him  several  pictures, 
of  which  it  will  be  sufficient  to  give  the  locality,  the  subject, 
and  the  probable  dates. 

Candide  in  Cadore. — The  parish  church  of  this  village 
boasts  of  an  altar-piece  assigned  to  Titian,  representing  the 
Virgin  enthroned  with  the  infant  Christ  in  benediction  on 
her  knee.  A  yellow  damask  curtain  behind  the  throne  in- 
tercepts the  sky  and  a  landscape  of  hills.  On  the  marble 
floor  at  the  Virgin's  feet  an  angel  plays  the  tambourine.  On 
side  canvases  are  the  figures  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  St. 
Andrew,  both  about  a  quarter  of  the  size  of  life,  and  in  a  very 
bad  state  of  preservation.  Though  it  has  become  dark  from 
restoring  and  old  varnish  (the  sky,  the  curtain,  the  Virgin's 


490  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

mantle  and  the  tambourine  being  danbed  with  new  paint)  the 
Madonna  of  Gandide  gives  a  fiair  idea  of  what  Gesare  Yecelli's 
art  may  have  been  in  its  first  deyelopment.  It  combines  the 
weight  of  Pordenone  with  Titianesque  contours,  but  displays 
coarse  types  and  a  certain  crude  depth  of  colour  which  points 
to  an  artist  who  stroye  to  imitate  Titian's  tone  without  apply- 
ing Titian's  subtle  method  of  producing  it.  It  appears  from 
the  papers  of  the  notary  Bartolo  Oera  Doriga  at  Gandide 
that  the  picture  was  purchased  at  Gonegliano  in  1649  for  435 
ducats  from  '*  Signer  Zuane  Pigatto,  a  carver." 

Verona  Museum,  No.  450. — ^An  illustration  of  the  form 
observed  in  the  altar-piece  of  Gandide  may  be  found  in  a 
picture  in  this  museum,  of  the  Virgin  adoring  the  infant 
Ghrist  on  her  knees,  whilst  the  boy  Baptist  leads  his  lamb  to 
her  presence.  The  scene  here  is  laid  in  a  rich  landscape  of 
wood  and  hills.  This  graceful  piece;  with  figures  half  the 
size  of  life,  was  attributed  to  Titian  by  Dr.  Bemasconi,  who 
bequeathed  it  to  the  galleiy  of  Verona.  But  it  is  at  best  a 
fair  example  of  Gesare,  a  low  toned  and  somewhat  crudely 
coloured  canvas  in  fair  preservation.  (Photograph  by  Naya.) 

Padua  Maldura  Cott. — The  Virgin,  half  length,  holds  the 
infant  Ghrist  recumbent  on  her  lap.  A  green  curtain  behind 
her  conceals  in  part  the  distance  of  sky  and  landscape.  This 
canvas  is  attributed  to  Titian,  and  though  repainted  in  several 
places,  still  shows  a  certain  richness  of  tone.  But  the  pu£^ 
outline  and  uniform  flesh  tint  point  to  Gesare  Vecelli,  and 
the  drapeiy  is  quite  too  conventional  for  any  but  a  pupil  of 
Titian. 

Vienna  Gallery. — The  "Epiphany";  panel,  1ft.  lOh.  by 
1  ft.  6,  under  Titian's  name.  The  Virgin  Mary  sits  to  the 
right  under  the  shade  of  a  penthouse  attended  by  St.  Joseph. 
The  infant  Ghrist  on  her  knee  gives  the  blessing  to  one  of 
the  kings  prostrate  before  him.  To  the  left  are  the  two  com- 
panion kings  with  their  suite  on  the  foreground  of  an  Alpine 
landscape  enlivened  by  a  calvacade  of  knights.  The  realism 
which  characterises  this  piece  is  akin  to  that  of  Titian's  old 
age,  or  to  that  of  Paolo  Veronese  or  the  Bassanos.  The 
treatment  is  rapid  and  effective,  the  colours  being  laid  on  with 


Ch^vp.  IX.]  CESAEE  VECELLT.  491 

deep  toned  unctuous  pigments,  and  effect  being  given  at  last 
by  strongly  picked  out  lights.  (Engraved  in  Teniers'  Gallery 
work.)  Dr.  Waagen,  it  may  be  observed  (Vomehmste  Kunst- 
denkmiiler  in  Wien,  p.  211)  follows  Krafft  (Hist.  Kritisch. 
Catalog)  in  thinking  that  this  panel  is  a  copy  from  ''  Titian's 
altar-piece  at  Belluno.''  But  it  is  probably  the  original  sketch 
by  Cesare  for  the  altar-piece  of  Belluno. 

BeUuno:  S,  Stefano. — Arched  canvas  with  figures  of  life 
size ;  the  subject  is  an  exact  counterpart  of  that  in  the  sketch 
at  Vienna.  The  landscape  is  a  view  of  the  Alps  as  seen  from 
the  military  hospital  or  Gasa  dei  Gesuiti  at  Belluno,  and  the 
arms  of  the  families  of  Piloni  and  Persicini  are  on  scutcheons 
at  the  comers  of  the  foreground.  The  picture  is  disfigured 
by  extensive  repaints,  but  amidst  the  patches  of  daubing  some 
fragments  of  the  original  painting  are  apparent  which  point 
to  the  technical  handling  of  Cesare  Vecelli.  Nor  is  there  any 
reason  why  he  should  not  have  painted  the  picture,  which 
Giorgio  Piloni  (Hist,  di  Belluno,  4to,  Venice,  1607,  p.  164)  and 
Ticozzi  (Vecelli,  p.  98)  assign  to  Titian,  since  he  says  himself 
in  his  work  on  costume  that  he  was  well  acquainted  with  the 
family  of  the  Piloni,  with  whom  he  lived  for  some  years, 
having  written  his  book  at  Casteldardo,  their  country  seat 
near  Belluno.  Is  it  necessaiy  to  recapitulate  the  features  of 
Cesare's  style  which  are  apparent  here? — ^the  large  fleshy  forms, 
the  brown-tinged  flesh  tints,  and  dark  abrupt  shadows,  the 
defective  modelling  and  absence  of  transitions.  A  small  copy 
of  the  altarpiece  is  called  a  "  Sketch  by  Titian  '*  in  the  Casa 
Pagani  at  Belluno;  together  with  this  is  a  copy  of  the  ^'Pieta'' 
on  the  altar-piece  of  Lentiai. 

Casteldardo  :  Villa  of  the  Piloni  family  near  Belluno. — 
Portrait  of  an  old  man  with  a  grey  beard  in  a  dark  dress 
with  a  white  frill,  seated  near  a  window,  inscribed  in  the 
right  hand  corner  '*  odoricivs  pilonvs  i.  v.  [juris  utriusque] 
ASGE8S0R  ET  ANTiQVARivs."  This  fine  portrait  is  executed 
with  great  freedom  in  the  style  of  Tintoretto  or  of  Titian  in 
his  old  age.  It  represents  Oderico  at  about  70  years  of  age, 
and  as  he  was  bom  in  1508,  its  date  would  be  1578.  (Genea- 
logical tree  of  the  Piloni,  and  registers  of  the  cathedral  of 


492  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX. 

Bellmio,  examined  for  the  authors  by  Professor  D.  Francesco 
Pellegrini  of  Belluno.)  The  flesh  tints  are  of  a  low  brownish 
tinge,  bat  spare  in  pigment,  defective  in  modelling,  in  fact, 
in  the  style  of  Cesare  VeceUi,  The  hand  is  injured  by  seating; 
and  part  of  the  canvas  was  folded  back  on  a  new  framing 
so  as  to  conceal  some  of  the  letters  of  the  inscription.  A 
counterpart  of  this  portrait  will  be  found  catalogued  as  a  like- 
ness of  Bramante  by  Titian  in  the  Northwick  collection. 
Biit  in  the  Northwick  example,  which  is  also  by  Cesare, 
Oderico  is  not  so  old  as  at  Casteldardo.  In  this  villa  again 
two  fragments  of  fresco  are  presented,  heads  of  boys  aged  six 
and  eight  respectively.  They  are  portraits,  probably  by 
Cesare,  of  Cesar  and  Scipio  Piloni,  of  which  there  are 
likenesses  in  oil  in  the  Casa  Agosti,  and  Casa  Pagani  at 
Belluno. 

Belluno:  Casa  Pagani. — Portrait  of  a  boy  on  panel,  three 
quarters  to  the  left,  bust,  inscribed  antonivs  an.  xnn.  D**.  of 
a  boy  on  canvas  three  quarters  to  the  right:  "ioan"  mabla. 
AN.  X.**  D".  of  a  boy  full  face  :  "  bcipio.  an.  vni."  (From  the 
tree  of  the  Piloni  family  and  notices  of  Professor  Pellegrini, 
U:  8.)  These  busts  must  all  have  been  done  for  Oderico  Piloni, 
the  children's  father,  in  1552.  They  are  injured  here  and  there 
by  abrasion,  but  painted  carefully  and  minutely  in  a  warm 
rosy  flesh  tone,  but  not  without  meaningless  uniformity* 
Though  assigned  to  Titian,  they  are  far  beneath  his  powers, 
especially  at  the  period  above  indicated.  In  the  same  style 
two  other  portraits  of  the  series  are  in — 

Belluno:  Casa  Agosti. — Bust  on  canvas,  full  face,  inscribed 
"PAVLVS  AN.  iin."  and  Cesare  in  profile:  **c-fiSAB.  an.  vi.'' 
The  probable  author  of  these  works  is  Cesare  Vecelli,  who  is 
likewise  to  be  considered  the  painter  of  a  fresco  of  the  Bape 
of  the  Sabine  Women,  of  which  a  fragment  is  preserved — a 
head  of  a  female  of  life  size,  three  quarters  to  the  right,  look- 
ing up — ^in  Casa  Piloni  at  Belluno.  We  may  add  to  the  list 
of  Cesare 's  works  the  following  : 

Cedola,  near  Belluno:  Parish  Cliurch. — The  Virgin  and  Child 
enthroned  between  St.  John  Evangelist  and  St.  Jerom,  with 
two  boy  angels  on  the  step  of  the  throne,  inscribed :  "  c-bsae 


Chap.  IX.]  FABBIZIO  VECELLL  493 

VECELivs  P.  1581."  Canvas  with  figures  of  life  size.— Two 
angels  in  prayer  are  flying  at  the  sides  of  the  throne. 

Tai :  8.  Candida. — Virgin  and  child  enthroned  between 
St.  Gandidus  and  St.  Oswald  ;  an  angel  playing  an  instrument 
at  the  foot  of  the  throne ;  inscribed :  "  cjes.  veo.  p.'' — Figure 
of  St.  Apollonia  inscribed  :  "  s.  polonia.  ora.  pro.  no.  1582 
c.  V.  P."  St.  Maurice  inscribed :  "  s.  mavritio  ora  pro  no.  o^b. 
V.  p." 

But  even  such  curt  notices  as  these  would  take  up  too  much 
space,  and  it  will  be  enough  to  mark  as  work  of  Gesare  the 
following :  Vinigo. — ^Virgin  and  Ghild  between  St.  Anthony 
and  St.  Margaret.  Castions  Church. — The  Assumption,  in- 
scribed on  the  canvas  folded  beneath  a  new  framing  with  the 
date  of  1585.  BeUuno :  S.  Rocco. — The  same  subject  as  at 
Gastions,  in  the  same  form.  Castel  Colcdto. — Fragment  of 
portraits  in  fresco,  from  the  canonry  of  Gastions.  (See  antea,  p. 
435.)  BeUuno  Cathedral. — The  Virgin  in  Glory,  with  the 
Podesta  Giovanni  Loredano  kneeling  on  the  foreground  before 
St.  Sebastian,  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  ancf  another  saint — an 
altar-piece  proved  by  local  records  to  have  been  executed  in  1584. 
BeUuno :  San  Stefano. — ^Meeting  of  Abraham  andMelchizedek. 
Ceneda  Cathedral. — Virgin  and  Ghild  enthroned  between  St. 
Boch  and  St.  Sebastian,  with  a  kneeling  patron  in  front  to 
the  right,  who  is  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  Sarcinelli  related 
by  marriage  to  Titian.  Cadore:  Pieve. — Organ  shutters  with 
the  Annunciation,  St.  Peter,  and  St.  Paul.  The  "Last  Supper'* 
of  1585, 14  ft.  6  h.  by  14  br.,  on  the  lines  of  Titian's  "  Gena"  at 
the  Escorial.  The  Virgin  and  Ghild  with  St.  Mark,  and 
allegorical  figures,  emblematic  of  Venice  and  Gadore,  1599. 
Padola  Church. — ^Pope  Sylvester. 


In  1579,  Gesare  Vecelli  christened  his  second  son  Titiano 
Fabrizio,  after  his  teacher  Titian  and  his  brother  Fabrizio. 
Fabrizio  was  a  painter  whose  death,  as  proved  by  notarial 
records  (MS.  Jacobi  of  Gadore),  occurred  in  Venice  in  1576. 
He  left  but  one  picture  behind,  which  shows  the  degeneracy 
of  his  race.     It  represents  allegorically  Justice,  Mercy,  and 


494  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES.      [Chap.  IX 

Yirtne,  and  was  painted  in  1542  for  the  Comune  of  Cadore, 
where  it  still  remains.  There  is  hardly  a  reminiscence  of  the 
Titianesqne  in  this  feeble  work,  the  style  of  which  we  trace  in 
pictures  scattered  about  in  Gadorine  churches,  i.  e.y  the 
Eternal,  St.  Lucy,  and  St.  Apollonia,  in  San  Rocco  of  Perarolo, 
the  Assunta,  a  single  figure  of  the  Virgin,  in  a  choir  of 
cherubs  in  Sant'  Orsola  of  Vigo. 


The  best  artist  of  the  name  of  Yecelli,  after  Cesare,  is 
Marco,  the  son  of  Titian's  cousin  and  bosom  friend,  Toma 
Tito  Yecelli.     Marco  is  said  to  have  been  bom  in  1545,  and 
to  have  died  in  1611.*     He  was  assistant  to  Titian  in  his 
old  age,  and  acquired  the  style  of  his  master  at  that  period, 
which  he  yaried  with  imitation  of  Orazio  Yecelli.     His  works 
after  Titian's  death  are  so  numerous  that  a  fedr  description  of 
them  would  require  considerable  space.     But  of  this  they 
are  certainly  unworthy.     The  earliest  composition  certified  by 
his  name,  and  accompanied  by  a  date,  is  the  ''  Yirgin  in  Glory  " 
with  St.  Anthony,  attended  by  St.  Lucy  and  St.  Agatha,  in 
the  Chiesa  di  Cristo  at  Pieve  di  Cadore,  ordered  in  1584,  and 
paid  with  81  lire.  (MS.  Jacobi.)     The  latest  is  the  "  Martyr- 
dom of  St.  Catherine  "  of  1608  in  the  choir  of  the  church 
of  Pieve.     But  the  best  is  the  votive  **  Madonna  "  of  the  Doge 
Leonardo  Donato  (1606 — 11),  in  the  Sala  della  Bussola  in . 
the  public  palace  at  Yenice,  and  the  ''  Charity  of  St.  John  the 
Almsgiver,*'  with  a  portrait  of  Doge  Donato,  in  San  Giovanni 
Elemosinario    at  Yenice.      It  may  suffice,   to  characterise 
Marco's  style,  to  say  that  it  has  some  of  the  elements  peculiar 
to  Andrea  Schiavone  and  Palma  Giovine,  though  it  is  inferior 
to  both. 


The  last  descendants  of  the  Yecelli  family  who  cultivated  art 
are  Tizianello,  the  son  of  Marco,  whose  edition  of  Titian^s  life 
by  an  anonymous  writer  has  been  often  quoted  in  these  pages, 
and  Tommaso,  who  was  Tizianello's  cousin,  having  been  the 


*  Ridolfi,  Mar.  ii.  342 ;  Ticozzi,  Yecelli,  289-96. 


Chap.  IX.]  TOMMASO  VEOELLI.  495 

son  of  Marco's  brother  Oraziano.  The  contributions  of  both 
these  painters  to  the  art  of  their  coantry  are  too  oninteresting 
to  be  noticed.  It  is  only  necessary  to  say  that  Tizianello  was 
sentenced  to  two  years'  imprisonment  by  the  Inquisition  in 
1685,  and  was  still  living  when  Bidolfi  wrote  his  Maraviglie 
in  1646.* 

Tommaso  Vecelli  was  bom  at  Pieye  di  Cadore  on  the  14th 
of  December,  1587.  One  of  his  pictures  in  the  Pieve  of 
Lozzo  in  Cadore,  a  ''Last  Supper,"  is  inscribed  with  his  name 
and  dated  1619. 


*  See  Oicogna,  Iso.  Yen.  Ti.  951 ;  and  Bidolfi,  Maray.  iL  343. 


APPENDIX. 


[Unpvhlished.]  1537,  3  861161111)16. 

Benedetto  Aqnbllo  al  Duca  Federico  Gonzaqa. 

M.  Ticiano  m'  ha  d6tto  che  fra  otto  di  alia  piii  longa  mi  dara  tre 
quadii  de  impeiatori  da  mandare  a  V.  E.  et  ch6  andar^  drieto  finendo 
gli  altri,  quali  promette  di  dare  molto  presto. 

Venetia,  3  Settembre,  1637. 

(Copied  by  Canon  Braghirolli  in  the  Archives  of  Mantua.) 


[Uft^lished.]  1537,  9  Settembre. 

Benedetto  Aonello  al  Duca  Federico  Gonzaoa. 

Ho  visto  li  tre  quadri  de  imperatori  che  fa  M.  Ticiano,  li  quali  sono 
molto  belli  et  in  termine  che  penso  poterli  mandare  a  Y.  E.  fra  sei  over 
otto  dL 

Venetia,  alii  9  Settembre,  1537. 

(Copied  by  Canon  Br&^hiroUi  in  the  Archives  of  Mantua.) 


[  Unpublished,]  1538, 13  Agoeto. 

Il  Duca  Federico  Gonzaoa  a  Benedetto  Agnelld. 

Vi  diciamo  che  dobbiati  far  intendere  a  Titiano  per  parte  nostra  che 
noi  siamo  per  partirsi  per  Casale  al  principio  di  Settembre,  et  sel 
potesse  venire  inanti  la  partita  nostra  con  li  quadri  delli  Imperatori,  mi 
sana  di  grandissima  soddisfazione,  e  lo  vederessimo  volontieri  qiiand 
'anco  non  gli  havessi  comodit^  forse  perche  li  quadri  non  fossero  fomiti 
al  tempo  detto,  di  venirci,  che  almeno  usi  ogni  soUecitudine  accio  che 
alia  tomata  nostra  tutti  siano  forniti. 

Mantue,  alii  13  Agosto,  1538. 

(Copied  by  Canon  Braghirolli  in  the  Archives  of  Mantua.) 

VOL.   ir.  K  K 


496  TITIAN:  HIS  LIFE  AND  TQIBS. 

[  UwpMiAeJ.]  1538,  23  Agosto. 

BicsKDKno  AfiXKLLo  Ai.  DucA  Fkdkbioo  Gonzaga. 

Ho  detto  m  M.  Hdano  qnanto  la  £.  Y.  m'  ha  £itto  scriTere  de  li 
Impenlori  ;  e^li  dice  che  non  attendeia  ad  altro  et  che  sazamio  finiti  al 
ritomo  di  V.  K  di  Cank^ 

Perche  ahre  Tolte  Y.  £.  cercaTa  di  bavere  nn  ritratto  del  signor 
TarcOy  bo  Tolato  diili  che  M.  Tieiano  hoia  n'  ha  fiitto  mio  cavato  se  non 
me  higanno  da  nna  medaglia  et  da  on  altro  ritratto,  qnal  si  dice  di 
molti  che  aono  stati  a  Costantinc^li  eseer  tanto  simile  al  natnrale,  che 
pare  Q  medesimo  Torco  yiTo,  pero  Toloidoiie  Y.  £.  nno  la  me  ne  faia 
dar  ayiflo  che  M.  Tieiano  ha  detto  che  lo  faia  sabito. 

Ykketia,  23  Agosto,  153& 

(Copied  hy  Canon  Braghirolli  in  the  Arcbiyes  of  Mantua.) 


[  Unpubluked.]  1538,  27  Agosto. 

Il  Duca  Federico  (jonzaga  a  Behbdetto  Agnello. 

Non  mancate  di  sollicitar  preseo  a  Tiziano  li  nostri  quadri,  et  di  piit 
pregatilo  per  parte  nostra  a  fame  nn  retratto  del  Torco,  come  il  se  yi 
ha  offerto  di  fare,  che  V  bayereroo  gratissimo. 

Maktue,  27  Angosti,  1538. 

(Copied  bj  Canon  BiaghiroUi  in  the  Arcbiyes  of  Mantua.) 


[Unpublished.]  1538,  3  Settembre. 

Benedetto  Agkello  al  Duca  Federico  Gonzaga. 

Ho  fatto  intendere  a  M.  Tieiano  quanto  la  E.  Y.  m'  ha  fatta  scriyeie 
delli  Imperatori  e  del  ritratto  del  Turco  ;  egli  dice  che  non  mancara, 
ma  che  yolendo  Y.  K  esser  ben  seivita  bisogna  che  la  facda  a  queUo  da 
la  pensione  che  non  gli  dia  molestia,  perch^  ogni  di  lo  fastidisce  con 
lettere  domandandogli  denari,  et  che  per  non  hayer  mode  de  pagarlo, 
tanto  h  11  fastidio  che  ne  ha  che  non  puo  operar  cosa  che  li  stii  bene. 

Veketia,  3  Settembre,  1538. 

(Copied  by  Canon  Braghirolli  in  the  Arcbiyes  of  Mantua.) 


[Unpiihlished.]  1538,  18  Settembre. 

Benedetto  Agnello  al  Duca  Federico  Gk>NZA6A. 

