Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice

by Frederick Ilchman, David Rosand, Linda Borean

For nearly four decades in the sixteenth century, the careers of Venice's three greatest painters--Titan, Tintoretto and Veronese--overlapped, producing mutual influences and bitter rivalries that changed art history. Venice was then among Europe's richest cities, and its plentiful commissions fostered an exceptionally fertile and innovative climate. In it, the three artists--brilliant, ambitious and fiercely competitive--vied with one another for primacy, employing such new media as oil on canvas, with its unique expressive possibilities, and such new approaches as a personal and identifiable signature style. They also pioneered the use of easel painting, a newly portable format that led to unprecedented fame in their lifetimes. With more than 150 stunning examples by the three masters and their contemporaries, this volume elucidates the technical and aesthetic innovations that helped define the uniquely rich "Venetian style," as well as the social, political and economic context in which it flourished. Essays range from examinations of seminal new techniques to such crucial institutions as state commissions and the patronage system. Most of all, by concentrating on the lives and careers of Venice's three greatest painters, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese paints a vibrant human portrait--one brimming with savage rivalry, one-upsmanship, humor and passion.

Genres: Italy, History, Art History, Art

304 pages, Hardcover

First published March 27, 2009

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished! It's a coffee-table book with small print and it just took some chipping away to reach the end. A catalog from an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Art in Boston, this was an enlightening and enjoyable read. I learned quite a bit about all three artists and the similarities and distinctions in their painting styles. The book is well illustrated, mostly in color, and all but one or two essays are what I would call essential reading. Most interesting was the discussion about Titian's talents and how they sparked competition with the other two, although Veronese came closest to duplicating Titian's skill with portraying human figures. A logical follow-up to this text would be to explore any one of the painters in greater depth.