idence is two to one in favour of 1489-90
as the right date, and thus we come to the agreeable conclusion that our
two oldest authorities, Dolce and Vasari, are at one in fixing Titian's
birth between 1488 and 1490--in other words, about 1489.

So far, then, all is clear, and as we know from later and indisputable
evidence that Titian died in 1576, it follows that he only attained the
age of eighty-seven and not ninety-nine. Whence, then, comes the story
of the ninety-nine years? From none other than Titian himself, and to
this piece of evidence we must next turn, following out a strict
chronological order.

In 1571--that is, three years after Vasari's second edition was
published--Titian addresses a letter to Philip the Second of Spain in
these terms:[158]

"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 Ambassador. I now come with
these lines to ask your Majesty to deign to command that I should
be informed as to what pleasure it has given. The calamities of the
present times, in which every one 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 pension. The state of my affairs
is indeed such that I do not know how to live in this my old age,
devoted as it entirely is to the service of your Catholic Majesty,
and to no other. Not having for eighteen years past received a
_quattrino_ 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 made of the services of an old
servant of the age of ninety-five, by extending to him some
evidence of munificence and liberality. Sending two prints of the
design of the Beato Lorenzo, and most humbly recommending myself,

"I am Your Catholic Majesty's

"most devoted, humble servant,

"TITIANO VECELLIO.

"From Venice, the 1st of August, 1571."

Here, then, is Titian himself, in the year 1571