M.  Tieiano  ha  in  bonissimo  essere  il  ritratto  del  Turco,  et  da 
speranza  de  finir  anche  presto  li  quadri  di  Imperatori,  ma  dubito  che  la 


APPENDIX.  499 


coea  andrii  pid  in  longo  di  quel  che  egli  dice  ;  la  causa  ^  che  il  signer 
Duca  d'Urbino  lo  mena  seco  a  Pesaro,  ove  S.  E.,  dice  di  voler  andar 
questa  aettimana  ad  ogni  modo. 

Venetia,  18  Settembre,  1538. 

(Copied  by  Canon  Bragbirolli  in  tbe  Archives  of  Mantua.) 


[Unpublished.]  1538,  20  Settembre. 

Il  Duca  Federico  Gonzaga  a  Benedetto  Aqnello. 

Ni  seria  grato  d'  aver  presto  il  ritratto  del  Turco  che  &  Tiziano,  e 
per6  sollicitatelo.  ne  dispiace  ben  che  ne  sia  interotta  Topera  delli  nostri 
imperatori  e  per6  parendovi  sollecitarli  presso  al  predetto  Tiziano  inanti 
sipartL 

Mantcte,  20  Ottobre,  153S. 

(Copied  bjr  Canon  Bragbirolli  in  the  Archives  of  Mantua.) 


[Unpublished^]  5th  June,  1542. 

Adi  5  Zugno  1542,  Yenezia. 

lo  Titian  YeceUio  ho  riceputo  da  la  magnificenzia  di  Ms.  Domenego 
Justinian  p  nome  d.  S.  Comunit^  Ducati  diese  a  lire  sei  e  soldi  quattro 
P  ducato  p  capara  di  far  una  palla  p  la  gesia  nova  ^  Serravalle. 

(Copied  from  the  original  in  the  Archives  of  Serravalle.) 


[Unpublished.]  23id  Oct.  1542. 

TrriANO  AL  PODEBTA  DI  SeRRAVALLE. 

Magco  et  Cl>«o  Sigr, — Jo  disidero  sumamente  servire  vra  Mag*'»  et 
questa  Sp*  Comunita  circha  la  pala  gli  impromessi  e  al  presente  in  buon 
termine  del  modello,  se  quello  non  manchera  de  [illegible]  conoscerette 
CO*  V  efPetto  1'  affetione  et  amore  gli  porto,  et  essendo  el  spatio  di  d*  pala 
troppo  grande,  jo  gli  voria  far  un  fomimento  attomo  di  mezzo  pid  p 
bfida  come  e  qui  di  sotto.    V**  Sig*  adonq.  mi  rescriver&  el  suo  parere. 

Di  Yenezia,  alii  xxiii  Ottubrio,  mdxlii. 

Di  Y.  S.  TiTiANO. 

[On  the  back  of  the  sheet  is  a  drawing  of  the  area  of  the  altar-piece.] 

(Copied  from  the  original  in  the  Archives  of  Serravalle.) 

X  K  2 


500  TTTIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

[Un^pvhlished,]  ,  1642,  Venice. 

M**  Titiano  Vecelli  pictore  in  Venezia  i  haveie  per  la  pictura  d'  una 
Fala  da  esfler  da  lui  fatta  come  consta  p  nno  Bciitto  eopia  cio  fabricato 
Due  dosento  cinqnanta  da  eeaergli  dati  in  li  ter"^  infrasli .  .  .  [illep^ible] 
due.  50y  et  finita  Topera  due.  50,  et  il  resto  L  200  al  anno  ale  feste  de  la 
S*  Paaqua  i  la  Besuiezione  come  in  ditto  scritto  se  contiene.  YaL 
1.  1550. 

M<»  Tizian  Vecelli  Pictore  effa  D.D.  adi  13  9^'^,  1542  per  conto  in 
la  Ostaiia  di  L.  Zuan  Batta  Fianzaso  .  .  .  due.  cinquanta  Val.  1.  310. 

(Copied  from  the  original  in  the  Archives  of  Serravalle.)    See  1548. 


[Unpvhlighed,^  1544-75,  Castel  Roganzuolo. 

[The  following  Memoranda  were  made  for  Dr.  Taddeo  Jacobi,  of 
Cadore,  by  Gio.  Antonio  Nicolai,  curate  of  Domegge,  after  an  examina- 
tion of  the  parish  registers  of  Castel  Roganzuolo.  But  it  is  necessary  to 
state  that  Beltrame  (Tiziano  Vecellio,  u.  «.,  pp.  48  &  66)  disputes  the 
correctness  of  the  earliest  of  these  dates,  and  states  that  the  contract  is 
of  1549,  and  the  price  100,  and  not  200  ducats. 

1544.  Titian  contracts  to  paint  an  altar-piece  in  three  parts  for  200 
ducats,  and  finished  it  in  September  of  the  same  year,  without  asking 
for  any  earnest  of  payment.  [The  contract  gives  no  instructionB  as  to 
subject,  as  might  be  inferred  from  Ciani,  Storia  del  Popolo  Cadorino,  iL 
324]. 

1546.  A  deed  was  signed  by  which  the  Fabbriceria  admits  its 
indebtedness,  and  binds  itself  to  liquidate  in  eight  successive  years,  by 
delivering  annually  5  measures  (stara)  of  wheat  at  the  price  of  Lire  8 
per  staro,  and  16  measures  (conzuoli)  of  wine  at  the  rate  of  Lire  55  per 
measure.  The  Fabbriceria  also  undertakes  to  carry  stones  "of  Fre- 
gona,"  for  the  building  of  the  Casino  planned  by  Titian  in  Col  di 
Manza,  and  furnish  manual  labour  at  the  rate  of  4  soldi  per  man  per 
diem.  The  account  closed  at  the  expiration  of  the  time,  leaving  the 
Fabbriceria  still  in  debt  to  the  amount  of  26  lire,  which  were  paid  in 
cash.    The  following  entries  are  from  the  books  of  the  Fabbriceria : — "] 

Page  59.  "  Noto  fazo  io  Celso  S.  Fiore  como  in  questo  giomo  che 
sono  adi  13  Marzo,  1555.  Mg.  Tician  Vicelio  a  &tto  saldo  co'  il  Zurado 
de  Castel,  Zandomenego  barazuol,  Donii  barazuol,  Piero  Tomasela 
mariga,  et  altri  homini  de  la  villa  li  quali  li  restano  debitori  p  conto  i 
la  palla  lire  dosento  e  trenta  una.    VaL L.  231 

Io  Celso  soprascritto  f.  nome  i  Ms.  Ticiano  fece  il  soprascritto  saldo 
prete. 

Page  60  contains  all  the  items  of  the  carriage  of  2000  of  bricks,  1000 
slabs  (tavole),  and  a  cartload  of  "  coluna'*  (?),  all  lor  Lire  46.    Further, 


APPENDIX.  501 


in  Maich,  1557,  333  copi  (!)  for  lire  10,  and  Lire  15  for  the  carriage  of 
the  same  to  Col  di  Manza. 

Page  188.  Contract  of  Orazio  '\''ecellio  Tvith  the  men  of  Castel  Hogan- 
zuolu  for  a  gonfalone,  to  comprise  one  figure  on  each  side,  namely, 
St  Peter  and  St.  PauL  Payments  were  to  be  made  by  the  signers  of 
the  contract  and  the  priest  (piovano)  ;  20  ducats  were  paid  in  advance, 
and  are  acknowledged  by  Orazio.  The  contract  is  dated  August  10, 
1575.  No  other  notice  of  this  gonfalone,  or  its  existence,  was  obtain- 
able at  Roganzuolo. 

Titian,  in  an  income-tax  return  of  1566,  notes  the  possession  of  ten 
fields  and  a  cottage  at  Col  de  Manza.  (See  Cadorin,  Dello  Amore,  t«.  «., 
p.  91.) 


[Unpuhl%d^ed,']  1544,  Venice, 

[Simancas,  Estado  Leg»  N«  1318,  fo.  42.] 
S.  C.  Mata— 

Al  S5r  Don  Diego  di  Mendoza  ho  consignato  li  dui  ritrati  della 
Ser"*  Imperatrice,  ne  i  qualli  ho  fatto  tutta  la  diligentia  che  mi  e 
statta  possibile.  Haveria  Yoluto  portarle  jo  stesso  se  la  longheza  dil 
▼iaggio  et  V  et4  mia  mel  concedessen  ;  prego  a  V.  Ma^  mi  mandi  a  dir 
li  fjEdli  et  manchamenti,  rimandandomeli  in  dietro  accio  chi  li  emendi  ; 
et  non  consenta  V.  Ma**  ch'  un  altro  metta  la  man  in  essL  Nell  resto  mi 
riporto  a  quello  che  dira  il  S®'  Don  diego  circa  le  cose  mie,  et  basciando 
inchinevolmenti  li  piedi  et  man  della  Ma**  V.  nella  bu[e]ona  gratia  di 
essa  humiimente  mi  racco'^ 

Da  VsNETiA,  alii  5  di  Ottob.  i  1545.* 

Humillissimo  et  pptuo  servo  della  Ma**  V'*. 

TiTIAHO. 

Sobre.    AUa  S.  C.  Ma**  del  Imperador  mio  Senor. 


Altar-piece  of  Serravalle. 
[Unpublished.]  1548—1553  [see  1542]. 

"Di  ult*  Genaro,  1548.  M»  Francesco  Yecellio  £*•  (fratello)  del  so- 
pxascritto  M**  Ticiano  Pic**  da  M.  Antonio  Panzetta  Sindico  per  conto, 
at  supra  a  la  presentia  del  Mag*^  Do.  Polo  P«r*  Duo.  30  v[ale]. 

L[iie]  186 

Como  appar  nel  ricever  sul  scritto. 


*  This  date  ihould  be  1544 ;  and  1546  is  probably  an  error  of  the  oopyist. 


503  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

Adi  9  Marzo,  1548.  Ricevete  M.  Francesco  fiopraacritto  del  Mag~ 
M.  Niccol6  Baldiii,  li  qaali  haveva  contato  la  Ecc  nob.  Domeo  Giiis- 
tiniano  a  conto  at  supia  Lire  cento  venti  quatro,  cioe  appar  in  una  tr& 
de  man  di  detto  M.  Francesco  et  sottoscritto  dal  Mag<>  posta  .  Lire  124 

II  d.  d.  per  reeto  de  piii  havuto  da  Antonio  de  Marchi,  como  lai  disee, 
et  appar  alia  partita  del  detto  Antonio  a  c[arta]  47  lire  diese  .     lire  10 

II  d.  d.  de  24  April,  del  50  per  con.  dal  S'  Domen^o  Jnstinian 
I>  et  Sindico  appar  da  suo  ricever  sottoscritto  de  nome  de  D*  Francesco 
suo  fratello  in  filza,  et  alia  partida  di  D.  M.  Domenego  in  questo  a  C. 
63 Lire  372 

II  d.  d.  del  16  Zugno,  1552,  per  cons,  da  M.  Antonio  da  Yenem 
Sindico,  quali  havere  M.  Celso  da  Sanfior  suo  nepote  et  Procur.  de  M. 
Francesco  fratello  de  detto  M.  Titian,  como  in  la  procura  appresso  de 
M.  pred®  como  appar  da  ricever  appresso  al  pred^  M.  Antonio  in  fin  del 
8Uo  liV  della  Sistrada  della  Fabbric*  de  S***  Andrea,  lire  dueenta 

Lire  200 

D.  d.  del  23  Febro,  1553,  p .  .  .  [illegible]  ut  supra  li  havuti  il 
sopranominato  M.  Celso  Procurator  appar  ut  supra  di  suo  ricever  lire 
cento  et  diese L.  110 

D.  d.  Dei  20  Marzo,  1553,  per  cont.  ut  supra  li  havuti  il  sunominato 
M.  Celso  appar  ut  supra  B,^  Lire  trenta  otto         .        .        .        Lire  38 

Sotto  il  dl  p**  [rimo]  Zugno,  1552. 

Per  concessi  per  la  Sentenza  arbitraria  nasciuta  tra  la  Spet.  Comunita, 
et  lo  Agent  di  M.  Titian  sopnlsto  como  nel  Libro  a  c  19     .     Lire  200 

Lire  1550 

(Copied  from  the  books  of  the  Church  of  SerravaUe  for  the  late 
Dr.  Taddeo  Jacobi  of  Cadore.) 


1548,  Ceneda. 

Count  Girolamo  della  Torre  to  the  Cardinal  of  Trent, 

AT  Augsburg. 

Ill^'o  E^o  Monsignor  mio, — 

Havendo  io  inteso  Y.  S.  IllmA  esser  gi&  partita  di  Roma  et  ritomata 
alia  Corte  di  Sua  Mt^  la  occasione  del  later  presente  qual  e  Messer 
Titiano  Pittore  et  il  primo  huomo  della  Christianity,  ho  voluto  faigli 
riverentia  con  questa  mia  supplicandola  voler  havere  per  raccomandato 
il  dito  Messer  Titiano  in  tutto  quello  gli  potHL  far  favore,  utile  et 
comedo,  lo  vogU  fare  quanto  alia  persona  mia  propria,  che  la  mi  hik 
singularissimo  piacere.    Esso  messer  Titiano  yiene  de  li  chiamato  da  SL 


APPENDED.  503 


M^  per  far  qnalche  opera.  Altio  non  mi  resta,  salvo  raccomandarmi 
alia  buona  gratia  di  Y.  S.  lU"^,  supplicandola  a  Yoleraene  eervir  di  me 
in  ogni  occonenza  sua  come  di  uuo  minimo  servitore. 

Di  Ceneoa  il  Ti  Genaio  del  mxlviii. 

Di  V*  S.  Ill-  e  R«* 

Servitor,  Hiebonimo  della  Torrb. 

^6  extra.    All  m-»  et  E"«  S"*  il  Sig*  Cardinal  di  Trento  Sig»  mio 
osservandiBsimo. 

(Copied  from  the  Codex  Mazzettiano,  iv.  1366,  at  Trent,  but  once 
printed  in  the  Calendario  Trentino  for  1854,  by  T.  Oar  and  B.  Malfatti.) 


[Unpuhluhed,]  1548,  Insprjck. 

Titian  to  EiNa  Ferdinand. 

Sero  et  poten>ao  Be,  S<«  So»  clehentissi&io  ;  benche  vostra  Regia 
Mae8t&  D.  sua  regal  bonti  me  ha  fiatto  gratia  che  del  legname  che  io 
€omduT6  per  anni  tre  che  del  datio  me  sia  rimesso  [word  illegible  here] 
cento  al  anno  non  di  meno  S^'  gratio"^^  sollieitando  qui  la  expeditione 
me  pareno  qui  11  consiglieri  de  la  camera  difficultar  la  litientia  de 
tagliare  ;  in  la  selva  detta  rorbolt  impero  che  V.  M**  in  la  dispositione 
de  la  sua  signoria  non  ne  fa  mentione  at  dicano  che  la  selva  sia  dedicata 
al  nso  de  le  minere,  il  che  mi  anno  fastidito  alquanto  inperoche  non  mi 
persuadeva  che  dovessino  detti  consiglieri  resistere  al  ordine  di  V. 
Mt^  tanto  pii\  che  Io  non  son  homo  da  fJEime  marchantia  ma  solii  per 
mio  servitio  et  fabriche  et  ho  servito  et  servo  V.  M^  com  tanta  diligentia 
et  fede  qualle  se  vi  cercha  in  nno  sviscerato  servitore,  et  come  ben  questi 
S**  ne  possono  se  voleno  se  dar  buona  testimonianza  si  che  humilmente 
enpplico  Y.  M'*  at  cometer  che  non  me  enpediscono  al  tagliar  in  detta 
selva  tanto  piil  che  altri  per  il  passato  anno  tagliatto  come  ben  se  puol 
jnstifichare  et  apreso  de  la  quale  non  sono  minere  vicine  a  venti  miglia 
tedeschi  et  pi\\  et  puoi  facendomi  Y.  M*  gratia  in  cio  non  li  sar6  ingrato 
servitore  ma  me  afforzaro  cum  tute  mie  forze  et  saper  di  recognocela. 

Li  retrati  di  le  ser"«  figliole  fra  duj  zomi  sarano  finite  et  jo  li  com- 
dur6  a  Yenetia  dove  che  li  com  ogni  diligentia  et  mio  saper  li  fomir6  et 
com  presteza  mandarli  a  Y.  M'*  et  quell  visti  che  le  arano  mi  rendendo 
zertto  che  la  M^  Y^*  mi  farano  molto  mazor  gratia  che  nd  e  qnesta  che 
la  me  anno  fatto  et  a  Y.  M^  humilmente  me  recomando. 

De  IsPRUCH  all  XX  di  Otob.  de  48. 

D.  Y.  MIA 

el  fidel  Servitor, 

TiTIANO. 


504  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

[On  the  margin  of  this  letter  is  the  following  partial  translation  into 
German  hj  one  of  the  secretaries  of  the  King.] 

—  *'  und  hab  als  ain  trewer  dienner  gedient  nnd  noch  dienne  wie  dan 
des  Sij  di  herm  Camerraty  wo  si  wellen,  guette  Khundschafit  gebeu 
mugen.  Darauf  suppliciert  Er  undterthanigst,  di  Khu[nigkliche]  M^ 
[Majestat]  welle  berethen,  das  Er  nit  yerhindert  werde  in  dem  benirten 
waldt  holtz  zu  hawen.  SonderUck  weill  auch  andere  hievor  darin  holtz 
zn  hawen  vergundt  worden  sej.  Wie  man  soliches  woll  darbringen  "vni 
justificiren  muge,  und  auch  dabei  hiss  in  20  meill  wegs  khain  perckh- 
werck  sej.  Solches  welle  Er  in  yndterthenigkeit  mit  allem  vleyss  zue 
dienen  sich  befleissen.  Di  entwerfung  der  IQiu  [nigklichen]  M'  geliebt- 
sten  Tochter  werde  innerhalb  zwaien  tagen  vertig,  und  Er  wels  mit  gen 
Vennedig  fueren,  daselbst  gar  fertigen,  ynd  alsdan  auf&  peldist  Iwer 
Khu  M*  zueschigken  imd  versiht  sich,  wan  Ir  Khu  M'  dieselben  besehen, 
werden  Ime  nit  allain  die  sonder  ain  merere  gnad  gnedigst  beweissen." 

(From  the  original,  1867,  in  possession  of  Mr.  Rudolph  Weigel  at 
Leipzig.] 


[Unpublished.^  ,^  ^ 

1550.    Milan  Pennon. 

1550.  Ind"  viii.  3  FebV  Ferdinandus  Gonzaga  Csoa^  maieetatid 
Capitanus  gentis  et  Locumtenens,  &c. 

Sti^  Rever.  et  Mag^^  nobis  dilectissimi.  Ne  tempori  defectu  Ko- 
bilis  Titianus  Vecelius  cujus  est  presentibus  inserta  suplicatio  remaneat 
privatus  benef*  Fensionis  a  Cses*  Maiestate  ei  concessaium  (?),  eum  ad 
vos  remittimus,  ut  ad  petendum  approbationem  memoiatorum  piiTil^o 
nunc  ipsum  admittatis,  allegato  tempori  lapsu  non  obstante  modo  earn 
intra  mensem  petat 

In  MiLANO  alii  3  di  Febb<>  1550. 

Ferdinandus  Gonz-^,  m.  p. 
V.  Taberna,  T.  Royonos. 

Stt°  Reverend"  et  Mag^'*  D.  Presidi  et  Senatoribus  Cesarei  Senatus 
Mediolani  nobis  dilectissimis. 

(Copied  from  authentic  extracts  last  in  possession  of  Signor  Luigi 
Mozzi  of  Serravalle.) 


1550—1551,  Augsburg. 

Armentas  de  la  Oasa  de  D.  Pheupe  de  Austria,  Principe  de  Espaiia. 

'*  A  Tiziano  60  escudos  de  oro,  19  Dec.  1550. 

"  A  Tiziano  YezeUi  pintor  200  due.  de  Merced  6  hebr.  (February) 
1551. 


APPENDIX.  605 


''  A  Ti9iano  Vezelli  30  due.  para  pagar  ciertas  colores  que  se  han 
traido  de  yene9ia  paia  mi  servicio  6  hebr.  1551.'' 

(From  the  Archives  of  Simancas,  in  the  Qazette  des  Beaux  Arts  for 
1869,  i.  p.  88.) 


[UnpublisKed.]  1552,  Venice. 

[Simancas,  Arch.  Estado  Leg''  1336.] 

Titian  to  the  Prince  op  Spain.     ; 

MoLTO  ALTO  £T  MOLTO  PODEROso  siGNORE, — Essendomi  nouamente 
peruenute  alle  mani  yna  Regina  di  Persia  de  la  manera  et  qualitacom'  h 
V  ho  immediate  iudicata  degna  di  comparere  a  V  alta  presenza  di  vostra 
Altezza.  Et  cosi  di  subito  Tho  inuiata  a  lei  con  conmiiBsione,  sino  che 
certe  mie  altre  opere  si  asciugano,  che  riverentemente  in  nome  mio 
faccia  alcune-  ambasciate  al'  Altezza  vostra,  accompagnando  il  Paesaggio 
et  il  ritratto  di  S**  Margarita  mandatoui  per  avanti  per  il  signor  Am- 
bassador Vargas  racomandato  al  Vescovo  Segovia.  Et  cosi  il  nostro 
signor  Iddio  guardi  et  prosperi  la  molto  alta  et  molto  poderosa  persona 
e  stato  di  vostra  Altezza  con  ogni  felicity  et  prosperity  secondo  chel 
deuotissimo  senio  di  vostra  Altezza  Titiano  desidera. 

Di  Venetia,  alii  11  de  Ottobrio,  1552. 

Molto  alto  et  molto  poderoeo  signor 

Seruo  di  V.  A.  che  bascia  li  suoi  piedi, 

Titiano  Vecellio. 


[UiipMished.] 

Titian  and  Philip  of  Spain,  l5bZ.  j 

[Simancas,  Estado  Leg®  1336.] 

Titian  to  the  Prince  op  Spain. 

