Titian

Tiziano Vecellio was the greatest artist of the Venetian School, recognized as immense genius in his own time and his reputation as one of the giants of art has never been sincerely questioned. Lomazzo described him as the 'sun amidst small stars not only among the Italians but all the painters of the world'. He was supreme in every branch of painting and his achievements were so varied that he has been an inspiration to artists of very different character. Poussin, Rubens, and Velazquez are among the painters who have particularly revered him. In many subjects, above all in portraiture, he set patterns that were followed by generations of artists. His free and expressive brushwork revolutionized the oil technique: Vasari wrote that his late works "are executed with bold, sweeping strokes, and in patches of colour, with the result that they cannot be viewed from near by, but appear perfect at a distance..."