Titian: His Life
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
Titian: His Life Details
From Booklist *Starred Review* In her excellent biography, Hale charts Titian’s stylistic development through the story of his life and of the century in which he became the most famous artist in Europe. The book includes interesting chapters on the principal characters and historical events. Only half of Titian’s 500–600 precious paintings survive; the rest were destroyed by vandalism, theft, fire, flood, shipwreck, earthquake, and war. Titian had intelligence, poise, and wit, and he displayed a forceful, self-assured, shrewd and charismatic personality. His art revealed genius for drama and mystery, a balance of dramatic force and deep feeling, and penetrating understanding of human nature. He had an unrivaled mastery of using blacks, whites, and flesh tones; modeling with light and shade; and creating exquisitely painted hands, and an interest in the personality and status of his sitters. Hale’s thorough research, judicious examination of evidence, lucid narrative style, and perceptive and illuminating interpretations of the major works are worthy of her great subject. Her detailed descriptions effectively evoke the paintings’ iconographic meaning. She writes of The Assumption, Titian’s Virgin is propelled upward to heaven as though by her own spiraling momentum and is surrounded by a swarm of cavorting baby angels. And she concludes, If the Venus of Urbino is about flirtation and the Farnese Danaë is about the moment of penetration, the Danaë Titian, painted for King Philip, is about the climax of passion. --Jeffrey Meyers Read more Review “Sheila Hale’s TITIAN takes on the heroic task of reconstructing this largely undocumented life. . . . Meticulous and fluid. . . . Hale’s biography captures the energy and colors of everyday Venetian life as brilliantly as a Canaletto painting.” (New York Times Book Review)“[A] magnificent account of the incomparable Venetian artist Titian and the world he lived in...Hale writes an elegant, even worldly prose...delicious as well as authoritative...For me, it’s the biography of the year.” (Michael Dirda, Washington Post)“A magnificent new biography…The elegance and energy of her narrative, together with a born biographer’s eye for detail, make…[this] eminently readable and profoundly authentic…” (Jonathan Keates, Literary Review)“Impressive…entertaining…a feat of research…crammed with new or expanded or rethought information about this stubbornly mysterious giant” (Waldemar Januszczak, Sunday Times (London))“It all makes for compelling reading…enriched by vivid anecdotes and gossipy snippets” (Fisun Güner, Independent)“Titian stands out among his peers as Shakespeare does among writers, and Sheila Hale’s authoritative and readable book is more than worthy of her subject.” (The Economist)“This definitive biography of the great Renaissance painter in over a century is a landmark achievement.” (Publishers Weekly, "Top 10 in Art and Architecture")“An excellent biography…Hale’s thorough research, judicious examination of evidence, lucid narrative style, and perceptive and illuminating interpretations of the major works are worthy of her great subject.” (Booklist (starred review))“In this monumental book, Hale sets forth what may become the definitive biography of Tiziano Vecellio (c.1480-1576), better known as Titian. . . . This impressive, ambitious, scholarly, interdisciplinary . . . book straddles academic disciplines, including art history, history, and literature. Strongly recommended.” (Library Journal (starred review))“Hale’s approach is to try to understand the times in which he lived, and she succeeds brilliantly in capturing the pulse of 16th-century Venice, where the artist spent his working life. . . . Highly readable.” (Wall Street Journal) Read more See all Editorial Reviews
Reviews
Sheila Hale is an expert on Venice and the Renaissance. Her expertise is obvious in Titian: His Life, a biography of Titian and the 15th Century Venice where he lived. And what a life it was - long, productive, and during very interesting times. Titian was born shortly before Columbus discovered the New World and lived during the Ottoman invasions of Europe, the Protestant challenge to the Church, and other wars and political intrigues.The book is very interesting and well written. In a book of nearly 800 pages, it is perhaps inevitable that some of the information will be of more interest to the specialist than to the casual student of the Renaissance. Nevertheless, one gains a real sense for Titian and for life in Venice during the 1500's.Unfortunately there are two defects in the book's design. The index is incomplete and difficult to use. The color plates of Titian's paintings are grouped together rather than being reproduced in the text where the painting is discussed. Other paintings are mentioned but never reproduced so it is difficult to see how Titian may have influenced, or been influenced by, other artists.
