In Cadore, the native place of Titian, that artist has
painted a picture wherein is Our Lady, San Tiziano, the
Bishop,[1] and his own Portrait in a kneeling position. In the
year that Pope Paul III. went to Bologna, and thence to
Perrara, Titian having gone to the court, took the Portrait
of His Holiness, a very fine work. He also painted that of
the Cardinal Santa Piore; both of these works, for which he
was very well paid by the Pope, are now in Rome; one in
the Guardaroba of Cardinal Parnese, the other in the hands
of those who became heirs of the Cardinal Santa Piore:
many copies have been taken from them, and these are dispersed throughout Italy. About the same time our artist
made the Portrait of Francesco Maria, Duke of Urbino; and
this is so wonderfully beautiful, that it was celebrated by
Messer Pietro Aretino in a sonnet, which begins thus: —
Se il chiaro Apelle con la man dell'Arte
Rassembro d'Alessandro il volto e il petto.
In the Guardaroba of the same Duke there are two female heads by Titian, which are very pleasing, with a recumbent figure of Venus, partially covered with flowers, and transparent draperies, the whole exceedingly beautiful and finely finished.[2] There is a half-length of Santa Maria Maddalena, with dishevelled hair, which is likewise very beautiful,[3] with Portraits of Charles V., King Francis, as a youth, the Duke Guidobaldo IL, Pope Sixtus IV., Julius II., Paul III., the old Cardinal of Lorraine, and Soliman, Emperor of the Turks; all from the hand of Titian, and exceedingly fine In that same Guardaroba, among many other things, is an antique Head of the Carthaginian Hannibal, cut in a cornelian, with a beautiful bust in marble by Donatello.
In the year 1541 Titian painted the picture of the High Altar, in the Church of the Santo Spirito in Venice, the subject being the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles; the Almighty is represented in fire, and the Spirit as a Dove, This picture having shown signs of deterioration in a very short time, Titian had much discussion with the monks of Santo Spirito respecting it, and was ultimately obliged to