Molto  alto  et  molto  potente  Signor, — 
Ebbi  la  lettera  de  V.  Altezza  de  12  decembre  tanto  gratiosa  et 
iauorabile  che  essendo  uecchio  mi  son  ritomato  jiouane  de  modo  che  V. 
Altezza  ha  fatto  miraculo  in  me,  ma  non  e  marauigla  quando  non  e 
altra  cosa  il  grande  essere  di  vostra  Altezza  et  tutte  le  sue  actione  alia 
quale  desidero  tanto  seruire  che  per  solo  questo  havero  cara  la  uita  gia 
dedicata  et  consacrata  a  V.  Altezza,  et  cosi  non  puo  uscir  ne  per  bocca 
ne  per  cuore  senon  il  grande  Filippo  mio  signor  in  testimonio  dello 
quale  (interim  che  metto  al  ordine  le  poesie)  mando  ...  *  V.  Altezza 
86  stesso  per  uno  seruidore  del  Signor  Imbasador  Vargas  .  .  .  t  ha  fatto 


*  Here  is  a  rent  in  the  paper.  t  Kent  in  the  paper. 


606  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

eon  me  tonto  buon  offitdo  che  per  qaesto  insieme  con  li  altii  tanti 
grand!  fauori  et  quelo  che  Don  Giouanni  de  Benanides  mi  scrise  baacio 
li  piedi  de  Y.  Altezza  la  qiial  Dio  conseroi  per  infiniti  anni,  et  mi  laacia 
uedere  anzi  die  mora. 

Di  Yenbtia,  a  li  23  Marzo,  1553. 

Molto  alto  et  molto  potente  signor  basia  li  Piedi  de  Y'^ 

Altezza  suo  umile, 

TmAsa 

[On  the  back  of  this  letter  in  the  following  minute  in  the  hand  of 
Philip  of  Spain.] 

^'  Para  Italia  a  IS®  de  Junio,  1553. 
Con  Don  Antonio  de  bineros  de  Madrid. 

Respondida. 
A  Ti^iano. 

AhaDO   T   FIEL   NUE8TRO, — 

Con  Ortiz  criado  del  embaxador  de  Yene^  recibimos  una  carta 
vuestra  y  el  retrato  que  con  el  nos  embiostes  que  ea  como  de  vuestra 
mano  y  por  el  cuydado  que  tumistes  deUo  oa  damos  muchas  gramas  j 
assij  podeis  tener  cierta  nostra  voluntad  para  lo  que  se  os  ofiresciere 
como  es  razon." 


[Unpuhluhed.]  1553,  Bruasek. 

[SimancajB,  S"*  di  Estado  Leg**  1321,  f»  123.]  ,  .   - 

Charles  the  Fifth  to  Francesco  Yargas.^ 

Aqui  se  ha  dicho  que  Tidano  era  fallecldo,  y  aunque  no  habiandose 
deepues  confirmado  no  deue  ser  assi,  todauia  nos  dareis  auiao  de  la 
verdad  y  si  ha  acabado  ciertos  retractos  que  lleuo  a  cargo  de  hazer 
quando  partio  de  Augusta  o  los  terminos  en  que  los  tiene. 

De  Brusellas,  ultimo  de  Mayo,  MDiiij. 


[UnpublisJied.]  1553,  Yenice. 

[Simancas,  S'**  de  Estado  Leg"  1321,  f>  22.]  //    •  *  -    *  *  ^ 

Francesco  Yargas  to  Charles  the  Fifth. 

Ticiano  es  vivo  y  esta  bueno  y  no  poco  alegre  por  saber  que  Y.  Mg^ 
se  acueroa  del  el  me  hauia  hablado  antes  del  quadro  de  la  Trinidad  e  yo 
solicitadolo  y  assi  entiende  en  el  y  dize  que  lo  dara  acabado  en  todo 
Septiembre.  Helo  uisto  y  parexeme  que  sera  obra  digna  del,  como  lo 
es  un  quadro  que  tiene  ya  al  cabo  para  la  serenissima  Reyna  Maria  de 
la  apariclon  en  el  huerto  a  la  Magdalena.    El  otro  quadro  di^e  que  ea 


APPENDIX,  507 


una  tabia  de  Nnestia  Senoia  ygual  del  ecce  homo  que  V.  Mg*'  tiene  y 
que  por  no  hauenele  embiodo  el  tamano  como  se  le  dixo  no  esta  hecho 
que  en  yiniendo  lo  poroa  por  obra. 

VsKB^iAy  idtimo  de  Jonio  de  1553. 


1554,  Venicet 
Titian  to  the  Duke  of  Mabtua. 

AU'  EccellentiBaimo  ed  lUnstriasimo  Signore  e  Padrone 
mio  osservandissimo, 
II  Signor  Duca  Di  Mantova. 

EOGELLENTIBSIMO  ED  ILLUSTRISSIICO   SiaNOR  PaDROKE  HIO    OBSEB- 

¥ANDi88iJfo, — ^Da  poi  che  naoqui,  che  sono  molto  anni,  sempre  sono 
fltato  aervitoie  dell'  Illnstriseinia  Caaa  di  Y.  Ecc,  aervendola  in  quello 
•che  per  me  si  pu6,  e  piaoque,  tra  gli  altri,  all'  Ecc  del  Signor  Duca 
Eederico  padre  suo  mostiaimi  molti  segni  d'  amore,  iacendomi  tra  gli 
altri  gnuda  del  beneficio  di  S.  Maria  di  Meldole  per  nn  mio  figlio,  il 
quale,  dccome  io  vorrei,  mi  par  non  da  molto  inclinato  ad  easer  uomo 
di  Chiesa,  epper6  ho  pensato  di  collocaie  quel  beneficio  in  persona  atta 
A  reggerlo  ed  ofilciarlo  con  satisfSazione  di  V.  Ecc.  e  mia :  e  questa  h  un 
mio  nipote,  al  quale  lo  dar6,  avendone  la  buona  grazia  di  V.  Ecc,  alia 
quale  non  vorrei  dispiacere  in  cosa  alcuna,  e  spedalmente  in  questa 
di'  io  riconosco  ed  ho  dalla  Illustriss.  sua  Casa.  Epper6  supplico  lei  a 
tcontentarsi  di  questa  mia  deliberazione,  tenendomi  per  quell'  obligato 
«ervitore  che  sono  stato  alii  suoi  maggiori,  e  8ar6  anche  a  lei  finchb  avr6 
vita.  E  a  quella  umilmente  bacio  la  manO|  che  il  Signore  Iddio  le  doni 
ogni  felicity. 

Di  Venezia,  alii  26  Aprile,  1554. 

Di  V.  Ecc. 

Devoto  Servitore, 

TiziANO  Vecellio,  Pittore, 

(Reprinted  from  Canon  Braghirolli's  Lettere  Inedita) 


[Unpublithed.]  1554,  Venice. 

[Simancas,  Estado  Leg"  1336.  ] 

Titian  to  Charles  the  Fifth. 

Sacratissiha  Cebarea  Maesta,' 
Mi  f u  gia  assignato  per  ordine  di  V.  C.  M.  una  prouisione  in  Mllano 
^  ducento  V  *  I'anno  et  dipoi  una  tratta  di  grani  nel  regno  di  NapoH ; 

•  ScutL 


608  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

nella  quale  mi  trouo  hauer  speso  centenara  di  scuti  in  manteneie  tm 
uno  homo  nel  regno  ;  et  ultimamente  mi  fu  concessa  una  natundezza  in 
ispagna  in  persona  de  un  mio  figliuolo  di  scuti  500  I'anno  di  penaione  le 
qual  cose  tutte  non  hauendo  mai  hauuto  effetto  alcuno  per  colpa  deUa 
mia  mala  sorte,  ho  uoluto  hora  dime  una  parola  a  Y.  M.  C.  con  questa 
carta  sperando  chel  liberalissimo  animo  del  maggior  Imperator  christiano 
che  fosse  mai  non  vorra  patire  che  i  suoi  ordini  non  siano  eseguiti  da  i 
suoi  ministri,  et  per  che  se  tale  esecutione  hauesse  effetto  in  questo 
tempo  tomaria  in  me  il  beneficio  opera  di  charita  trouandomi  in  qualche 
necesita  per  essere  stato  infermo  et  per  hauere  maritata  una  mia  figliuola ; 
ho  supplicato  la  Regina  celeste  che  interceda  gratia  per  me  appresso  di 
v.  M.  C.  col  ricordo  della  sua  imagine  che  hora  le  yiene  inanzi  con 
quello  addolorato  effetto  che  le  ha  saputo  espnmere  nel  uolto  la  qualita 
de  miei  trauagli  Mando  anchora  d  V.  C.  M.  la  sua  opera  della  Trinita^ 
et  nel  uero  se  non  I'ossero  stati  i  miei  trauagli  Thavei  fomita  et  mandata 
molto  prima,  anchora  che  pensando  io  di  sodisfare  a  V.  M.  C.  non  mi 
son  curato  di  guastare  due  et  tre  uolte  il  lauore  di  molti  giomi  per 
ndurla  al  termine  di  mio  contento  onde  ui  ho  posto  piu  tempo  che  non 
si  conveniva  ordinariamente.  Se  io  hauero  sodisfatto  a  Y.  M.  C.  mi 
terro  assai  felice,  se  ancho  no  la  supplico  ad  accettare  lardente  mia  uolonta 
in  servirlai  la  quale  non  stima  altra  gloria  in  questo  mondo  che  il  com- 
piacerla  :  alia  quale  con  tutta  la  deuotione  et  humilta  del  cor  mio  bascio 
la  inuittissima  mano.  ^ 

Di  Yenetia  alii  x  de  Settemhre,  M.D.iiiij. 

II  ritratto  del  Signor  Yargas  posto  nella  opera,  ho  fatto  di  comando 
suo  :  se  non  piacera  a  Y.  M.  G.  ogni  pittore  <^n  due  pennellate  Io  potra 
conuertire  in  altro. 

Di  Y.  M.  C. 

Humilissimo  seruo, 

TrriANO,  Pittore, 


lUnpublisked.]  1554,  Yenice. 

[Simancas,  S"*  de  Estado  Leg«»  1322,  f>  191.] 

Francesco  Yabgas  to  Charles  the  Fifth. 

A  Y.  Mg^.  ho  embiado  los  dos  quadros  grande  y  pequeno  de  Ticiano, 
partieron  de  aqui  quatro  dias  ha.  El  se  ha  detenido  mucho  en  hazerloa 
y  no  es  poco  hauer  hecho  con  el  los  acabase  pero  todo  se  le  ha  de  per- 
donar  por  la  voluntad  y  deseo  que  tiene  de  senrir  a  Y.  Mag*^.  j  bondad 
de  ellos  que  cierto  el  mayor  es  obra  de  grande  estima.  Nuestro  senor  la 
imperial  persona  y  estado  de  Y.  Mag**  guarde  y  prospere  por  laigoa 
tiempos  con  acrescentamientos  de  mas  reynos  y  senorios. 

Di  Yenecia  XV  de  Octubre,  1554. 


APPENDIX.  509 


[UnTpublished,]  1554,  ^Keggio  &  S.  Andrea  del  Fabbro. 

Precis  of  a  power  drawn  on  the  29th  of  October,  Ind.  XII.  1554,  at 
R^gio,  by  the  notary  ErasmuB  (["*  Petri  de  Burgo,  in  the  house  of 
Canon  P.  Fr.  Martelli  of  Reggio,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  same  as  well 
sa  of  Signor  Paolo  q"  Giovanni  de'  Bocchiani,  citizen  of  Reggio. 

In  the  terms  of  this  power  Signor  Nicol6  Talamio,  priest  of  Reggie 
and  rector  of  the  parish  church  of  Sant'  Andrea  del  Fabbro,  in  the 
diocese  of  Treviso,  appoints  to  be  his  proxy,  special,  general,  and  irre- 
vocable, Signor  Tiziano  Vecelli,  pictor  praeclarus,  layman,  living  at 
Venice,  and  then  absent,  authorizing  him  to  claim  all  incomings  and 
returns,  present,  past,  and  future,  of  the  benefice  above-named,  and 
dispose  of  the  same  at  his  pleasure,  without  further  accounting  for  the 
same,  and  with  the  faculty  of  transferring  his  power  to  one  or  more 
proxies,  and,  in  fact,  to  take  the  place  of  the  original  holder,  who  pro- 
mises solemnly  never  to  interfere  or  make  any  claim  whatever.  The 
power  concludes  as  follows  :  "  Ego  Erasmus  q.  Dni  P"'  de  Burgo  civis 
Regis  pub  S.  A.  Not.  Regiensis  suprascr*  dibiis  dum  sic  agerentur  inter- 
fici,  eaq.  sic  fieri  vidi  et  audivi,  ac  rogatus  scripsi ;  ideo  in  prsBmis- 
6orum  fidem  hie  me  subscripsi  signumq.  meum  tabellionatus  apposui 
eonsuetum." 

This  power  was  read  and  copied  from  the  registers  of  Sant'  Andrea 
del  Fabbro  for  the  family  of  Filomena  at  Serravalle  ;  the  same  registers 
containing  a  record  of  1557,  from  which  it  appears  that  at  that  date, 
Poraponio  Vecelli  was  incumbent  of  the  parish.  The  original  pr6cis  of 
the  above-mentioned  documents,  as  taken  from  the  genuine  papers,  is 
now  in  possession  of  Signor  Luigi  Mozzi  of  Serravalle. 

The  following  record  also  gives  account  of  the  incumbency  of 
Pomponio : — 

"Estimo  di  ^lestre,  1558,  19  Genu",  Villa  di  Quero  (on  the  Piave, 
province  of  Bellimo).  El  Benef*»  al  presente  posseduto  da  Mons"'  Pom- 
ponio f*  di  M.  Titiano  exc^  pittore  st&  nel  coitivo  ed  una  casa  di  muro 
coperta  di  copi." 


[  Unpublished,]  London,  1 554. 

[Simancas,  S'*»  de  Estado  Leg-  1498,  f«  17.] 

The  Prince  op  Spain  to  Francesco  Vargas. 

El  qnadro  de  Adorns  que  acabo  Ticiano  ha  llegado  aqui  y  me  paresce 
de  la  perficion  que  dezis  aunque  uiuo  maltratado  de  un  doblez  que  haya 
al  traues  por  medio  del,  el  qual  se  deuio  hazer  al  cogelle,  verse  ha  el 
remedio  que  tiene  los  otros  quadros  que  me  haze  le  dad  prissa  che  los 
acabe  y  no  me  los  embieis  sine  auisadme  quando  estimieren  hechos  para 
que  yo  os  mande  lo  que  se  haura  de  hazer  dellos. 

From  London,  December  6, 1554. 


510  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

[UnptLblished,']  1555,  Adi  20  Marzo,  Venice. 

Lavinia's  Marriage. 

Al  nome  sia  di  lo  Etemo  Iddio  et  de  la  Gloriosa  Vergine  Maria  et  di 
tutta  la  Corte  Celestial,  et  in  buona  vent    .    .    . 

£1  se  dichiara  come  in  qiiesto  giomo  si  f&  fratello  et  concluso  main- 
monio  trk  il  Sp"*  M.  Comelio,  figlio  del  g*  M.  Marco  SarcineUo,  Cittadlno 
Cenetensi  subabitanti  in  Serravalle,  da  una  parte,  et  la  discritta  Madonna 
Lavinia,  fiola  del  Sp^  M.  Tiziano  VeceUio,  pittore  di  Cadore  subabitanti 
Venezia,  da  I'altra,  si  come  comanda  Iddio  et  la  santa  Madre  Gieaia  p 
parole  et  ptti  et  p  conto  dote  il  Sp®  M.  Titiano  suo  padre  8opraditto» 
li  promettc  et  se  obbliga  a  dar  al  pfato  M.  Comelio  due  7  mille  e  quat- 
trocento al  604  &  due  7  In  questa  forma  23  al  dar  de  la  man  due 
7  sei  cento  al  604  f  due  7  et  il  restante  detratto  il  valor  et  I'amontar  delli 
beni  mobeli  p  uso  de  la  ditta  sposa  li  promette  a  dar  in  tanti  contanti  f 
tutto  I'anno  (1556)  mile  cinquecento  e  cinquanto  sie  qualli  siano  in.  tutto 
p  lo  amontar  et  suma  delli  p  detti  due  7  mille  e  quattrocento  ut  supra. 
La  qual  dote  il  pfatto  M.  Comelio  con  Madonna  Caliopia  sua  madre 
simul  et  insolidum  togliono  et  accettano  sopra  tutti  H  suoi  beni  pfiti  et 
fut^  Li  quali  obbligauo  in  ogni  caso  et  evento  di  restituir  et  assicurar 
la  ditta  dote.  Et  cosi  il  pfato  M.  Titian  a  manutenzion  deUa  sopia- 
ditta  dotta  promette  et  obbliga  tutti  li  suoi  beni  pfiti  et  fut*  usque  ad 
integram  satisfactionem,  et  cosi  I'una  parte  et  I'altra  di  sua  mano  a 
sottoscriveranno  p  caution  delle  sopradicte  cosse  cosi  promettendo  esse 
parti  p  se  et  suoi  eredi  quanto  ut  supra  continetur  et  osservatur. 

Et  lo  JiTANNS  Alessaivdrino  DE  Cadori  pgado  dalle  parte. 

lo  Titian  Ysgellio  8ar6  contento  et  affermo  et  approbo  quanta 
si  combina  nell'  oltrascritto  contratto. 

Jo  CoRKELio  Sarcinello  SOU  conteuto  et  affirmo  et  aprobo 
quanto  se  contien  nell'  oltrascritto  contratto. 

1555,  Adl  19  Zugno  in  Venezia. 

Hi  lo  Comelio  Sarcinello  soprascritto  dal  Sior  Titiano  soprascritto,  mia 
Socero,  schudi  cinquecento  e  cinquantacinque  d'oro  a  L  6,414 1'uno  quali 
sono  Ducati  siecento  d'oro  a  L  604 1'uno  et  questi  0  riceputo  per  parte  et 
a  bon  conto  di  dota  promessa,  et  ut  supra. 

1556,  Adi  12  Settembrio  in  Venezia. 

Br  lo  Comelio  Sarcinello  dal  S**'  Titiano  soprascritto,  mio  suocero,  in 
uno  fil  de  perle  et  on  et  contado  p  I'amontar  di  sesto  della  dota  promes- 
sami  et  cosi  son  pago  et  contento. 

(Copied  from  the  original  in  1864,  in  possession  of  the  heirs  of  Dr. 
Pietro  Camieluti  of  Seiravalle.) 


APPENDIX.  611 


[Unpvhlished,]  1556^  BrnsselB. 

[Simancas,  S'**  de  Eatado  Leg"  1498,  ^  107.] 

Philip  the  Second  to  Titian. 

El  Ret, 

Amado  nuestro  vuestra  carta  de  yij  de  Mar90  he  recibido  y  visto  por 
ella  como  teneis  acabadas  algnnas  pintoras  qae  nos  he  mandado  hazer 
de  que  he  holgado  mucho  y  os  tengo  en  seruicio  el  cuydado  y  diligencia 
que  en  ello  aueys  vsado.  Bien  quisiera  que  me  huuieiades  sciipto 
particulaTmente  quales  eran  estas  pinturas  que  teneis  acabadas  y  pues  el 
dano  que  recibio  el  Adonis  se  le  hizo  aqui  quando  lo  descogieron  para 
verle.  Y  agoia  las  pinturas  que  me  embiaredes  estaran  libres  de  correr 
este  peligro  yo  os  encargo  mucho  que  luego  en  recibiendo  esta  embolnays 
muy  bien  las  pinturas  que  tumieredes  acabadas  de  manera  que  se  puedan 
traer  sin  que  reciban  dauo  en  el  camino  y  las  entregueys  al  Embaxador 
francisco  de  Vargas  a  quien  yo  scriuo  y  mando  que  con  el  primer  correo 
que  viniere  si  ser  pudiere,  o  por  la  mejor  via  y  manera  que  le  paresciere 
me  las  embie  con  la  mayor  breuedad  que  sea  posible.  Yos  hareys  de 
manera  que  por  lo  que  se  tumiere  de  hazer  de  vuestra  parte  no  se  difiera 
este  que  en  ello  me  hareys  mucho  seruicio. 

De  lo  que  toca  a  vuestras  cosas  me  auisareys  si  se  han  complido 
porque  a  no  hauesse  hecho  yo  mandare  scriuir  al  duque  Dalua  de 
manera  que  se  cumplan. 

De  Brusbelas  a  iiij°  de  Mayo  de  m.d.lyj. 

Yo  el  Ret. 

QONZALEZ  PeREZIUS. 


[Unpuhlithed,]  1556,  Brussels. 

[Simancas,  S'**  de  Estado  Leg«  1498,  f»  108.] 

Philip  the  Second  to  Francesco  Vargas. 

El  Ret, 
Francisco  de  Vargas  del  nuestro  consejio  y  nuestro  embaxador. 
Porque  yo  escriuo  a  Ti^iano  lo  que  vereys  por  la  copia  de  su  carta,  que 
ira  con  esta  para  que  os  de  algunas  pinturas  mios  que  tiene  acabadas,  yo 
OS  encargo  y  mando  que  dandole  mi  carta  luego  las  cobreis  y  me  las 
encamineis  a  buen  recaudo  con  el  primer  correo  que  viniere,  si  se 
pudieren  traer  por  la  posta  sin  recibir  daiio  o  por  la  mejor  uia  y  manera 
que  OS  paresciere  para  que  yo  las  tenga  aqui  con  breuedad,  que  quanto 
antes  me  las  embiaredes,  tanto  mas  plazer  y  seruicio  me  hareys. 

De  BEUS8ELLA8  iiij°  de  Mayo  m.d.lvj. 

Yo  EL  Ret. 


512  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 


o 


[Unpublished.]  1558,  Venice. 

Church  Standard  of  St,  Bernardino, 

**  1558, 1 1  Oittgno,  fu  fatto  far  11  stendardo  per  matter  all'  abati  il 
giomo  della  festa  di  S.  Bemaidin,  da  Tizzian  Yecellio,  Cadorin,  pittore 
famofio,  e  costi  scudi  17  Yeneziani  come  in  libro  Cassa  Vecchio  a  carta 
8  e  9  il  quale  bI  conserva  in  noetro  Oratorio."— Aichivio  di  San  Giobbe. 

