Titian "da Cadore"

Self Portrait of Titian 
by Pietro Della Vecchia

In the journal article by Tom Nichols "The Master as Monument: Titian and his Images" introduces the main topic of Titian's problematic role as the Venetian tradition's figure of speech and complete meaning of the world that we live in. As seen by the persistent flow of idealizing self-portraits and other images of Titian from the mature and later years of his work, the older Titian seems to have understood himself in this way. Titians paintings established as a model of unquestionable artistic authority, noting that this position was achieved through implied association with his aristocratic and courtly customers' elite social identity. It then goes on to look into the more negative aspects of Titian's hegemony over younger painters in Venice, both within his workshop and outside of it. Stated in the journal article, "Younger generations of painters in Venice, both within and beyond the workshop, sought to associate themselves with Titian in this period, showing him as 'the father of art' alongside themselves om the roles pf chosen heir or successor", (Nichols 219). Titian is highly praised in the journal article as the father of art and having an entire generation of young artist inspired by his work.

Allegory of Prudence
by Titian  

A point of information that was not mentioned in Chapter 13 'The High Renaissance in Italy' by Cunningham was the 'Allegory of Prudence' Painted by Titian. The painting depicts three human heads facing the opposite directions of each other while being above three animal heads; The oldest of the three heads is facing left and is paired with a wolf, the middle head is a modern aged man paired with a lion, and the young boy facing left is paired with a dog. Quoted in the article, "-the imagery clearly picks up again the Three Ages of Man theme that Titian has visualized in his early career..." (Nichols 226). The left head is Titian's own which represents old age and the past, the center head was his own son Orazio representing maturity and present-time, and lastly the third heard to the right is his cousin Marco who represents the future and youth; this art work leads back to Titian idealizing self portraits. stated in 'The High Renaissance in Italy', "Note the three distinct levels in the composition of the painting..." (Cunningham 311). Titan's art work typically is split between three different sections or a particular person, place or thing.  

The reason why I had choose this particular article was for two particular reasons; one of the major reasons is because I had studied a little bit about Titian back in my senior year of high school, but I was eager to learn more about him as the art work he has created really inspired me to really appreciate art more. The second reason why I had chosen this very particular article was because it caught my attention the most by how much detail it went in about Titian and his work and how it was presented. 

Work Cited 

              Cunningham. "Chapter 13: The High Renaissance in Italy". pp 295-321.

             Nichols, Tom. “The Master as Monument: Titian and His Images.” Artibus et Historiae, vol. 34, no. 67, IRSA s.c., 2013, pp. 219–38, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23510252.                                                    

            “The Power of Art - Tizian ( Documentary ) - Youtube.” The Power of Art - Titian , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2EaJhKjX-o.

            

                Della Vecchia, Pietro. "Self Portrait of Titian", 1560. 

                

                Titian. "Allegory of Prudence", 1565-1570. Oil Painting.