Biographical accounts by several of Titian’s contemporaries, including Giorgio Vasari, Pietro Aretino, and Raffaele Borghini, trace the fascinating and prolific life of this master of the Italian Renaissance. As the most important member of the sixteenth-century Venetian school, Titian (ca. 1488–1576) reached a level of professional success rivaled only by Raphael, Michelangelo, and, later, Rubens. He was sought after by a range of patrons from Venice as well as northern Italian princes and, eventually, the papacy. Titian’s painting methods, particularly his use of color, influenced not only painters of the Renaissance but also future generations of Western artists. This richly illustrated volume also includes comments on Titian by El Greco.