(MS.  in  Morelli's  and  Cicogna^s  annotated  copy  of  Morelli*8 
*'  Anonimo/'  now  in  the  Venice  Library.) 


[Unpxiblished]  1559,  Bmssels. 

[Simancas,  S'*^  de  Eetado  Leg*  650,  f>  121.] 

Philip  the  Second  to  Count  de  Luna. 

Ticiano  VeceUi,  que  reside  en  Vene9ia,  mi  embio  al  principio  del 
mes  de  Noviembre  del  afio  de  Ivij  vn  quadro  que  el  aula  acabado  para 
mi  con  gran  cuydado  y  perfection  en  que  auia  un  Chrifito  en  el  sepulchro 
con  otraa  cinco  figuras  y  remitiola  por  mano  de  garcia  bemandez 
secretario  de  mi  embaxador  en  Venecia  a  Lorencio  Bordogna  de  Tassis 
maestro  de  postas  de  Trento  el  qual  lo  recibio  y  encamino  con  la  estafeta 
ordinaria,  segun  ha  scripto,  pero  hasta  hoy  no  ha  Ilegado  a  mi  poder  ni 
se  ha  podido  auer  rastro  del,  por  mucho  que  se  ha  procurado,  y  porque 
yo  gucriia  queeta  cosa  se  Uegasse  al  cabo,  assi  para  que  paiezia  el  dicho 
quadro,  como  para  que  se  sepa  en  quien  ha  estado  la  rruindad  y.  sea  muy 
bien  castigado,  vi  encai^^o  mucho  que  aunque  sea  diciendolo  a  su  Mag'  si 
OS  paresciere  que  sera  menester  veais  de  hazer  la  diligengia  posible,  que 
escriuiendo  vos  sobrello  en  mi  nombre  al  maestro  de  postas  os  dara  hos 
de  como  quando  y  aquien  lo  entrege,  para  que  me  lo  truxesen  y  saber  de 
aquel  que  lo  recibio  ac[uien  lo  dis  y  assi  de  vno  por  los  maestres  de  postas, 
(^ue  paresce  es  el  mejor  medico  que  puede  auer,  porque  desta  manera  se 
uendra  al  fin  a  entender  en  quien  quedo  o  de  otra  qtie  alia  jurgaredes 
ser  mas  a  proposito  a  tal  quel  dicho  quadro  se  halle  y  auisareisme  de 
lo  que  in  ello  se  hiziere  porque  holgare  de  saberlo. 

De  Brubselas  a  20  de  Enero,  1559. 


[Unpublished.]  1559,  Venice. 

[Simancas,  S**"  de  Estado  Leg*  1336.] 

Titian  to  Philip  the  Second. 

Invitissimo  Catholico  Re, — 
Ho  gia  fomite  le  due  poesie  dedicate  a  V.  M^,  V  ima  de  Diana  al  fonte 
Bopragiunta  da  Atheone,  V  altra  di  Calisto  pregna  di  Gioue  spogliata  al 
fonte  per  comandamento  di  Diana  dalle  sue  ninfe.  Pero  quando  parera 
a  V.  M.  di  haverle,  quella  comandi  per  cui  elle  se  le  habbiamo  a 
mandare ;   accio  che  di  quelle  non  amienga  quello  che  auuenne  del 


APPENDIX.  518 


ChriBto  moTto  nel  sepolcro,  il  quale  si  smarri  per  uiaggio.  Speio  chc 
1'  opere  saranno  tali,  che  se  mai  cosa  alcana  delle  mani  mie  le  k  parata 
degna  della  sua  gratia,  queste  non  le  pareianno  indegne.  Dopo  le 
hauer  mandato  queste,  mi  daro  tutto  a  fomir  il  quadro  del  Christo  nell' 
horto  et  V  altre  due  poesie  gia  incominciate,  1*  una  di  Europa  sopra  il 
Tauro,  1'  altra  di  Atheone  lacerato  da  i  cani  suoi.  Nelle  quali  opeie  io 
mettero  medesmamente  tutto  quello  poco  di  sapere  che  iddio  mi  ha 
donate,  et  che  h  stato  e  sara  sempre  dedicato  a  i  servigi  di  V.  M^  se  cosi 
le  piacerii  fin  ch'  io  reggeio  queste  membra  per  il  carco  de  gH  anni 
homai  stanche  il  qual  peso  ben  che  da  se  sia  grauisdmo  nondimeno  mi 
si  aUeggeiisce  non  so  a  che  modo  miracolosamente  ogni  uolta  ch'  io 
m'  aricordo  d'  esser  uiuo  al  mondo  per  servirla  e  far  la  cosa  grata. 

Fo  sapere  ancora  a  V.  M.  come  la  mia  trista  fortuna  non  mi  ha  dopo 
tantb  tempo,  trauogli,  e  fatiche  per  cio  fatte,  conceduto  ancora  di  poter 
godere  un  poco  delle  prouidone  mie,  le  quali  mi  si  doueuano  pagare  per 
le  cedule  di  V.  M.  da  gli  agenti  suoi  di  Qenoua  che  ad  altro  non  so 
dame  la  colpa  che  alia  mia  cattiua  sorte,  poi  che  la  benignity  sua  mi  d 
stata  sempre  tanta  cortese  in  fargli  soUeciti  a  questo  pagamento  et  nondi- 
meno il  suo  seruo  Titiano  S  a  quel  di  prima  senza  alcun  godimento  di 
quelle.  Pero  humilmente  la  supplico  a  far  fare  quella  deuita  prouisione 
che  a  questo  le  parerib  pii!k  opportona.  Et  a  Y.  M.  con  ogni  termine  di 
riuerenza  offerendo  et  raccomandandomi  le  bascio  la  reale  e  Catholica 
mano. 

Di  Ybnetia,  alii  19  di  Gingno  del  59. 

Di  V«  M»*  Catholica 

Humilissimo  Seruo, 

Titiano  Vecellio,  Pittore, 


[Unpublished.']  1559,  Venice. 

[Simancas,  Estado  Leg*"  1336.] 

Assaasination  of  Orazio  VeceUL 

Titian  to  Philip  the  Second. 

Invitissimo  Cathoucx)  Re, — 
La  maluagita  di  leone  Aretino  suo  seruo'  indegno  h  dell'  honoiato 
nome  di  caualiere  h  di  scultor  Cesareo  e  cagione  che  douendo  sciiuere 
alia  M.  v.  di  oose  a  lei  piii  grate  e  piaceuole,  hoggi  io  dispensi  Tufficio 
della  penna  nello  scriuerle  et  le  sue  cattiue  operationi  et  le  mie  querele. 
Essendo  questa  quadragesima  passata  Oratio  suo  seruitore  et  mio  figliuolo 
andato  a  Milano  in  uece  mia  per  esser  io  stato  chiamato  dal  Duca  di 
Sessa  et  non  potendoui  andar  come  all'  hora  mezo  infermo,  et  quello  che 
importa  pid,  come  impedito  nelle  pitture  di  V.  M.  h  occozso  che  il  detto 
Oratio  dopo  Thauer  ispedita  alcuna  facendetta  scodesse  le  pensioni  mie 
di  Milano  assignatemi  gia  dalla  munificentia'et  liberality  della  gloriosa 
memoria  di  Cesaie  suo  genitore,  et  che  mi  se  doueano  pagare  per  coman- 

VOL.  II.  1  !• 


514  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

damento  di  V.  M.  della  quale  egli  portaua  le  letteie  d'  ispedittione. 
Donde  sapendo  eeso  Leone  Aretmo  della  esattione  di  tali  piouiBioni 
mosso  da  Diabolico  instinto  si  mette  in  pensiero  di  asaassinailo,  e  toigli 
la  uita  per  torgU  il  danaro.    £t  quella  sera  ch'  egli  haueua  destinato 
di  far  qneila  sua  impressa  mostrandosi  a  lui  Oratio  piii  de  mai  coitese  et 
allegro  in  uolto  V  inuita  e  prega  a  restar  in  casa  sua  per  poter  es^pur  poi 
comodamente  quanto  haneua  disegnato  il  suo  mal  animo.    Ma  ricusando 
esso  Oratio  di  uolemi  rimanere,  1'  inimico  di  Dio  et  il  scelerato  sno 
figliuolo  gia  bandito  dalla  Spagna  per  lutherano  fu  sforzata  dal  suo 
crudele  appetito  di  dar'  opera  con  alcimi  compagni  pari  sui  inanzi  al 
dessinato  tempo  al  pensato  assassinamento  et  mostrandogli  tuttania  di 
far  careze  mentre  egli  di  casa  sua  si  uolea  partire  ecco  uno  de  i  ribaldi 
liuersargli  la  cappa  in  testa,  et  tutti  insieme  esserli  attomo  con  1'  espade 
e  con  i  pugnali  nudi  in  mano.    Doueche  il  pouero  Oratio  colto  nel  capo 
all'  improuiso,  come  quello  che  del  tradimento  nulla  sapeua,  ne  si 
poteua  imaginare,  se  ne  casco  tutto  stordito  in  terra^  h  riceue  prima  che 
mai  si  risentisse  appresso  alia  prima  sei  altre  acerbissime  ferite.     £t 
sarebbe  restato  del  tutto  morto  se  un  seruitore  ch'  era  con  lui,  il  quale 
per  portar  fuori  di  casa  all'  hora  certi  quadri  gia  si  partiua,  non  si  fosse 
uolto  a  dietro,   et  non  hauesse  messo  mano  alia  spada  sgridando  a  i 
traditori ;  da  i  quali  resto  uulnerato  anch'  egli  di  tre  ferite  miseramente. 
Tal  che  se  non  fosse  stata  questa  posa  di  difesa  die  per  lo  grido  da  i 
uicini  udito  fu  cagione  di  leuar  all'  assassino  la  speranza  del  desiderato 
guadagno  gli'  haurebbe  con  i  compagni  traditori  spogliati  e  priue  della 
uita  e  de  i  danari  insieme  nel  mezo  della  111'"*  citta  di  MiLano  et  in 
casa  sua  propia  sotto  pretesto  di  amica  hospitalitli  in  ricompenso  de  i 
tanti  e  tanti  beneficii  da  me  et  da  tutti  i  miei  riceuuti  nel  tempo  delle 
sue  maggior  calamity  la  qua!  cosa  splamente  fa  ch'  io  prendo  e  dolore 
e  marauiglia  grandissima  et  non  per  ch'  io  stimi  esser  impossibile  che 
succedi  un  tale  effetto  uerso  alcuna  persona  per  man  d'  un  tale  percio  h'  io 
conosco  bene  la  sua  maluagia  natura  ;  per  la  quale  e  in  bando  di  tutto 
il  dominio  de'  Venetiani  per  mandatario  et  fu  condannato  ai  foco  del 
duca  di  Ferrara  per  falsario  di  monete  ;  donde  poi  il  suo  diauolo  il  fece 
fuggire  per  adoperarlo  come  suo  istrumento  in  altri  catiui  portamenti, 
come  fece  in  Roma  donde  fu  condannato  finalmente  sotto  Papa  Paulo 
III.  alia  morte  per  altri  enormi  delitti  como  si  fara  chiaramente  uedere 
alia  maest4  nostra  x^r  li  processi  che  le  manderemo  le  qual  tutte  pene 
il  tristo  caualiere  per  sua  mala  uentura  ha  fuggite,  perche  la  M.  V. 
hauesse  occasione  di  hauer  con  tante  altri  meriti  appresso  la  M^  di  Dio 
questo  ancora  di  punir  ella  o  far  punire  un  tal  scelerato  il  quale  s'  imagi- 
nana  di  uoler  col  priuar  noi  della  uita,  priuar  la  M.  Y.  di  quella  seruitii 
che  da  noi  tutti  se  le  deue  per  uoler  diuino.    Per  che  se  esso  Oratio  fosse 
restato  morto  io  le  giuro  per  la  mia  fede,  che  dal  dolore  io  che  tutta  la 
uita  e  la  speranza  mia  ho  collocata  nella  sua  salute  in  questa  mia  impo- 
tente  uecchiezza,  sarei  restato  ancora  priuo  da  spirito  e  conseguentemente 
di  poter  seruire  al  mio  inuitissimo  Re  Cattolico  per  seruir  il  quale  io  mi 
reputo  di  uiuer  felice  e  Ibrtunatissimo.    Pero  supplico  alia  M,  V.  per 


APPENDIX.  515 


quella  uirtu  che  la  rende  tanto  ammirabile  al  mondo  et  accetta  a  Dio 
ch'  ella  si  degni  di  es^nir  quella  giustitia  in  questo  cafio,  che  alia 
accerbit^  di  qiiello  et  alia  sua  infinitabont^  si  richiede  o  facendo  scriuere 
al  Daca  sno  luogotenente  di  Milano  ouero  ad  altri  nel  teiritorio  de  quali 
questo  libaldo  si  ritroui  o  comandando  ella  stessa  quanto  le  par  che 
meiiti  il  pitt  sceleiato  huomo  del  mondo.  Et  aUa  buona  gratia  di  V.  M. 
humilmente  raccomandandoml  le  bacio  la  Reale  e  Catholica  mano. 
Di  Yenetia  alii  .12  di  Giuglio,  M.D.LVinj. 

D.  V.  M. 

Humilissimo  seroitore, 

TiTIANO  VeCKLIO. 


[Unpublished.]  1559,  Venice. 

[Simancas,  S'»»  de  Estado  Leg*  1323,  f^  262.] 

Segbetary  Garcia  Hernaitdez  to  Phiuf  the  Second.      i  7  ? 

Ticiano  tendra  in  perfecion  los  dos  qnadros  de  Diana  j  Calisto  dentro 
de  XX  porque  como  son  grandes  j  de  mucha  obra  quiere  satisfazer  a 
a^[una8  cosillas  qne  otros  no  mirarian  en  ellas,  juntamente  con  estos  me 
dara  otro  de  Christo  en  el  sepulchro  mayor  que  el  que  embiaua  a  V**  M** 
que  tiene  las  figuras  enteias  y  otro  pequeno  de  una  turca  o  persiana 
hecho  a  fjEuita^  que  todo  es  ex""**. 

Estoe  quadros  con  los  vidros  cristalinos  para  hazer  las  vedrieras  que 
todo  sera  acabado  a  im  tiempo  y  los  vasos  de  vidro  que  he  comprado 
para  beuer  agua  y  para  beuer  vino  de  la  manera  que  escriuo  al  S^^ 
Gonzalo  Perez  los  embiare  muy  bien  empacados  al  embaxador  de 
Grenoua  con  persona  de  recaudo  como  Y.  Mag**  me  manda,  para  la  paga 
de  lo  qual  no  he  tomado  dineros  a  cambio  porque  la  hare  de  los  que  yo 
tengo  de  vift.  ma^  cuya  S.  C.  y  real  persona  y  estado  guarde  y  prospere 
nuestro  senor  por  largos  tiempos  con  acrescentamiento  de  mas  Reynos  y 
Senorios. 

De  YENE9IA  iij  de  Agosto,  1559. 


[Unpublished.]  1559,  Yenice. 

[Simancas,  Estado  Leg**  1336.] 

Titian  to  Philip  the  Second. 

Inuitto  et  Catholico  Re, — 
Mando  a  Y.  M^  le  pitture  che  sono  Atteone,  Calisto  et  il  Saluator 
nostro  nel  sepolchro  in  luogo  di  quello,  che  gia  si  smarri  per  uiaggio 
et  m'  allegro  che  oltra  che  questo  secondo  e  di  forma  pid  grande  che  non 
era  il  primo  egli  mi  sia  nel  resto  ancora  riuscito  m^lio  assai  che  non 
fece  quell'  altro  et  manco  lontano  dal  merito  infinite  di  Y.  M.  il  qual 
miglioramento  in  buona  parte  attribuisco  al  dolore  della  perdita  del 

L  L  2 


516  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

primo  che  mi  &  stato  nel  far  questo  et  gli  altri  quadri  medesimamente 
un  gagliardo  stimolo  a  sforzarmi  di  rifar  quel  danno  con  do^o 
aoantaggio.  Se  contra  la  sua  aspettatione  et  il  creder  mio  ho  indugiAto 
si  lungamente  a  finirle  et  luandarle  (che  nel  uero  confesso  esser  tre  anni 
et  piti  che  li  ho  cominciato)  non  lo  ascriua  Y.  M'*  a  mia  negligenza  che 
anzi  potrei  dire  con  uerit&  di  non  haaer  atteso  gran  fatto  ad  altro  come 
il  Buo  secretario  Garcia  Hernando  che  continuamente  benche  non 
bisognaase  a  cio  m*  ha  sempre  sollicitato  ne  puo  far  fede,  ma  diaae  prima 
la  colpa  alia  quantiti  dell'  opera  che  ricercauano  anco  quantity  di  tempo 
et  poi  air  ardente  desiderio  ch'  io  tengo  di  far  cosa  che  sia  degna  di  V. 
M*  dal  che  procede  che  io  non  m'  appago  mai  delle  mie  fatiche,  ma  cerco 
Bempre  con  ogni  mia  industria  di  poUrle  et  di  aggiunger  loro  qualche 
cosa  ;  et  perche  disgratia  non  debb'  io  pid  che  a  tutte  le  altre  cose  del 
mondo  studiare  a  ben  servire  Y .  M**.  Perche  anzi  non  debV  io  come  faccio 
hauer  cio  per  solo  fine  proposto  alia  mia  uita  restante  rifructando  la 
seruitti  d'ogni  altro  Prencipe  per  seruir  lei  sola  ?  Qtial  pittore  antico  o 
modemo  si  puo  uantare  et  gloriar  piii  di  me  essendo  da  un  tal  Be  beni- 
gnamente  detto  et  dalla  mia  propria  uolont^  consacrata  a  seruirlo  ?  Io 
certo  me  ne  tengo  tanto  buono  et  do  ad  intendere  a  me  stesso  d'  esser  da 
tanto  che  oso  dire  non  hauer  inuidia  a  quel  feunoso  Apelle  cosi  caro  ad 
Aleasandro  Magno  et  dicolo  con  ragione  impero  che  s'  io  considero  alia 
dignity  del  signore  da  noi  seruito  non  so  vedere  qual  altro  sia  o  fosse 
mai  dopo  lui  piii  a  lui  simile  di  Y.  M.  in  tutte  quelle  parti  che  sono 
marauigliose  et  degne  di  lode  in  un  gran  principe  ;  quanto  poi  aUe  per- 
sone  Yostre  benche  nel  uero  il  mio  poco  ualore  non  sia  di  gran  lunga 
da  esser  paiagonato  alia  eccellenza  di  quel  singolare  huomo  a  me  basta 
pero  che  si  come  egli  fu  in  gratia  del  suo  re  cosi  io  parimente  mi  sento 
essere  in  quella  del  mio.  Percioche  V  authority  del  suo  benigno  gindicio 
congiunto  alia  magnanimitli  ueramente  Reale  che  usa  meco  di  continuo 
mi  fa  simile  et  forse  anco  da  piti  che  non  fn  Apelle  nella  opinione  degli 
huomini.  Onde  io  per  dimostrarmi  grato  a  Y.  M.  per  tutti  quei  modi  oh' 
io  posso  imaginarmi  le  mande  oitra  gli  altri  quadri  anchora  il  ritratto  di 
quella  che  e  patrona  assoluta  dell  anima  mia  et  che  ^  la  uestita  di  giallo 
della  quale  nel  uero  benche  sia  dipinta,  non  potrei  mandarlo  piii  cara 
et  pretiosa  cosa.  Ma  eccomi  testimonio  grande  della  humaniasima  et 
gentilissima  natura  di  Y.  M.  poi  che  ella  porge  ardire  a  me,  che  son 
riapeto  al  suo  alto  grado  cosi  bassa  persona  di  giuocar  con  lei  per  letere 
et  cio  basti  quanto  alle  pitture.  Scrissi  i  di  paasati  alia  M.  Y.  in 
materia  del  brutto  assassinamento  fatto  in  Milano  da  leone  Aretino  a 
mio  iigliuolo  Horatio  et  delle  mortal  ferite  dateli  supplicandola  a  farlo 
meritamente  castigare  secondo  il  costume  della  sua  giustitia.  Si  formo 
bene  processo  contra  lui  et  fii  usata  instanza  grandiasima  da  mio  figliuolo 
da  poi  che  fu  guarito  per  la  gratia  di  N.  S.  Dio  perche  fosse  spedito,  et 
per  cio  fu  nccessitato  anchora  a  spender  molti  delli  dauari  scossi  in 
Milano  dalla  cortesia  di  Y.  M'*  ma  quel  tristo  e  tanto  cauilloso  et  fauorito 
per  il  nome  che  spende  indegnumente  di  statuario  di  Y.  M.  et  per  il 
contrario  mio  figliuolo  mentre  fu  in  Milano  forestiero  et  poco  conosciuto 


APPENDIX.  517 


che  le  cose  si  sono  tirate  e  tirano  tuttauia  in  lungo  et  anderamio  fadl- 
mente  in  fumo  con  macchia  et  infamia  della  ginstitia  e  tanto  pid  qnanto 
mio  figliaolo  e  tomato  a  casa  ne  e  alcuno  in  Miiano  cbe  si  possa  oppoire 
alle  astutie  et  opere  et  fauori  di  quel  reo  huomo.  Per  la  qual  cosa  prego 
humiHsaunamente  et  affettuosissimaniente  la  M.  Y.  che  ci  d^;ni  far 
scriuere  a  qnell*  lUustiissimo  Senato  che  debba  espedire  un  caao  di  cosi 
mala  natura  com'  h  questo  con  qnella  esemplar  giustitia  che  si  conuiene, 
mostranda  che  ella  me  habbia  nel  numero  de  snoi  serai.  II  suddetto 
mio  figliaolo  Horatio  (che  me  lliauea  dimenticato)  le  manda  insieme 
con  11  miei  un  suo  quadretto  con  un  Christo  in  croce  da  lui  dipinto. 
Degnisi  y.  M.  d'  accettarlo  come  un  picciolo  testimonio  del  gran  desideiio 
ch'  ha  de  iniitar  suo  padre  nel  seruirla  et  farle  cosa  grata  et  a  lei  con 
tutta  la  inclination  del  cuor  mio  insieme  con  lui  raccomandandomi  le 
bascio  la  Reale  et  Catholica  mano. 

