In the very early years of the sixteenth century, when Venice was at the height of its fame and wealth and churches and palaces were embellished with the works of the Vivarinis, Carpaccio, the Bellinis, Sebastiano del Piombo, Cima da Conegliano, Dürer, and Giorgione, a young boy came from Pieve di Cadore and quickly became the official painter of the Serenissima and one of the best known of all time. We do not know whether in his hometown Tiziano Vecellio had already showed mastery in this art but, in 1508, the year of his “public release,” the exploit was exceptional.

With the Judith (or Justice), frescoed on the side wall of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, the public was confronted with a first complete example of what the artist would develop: the bright chromatism, the dynamism of the figures and their grandeur. While Giorgione, an already accomplished painter, took care of the far more important facade on the Grand Canal with his static figures and decorations, Titian burst forth from the wall facing the calle, overshadowing his more famous colleague. And it seems that malicious tongues were circulating the rumor that Giorgione was barricaded in his house, lest he hear any more of the rave praise dedicated to the young artist from the mountains of Cadore.

The exhibit Tiziano 1508. Agli esordi di una luminosa carriera (Titian 1508. At the Beginnings of a Luminous Career), recounts the early development of the talented artist through 17 autograph works and a dozen comparisons with paintings, engravings and drawings by authors contemporary with him. Among the most interesting loans: part of the monumental woodcut The Triumph of Christ from the Bibliothéque Nationale de France, which conceals deep political meanings beneath its religious theme; the Risen Christ from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence; the Madonna and Child between St. Anthony of Padua and St. Rocco from the Prado Museum in Madrid; and the Baptism of Christ from the Capitoline Museums in Rome.

The itinerary brings out how within a very few years (from about 1508 to 1512) Titian appropriated established languages and especially the influences of Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Albrecht Dürer, and Michelangelo, elaborating a language of his own that would take him to the most important Italian and European courts and to being the favorite painter of Emperor Charles V on whose reign the sun never set, just as it does not set on Titian’s imperishable glory.

Tiziano 1508. Agli esordi di una luminosa carriera
September 9 – December 3, 2023
Gallerie dell’Accademia
Calle della Carità, 1050
Opening hours:
Monday 8:15 am – 2 pm
From Tuesday to Sunday: 8:15 am – 7.15pm
www.gallerieaccademia.it/tiziano