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Titian painted his first self-portrait before leaving for Rome in 1545. However, it was after his Roman stay that he showed the most interest in disseminating his image in order to fully establish his position in a context of intense rivalry with Michelangelo. In 1549 Paolo Giovio acquired a self-portrait by the artist for his Museo in Como, while in 1550 the painter had another one sent to Charle
The period between 1530 and 1533 was crucial for the formulation of the image of Charles V. The image that ultimately proved most influential was invented by Jacob Seisenegger who painted five full-length portraits of Charles V between 1530 and 1532, creating a totally innovative typology for the depiction of the Emperor but one that had numerous precedents in German art (Cranach, Strigel, Amberge
Philip II was Titian’s most important patron, and the pair’s artistic relationship was one of the most fecund of the Renaissance. They met twice while Philip was still a prince, in Milan (December 1548-January 1549) and Augsburg (November 1550-1551), and Titian painted the prince’s portrait on both occasions. On 29 January 1549 Philip paid the painter 1000 escudos for certain portraits he paints a
In his Metamorphoses Ovid recounts the torments of the Giant Tityus, whose punishment for having attempted to rape the goddess Leto was to have two vultures devouring his continually regenerating liver for eternity. This work is Titian´s own late repetition of the original, painted by him for Mary of Hungary as part of a series of Furies. It was conceived as a warning for those who dared to challe
Titian painted five images of Venus and music, but those five variations on a single theme were not made for the same client, nor intended to be exhibited together. Set in a villa, they show Venus reclining before a large window. At her feet, an organist (in the versions at the Museo del Prado and the Staatliche Museen in Berlin) or a lutenist (at the Metropolitan Museum of New York and the Fitzwi