Di  YENE-nA,  a  xxvij  di  Settembre,  iCD.LVinj. 

Di  Yostra  Maest^  Catholica 

Humilissimo  et  diuotissimo  seruo, 

TiTIANO  YkCBLLIO. 


[Unpublished,]  Yenice,  1559. 

[Simancas,  S'**  de  Estado  Leg"  ^  245.] 

Garcia  Hernandez  to  P&ilip  the  Second. 
Minute  of  despatches  of  Sept  27  and  Oct  11, 1559. 

"  Que  hauia  remitido  a  Genoua  los  vidrios,  vedrieras  j  retratos  de 
Ticiano  conibrme  a  lo  que  Y.  M<^  le  embio  a  mandar." 

"  El  Ticiano  escribe  en  una  de  23  (22)  de  Setieml^  los  quadros  que 
le  embia  a  Y.  M*^  j  uno  de  mano  de  Horatio  suo  hijo  que  es  al  que 
leon  Aretino  hizo  dar  las  heridas,  y  supplica  a  Y.  M**  con  istancia  mande 
escriuir  con  la  misma  al  senado  que  le  hagan  justicia  confoime  a  la 
fealdad  del  delicto." 


[Unpvblished.]  Yenice,  1560. 

[Simancas,  Estado  Leg"  1336.] 

Titian  to  Philip  the  Second. 

Serenissiho  b  Cathouco  Be, — 
lo  mandai  molti  giomi  sono  a  Y.  M.  le  pitture  che  io  feci  di  suo 
ordine.  E  non  hauendo  insino  a  questo  di  inteso  cosa  alcuna,  sono 
indoto  a  dubitare  o  che  Y.  M.  non  le  habbia  hauute  ;  overo  che  piacinte 
non  le  siano,  la  qual  cosa  se  cosi  fosse  mi  sforzerei  riffaccendole  di  far  si 
che  Y.  M.  ne  rimanesse  sodisfata.    Stimo  che  di  gia  haura  inteso  la 


518  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

offesa  a  me  fatta  da  Leone  scultore  nella  persona  di  mio  figliuolo  il 
quale  mio  figlinolo  non  d  mancato  da  lui  di  leuar  di  uita  in  Milano 
senza  veruna  cagione  con  bmtto  assassinamento  insino  nella  propria 
casa.  La  cui  morte,  se  come  costui  didider6  e  cercava,  fosse  segoita 
senza  dabbio  ne  sarebbe  anche  seguita  quella  del  suo  seruitor  Titiano 
che  lo  ama  qiianto  padre  del  amar  figluolo  uirtuoso  e  giouene  buono  et 
innocente.  Que  in  contrario  Leone  e  conosciuto  persona  cattiua  e 
scandalosa  si  come  quello  che  per  le  sue  maluage  opere  in  Roma  fii 
condannato  a  perder  la  testa,  e  poi  per  gratia  fatagli  alia  galia :  e  sbandito 
per  monetario  di  Ferraia  e  di  Venetia  per  altre  ribalderie  simile  e  di 
altri  luoghi.  E  si  puo  atribuire  a  gran  uentura  che  Cesare  di  gloriofsa 
memoria  che  fu  piincipe  di  tanto  giudicio  gli  fece  fauor  di  riceuerlo  per 
scultore  il  quale  hauesse  a  rappresentar  la  sua  imagine  trouandosi  per  la 
Italia  dozzine  di  scultori  che  ne  sanno  piii  di  lui  ma  rendendomi  certo 
che  lagiustitia  di  Y.  M.  non  lascier^  impunito  un  delito  tale  quantunqae 
egli  si  confido  ne  i  fauori  di  molti  Prencipi  della  corte  di  V.  M.  a  tale 
che  gli  par  di  poter  commeter  qualunqiie  sceleratezza  senza  esser  punito, 
faro  qui  fine  baciando  humilmente  le  mani  a  Y.  M.  Catolica  che  Iddio 
la  esalti  e  prosperi  sempre. 

Di  Yenetia,  a  24  di  Marzo,  1560. 

Di  Y.  Catolici  Maest^ 

Humil  Seruitor. 

(Not  signed.) 


[UnpvhlishedJ]  Yenice,  1560. 

[Simancasy  Estado  Leg^"  1336.] 

Titian  to  Philip  the  Second. 

Inuitisbimo  e  Potentissimo  Re, — 
Sono  hoggi  mai  sette  mesi  che  io  mandai  a  Y.  M.  le  Pitture  che  mi 
furono  da  lei  ordinate  e  non  hauendo  insino  a  qui  hauuto  auiso  del 
ricapito  mi  sarebbe  singolar  gratia  a  intender  se  elle  sono  piaciute,  che 
quando  non  fossero  piaciute  al  perfetto  giudicio  di  Y.  M.  mi  afaticherei 
colriformame  di  nuoue,  di  emendare  il  passato  errore  e  quando  le  fossero 
piaciute  mi  porrei  con  migliore  animo  a  finir  la  fauola  di  Gioue  con 
Europa  e  la  historia  di  Christo  nell  'orto,  per  far  cosa  che  non  riuscisse 
del  tutto  indegna  di  si  gran  Re.  Le  cedule  delle  quali  Y.  M.  mi  fece 
gratia  per  i  danari  assegnati  a  mia  mercede  in  Genoua  Y.  M.  sara  ragua- 
gUata  che  non  hanno  hauto  effetto  onde  pare  che  ella  che  so  yincer 
potentissimi  e  superbi  nimici  con  Tinuitissimo  suo  ualore  non  sia  obedita 
da  suoi  ministri  in  guisa  che  io  non  ueggio  come  posso  sperar  di  ottener 
giamai  questi  danari  diputatemi  dalla  detta  sua  gratia.  Pero  humil- 
mente la  suplico  che  con  la  Sua  Regal  Maesta  uoglia  uincer  la  ostinata 
insolenza  di  costoro  o  commettendo  ch'  io  tosto  fossi  sodisfatto  da  loro  o 
uolgendo  a  Yenetia  o  done  piii  le  place  la  espedition  del  pagamento  in 


APPENDIX.  619 


modo  che  la  sua  liberality  producesse  nel  suo  humil  seruitore  il  frutto  da 
lei  ordinato.  Mi  astringe  anco  la  diaotion  mia  a  ricordarle  che  V.  M 
sia  seruita  di  commetter  che  siano  dipinte  a  memoiia  de  posteri  le 
gloriose  et  immortali  tdttorie  di  Cesare.  Delia  quali  io  diaidero  di 
essere  il  primo  a  fame  alcnna  per  segno  di  grato  animo  uerso  i  molti 
benefici  riceuuti  da  sua  MaesU  Cesarea  e  da  V.  M.  Catolica  onde  mi 
fiaia  singolar  fauore  che  eUa  mi  degni  di  farmi  intendere  il  lume, 
secondo  la  quality  e  condition  delle  sale  o  camere  nelle  quali  haura  a  esser 
riposta.  £t  in  buona  gratia  di  Y.  Catolica  Maest^  humilmente  mi 
raccomando. 

Di  VenIstia,  alU  22  di  Apnle,  mdlx. 

Di  y.  Catolica  Maesta 

Humil  Seruo. 

(Not  signed.) 


Date  of  Francesco  VectlWs  death. 

Cadore,  1560. 

Deed  of  May  21, 1560,  drawn  by  Toma  Tito  Vecelli,  and  signed  at 
Pieve  di  Cadore  before  Gio.  Alessandrini,  notary,  and  Giovanni  de  Lupi 
of  Yalvasono,  in  which  Orazio  Vecelli,  acting  for  his  father  on  the  one 
hand,  and  Lazaro  and  Dionisio  quondam  M.  Burei  of  Nebbiu  on  the 
other,  come  to  tenns  as  to  the  contested  ownership  of  land  sold  under 
conditions  of  re-purchase  by  the  late  (fu)  Francesco  VeceUL 

[The  deed,  of  which  the  foregoing  is  a  description,  is  on  parchment, 
and  was  transcribed  by  Dr.  Taddeo  Jacobi  of  Cadore.  It  shows  that 
Francesco  YecelU  was  at  this  time  dead,  and  it  so  far  confirms  the  notice 
of  his  death  conveyed  by  the  funeral  oration  of  Vincenzo  Vecelli, 
publicly  read  as  alleged  at  Cadore  in  1559.] 


{^Unpublished,']  Venice,  1661. 

[Simancaa,  Estado  Leg*  1336.] 

Titian  to  Philip  the  Second. 

Serenissimo  e  Catolico  Re, — 
Ho  inteso  per  lettere  del  Delfino  che  a  V.  M.  Catolica  sono  piacinte 
le  pitture  che  io  le  mandai  cio^  la  poesia  di  Diana  aUa  fonte,  la  fauola 
di  Callisto,  il  Chnsto  morto  e  i  Re  d'Oriente  di  che  ho  presso  quella 
contentezza  cho  si  ricerca  al  deaiderio  ch'  io  ho  di  servirla  riputando  a 
grandissima  felicita  che  le  cose  mie  piacciano  a  un  tanto  Re.  Hora 
ringratio  da  capo  V.  M.  de  i  due  mila  scudi  di  i  quali  gia  tre  anni  sono 
ella  mi  fece  gratia  commettendo  che  mi  fosser  pagati  in  Genoua  ancora 
che  la  sua  molta  liberality  uerso  me  non  habbia  hauuto  luogo  onde  il 
non  esser  V.  M.  stata  obedita  me  le  stato  cagione  di  non  piccioi  danno 


520  TITIAN:   HIS  LIPE  AND  TIMES. 

percioche  appoggiandomi  Bopra  la  speranza  di  quest!  danaii  compeni 
una  poaBessione  per  sostegno  di  me  e  di  miei  figliuoH  la  qual  mi  e  poi 
conuenuto  com  mio  gran  dispendio  uendeie  et  alienaie.  Supplioo 
adunque  humilmente  la  Y.  Altezza  che  poi  che  con  la  grandezza  del  suo 
liberale  animo  s'^  degnata  di  fanni  meic^  di  detti  due  mila  acudi  i  quali 
per  maluagiti  della  mia  fortuna  non  ho  potuto  hauere  sia  semita  di 
commettere  che  mi  siano  pagati  qui  in  Venetia.  £  per  inteiceditrice  di 
queato  ho  apparecchiato  una  pittuia  della  Maddalena  la  quale  la  si 
appresentara  innanzi  con  le  lagiime  in  su  gli  occhi  e  supplicheuole  per 
li  bisogni  del  suo  diuotissimo  seruo.  Ma  per  mandarle  questa,  aspetto 
da  y.  M.  esser  raguagliato  a  cui  debbo  conaegnare  accio  non  uadano  di 
male  come  e  auenuto  del  Cnsto  in  tahto  apparechiero  il  Christo  nel  V 
horto  la  poesia  della  Euiopa  e  le  prego  quella  felicita  che  merita  la  sua 
real  corona.  ^ 

Di  Venetia  a  2  di  Apxile  mdlzi. 

Di  v.  Catholic  Maesti 

Humil  Seruo, 

On  the  bottom  of  the  sheet  is  the  following  memorandum  in  Philip 
the  Second's  hand : 

^  Paie$ome  que  he  ordenado  ya  esto  7  se  ha  eacrito  ai  paaen  a  eraao  y 
acordadme  lo  que  aqui  dice." 


[Unpubli$hed.]  Venice,  1561. 

[Simancas,  Estado  Leg^  1336.] 

Titian  to  Philip  the  Second. 

Inuitibsimo  Catholico  Be, — 
Poi  che  merce  della  singular  benignity  della  M.  V.  ho  par  al  fine 
riscosso  il  pagamento  delli  danari  di  Genoa  hora  uengo  con  questa  ad 
inchinannele  humilmente  e  renderle  quelle  giatie  che  da  me  si  ponno 
maggiori  e  poi  che  (per)  quello  io  sono  in  parte  sgrauato  di  alcuni  miei 
trauagli,  spero  di  poter  spendere  piii  quietamente  e  laigamento  il  zeato 
del  uiuer  mio  in  semitio  di  V.  M.  mio  solo  signore,  al  quale  io  mi  aento 
devotissimo  et  obUgatissimo  insieme.  Vero  k  ch*  io  ho  hauuto  di  tal 
pagamento  dugento  ducati  manco  di  quello  che  la  M.  V.  haueua 
ordinate  per  le  prima  sue  cedule  non  essendo  speciticato  nell'  ultima 
che  mi  si  douesse  pagar  tal  danaro  in  tanti  scudi  d'oro  donde  h 
auuenuto  che  ho  hauuto  a  ragion  di  dncatL  Pero  se  coai  piacease  all* 
sua  dementia  di  far  dechiarire  questo  io  haurei  il  supplemento  che  mi 
flarebbe  di  non  picciolo  giouamento.  Io  sto  in  aspettando  che  la  M  Y. 
anchora  mi  mande  a  commettere  a  cui  debba  consignare  il  quadro  della 
S**  Maria  Maddalena  il  quale  gia  molti  giomi  le  ha  promesso  et  fomito 
in  modo  che  se  la  M.  V.  si  h  mai  compiaduta  d'  alcuna  delle  opere  mie 


APPENDIX.  621 


di  qnesta  non  si  compiacerii  meno.  Quella  potia  dimque  mandar  a 
8IL0  piacere  persona  fidata  acciocche  egli  non  si  smamsca  como  ho  inteeo 
ehe  k  auuennto  del  Christo  morto  et  de  altri  quadri  gia  mold  di  sono. 
In  tanto  andr6  riducendo  a  compimento  il  ChriBto  nell  horto,  rEniopa 
et  altie  pittuie  clie  ho  gia  disegnato  di  fare  per  Y.  M.  alia  quale  humil- 
mente  offeiendo  e  raccomandandomi  bacio  la  Reale  e  Catholica  mano. 

Di  Yenbtia  alii  17  d'  Agosto,  mdlxi. 

Hnmil  Seruo, 

TiTiAKO  Yecbluo. 

[The  following  memo,  is  on  a  slip  attached  to  the  above]. 

Lo  que  dize  Ti$iano  en  una  carta  de  zvii  de  Agosto,  1561. 

l'^.  Supplica  a  Y.  M<*  mande  que  le  sean  pagados  dozientos  escudos 
que  se  le  que  dan  deuiendo  de  los  dos  mill  eecudoa  que  Y.  M**  le  mando 
pagar  in  Qenoua  que  se  le  descontaron  per  no  dezir  en  la  cedula  scudos 
de  oro  in  oro. 

2^  Que  a  quien  manda  Y.  M.  que  entregue  la  Magdalena  que  esta 
acabada  para  que  benga  a  buen  recaudo. 

3*>.  Que  queda  haziendo  otros  quadros  que  contentaran  mucho  a  Y.  M**. 

[On  the  margin  in  the  kill's  hand]. 

1^  Yo  mandare  darlos  aqui  que  sera  de  menos  embara^o,  y  se  lo  haveis 
embiar. 

2°.  Entreguela  a  garci  hemandez  y  al  se  escriba  que  me  la  embia  a 
buen  recado  y  que  me  embie  de  aqueUas  vidrieras  que  embio  los  otros 
dias  otras  tantas  cajas  y  de  la  misma  manera  no  se  me  acuerda  que 
orden  se  tubo  en  la  paga  dellos  para  que  la  nusma  se  tenga  agora  y 
escreuilde  vos  que  os  ainse  de  lo  que  cuestan  particularmente  porque 
quiero  ver  quanto  mas  es  que  las  de  aca. 

3^  A  Ticiano  que  de  priesa  a  estos  cuadros  que  dice  y  los  ^itcegue 
tambien  al  secretario  y  que  sembien  a  muy  buen  Recado  y  embiesele 
carta  para  que  desde  Genoua  los  embien  al  mismo  Becado. 


[Unpubli^ied.]  Madrid,  1561. 

[Jacobi  MS.] 

Philip  the  Second  to  Titian. 

Don  Philippe  per  la  grada  de  Dios  Rey  de  Espafia,  etc  Amado 
nuestro.  Holgamos  de  entender  por  vuestra  carta  de  zvii  de  Agosto  que 
tenniesedes  ya  acabado  el  quadro  de  la  Magdalena,  y  que  vos  estime  esse 
del  tan  satisfecho  del  como  dezis,  porque  desta  manera  tenemos  por 
cierto  que  deve  estar  en  toda  perfection,  y  porque  sendo  tal  quetriamos 
mucho  tenerle  aca  con  brevedad,  y  bien  travado,  osemcargamos  que  vos 
de  Yuestra  mano  lo  adreseis,  y  pongeis  de  manera,  que  no  se  pueda 
danar  en  el  camino,  y  que  lo  ensegnalB  al  secretario  Garci  Hemandez  mi 
criado,  que  ay  reside,  que  yo  le  ombis  a  mandar  y  me  lo  encamine  a 


522  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

lecaudo,  y  al  mismo  envegareislos  otros  quadros  de  Christo  e  nel  haeitOy 
y  la  Europa,  y  los  Irmas,  como  los  fueredes  acabando  porque  el  tambien 
me  los  vaga  ombiando,  y  reciboie  mucho  plazer,  y  servicio,  en  quo  os  dei« 
en  ellos  toda  la  mayor  prissa  que  sen  pudiere. 

He  visto  lo  que  desis,  que  por  nos  essere  specificado  eseudos  de  oro 
en  la  cedula  de  los  dos  mill  que  os  mande  librar  en  Genova  seos  dieron 
doziento  menos  y  porque  mi  volontad  fiie,  y  es  que  se  os  paguen  enter* 
amente  los  dichos  dos  mill  eseudos  mandave  que  a  qui  seos  den  luego 
los  dicos  dozientos,  que  faltaron  parag". 

Seos  lemitan  de  Madrid  a  xxii  de  Octubre^  1565  [156  Ij. 

A  Tergo,    A  su  mag.  Ticiano. 


[  Unpublished.]  1561,  Venice. 

[Simancas,  S'**  de  Estado  Leg-  1324,  f»  10.]  J  I  lA^ 

Garcia  Hernandez  to  Philip  the  Second. 
S.  C.  R.  M.,— 

Luego  que  recebi  la  letra  de  Y.  M'  de  zxij  del  passado  di  la  suya  a 
Ti9iano  con  que  holgo  infinito,  el  quadro  de  la  Magdalena  aunque 
escrivio  que  estaua  acabado,  todauia  labra  en  el,  en  dandomelo  que  seia 
dentro  de  ocho  dias  lo  embiare  al  Marques  de  Pescara  con  la  letra  de 
y .  M**  que  me  paresce  el  mas  gierto  y  breue  camino  encaigandolo  muy  de 
yeras  a  algun  correo  como  es  de  creer  que  lo  bara,  dizen  los  que  se 
entienden  del  ques  la  major  cosa  que  ha  liecbo  Tigiano  en  los  otros  dos 
quadros  trabaja  poco  a  poco  como  bombre  que  pasa  de  ocbentos  anos, 
duse  que  para  hebrero  los  terria  in  orden  y  que  los  embiara  a  Y.  M'  con 
el  Ambaxador  Yene^iano  que  ha  de  partir  entonces,  yo  lo  solicitare 
perche  no  se  pierda  tan  buena  occasion.  Y.  Mag**  sera  seruido  mandar 
que  se  le  paguen  400  V**'  <iue  ha  de  auer  del  eutretenimiento  que  Y.  M' 
le  haze  merced  de  dos  anos  passados  que  como  viejo  es  un  poco  codidoso 
y  con  ello  tenia  mas  cuidado,  cayas  tiene  el  cargo  y  recaudo  para  los 
cobrar  del  Tesoro. 

Las  yedrieras  de  cristal  se  estan  haziendo  y  se  acabaran  al  fin  deste 
mes  y  luego  las  embiare  a  Genoua  al  Embaxador  Figueroa  con  la  letra  de 
Y.  M**  yran  en  dos  caxas  con  otra  de  vasos  de  vidrio  para  beuer  vino  y 
por  beuer  agua  y  le  escreuire  y  solicitare  hasta  que  se  hayan  embarcado 
porque  las  otras  con  los  quadros  estuuieron  alii  un  ano  y  de  loque 
costaren  con  lo  demas  que  gastado  en  seruido  de  Y.  Mag'  embiare  la 
quenta,  cuya  S.  C.  R.  persona  y  estado  guarde  y  prospere  nuestro  senor 
per  largos  tempos  con  acrecentemiento  de  mas  Reynos  y  seiiorios. 

De  Yeneqia,  xx  de  Nouiembre,  1561. 

S.  C.  R.  VL^ 
Criado  de  Y.  M*^  que  sus  reales  pies  y  manos  besa, 

Garcia  Hernandez. 


APPENDIX.  623 


[Unpublished,']  Venice,  1561. 

[SimancaSy  Estado  Leg**  1336.] 

Titian  to  Philip  the  Secjond. 
J..  C  xt.j— ~ 
Sogliono  tutti  i  sudditi  e  fedeli  seruitori  d'  alcun  prencipe  dar  a  certo 
tempo  alcaiia  cosa  al  loro  signore  e  testimonio  della  loro  fedelta  ogni 
anno  continuamente  ;  pero  anch'  io  in  queste  giomi  che  si  suol  dar  la 
nianza  altnii  in  segno  dell'  affettione  che  ai  porta  alia  persona  a  cui  si 
dona,  hora  che  ho  fomito  il  quadio  della  S^  M.  Maddalena  lo  mando  alia 
M.  y.  eome  cosa  della  quale  maggiore  non  puo  uscire  dalle  mie  picciole 
forze  conaignatolo  al  Secretario  Garzia  Hernando,  si  come  ella  mi  ha 
commesso  per  sue  lettere.  La  M.  Y.  d  degnera  dunque  di  accettarlo  e 
goderlo  per  favorire  il  auo  fidelissimo  seruitor  Titiano  come  una  arra 
della  deuotion  mia  uerso  lei,  della  qual  deuotione  ella  contempler& 
r  esempio  da  quella  che  espressa  nel  uolto  di  questa  santa  uerso  Dio  et 
cosi  le  potra  esser  una  uiua  memoria  dinanzi  a  gli  occhi  catholic!  e 
benign!  del  buono  affetto  mio  mentre  andro  riducendo  a  compimento 
r  aitre  pitture  che  gia  sono  in  bnon  termine  con  quell'  amore  e  caldezza 
d'  animo,  la  quale  ha  fatto  destinare  tutta  la  mia  uita  al  seruitio  suo.  Et 
alia  buona  gratia,  &c. 

