was
descended of a noble family; born at the castle of Cadore in the Friuli
in 1477, and died in 1576, according to Ridolfi; though Vasari and
Sandrart place his birth in 1480. Lanzi says he died in 1576, aged 99
years. He early showed a passion for the art, which was carefully
cultivated by his parents.--Lanzi says in a note, that it is pretty
clearly ascertained that he received his first instruction from Antonio
Rossi, a painter of Cadore; if so, it was at a very tender age, for
when he was ten years old he was sent to Trevigi, and placed under
Sebastiano Zuccati. He subsequently went to Venice, and studied
successively under Gentile and Giovanni Bellini. Giorgione was his
fellow-student under the last named master, with whom Titian made
extraordinary progress, and attained such an exact imitation of his
style that their works could scarcely be distinguished, which greatly
excited the jealousy of Bellini.

On the death of Giorgione, Titian rose rapidly into favor. He was soon
afterwards invited to the court of Alphonso, Duke of Ferrara, for whom
he painted his celebrated picture of Bacchus and Ariadne, and two other
fabulous subjects, which still retain somewhat of the style of
Giorgione. It was there that he became acquainted with Ariosto, whose
portrait he painted, and in return the poet spread abroad his fame in
the Orlando Furioso. In 1523, the Senate of Venice employed him to
decorate the Hall of the Council Chamber, where he represented the
famous Battle of Cadore, between the Venetians and the Imperialists--a
grand performance, that greatly increased his reputation. This work was
afterwards destroyed by fire, but the composition has been preserved by
the burin of Fontana. His next performance was his celebrated picture of
St. Pietro Martire, in the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo, at Venice,
which is generally regarded as his master-piece in historical painting.
This picture was carried to Paris by the French, and subsequently
restored by the Allies. Notwithstanding the importance of these and
other commissions, and the great reputation he had acquired, it is said,
though with little probability of truth, that he received such a small
remuneration for his works, that he was in actual indigence in 1530,
when the praises bestowed upon him in the writings of his friend Pietro
Aretino, recommended him to the notice of the Emperor Charles V., who
had come to Bologna to be crowned by Pope Clement VII. Titian was
in