The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1869-06-25
TIIrIAN.z N.ziE-sTEF
BY JAMES PATTON.

Aieidh "do pli4 saiS ll' ~ hsaAht
: rhe French and other nations cal
: tim Tie Titan, to distinguish hin
from others of the same name, scv
eral Of whom were painters Of note
|, rhe full name of this great ar!is
: was Tiz;ano Vecellio. What won
Q eeriul fife was his d, lie was paint
er Tor ni,tety-One gears ;; for when Ia,
frst held the brush be was boy o.
eight, and the continucd to pain
when lie was ninety-ninc years o
? age; and he might have painted
some years longer, if he had not
been carried oil by the plague. ,
Titan was horn at Cadore, neal
Venice, in HI, oil an ancient and
distinguished family, one member Of
which WAS that very Saint Titan, an
Italian bisaop, WHOM The artist alter
wards painted in one of hisEposl
celebrated pictures, Venice at tlist
lay was the wealthicst aGi most
splendid city in Europe made such
Nv procuring from ludit the spices,
fabrics and jewels al the Easi, and
selling them NJ every seaport in uhe
civilized world. Where there Is
great wealth, aua- there alunc, ,Lc
,rts can flourish and accordingly IT
was atsV eniee liza; inauyol The great
,stsrtisis of I;aly til"a livel.
Titan showed such decided indi-
cations of talent, that nj the early
age of eight years, his parents ptac-
ed hlm as a pupil under one OF the
irst artists of his native town.
"ritian," said one of his cOntem-
poraries,, was =, painter from his
B Before leaving lis native place,
when he could not have been more
than ten years OF age, he painted the
interior Of one of those wayside tab
ernaclcs, containing = figure of the
Virgin, which are still SO common in
Italy, where tkcY sservcs as praying
places ior the passing travel r. At
ten hewas sent to Venice TO tlIscare
of IAN uncle. who placed him az n
pupil under very celebrated painter,
Giovanni Beliini, in whose studio he
studied anl practiee1 his art for ten
wears. His first works were Injured,
it is thought, by bis copying too
closely the manner of his master,
who initiated nature with seryile
exactness foreign 10 the genius OF u
great man. Soon, however, he bc;o0k
himself to the study of natures self,
and acquired that free aud vigorous
manner, that holiness aud hriIliancy
OF coloring, which characterize all
but his earliest works.
There can be no .doubt that his
paintings soon attracted attention
Tor he net only painted a large num-
ber OF important pictures during the
first few years of his career, but hc
wa, employedato decorate palaces
and public buildings with frescoes,
traces OF which ean stillabe discern
ed. All the painters OF that day
depended chiefly on religious subjects.
Among iheeariicst pictures Of Titan,
we iind "The Holy Family" "The
Passage Of the Red Sea-" and many
other biblical scenes he also treat
ed such subjects rs these: "St. An
thony making an infant speak, to
convince its father of the fidelity of
his wife," and .'St. Anthony restor
ing to life 4 woman unjustly killed
by her husband, !" and the same saint
re attaching the foot which Young
wood-cutter had severed from his
body. These subjects seem TO us
barbarous enough, but Titan treated
them in so mastery n manner that
they. remain to this day the most
precious treasures of art asa s
At that time there was an Office in
Venice which was, for painters, what
the Poet-Laureateship of England is
for poets that is, it was al says con
ferred upon the most distinguished
painters IN the city. This Office,
which yielded q revenue # three
hundred crowns a yer, was given
to Titan when he was thirty years
of age. Part OF his duty was to
paint the portrait of the reigning
Dodge, and Titan held the Office so
long that he painted the portrait OF
three of them.
His great celebrity early penetrat-
ed to foreign countries, and he was
frequently invited to distant coun-
tries to paint the portraitstof sover-
eigns or to adorn their cathcdrals.
Charles the Fifth was then the fore.
most monarch Of Europe, being Kibg
of Spain and Emperor Of Germany,
and having important possessions in
Italy and the Low Countries. lie
invited Titan to visit him and the
greatpainter accepting the invitation,
painted an equestrian portrait OF the
Emperor, who was SO much pleased
with the picture that he gave Titan
sum Of money fully equal to TWEEN
ty five thousand dollars of our pres
ient currency. Titan was already
wealthy from the practice of his art.
and lie lived in Venice in the style oI
ereat nohleman, entertaining at his
lhouse the most distinguished cofnpa
ny. He WAS q high-splritcd gentle
! man, too. Soon after his return
home from the court OF Charles the
Filth he was commissioned 20 paint
t"An Annunciation, y for Which he
charged five hundred golden crowns,
the very sum which the Emperor
had recently paid him Tor the eqncs
trian portrait. His price was object
ell to as excessive; whercupon he
sent the picture As present TO the
Empress Isabella. She was SO en-
chanted with the work that she sent
tie painter two thousand crowns.
During the rest of his life, Titian's
history consists OF little moro than q
catalogue Of bis works. There is
scarcely a scene described in the
New Testament which he did not