Di  Vemetia,  il  primo  giomo  di  Dicembre,  1561. 

Di  V.  M.  C. 

Humilissimo,  &c 

Titiano  Vecellio. 


[Unpublished,']  Venice*,  1561. 

[Simancas,  S'**  de  Estado  Leg"  1324.] 

Garcia  Hernandez  to  Philip  the  Second. 

El  quadro  de  la  Madalena  me  dio  Ticiano  j  lo  embio  al  Marques  de 
Pescara  con  la  letra  de  V.  Mag^  es  de  creer  que  le  mandara  da  buen 
recaudo.  Las  vedrieras  iran  a  Genoua  con  la  primera  conduta  que  ya 
estan  en  orden  y  son  muy  buenas. 

De  VENE91A,  xij  de  Diciembre,  1561. 

Nuestro  Senor,  &c. 

Garcia  Hernandez. 


Same  to  the  Same. 

Venice,  1562. 

[Simancas,  S'»*  de  Estado  Leg*  1324,  f>  169.] 

Ticiano  acabara  presto  otro  quadro  pequeno  que  haze  para  V.  M*  el 
qual  embiare  al  maestro  de  postas  de  Milan  por  donde  yra  mas  seguro  y 


524  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

breuemente  y  le  screuire  que  lo  hago  por  mandado  de  Y.  Mag^  y  que  lo 
encamine  con  el  primer  correo  que  de  alii  se  despadiare. 

De  Veneqia,  z  de  Abri]^  1562, 

Nuestro  Senor,  &c, 

Garcia  Hebnahdbz. 


lUnpibluhed,']  Veniee,  1568. 

[Simancas,  Estado  V^  1336.] 

Titian  to  Philip  the  Sbcond. 

Serenissimo  e  Catholico  be, — 
Ho  finalmente  con  Taiuto  della  diuina  hontk  condotto  a  fine  le  due 
pittme  ch'  io  cominciai  per  la  Catholica  M*  V.  Tuna  h  il  Christo  che  ora 
nell'  orto  Taltra  la  poesia  di  Europa  portata  dal  Toro  le  quali  io  le 
mando.  E  poaso  dire  che  elle  siano  il  sogello  delle  molte  altre  che  da 
lei  me  fuiono  ordinate  e  che  in  piu  uolte  le  mandai.  E  benche  quanto 
all'  ordine  che  dalla  V.  Catholica  M*  mi  fu  imposto  non  mi  resto  a  hi 
altro;  e  che  io  mi  sia  deliberato  per  la  mia  uecchia  eti  di  lipoear 
quelli  anni,  che  daUa  M*  di  Dio  mi  saranno  concednti,  nondimeno  ha- 
uendo  dedicato  quello  ingegno  ch*  d  in  me  a  seruigi  di  V.  M*  quando  io 
conosco  come  spero  che  queste  mie  fatiche  all'  ottimo  suo  giuditio  siano 
grati,  porr6  similmente  tutto  lo  spatio  della  uita  che  mi  auanza  in  far 
molto  spesso  alia  Y.  M*  Catholica  riverenza  con  qualche  mia  nuoua  pit- 
tura  aifaticandomi  che  1'  mio  penello  le  apporti  a  queUa  sodiafattione  ch' 
io  desidero  e  che  merita  la  grandezza  di  si  alto  Re  e  faro  tanto  che 
Y.  M*  mi  comandi,  andro  facendo  una  imagine  di  nostra  signora  col 
bambino  in  braccio  sperando  di  adoperarmini  in  guisa  che  quella  non 
piacerii  meno  delle  altre  pittore  e  nella  buona  gratia  di  Y.  M*  humil- 
mente,  &c., 

Di  Ybnetia,  a  xxvi  di  Aprile,  mdlxij. 

Deuotissimo  humil  seruo, 

TiTIANO. 


[Unpublished,]  Yenice,  1562. 

Titian  to  Yecello  Ybcelli  of  Cadore. 

....  P.S. — Horatio  vi  manda  il  yostro  quadretto  d*  Adonis,  il  quale 
b  bellissimo,  e  lo  godrete  per  fino  che  si  attende  a  fomir  1' altro  di  nostra 
donna. 

Alii  comandi  vostri 

Tiziano  Ybcblll 
Di  Yenezia,  24  Maggio,  1562. 

[Copied  from  the  original  in  possession  of  the  late  Dr.  Taddeo  Jacobi 
of  Cadore.] 


APPENDIX.  526 


[  Unpublished.]  Venice,  156a 

[Simancas,  Estado  L^  1336.] 

Titian  to  Philip  the  Second. 

V 

iNUmSSIMO  ET  P0TENTI8SIM0  Re, — 

Dopo  molti  mesi  ch'  io  non  ho  fatto  hmnil  liuerenza  alia  M'  Y . 
eccetto  che  con  1'  animo  come  faccio  continuamente,  hora  son  uenuto  a 
farlo  con  queste  letere,  spinto  dalla  infinita  allegrezza  ch'  io  sento  della 
sua  gloiiosa  vittoria  la  quale  nostro  signor  degni  per  sua  bontil  di 
crescer  maggiormente  di  giomo  in  giomo  a  gloria  del  mio  gran  Re  et  ad  / 
utile  di  Chrlstianita  ;  et  per  montrar  alia  M.  Y.  quanta  sia  la  mia  deuo-  / 
tione  uerso  di  lei  et  quanto  di  continuo  desidero  et  mi  afiatico  di  piacerle 
seruendola  comunque  io  posso,  le  faccio  insiememente  intendere  che 
quantanque  non  mi  reste  pid  a  fiBT  cosa  alcuna  di  quelle  che  ella  gia  si 
degno  di  comandarmi  nondimeno  son  per  ridurre  a  compimento  fra 
pochi  giomi  un  quadro  di  pittura  gia  sei  anni  da  me  incominciato  con 
intentione  che  Y.  M.  Catholica  dopo  molte  pitture  di  fauulosa  inventione 
godesse  di  mia  mano  una  materia  historica  di  deuotione  per  omamento 
de  alcuna  sua  sala,  et  questa  d  una  cena  di  nostro  signore  con  li  dodici 
apoetoli  di  larghezza  di  braccia  sette  et  de  altezza  di  quatro  et  piti ; 
opera  forse  delle  piu  faticosse  et  importanti  ch'  io  habbia  fatto  per  Y. 
M.y  la  quale  quanto  prima  sari  fomita  le  inuiaro  per  quei  mezi  che  le 
piaceri  di  commettermi.  In  tanto  supplico  humilmente  la  M.  Y.  per  la 
sua  alta  pieti  che  auauti  ch'  io  mora  ella  mi  faccia  gracia  di  sentir 
qualche  consolatione  e  frutto  di  quella  tratta  di  formenti  di  Napoli  gii 
tanto  tempo  concessami  dalla  gloriosa  memoria  di  Cesare  suo  genitore  ; 
et  oltra  di  questo  di  alcuna  pensione  che  a  lei  piacesse  per  dar  effetto  a 
quella  naturalezza  di  Spagna  che  gia  mi  f u  donata  nella  persona  di  mio 
figliuolo  degnandosi  anchora  d'  esser  seruita  che  per  alcuna  sua  efficace  et 
ualida  cedula  indrizzata  al  Duca  di  Sessa  io  possa  riscuoter  le  mie  ordi- 
narie  promsioni  dalla  camera  di  Melano,  le  quali  mi  rest&uo  di  gia  piii 
di  quatro  anni  ch'  io  non  ho  scosso  pur  un  quatiino  acciocch^  con 
qualche  opportuno  tratenimento  io  possa  sostentarmi  in  questa  mia 
ultima  uecchiaia  mentre  io  mi  sforzo  con  uiuer  lietamente  di  prolungar  i 
termini  della  morte  solamente  per  poter  seruir  il  mio  gran  signore,  alia 
cui  &&, 

Di  Yenetia,  il  xxviij  giomo  di  lugHo,  mdlxiij. 

Di  Y.  M.  Catholica 

Deuotissimo  humil  seruo, 
Titiano  Yecellio,  pittor. 


526  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 


lUnpMuhed,']  Venice,  1663. 

[Simancas,  S'**  de  Estado  Leg*  1324,  f»  193.] 

Oarda  Hernandez  in  account  vnth  the  Spanish  Government, 

Oaenta  de  lo  que  costaron  loe  yidrios  j  vedrieras  j  colores  que  ha 
embiado  Qarda  Hernandez  a  su  Ma''. 

(Incloeare  in  despatch  of  G.  H.  to  Philip  the  Second,  dated  Venice, 
Oct  1, 1563.) 

Lo  que  se  ha  gastado  en  Veneyia  en  los  vidrios  j  vedrieiaa 
que  Garcia  Hernandez  ha  embiado  a  bu  Mag^  y  por 
BU  mandado  es  lo  siguiente  : 

En  y  de  Octubie  de  1559  embie  a  Genoua  quatro  caxas 
de  yasos  de  vidrio  para  bever  agua  7  para  beuer  yino 
7  dos  de  yediieias  de  christal  lustradas  para  yentanaa 
costaron  las  yedrieras  que  fueron  450  piezas  ciento  7 
uno  que  suman 320  V***^ 

Costaron  las  caxas  7  ponerlas  en  orden  con  el  da^io  quinze 

escudos  xy  V** 

Gastaronze  en  Ueuar  estas  caxas  a  Genoua  con  otros  dos 
y^  en  que  fueron  los  quadros  de  Christo  en  el  sepulchro 

7  Diana  7  Calisto  que  embio  Ti^iano  a  su  Mag'  yeinte 
7  cinco  escudos  7  quinze  que  di  a  un  hombre  que 
Ueuo  cargo  dellas  7  consinarlas  al  embaxador 
Figueroa  e  que  se  detuno  un  mes,  7  cinco  escudos  que 
pague  a  Tigiano  que  gaste  en  poner  en  orden  los 
quadros  suman  quarenta  7  cinco  escudos.    .        .        .  xly  V^ 

En  piimero  de  Agosto  de  1560  pague  a  Ticiano  tres 
escudos  que  gasto  en  poner  en  orden  el  quadro  de  los 
tres  re7es  que  embie  a  su  M'  con  los  embaxadores 
yene^ianos  ........  Uj     99 

En  zy  de  Diciembre  del  dicho  ailof  pague  a  Ticiano  dos 
escudos  q^ie  gasto  en  poner  en  orden  el  quadro  de  la 
Magdalena  que  embie  por  uia  del  Marques  de 
Pescara  per  orden  de  su  M<* ij 

En  zy  de  Septiembre  de  1561  pague  por  doe  on^  de 
azul  ultramarino  7  otros  colores  que  compro  Ticiano 
por  mandado  de  su  M''  treinta  7  ocho  escudos    .        .     [blank.] 

En  xy  de  hebrero  de  1562  compre  450  piezas  de 
yedrieras  lustradas  por  mandado  de  su  M''  costaron 
ciento  7  noyenta  7  seis  escudos cxcyj 

Pague  por  las  caxas  7  caxetas  en  que  fueron  algodon, 

dagio  7  otras  cosas  trece  esc*. xiij 


» 


ff 


n 


*  Eficudofl. 

t  This  date  is  wrong.     It  is  clear  from  the  correspondence  that  the  Magdalen 
was  sent  to  Spain  in  1561. 


APPENDIX.  527 


Pagne  a  nn  hombre  que  las  lleuo  a  Genoua  con  los 
cuadios  de  Chiisto  en  la  oracion  y  la  Europa  que 
Ti^iano  embio  a  su  Mag'  veinte  y  9inco  escudos  y 
cinco  que  se  gafitaron  en  poner  en  orden  los  dichos 
quadros  suman xxx  V* 

En  XX  de  Mar90  de  1563  compre  seis  centas  pie9as  de 
yidrieias  de  chiistal  lustiadas  j  una  caxa  de  vasos  de 
vidrio  paia  beuer  agua  j  para  beuer  vino  costo  todo 
con  da9io  caxas  y  conduta  hasta  Qenoua  trezientos  e 
dezisiete  escudos  y  medio cccxvijl  „ 

Que  snma  todo  nueve^ientos  y  setenti  y  nueve  escudos  y 

medio  de  oro Dcccclxxix^  „ 


Qarcia  Hebnandez. 


lUnpubluhed.]  Venice,  1563. 

[Simancas,  Estado  Leg^  1336.] 

Titian  to  Philip  the  Second. 

POTENTIBSIMO  ET  InUITTIBSIMO  ChaTOLICO  Re,  &C., — 

Non  hauendo  gia  molte  e  molte  man  di  lettere  mandate  insieme  con 
le  pittuie  a  V.  M.  hauuto  mai  da  lei  risposta  alcuna,  io  temo  grande- 
mente  che  o  le  pitture  mie  non  le  siano  state  di  sodisfattione  o  che  '1  suo 
seruo  Titiano  non  le  sia  piu  in  gratia  come  gli  pareua  di  esser  prima. 
Pero  mi  sarebbe  oltra  modo  caro  di  esser  certo  o  dell'  una  cosa  o  dell' 
altra  perche  sapendo  le  intentione  del  mio  gran  Re  mi  sforzarei  di  far  si 
che  per  auentura  cessarebbe  ogni  cagione  delle  mie  doglianze  dunque  le 
infinita  benignitji  di  V.  M.  si  degni  de  esser  seruita  ch'  io  resti  consolato 
al  meno  di  ueder  il  suo  sigiUo  se  non  sue  letere  che  le  gitiro  per  la  deuo- 
tione  mia  uerso  di  lei  che  se  queste  fia  saik  possente  a  giunger  diece  anni 
di  piu  a  questa  mia  ultima  etk  per  seruir  la  M.  del  mio  Catholico  Signore 
oltra  che  questo  sarit  un  eccitamento  a  mandarle  con  piu  lieto  e  sicuro 
animo  la  cena  di  Christo  con  gli  apostoli  della  quale  altre  uolte  le  ho 
scritto.  Questa  pittura  e  un  quadro  lungo  braccia  otto  et  alto  cinque  et  di 
corte  B&ik  fomita.  Pero  la  M.  V.  si  degnara  similmente  di  esser  eeruita  ch' 
io  sappia  a  cui  douerlo  consignare  accioche  la  materia  di  questa  deuotione 
possa  esser  a  Y.  M.  un  testimonio  della  mia  uerso  di  lei.  Et  perche  delle 
ante  altre  mie  pitture  mandate  fin  hora  a  Y.  M.  non  ho  hauuto  mai  pur 
un  minimo  danaro  in  pagamento  io  non  ricerco  altro  dalla  sua  singolar 
benignita  e  dementia  se  non  che  al  meno  mi  sieno  pagate  le  mie  pro- 
uisioni  ordinarie  dalla  camera  di  Milano  per  comandamento  di  Y.  M.  di 
quella  maniera  che  la  sua  benignity  sa  imponere  quando  uuol  souuenir 
cfficacemente  i  suoi  deuotissjmi  seruitori.     Della  qual  cosa  supplicando 


528  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

humilmente  Y .  M.  Catholica  et  dedicandole  il  resto  di  questa  mia  ultima 
uecchiezza  in  suo  seruitio  mi  raccomando  in  sua  buona  gratia. 

Di  Yenbtia,  il  6  giomo  di  Dicembre  del  mdlziij. 

Di  Y.  M.  Catholica 
Humil  senio, 

TiTIANO  YECELLIO. 


[Unpublished,]  Barcelona^  1564. 

[SimancaB,  S*^  de  Estado  Leg»  1325.] 

Pmiip  THE  Second  to  Qabcia  Heritakdez. 

(Minute.) 

Barcelona^  Maich  8, 1564. 

A  Ti^iano  respondo  a  dos  cartas  que  me  ha  escripto  lo  que  yereis  que 
sera  bien  que  vos  Be  lo  declareis  porque  lo  entienda  mejor  (sobre  loque  a 
el  le  toca  eecriuo  a  Milan  j  a  Napoles  tan  encarescidamente  que  tengo 
por  9ierto  se  cumplira  lo  que  alll  ha  de  hauer  y  assi  se  lo  podeis  dezir  j 
con  esta  yran  las  cartas)  que  vos  le  ayudareis  a  encaminallas  j  70  por 
aca  escriuire  lo  miamo  encargando  el  cumplimiento  dello. 

Y  porque  el  me  escriue  que  tiene  acabada  vna  piutura  de  la  cena  de 
Christo  nuestro  senor  de  vna  grandeza  que  deue  *  cosa  rara  7  siendo  de 
su  mano  7  que  70  le  auise  como  me  la  ha  de  embiar  le  scriuo  que  dan- 
doosla  a  yob  me  la  encaminareis  70  os  encargo  macho  que  vos  la  recibaiB 
del  como  os  la  diere  empacada  7  de  manera  que  no  pueda  recibir  dano 
la  embieis  4  Genoua  a  mi  Embaxador  para  que  desde  alii  me  la  encamine 
con  las  galeras  6  en  algun  nauio  que  venga  a  alicaleo  cartagena  que  en 
ello  me  seruireis. 


[Unpublished,']  Barcelona,  1564. 

[Simancas,  Estado  Leg**  1336.] 

Philip  the  Second  to  Titian. 

(Minute,) 
A  Ticiano.  Barcelona,  March  8,  1564. 

Don  Phelippe,  &c., 

Ahado  nuestro, — Dob  cartas  vuestraB  he  recibido  la  postrera  de  vj  de 
deziembre  la  qual  no  ha  sino  quatro  0  cinco  dias  que  llego  7  he  holgado 
con  ella  mucho  por  saber  que  teneis  salud  7  que  siempre  atendeis  a 
hazer  coBas  que  me  den  contentamiento  como  lo  sera  la  pintura  de  la 
cena  de  Christo  7  en  tal  grandeza  7  perfigion  como  sera  de  yuestra  mano 
7  assi  08  tengo  en  6erui9io  lo  que  en  esto  haueis  trabajado  que  70  teme 
dello  la  memoria  que  es  razon  la  pintura  podreis  dar  a  gargi  hemandez 


*  So  in  the  originaL 


APPENDED  629 


muj  bien  enordea  7  paestade  manera  que  no  reciba  dano  en  el  camino) 
en  lo  que  toca  a  vuestras  cosas  escribo  a  napoles  y  milan  como  os  diia 
gar$i  faemandez  y  me  pesa  que  no  se  cumpla  con  vos  como  es  razon 
peio  70  lo  mandare  de  manera  que  no  aya  falta  que  en  esto  y  en  todo 
conoecereis  siempie  la  voluntad  que  os  tengo. 

De  Barcelona. 


[  Unpublished.]  Baicelona,  1564. 

[Simancas,  Estado  Leg*  1336.] 

Philip  the  Second  to  the  Yicbbot  of  Naples. 

Al  Visoret  de  Napoles, — 
Auiendo  entendido  que  no  se  cumple  bien  a  Ticiano  Vecellio  Pintor 
Yeneciano  yna  trata  de  giano  de  que  el  Emperador  mi  senor  y  padre 
que  esta  en  gloria  le  hizo  mer9eo  en  esse  Reyno  muchoz  anos  ha  y  desse- 
ando  yo  que  en  esto  no  aya  falta  assi  porque  se  cumpla  la  voluntad  de 
8U  mag^  como  es  razon  como  por  la  que  el  temo  y  yo  tengo  a  Ticiano 
por  los  agradables  serui^ios  que  nos  ha  hecho  y  nos  haze  os  lo  auemos 
que  yido  dar  a  entender  por  esta  y  encargaroz  y  mandaros  que 
luego  que  se  os  de  veais  la  patente  0  cedula  que  el  dicho  Ticiano 
tiene  de  su  Mag**  que  aya  santa  gloria  y  proveais  y  dels  tal  orden  en  la 
execucion  y  cumplimiento  della  assi  de  lo  passado  como  en  lo  poruenir 
que  el  tenga  causa  de  quedar  contento  y  que  no  sea  menester  scriuiros  yo 
otra  yez  sobrello  (porque  demas  de  ser  esta  mi  uoluntad  me  hareis  en  ello 
muy  a^cepto  seruicio  y  como  tal  os  lo  escriuo  tambien  en  otra  carta  de 
negocios  de  la  data  desta  como  nereis)  la  qual  restara  al  presentante. 

Datum  en  Barcelosta  a  viij^^  de  Mar^o,  1564. 


[Unpuhlithed.]  Barcelona,  1564, 

[Simancas,  Estado  Leg*  1336.] 

Philip  the  Second  to  the  Duke  of  Sessa. 

Al  Qouebnador  de  Milan, — 
Ya  deueis  saber  como  Ticiano  Yecellio  Pintor  Yene9iano  tiene 
^iexta  prouision  ordinaria  consignada  en  essa  nuestra  camara  y  porque  el 
no6  ha  hecho  y  haze  tan  agradables  eeruicios  que  holgaria  yo  mucho  que 
le  fuese  mejor  pagado  que  hasta  aqui  pues  segun  he  entendido  se  le 
deuen  mas  de  quatro  anos  que  por  mucho  que  lo  ha  instado  y  procnrado 
no  los  ha  podido  cobrar  segun  entiendo  os  he  querido  esciiuir  esta  para 
encargaios  y  mandaros  que  luego  que  la  recibais  veais  el  priuilegio  o 
cedula  que  el  dicho  Ticiano  tiene  de  la  dicha  su  prouision  y  aveiignado 
lo  que  en  yirtud  de  ella  se  le  deue  de  lo  conido  deis  tal  orden  que  con 
effecto  se  le  pague  todo  aquello  a  el  o  a  su  piocurador  sin  que  en  ello 
aya  falta  ni  dilation  de  qualesquier  dineros  desa  nuestra  camara  ordi- 

yol.  n.  M  M 


630  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

narios  o  extraordinarios  yen  Mta  de  ellos  de  algnn  otro  expediente  de 
que  a  vob  alia  os  parerea  que  se  podra  mejor  cumplir  y  con  mas  breue- 
dad  lo  que  aasi  huuiere  de  auer  el  dicho  Ti9iano  j  para  lo  porvenir 
dareia  assi  mismo  tal  orden  que  a  bus  tiempos  7  tandas  del  ano  se  le  dea 
SUB  pagas  siu  que  se  le  alarguen  ni  sea  menester  que  yo  os  esciiua  mas 
sobre  ello  que  esta  es  mi  voluntad  7  de  que  sere  mu7  seruido.  Datum  &c. 

