Late Titian

Self Portrait, 1565-1670, Titian

According to Peter Humfrey's Titian, by his late sixties Titian had experienced great success riding on the ends of the high renaissance. He had gained a prestigious position as a favorite court painter of Philip II, of Spain. Despite having the favoritism of Phil ip and painting many scenes including six mythological paintings, Titian had no permanent home during this time, and lived in various parts of Europe.  Of these mythological paintings I will be studying Diana and Actaeon, 1556-1559, and Diana and Callisto, 1556-1559.

           

Diana and Actaeon                                                    Diana and Callisto

These two paintings are a pair, portraying the goddess virgin goddess Diana, punishing those who committed crimes against her; a hunter stumbling upon her bathing, and one of her nymphs betraying her vow and becoming pregnant. Throughout his time painting for Philip II, and after Titian always worked from and kept meticulous sketches. Many copies were produced from these sketches, by his workshop which consisted of, Orazio, Girlamo Dente, Christoph Schwartz, and potentially El Greco. While his workshop was mostly in charge of completing copies, Titian did have a had in them, at times heavier than others.

In his own works near the end of his eighty some years, Titian was criticized for a change in style which included looser brush strokes, and a potential loss in vision. Vasari  described it as such, "These last works are executed with bold, sweeping strokes, and in patches of colour, with the result that they cannot be viewed from near by...". Of these later paintings I will be studying the Self-Portrait above, Pieta, and several others in depth, to analyze the change in technique over time.