Babcelona,  a  8  de  Mar90  de  1564. 


[Unpublished,]  Veqice,  1564 

[Simancas,  S'**  de  Estado  Leg«  1325.] 

Gabcia  Hernandez  to  Philip  the  Second. 

S.  C.  R  M.,— 

A  Tigiano  di  el  despacbo  que  vino  con  la  carta  que  Y.  Mag^  mando 
Bcriuirme  en  viij®  del  pasado  que  lo  estimo  en  lo  que  es  razon,  lo  de 
Napolea  es  cosa  vieja  7  no  se  acuerda,  como  estan  viejo,  donde  tiene  los 
recaudos  de  la  merced  que  el  Emperador  de  gloriosa  memoria  le  hizo 
en  hallandose  le  dire  lo  que  ha  de  hazer  7  en  esto  7  en  lo  demas  le  ayudan 
7  encaminare  como  Y.  Mag^  me  manda,  el  se  contentana  por  agora 
conque  se  le  pagase  lo  que  ha  de  hauer  en  Milan  a  lo  qual  embiara 
persona  propria  tambien  suplica  a  Y.  Mag**  sea  seruido  mandar  que  se 
ie  pague  lo  que  ha  de  hauer  en  essa  corte  del  entretenimiento  que  Y, 
Mag*^  le  haze  merged  en  cada  vn  ano. 

El  quadro  que  haze  para  Y.  Mag^  de  christo  nuestro  senor  en  la  cena 
es  mu7  grande  7  no  esta  acabado  como  el  escriuio  dize  que  trauajaia  de 
tenerlo  en  perfection  por  todo  ma70  7  70  lo  soligito  7  solicitare  cada  dia 
hasta  que  lo  acabe  7  en  estando  en  orden  bien  empacado  como  conviene 
lo  embiare  al  Embcgador  de  Genoua  como  Y.  Mag^  me  mauda. 

En  xxiiij^  del  passado  remiti  al  d&o  Embaxador  tres  caxas  con  TOO 
vidrieras  todas  de  vna  grandeza  que  el  secretario  Qonzalo  Perez  me 
scriuio  en  zxvj  de  agosto  passado  embiaase  para  seruigio  de  Y.  Mag^  7 
escreui  que  las  encaminasse  con  la  primera  ocasion  que  se  ofi&esciesse 
Y.  Mag^  sera  seruido  mandar  que  se  le  scriua  lo  mismo. 

En  zxj  de  julio  del  ano  passado  embie  a  Genoua  entre  otras  dos  caxas 
con.  600  yedrieras  de  tres  tamanos  para  Y.  Mag^  7  el  secretario  Gongaio 
perez  me  serine  que  no  resgibio  mas  de  la  vna  con  300  menos  quatro  7 
la  otra  se  deuio  quedar  por  descu7do  en  Genoua  porque  todas  se 
descargaron  en  la  duana  7  mostraron  7  consifiaron  a  francisco  de  Tgarte 
secretario  del  Embaxador  figueroa  como  Y.  Mag**  mandara  ver  por  la 
copia  de  la  certifi^ion  que  dello  dio  que  embio  d  Gonzalo  perez  supplico 
a  Y.  Mag^  le  mande  scriuir  que  la  busque  7  embie  a  buen  recaudo  7  que 
lo  de  mejor  de  aqui  adelante  que  por  el  passado. 

El  coste  de  las  700  vedrieras  que  vltimamente  embie  a  Genoua  sacare 
a  pagar  al  Thesorero  Dominego  de  Orbea  como  Y.  Mag'  me  manda  a  quien 
suplico  humilmente  sea  seruido  mandar  que  se  cumpla  con  quien  lo 


APPENDIX.  531 


huuiere  de  hauer  y  mande  que  se  paguen  los  929  escudos  j  medio  de  oro 
con  mas  el  cambio  que  costaron  los  vidios  y  vediieias  y  colores  y  otras 
cosas  que  embie  los  anos  passados  paia  semicio  de  V.  Mag^  que  aunque 
V.  Mag**  ba  roandado  que  se  paguen,  no  tienen  auiso  los  mercadeies  que 
aqui  los  ban  de  hauer  que  se  bayan  pagado. 

Assi  mismo  suplico  d  V.  Mag^  mande  que  se  pague  lo  que  be  de  hauer 
de  mis  qnintas  hasta  en  fin  del  ano  de  62  que  lo  be  mucho  menester  para 
pagar  lo  que  deuo  aqui.  Juan  de  Trillanes  esta  en  la  corte  del  Empe- 
rador  nego9iando  de  voluer  a  seruir  a  su  Mag^  en  constantinopla  y 
prin9ipalmente  por  seruir  a  Y.  Mag^  segun  me  escriue  pero  basta  los  2 
deste  no  bauia  bauido  resolucion.  Nuestro  seiior  la  S.  C.  R.  persona  y 
estado  de  V.  Mag^  guarde  y  prospere  por  laigos  tiempos  con  acrescenta- 
miento  de  mas  Beynos  y  scilorios. 

De  Venecia,  xvj  de  Abril,  1564. 

S,  C  St,  Id., 
Ciiado  de  V.  M.  que  sua  reales  pies  y  manos  besa, 

GaBCIA  HERNANDEZ. 


[Unpublished.]  Venice,  1564. 

[Simancas,  S'''de  Estado  Leg^"  1325.] 

Garcia  Hernandez  to  Philip  the  Second. 

(Draft) 

Venecia  d  11  de  Junio  de  1564. 

Tigiano  labra  con  diligencia  en  el  quadro  grande  de  Christo  nuestro 
senor  en  la  ^ena  que  haze  para  V.  Mag'  pero  aunque  se  de  mucha  prisa 
no  lo  acabara  en  tres  meses,  yo  le  solicito  y  solicitare  basta  que  le  acabe, 
antiyer  me  dio  vn  retrato  de  la  Serenisima  Reyna  de  Romanes  bien 
empacado,  el  qual  con  la  ocasion  deste  correo  embio  d-Don  Gabriel  de  la 
Cueua,  para  que  lo  remita  &  V.  Mag'  con  la  primera  buena  ocasion  y  le 
escriuo  que  tengo  orden  de  V.  Mag'  de  bazerlo  assi  V.  Mag'  sera  seruido 
mandarlo  escriuir  que  tenga  dello  cuydado,  sino  lo  embiare  antes. 


[Unpublighed.]  Madrid,  1564. 

[Simancasy  S^  de  Estado  Leg«  1325.] 

Philip  the  Second  to  Garcia  Hernandez. 

(Minute.) 

July  16, 1564. 

A  Tigiano  direis  que  le  tengo  en  seruigio  la  diligencia  que  vsa  en 
acabax  el  quadro  de  la  9ena  de  Christo  nuestro  Eedentor  y  la  que  vso  en 
el  retrato  de  la  Reyna  mi  hermana  que  tengo  por  9ierto  sera  tan  perfecto 

M  M  2 


632  TITIAN :   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES, 

como  las  otnu  cosas  de  su  mano  y  el  auerlo  vos  remitido  a  don  Gabriel 
de  la  Caeaa  fne  muy  bien  poique  el  me  lo  embiaia  a  recaodo  y  con  este 
correo  le  hemumdado  scriuir  sobrello  y  sobie  lo  qae  mas  ocmriere  que 
me  hayais  de  remitir  por  bu  mano,  que  lo  hazels  por  mi  oiden  y  que  lo 
reciba  y  embie  todo  de  manera  que  venga  con  seguridad  y  bien  tntado  y 
en  esta  misma  substancia  se  serine  tanibien  al  Embaxador  figueroa  paza 
que  en  lo  venidero  ponga  mas  deligencia  que  por  lo  passado  que  ya 
scriuio  que  se  hauia  hallado  la  caza  de  yidrios  que  faltaua  que  se  hania 
quedado  alia  por  inadueiten9ia. 


[  Unpubluhed.']  Madrid,  1564. 

[Simancas,  S'*'  de  Estado  Leg»  1326.] 

Philip  thb  Second  to  Gaboia  Hernandez. 

(Minute,) 

August  31,  1564. 

Los  quadros  que  remitistes  a  don  Gabriel  de  la  Cueua  ban  llegado  aqui 
bien  tratados  y  me  ban  contentado  mucho  y  assi  lo  diieis  a  Ti9iano, 
encargandole  de  mi  parte  que  en  los  que  tiene  entre  manos  se  de  la  mayor 
prisa  que  pue  diere  y  auisadme  en  que  disposicion  esta  para  trauajar 
porque  querria  que  me  biziese  vna  imagen  de  seiior  sant  loren9io. 


[Unpvhlished.]  Madrid,  1564. 

[Simancas,  S'**  de  Estado  Leg*  1325.] 

Philip  the  Second  to  Garcia  Hernandez. 

(Minute,) 

Madrid,  Sep.  20, 1564. 

Holgado  be  de  entender  que  tigiano  huuiesse  acabado  el  quadio  de  la 
9ena  de  Christo  nuestro  Redentor  porque  tengo  por  ^ierto  que  dene  tener 
la  perfection  que  las  otras  pinturas  que  salen  de  su  mano  vos  le  agm- 
descereis  de  mi  parte  la  dil]gcn9ia  y  trabajo  que  en  ello  ha  puesto.  Si 
f  uera  de  tamano  que  pudiera  venir  por  tierra  y  por  la  posta  como  los  de 
el  otro  dia  pudierades  embiarlo  a  don  Gabriel  de  la  Cueua  que  me  lo- 
remitiera  pero  creo  que  es  tan  grande  que  no  se  sufre  y  asi  escriuo  y 
embio  d  mandar  al  Embaxador  figueroa  que  vea  de  remitiimelo  con  el 
primer  buen  pasage  de  mar  y  porque  podria  que  lo  bubiesse  presto  de 
algunas  galeras  sera  bien  que  sino  buuieredes  embiado  el  dicho  quadio 
y  no  pudiere  yenir  por  tierra,  lo  remitais  luego  a  Genoua  paia  que  se 
pueda  traer  por  mar  y  auisareisme  de  lo  que  en  esto  buuiere. 

Yo  no  sabia  que  en  Milan  se  deuiesse  k  Ti9iano  lo  que  dezis  de  sa 
pension  de  9inco  anos  que  si  se  me  huuiera  dicbo  de  buena  gana  selo 
bubiera  mandado  pagar  como  lo  embio  a  mandar  agora  a  don  Gabriel 


APPENDrX.  (J33 


de  la  Caeua  en  la  carta  que  yra  con  esta  para  el  y  en  la  de  negociosse 
le  ha  puesto  en  capitolo  sobre  lo  mifimo  para  que  entienda  que  se  ha  dc 
cumplir  luego  7  assi  podreia  dezir  a  Ti^iano  que  le  embie  mi  carta  7  le 
haga  soli^itar  que  no  habra  en  ella  ialta. 


[Unpublished.]  Venice,  1664. 

[Simancas,  S^  de  Estado  Leg»  1325.] 

Garcia  Hernandez  to  Philip  the  Second. 

Ticiano  tiene  acabado  el  quadro  de  Chriato  nuestro  senor  en  la  cena 
7  en  bolniendo  de  Bressa  donde  fue  mas  ha  de  xv  diaa  me  lo  dara  que 
Be  aguarda  de  hora  en  hora  7  luego  lo  embiare  al  Embazador  de  2  i  I 
Genoua  7  le  aolicitare  que  de  principio  al  del  glorioso  sant  laurenfio  que 
bien  puede  trauajar  pues  por  ganar  dineros  va  de  aqui  a  Bresaa.  Nuestro 
seiior  la  S.  C.  A.  persoua  7  estado  de  V.  Mag<^  guarde  7  prospere  por 
laigos  tiempos  con  acresgentamiento  de  mas  Re7no8  7  senoiios. 

De  Venecia,  viij  de  Octubre,  1564. 

S.  C.  R.  M. 
Criado  de  V.  M.  que  sus  reales  pies  7  manos  besa. 

Garcia  Hernandez. 


[Unpublished,]  Venice,  1564. 

[Slmancas,  S'>*  de  Estado  Leg*  1325.] 

Garcia  Hernandez  to  Antonio  Perez* 
111  Senor, — 
He  rescebido  la  carta  de  v.  m.  de  primero  del  passado  con  otra  para 
Ticiano,  la  qual  di  7  le7  a  su  hijo  por  estar  el  fuera  de  la  ciudad  7  se 
aguarda  aqui  de  hora  en  hora  en  viniendo  le  dire  lo  que  v.  ro.  manda 
en  lo  de  la  imagen  que  embiaua  a  francisco  dolfin  que  sea  en  gloria  no 
a7  que  hablar,  pues  el  fue  mu7  contento  que  v.  m.  se  seruiese  della  como 
he  scrito,  el  quadro  de  Christo  en  la  cena  que  tiene  hecho  para  su  Mag** 
es  cosa  maraviUosa  7  de  las  buenas  que  ha  hecho  en  su  vida,  s^[un  me 
dizen  maestro  de  V  arte  7  quantos  lo  veen  7  esta  acabado  7  me  lo  hauia 
de  dar  a  xv  de  settiembre  para  embiar  a  Genoua  7  quando  se  fue  dixo 
que  en  bolniendo  lo  acabitria  7  me  lo  daria  lo  que  sospecho  es  segun  sn 
codicia  7  auari^ia  que  lo  entretiene  7  entretema  hasta  que  venga  el 
despacho  de  su  Mag**  en  que  mande  se  le  pague  lo  que  ha  de  hauer  7 
si  en  boluiendo  no  me  lo  da  lo  entendere  assi,  70  trauajare  de  sacarsele 
7  que  de  principio  al  de  san  loren90  que  aunque  es  tan  viejo  trabaja 
7  puede  trabajar  7  si  viesse  dineros  haria  mas  de  lo  que  requiere  su 
edad  que  por  ganarlos  fue  de  aqui  a  Bressa  a  ver  cierto  lugar  donde  se 
ha  de  poner  derta  obra  que  quieren  de  su  mono  v.  m.  acordara  a  su  Mag<^ 


•V    ' 


534  TITIAN;   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 


qae  mande  se  cumpla  con  el  lo  que  tantas  vezes  le  ban  escrito,  que  yo  fio 
que  no  se  cause  y  si  v.  m.  quiaiere  alguna  cosilla  de  su  mano  con  esta 
occasion  la  hara  de  buena  gana.  En  vn  monesterio  de  esta  ciudad  esta  th 
quadro  de  san  loren^o  que  hizo  el  muchos  auos  ha,  el  qual  ea  de  la 
prandeza  y  manera  que  v.  m.  apunta  en  su  carta  y  los  frayles  me  han 
dicho  que  le  dieron  por  el  dozientos  escudos  y  lo  copiaria  por  cinquenta 
Geronimo  Ti^iano  dendo  o  criado  suyo  que  estubo  en  su  casa  mas 
de  treinta  aiios  y  es  el  que  mejor  lo  haze  aqui  despues  del,  aunque 
no  tiene  comparacion  y  si  su  Mag**  quisiere  dos  este  se  haura  mas  presto 
T.  m.  mandara  auisarme  de  lo  que  sera  seruido. 

La  mitad  de  los  quadros  de  mano  estan  hechos  y  presto  se  acabaran 
todos,  las  tres  lamparas  estan  acabadas  y  en  una  caxa  que  la  hinchen 
toda  por  no  poder  yr  deshechas  por  ellas  se  haran  alia  las  demas 
embiando  de  aqui  los  vidros  como  screui  a  y.  m.  que  costaran  mucho 
menos. 

£1  Ruybarbo  he  buscado  con  gran  diligencia  en  compania  de  un  medico 
y  dos  boticanos  amigos  y  en  toda  Venecia  no  se  halla  vna  drama  de  la 
calidad  que  contiene  la  memoria  y  todavia  se  busca  si  se  hallare  yra  con 
esta  y  sino  embiare  vn  poco  del  mejor  que  huuiere  para  muestra  y  que 
sirua  si  fuero  bueno  en  el  entretanto  que  uiene  de  levante,  todo  esto 
cuesta  dineros  y  yo  no  los  tengo,  sino  la  necesidad  que  he  scritto  a  v.  m. 
por  otras  piuchas  y  si  su  mag<*  no  manda  que  con  effetto  sea  pagado  lo 
t^ue  han  de  hauer  los  mercaderes  de  alia  y  lo  que  yo  deuo  &  los  de 
aca  no  se  que  me  hazer  suplico  a  v.  m.  quan  affectuosamente  puedo 
lo  acuerde  a  su  Mag^  y  me  perdone  si  soy  importuno  que  la  pura  nece- 
sidad me  costriiie  a  ello. 

Por  la  de  su  Mag^  vera  v.  m.  lo  poco  que  hay  de  nueuo  cuya  111*, 
persona  y  estado  guarde  y  prospere  nuestro  senor  por  muchos  anos. 

De  Venecia,  viiij  de  Octubre,  1564. 

Besa  las  manos  a  y.  m.  su  muy  cierto  seruidor, 

Garcia  Hernandez. 


[UnpvhlisJied,]  .  Venice,  1564. 

[S'**  de  Estado  Leg*  1325.] 

Garcia  Hernandez  to  Philip  the  Second. 

Ticiano  vino  anoche  oy  le  mostre  la  letra  de  V.  Mag<*  el  quadro  de 
christo  nuestro  seiior  en  la  cena  estara  acabado  y  encaxado  dentro  de 
ocho  0  diez  dias  y  lo  embiare  a  Genoua,  comeuQara  luego  en  el  mismo 
telar  el  del  glorioso  sant  laurengio  y  dize  que  no  al^ara  la  mano  hasta 
que  lo  acabe  y  suplica  a  V.  Mag**  sea  servido  mandar  que  se  le  pague  lo 
que  ha  de  hauer  del  entretenimiento  que  le  haze  merced  en  esa  corte  y 
en  milan  que  hasta  agora  no  ha  querido  don  Gabriel  de  la  cueua  pagarle 
lo  que  V.  Mag*"  le  mando  ;  el  esta  gallardo  y  puede  trabajar  bien  y  si 
V.  Mag'  es  servido  que  haga  algunas  otias  cosas  de  su  mano  sera 


APPENDIX.  635 


znenester  auisaraelo  con  tiempo  que  segun  dizeu  persouas  que  ha  muchos 
aiiofl  le  conogen  va  gerca  de  los  90  auuque  no  lo  muestra  y  por  dineros 
hara  toda  cosa.  Nueatro  senor  la  S.  C.  R.  persona  y  estado  de  Y.  Mi^ 
guarde  y  prospere  por  largos  tiempos  con  acreBcentamiento  de  mas  Rey- 
nos  y  senorios. 

De  Venecia  xv  de  Octubre,  1564. 

a  C.  R.  M., 
Criado  de  V.  Mag^  que  sus  reales  pies  y  manos  besa, 

GaBOIA  HERNANDEZ. 


[Unpublished.]  Madrid,  1564. 

[Simancas,  S^»  de  Estado  Leg*>  1325.] 

Marginal  Notes  of  Philip  the  Second  to  pricis  of  Garcia  Hemandes^ 

despatches  of  Oct,  9  and  15, 1564. 

Lo  de  Mylan  he  mandado  escribyr  a  don  Grauise  en  carta  de  negodos 
que  le  pague  y  lo  de  aqui  no  se  en  que  estados  esta.  ji  j 

Acuerdeseme  que  yo  mandare  que  sea  con  breuedad  y  haga  sacar  del 
pariente  de  Ticiano  el  quadro  de  san  Loienzo  por  los  50  ducados  y  no 
por  este  de  este  Ticiano  de  hacer  el  otro  mas  que  haga  que  sean  diferentes 
el  uno  del  otro  que  deata  manera  puede  aver  doa.    - 

Esta  bien  todo  esto  capitulo,  &c.,  &c. 

No  se  lo  que  es  lo  del  Ruybarbaro  ... 


[Unpublished.]  Venice,  July  28,  1565. 

[Simancas,  Estado  Leg^  1336.] 

Titian  to  Philip  the  Second. 

POTENTISSIMO  ET  InUITISSIMO  Re, — 

La  malignity  della  mia  fortuna  mi  costiinge  a  riconer  alia  infinita  ) 
benignita  di  V.  M**  la  quale  come  mio  signore  e  munificentissimo  uerso 
i  suoi  deuotissimi  seruitori  mi  puo  aiutare  et  fauorire  malgrado  anchora 
del  mio  destino.  Questo  io  dico  alia  M.  Vostra  perche  ne  i  giomi 
a  dietro  uolendo  riscotere  dalla  camera  di  Milano  alcuni  lesti  delle 
mie  ordinarie  prouisioni  mi  e  stata  ritenuta  la  somma  di  alcune  annate 
si  ch'  io  uengo  a  patire  cotal  incommodo  oltra  che  nel  pagamento 
del  restante  mi  e  stata  asignata  ima  tratta  di  riso  della  quale  uolen- 
done  cauar  il  dinaro  mi  e  conucnuto  perder  piii  di  cento  ducati  pero 
son  venuto  con  questa  a  supplicar  humilmente  la  M'*  Vostra  a  degnarsi 
di  esser  seruita  in  fax  commettere- all*  ecc  del  signor  gouemator  de 
Milano  ch'  io  sia  rifatto  di  quello  che  per  lo  sudetto  accidente  io 
uengo  a  patire  accioche  non  hauendo  io  per  quanto  si  puo  uedere  altro 
tratenimento  io  possa  uiuere  in  seruitio  di  V.  M.  con  quel  poco  di 
prouisione  che  la  gloriosa  memoria  di  Cesare  suo  genitore  et  la  M^* 
Vostra  medesima  mi  ha  conceduto.  Io  staro  dunque  aspettando  1 
euffraggio  delle  infinita  benignita  del  mio  clementiBsimo  Re  i    tanto 


536  TITIAN:  HIS. LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

andio  lidticendo  a  compimento  la  pittura  del  beato  Lorenzo  la  quale 
credo  che  saza  di  sodiafattione  alia  liL  Y.  Alia  cni  buona  gratia  humil* 
mente  mi  raccomando. 

Di  Venetia,  alii  28  di  Lnglio  m.d.IiXV. 
Di  B.  M.  Catholica 

Hamiliflsiino  et  deaotififli]n6  semo, 

TiTIANO  VBCSLLia 


lUnpuJblished.']  Madrid,  1566. 

[Simancas,  S'**  de  Estado  Leg^  1325.] 

Philip  the  Second  to  Qabcia  Hernandez. 

(Minute,) 

For  lo  que  escrinistes  a  gayas  entendimos  lo  que  os  dixo  Ticiano  que 
en  toda  eata  quaresma  acabaria  el  quadro  de  sanct  loreo^io  de  que  hoi- 
gamos  y  aasi  ae  lo  agradescereis  de  mi  parte  y  le  solicitareis^  si  faero 
menester  y  en  estando  en  perfection  me  le  embiareis  puesto  de  su  mano 
4  todo  buen  recando. 

De  Madrid,  k  26  de  Mai^o  de  1566. 


[Unpubluhed,]  Venice,  1567. 

[Simancas,  Estado  Leg*  1336. 

Titian  to  Phiuf  the  Second. 

Inuittibsimo  et  Potentissimo  Re, — 
Dalle  letere  di  Y.  M.  Catholica  scrite  al  secretario  Garcia  Emando  di 
buona  memoria  ho  compreso  il  grandissimo  deaiderio  ch'  ella  ha  della 
pittura  del  beato  Lorenzo  la  qusde  gia  molti  mesi  sarebbe  giunta  in 
spagna  ae  non  fosse  stata  la  tardezza  et  1'  indispoaitione  et  per  la  morte 
seguita  del  detto  secretario  suo  ma  hora  la  consignero  al  consolo  della 
natione  che  1'  indrizera  a  camino  oltra  di  cio  ho  inteso  che  Y.  M. 
Catholica  desidera  di  hauer  distesa  in  pittura  tutta  la  uita  del  detto 
santo  la  qual  cosa  se  e  cosi  la  supplico  a  degnarsi  d'  easer  seruita  ch'  io 
intenda  in  quante  parti  essa  la  uoglia  et  I'altezza  et  larghezza  de  i  quadri 
con  il  lume  loro  perch'  ella  potrebbe  esser  fatta  in  6  in  8  et  in  10  pezzi 
oltra  questa  parte  della  sua  morte  la  quale  e  laiga  bracda  4  et  mezzo  et 
alta  braccia  6  et  quando  ha^iro  inteso  la  sua  uolonta  io  metero  ogni 
opera  perch'  eUa  resti  presto  seruita  non  restando  di  adoprar  in  qnesto 
oratio  mio  figliuolo  et  suo  seruitore  insieme  con  un'  altro  molto  ualente 
giouine  mio  discepolo  accioche  in  quella  breuit^  ch'  ella  mi  comandeia 
I'opera  si  eseguisca  ;  poi  ch'  io  son  disposto  di  spender  tutto  quel  poco 
di  uita  che  mi  r.^Bta  in  suo  seruitio.  Ben  supplico  humilmente  la 
Maesta  Yostra  a  degnarsi  di  souenirmi  ne  i  miei  bisogni  in  questa  et& 
a%  non  di  altro  almeno  d'imponer  a  suoi  ministri  che  mi  siano  pagate  la 


<      K 


APPENDIX.  637 


mie  protdflioni  senza  alcnna  dilatione  perch'  io  non  riscoto  Tin  quatrino 
che  la  meta  non  mi  uada  in  speee  et  interesi  cod  di  procnratori  et  altii 
doni  come  ne  i  cambii  et  pur  la  camera  di  spagna  mi  sia  debitrice  delle 
rate  de  amii  tre  et  mezo  et  di  molto  pin  quella  di  Milano  la  quale  nelli 
med  peasati  mi  ha  ritennto  certe  annate  cosa  ch*  io  non  aspettana  da 
qnei  minigtri  easendo  la  mia  seroitti  continua  con  Y.  M.  Catholica  oltia 
ch'  in  paganni  escuti  400  mi  ha  dato  una  tiatta  di  riai  di  some  400  delle 
qnali  uolendone  cauar  il  dinaio  ho  conuenuto  perder  due  reali  per  soma 
che  importa  di  dano  piu  di  80  scati  in  circa.  Aggiungendo  a  questa  mia 
disgratia  ch'  della  tratta  di  Napoli  non  e  stato  fatto  esecutione  alcana  gia 
tanto  e  tanto  tempo  non  ostante  le  infinite  cedule  d'impcdtione  della  M. 
v.  pero  la  supplico  hnmilmente  a  degnarsi  d'  esser  semita  che  sia  sciitto 
a  qnei  ministri  che  quando  non  si  troui  estratione  alcnna  di  detta  tratta 
qnantonqne  li  originali  sieno  smarriti  mi  sia.  fiatta  Tespeditione  il  che 
prego  Dio  et  V.  M.  Catholica  che  sia  accioche  un  giomo  io  possa  rin- 
francarmi  delle  infinite  spese  che  per  quella  ho  fatto  fin  hora  di  modo 
ch'  ho  sentito  di  danno  quasi  piu  che  non  imposta  essa  tratta  in  salaii 
et  presenti  fatti  indamo  a  diuersi  gentil'huomini  et  miei  procuratori  et 
supplicando  di  nouo  hnmilmente  la  M.  Y.  Catholica  ad  hauer  per 
raccomandato  il  suo  seruo  Titiano  et  ad  hauermi  per  iscusato  se  per 
colpa  de  suoi  ministri  ho  tardato  fin  hora  a  mandarle  la  tela  del  beato 
Lorenzo,  1'  auiso  come  insieme  con  detta  tela  le  mando  una  pittura 
d'  una  Yenereignudala  quale  ho  fatto  da  poi  che  hebbi  fomitalasudetta 
fin  a  questo  tempo  et  con  ogni  affetto  di  diuotione  et  de  riuerenza  le 
ba^io  le  catholice  mani 

Di  Yenetia,  alii  2  di  Dicembre,  mdlxyij. 

Di  Y.  M.  CathoHca 

Humilisimo  semitor, 

Titiano  Ybcbluo. 


[Unpuhluhed.]  Yenice,  1568. 

[Simancas,  Estado  Leg"*  1336.] 

Titian  to  Philip  the  Second. 

iNurmsfliMO  et  Potentissiho  Re,  &a., 
Hauendo  in  questi  ultimi  giomi  riduto  a  compimento  la  pittura  di 
nostro  signer  col  fariseo,  che  gli  mostra  la  moneta  la  qual'  io  le  promessi 
altre  uolte  1'  ho  inuiata  alia  M**  Yostra  et  la  supplico  a  degnarsi  di  goderla 
con  le  altre  pitture  di  mia  mano  che  le  ho  mandato  per  1'  adietro  et 
perch*  io  desidero  di  chiuder  li  giomi  di  questa  mia  estrema  uecchiaia 
nel  seruitio  del  Be  catholico  mio  signore  le  prometto  ch'  io  uado 
componendo  un'  altra  inuencione  di  pittura  di  molto  maggior  fatica  et 
artificio  di  quante  io  habbia  forse  fatto  da  molt'  anni  in  qua  ;  et  subito 
che  sara  fomita  Y  appresentero  himiilmente  al  suo  altissimo  cospetto. 
In  tanto  accioche  piu  liberamente,  et  senza  il  continuo  trauaglio  espesa 
ch'  io  sento  di  quella  benedetta  tratta  di  grano  del  Regno  di  Napoli  non 


538  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

anchora  esegoita  mai  in  tanti  e  tanti  aimi  in  seniir  la  M.  Yoetra  nella 
fiadetta  pittuia  la  snpplico  humiliBsimamente  a  degnarsi  di  eeser  seroita 
che  la  sudetta  trattami  sia  espeditta  quanto  prima  senza  dilatione  alcuna 
et  mi  sia  espeditta  libera  da  ogni  graoame  et  spesa  di  quella  camera  in 
ricompenao  di  tanti  et  tanti  continui  interesd  per  molti  anni  partiti  per 
tal  negocio  et  per  la  antichissima  mia  deuotione  e  seruitii  la  qual  gratia 
fii  come  e  ageuolissima  da  essermi  conceduta  dalla  infinita  benignita  et 
munificentia  di  Y.  M.  Catholica  cosi  mi  souuenirii  di  maniera  ck'  in  nn 
grandiflsimo  bisogno  nel  quale  al  presente  mi  ritrouo  riputer6  eaaeimi 
tomata  V  anima  in  questo  afflitto  coipo  tutto  dedicate  al  sno  fleroitio.  Et 
riuerentemente  i  Y.  M.  raccomandandomi  le  bacio  le  caiholiche  manL 

Di  Ybnetia,  il  ixvi  d*  Ottobre,  if.D.Lxvnj. 

Di  Yostra  M»*  Catholica 
Deuotissimo  et  homiliasimo  serao, 

TiTIANO  YbCSLLIO. 


[Unpublisked.']  Yenice,  1571. 

[Simancas^  Estado  Leg^"  1336.] 

Titian  to  Philip  thjb  Second. 

Inuittibsimo  et  Potentissimo  Re,  &a., 
Credo  che  fin  hora  la  M**  Yostra  habbia  riceuuta  la  pittura  di  Lucretia 
Romana  uiolata  da  Tarqnino,  la  quale  1'  Ambasciator  de  Yenetiani  le 
(loueua  presentare  pero  son  uenuto  con  queste  a  supplicarla  humilmente 
a  degnarsi  di  esser  seruita  ch*  io  intenda  come  ella  se  ne  sara  compiaciuta. 
£t  per  che  la  calamity  de  tempi  presenti  ne  i  quali  per  la  continuagaeiia 
o<^uno  patisce  mi  aforza  a  questo  supplicher6  insiemc  la  M.  Y.  a 
degnarsi  di  suffragar  il  suo  seruo  Titiano  di  qualche  benigno  fauore  deUa 
sua  clement]0sima  gratia  o  con  qualche  aiuto  di  costa  o  con  quale  altra 
uiodo  le  paiesse  poi  che  ne  la  tratta  di  Napoli  ne  pagamento  alcuno  delle 
mie  prouisioni  ordinarie  ho  potuto  riscuoter  gia  mai  da  molti  anni  in  qua. 
Di  modo  tale  ch*  io  non  so  come  trouar  modo  di  uiuere  in  questa  mia 
ultima  etik,  la  quale  io  spendo  tutta  nel  seruitio  di  Y.  M.  Catholica  senza 
seruir  altri  non  hauendo  mai  da  18  anni  in  qua  hauuto  pur  un  quatrino 
per  pagamento  delle  pittuie  che  di  tempo  in  tempo  le  ho  mandato  il 
memorial  delle  quali  mando  con  questa  occassione  al  secretario  Perez  et 
stando  sicuro  che  la  sua  infinita  dementia  sia  per  mostrar  di  hauer  grata 
la  seruitii  d'  un  suo  seruitor  di  eta  di  nouanta  cinque  anni  con  qualche 
testimonio  della  infinita  sua  munificentia  et  liberality  mandandole  due 
fitampe  del  disegno  della  pittura  del  beato  Lorenzo,  humiliasimamente 
mi  raccomando  in  sua  buona  gratia. 

Di  Ysnetia,  il  primo  giomo  d'  Agosto  ild.lxxi. 

Di  Y,  M.  CathoUca' 
Humilissimo  et  diuotissimo  semo, 

Titiano  Yegellio. 


APPENDIX.  539 


[Uiiptibliaked,']  Venice,  1574* 

[Simancas,  Estado  Leg»  1336.] 

Titian  to  Secretary  Antonio  Perez. 

• 

MoLTO  Illustre  Sionor  mio  Osseruandissimo, — 
Con  infinita  mia  contentezza  ho  ueduto  quanto  Y.  S.  111"^*  mi  serine 
nelle  sue  nltdme  letere  onde  mi  rallegro  sommamente  ch'  ella  si  sia  in 
parte  compiaciuta  dell'  opere  mie  fate  in  seroitio  di  lei,  per  eernir  la  i/  ^  \^ 
quale  mai  non  mi  trouar6  stanco  ne  satio.  Cosi  la  ringratio  dell' 
nfficio  fatto  dalla  sua  cortesia  per  me  con  S.  M.  Catholica  et  di  qnello 
ch'  ella  e  per  fare  et  per  nbidir  a  quanto  in  questa  materia  ella  mi  scriue 
le  dir6  che  le  pitture  delle  quali  non  ho  mai  hauuto  alcun  pagamento 
sono  le  infrascritte,  cio  e  dopo  la  carta  segnente.  Ma  prima  V  auisiu^ 
come  ho  riceuuti  Rcviti  800  delH  dinari  ch'  ha  riscosto  il  gentile  da 
cotesta  camera  regia  et  me  ne  restauo  de  hauer  fin  a  quest'  hora  scudi 
300  ma  non  gia  quelli  della  camera  di  Milano  pero  apero  per  quanto  mi 
promette  il  signor  AmbaBciatore  che  mi  saranno  pagatiL  In  tanto  non 
manco  di  semir  in  qualunque  modo  io  posso  S.  M.  Catholica  si  nella 
bataglia  et  altre  pitture  cominciate,  come  nella  pittura  del  presepio  ch' 
ho  cominciato  hauendo  inteso  dal  pittore  ch'  e  giunto  qui  a  me  in  questi 
giond  uenuto  di  spagna  che  S.  M.  desiderarebbe  la  natiuita  di  nostro 
signore  la  quale  sola  le  manca  tra  le  sue  pitture.  Similmente  uado 
riducendo  a  fine  per  quanto  computano  i  tempi  di  questa  stagione  le 
altre  pitture  di  Y.  S.  et  della  S'*  sua  consorte  le  quali  pero  sono  ridotte 
a  buon  termine.  Io  scriuo  con  questa  occasione  i.  S.  M.  Catholica 
secondo  I'amoreuole  ricordo  di  N.  S.  Ill"*  intomo  k  i  pagamenti  delle 
pitture  a  lei  mandate  gli  anni  passati  et  mando  nelle  letere  incluso  il 
memoriale  conforme  a  questo  ch'  io  mando  &  N.  S.  111"^*  pero  la  supplico 
od  effetuare  la  sua  cortese  uolonta  perche  hauendo  in  questi  tempi  cala- 
mitosi  bisogno  di  molte  cose  questo  sara  il  maggior  fauore  ch'  io  possa 
per  auentura  aspettar  da  ley  accettuando  la  buona  gratia  sua.  DeUa 
quale  s'  io  non  potr6  con  le  debili  forze  mostrarmi  degno  almeno  non 
pretermettero  occasione  per  la  quale  io  possa  mostrarle  d'essere  men- 
teuole  per  la  buona  uolonta  ch'  io  ho  di  seruirla  con  che  facendo  fine 
infinitamente  me  le  raccomando  et  baccio  le  mam. 

Di  Venetia,  li  ixij  di  dicembre,  mdlxxiiij. 

Di  V.  S.  molto  illustrissima 

seruitor  obligatissimo, 

TiciANO  Vecellio. 

{Inclosure  in  the  foregoing,) 

Memoriale  a  sua  M^^  Catholica  per  Titiano  et  Horatio  suo 

fiqliolo. 

Primo,  che  sia  posto  nel  bilanzo  la  pensione  in  Milano  di  Horatio  mio 
figliolo  accio  senza^'tanti  trauagli  et  fatiche  et  interessi  possi  goder  la 
gratia  fatta  da  sua  M^. 


540  TITIAN:   HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES. 

■■^— »— ^^— — — »— ^— — »^— ^— — »— ^^— ^^— ^^■^-^— ^— ^^^— ^— ^— ■^^— ^-^— ^^^^"»— ^^— ^»™'^»'^"^^^^™^^^^~"^i^» 

Item,  le  pitture  mandate  a  sua  M**  in  diuersi  tempi  da  anni  vinti* 
cinque  in  qua  sono  queste  et  solamente  parte  et  non  tutte  in  cio  ai 
deflideia  dal  signor  Alons  pittor  di  sua  M**  Bia  agionto  quelle  che  man- 
cano  per  non  racordarmelle  tutte : 

Yenere  con  Adonis. 
CaliBto  graueda  da  Gioue. 
Ateon  sopragionge  al  bagno. 
Andromeda  ligada  al  saso. 
TEuropa  portata  dal  tore. 
ChriBto  nel  horto  alia  oratione. 
La  tentatione  de  i  hebrei  con  la  moneta  a  Cristo. 
Christo  nel  sepolcro. 
La  S.  Maria  Madalena. 
Li  tre  maggi  d'oriente. 
Venus  con  Amor  gli  tien  il  spechio. 
La  nuda  con  il  paese  con  el  satiro. 
La  cena  del  nostro  signor. 

II  maitirio  di  S.  Lorenzo  con  le  altre  molte  ch'  non  mi 
aricordo,  &c 


[Unpublished,]  Venice,  1575. 

[Simancas,  Estado  Leg®  1336.] 

Titian  to  Philip  the  Second. 

Catholico  et  potentissimo  Re  mio  Signore, — 
Sapendo  con  quanta  somma  benignity  V.  M**  Catholica  gia  ordino 
che  le  fosse  ricordato  la  recognitione  delle  pitture  mandatele  di  sue 
ordine  in  diuersi  tempi  uengo  hora  con  la  confidentia  del  suo  antico 
seruo  Titiano  a  dargliene  nouo  memoriale  conferma  speranza  che  la  sua 
r^ia  et  alta  liberalita  verso  me  uora  che  si  eseguisca  il  gia  ordinato 
da  lei  a  beneficio  mio,  accio  che  con  animo  piti  lieto  possa  attendere  alle 
altre  opere  dedicate  alia  gloria  di  V.  M.  che  io  uado  facendo  in  qnesta 
mia  ultima  etk,  la  quale  nel  uero  per  le  fortune  catiue  del  mondo  ho 
gran  bisogno  della  poteuza  et  molto  reale  liberality  di  tanto  Principe  del 
mondo  come  e  V.  M.  Catholica  la  quale  nostro  Signor  Dio  guaidi  longo 
tempo  si  come  deuotissimo  lo  prego  ogni  hora  et  deuotisdmo  me  le 
inchino. 

Di  Venetia  il  giomo  di  natale  di  Nostro  Signor  Jesu  Ciisto  1575. 

Di  V.  M.  Catholica 

deuotissimo  et  humilissimo  seroitor, 

Titiano  Vbceluo. 


APPENDIX  541 


[Unpublished.-}  Venice,  1576. 

[Simanca,  Eatado  Leg*"  1336.] 

Titian  to  Philip  the  Second. 

S.  C.  R.  Mat — 
L'  infinita  'benignity  di  Y.  M'*  Cattolica  colla  quale  per  sue  natural 
costume  suol  gratificare  tutti  quelli  che  fidelmente  llianno  seruita  et 
tattaoia  la  seruono  mi  da  animo  di  comparirli  auanti  con  la  presente 
cosi  per  linouarmi  nella  sua  Real  memoria,  nella  quale  senz'  alteio  io 
mi  persuado  che  Vantica  et  diuota  seruitii  mia  mi  tenghi  ancora  con- 
Bernato  come  anche  per  supplicarla  de  mia  gracia  la  quale  e  questa.  Sono 
pasaati  gia  circa  xzv  anni  che  in  ricompensa  di  molte  pitture  ch'  in 
diuerse  occasion!  ho  inuiato  alia  M**  Yostra  non  ho  mat  hauuto  cosa 
alcana  hauendo  pero  hauuto  relatione  per  letere  del  Signor  secretario 
Antonio  Perez  della  buona  uolonUt  di  Y.  M**  uerso  la  persona  mia  in 
gratificarmi  onde  essendo  gia  ridotto  ad  una  et&  molto  graue  et  non 
senza  mia  grande  necesita  con  ogni  humilta  uengo  a  supplicarla  che 
con  la  solita  sua  pieta  si  degni  sopra  cio  dar  a  suoi  ministri  quell'  ordine 
che  le  parerii  pid  espediente  per  rimedio  del  mio  Insogno  acdo  haucn- 
domi  la  gloriosa  memoiia  di  Carlo  quinto  suo  felicissimo  Padre  ascrito 
nel  numero  de  suoi  fomiliari  o  per  dir  megli6  fidelissimi  serui  con 
hauermi  oltre  ogni  mio  merito  honorato  del  nome  di  caualiero  possi 
anche  con  il  fauore  et  protectione  di  Y.  M.  uero  ritrato  di  quel  immortal 
imperatore  sostentar  come  conuiene  questo  nome  di  caualiere  tanto  hono- 
rato et  dal  mondo  cosi  stimato  et  perche  si  conosca  insieme  che  le  mie 
fatiche  fatte  tant'  anni  alia  serenissima  casa  d' Austria  siano  state  grate 
il  che  sara  cauf«a  che  con  pid  lieto  animo  paasato  il  rimanente  di  miei 
giomi  en  seruitio  di  Y.  M.  C.  ne  quali  Bar6  tanto  piii  obligato  ueggen- 
domi  con  la  sua  gmcia  in  questa  mia  uecchiazza  consolato  di  pregare  il 
signor  Dio  che  le  conceda  felice  et  lunga  uita  con  I'accrescimento  della 
sua  diuina  gracia  et  essaltatione  de  suoi  Regni  in  questo  mentre  stato 
aspettando  dalla  Real  benignita  di  Y.  M.  il  frutto  della  desiderata  gratia 
et  con  quella  riuerenza  et  humilta  cIl'  io  debbio  le  bascio  le  sacre 
mani. 

Di  Yenetia  li  xxvij  Febraro,  1576. 

Di  Y.  M«*  Catholica 

Humilissimo  et  Deuotissimo  seruo, 

TiTiANO  Yeceluo. 


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