Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: rivals in Renaissance Venice

324 Pages·136.261 MB·English

by  Frederick Ilchman with contributions by Linda Borean ... [et al.].

$65-00
TITIAN
TINTORETTO
-VERONESE
RIVALS IN RENAISSANCE VENICE
♦ ♦ ♦
For nearly four decades in the sixteenth century, the
careers of Renaissance Venice's three greatest painters—
Titan, Tintoretto, and Veronese—overlapped, encour­
aging mutual influences and bitter rivalries that changed
the course of art history. Venice was then among
Europe’s richest cities, and its plentiful commissions
fostered an exceptionally fertile and innovative climate.
In this environment, the three artists—brilliant, ambi­
tious, and fiercely competitive—vied with each other
for primacy, deploying the new combination of oil on
canvas, with its unique expressive possibilities, and such
new approaches as a personal and identifiable signature
touch. They also pioneered the use of easel painting, a
newly portable format that allowed for unprecedented
fame in their lifetimes. With more than 160 stunning
examples by the three masters and their contempo­
raries, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese elucidates the techni­
cal and aesthetic innovations that helped define the
“Venetian style”—characterized by loose technique,
rich coloring, and often sensual subject matter—as well
as the social, political, and economic context in which
it flourished. Essays range from examinations of new
approaches to studies of such crucial institutions as
state commissions and the private patronage system.
Most of all, by concentrating on the lives and careers
of Venice’s three greatest painters, the volume presents
a vibrant human portrait—one brimming with intense
competition, one-upmanship, humor, and passion.
177 color and. 22 black-and-white illustrations

TITIAN· TINTORETTO· 'VERONESE
RIVA I.S IN RENAISSANCE VENICE

TITIAN* TINTORETTO*-VERONESE
RIVALS IN RENAISSANCE VENICE
Frederick ilchman
WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY
Linda Borean, Patricia Fortini Brown, Vincent Delieuvin, Robert Echols,
John Garton, Rhona MacBethjohn Marciari, David Rosand,
Jonathan Unglaub, and Robert Wald
J
BOSTON
MFA Publications
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
AUG 2 6 2009
MFA PU BLIC?\TIONS For a complete listing of MFA publications,
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston please contact the publisher at the above
465 Huntington Avenue address, or call 617 369 3438.
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www.mfa.org/publications Front cover: Titian, Venus with a Mirror,
about 1555 (detail, cat. 30)
This book was published in conjunction with Back cover: Tintoretto, Tarquin and Lucretia.
the exhibition "Titian, Tintoretto. Veronese: 1578-80 (detail, cat. 46)
Rivals in Renaissance Venice," organized by Pages 16-17: Giovanni Merlo, Map of Venice,
the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the 1670, published by Stefano Scolari. Courtesy
Musée du Louvre, Paris. of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz—
Max-Planck-lnstitut. Site numbers and key
Museum of Fine Arts. Boston
added by Mary Reilly and MFA Publications,
March 15, 2009-August t6, 2009
with permission.
Musée du Louvre, Paris
September 14, 2009-January 4, 2010 Research assistance by Martha Clawson
Linda Borean’s essay translated by Martha
The exhibition is sponsored by Clawson and Frederick llchman
Pioneer Investments and UniCredit Group. Vincent Delieuvin's contribution to "Late Styles"
translated by Mark Polizzotti
Edited by Matthew Battles, Mark Polizzotti.
PIONEER
and Sarah McGaughey Tremblay
Investments Copyedited by Dalia Geffen and Jodi M. Simpson
Designed by Cynthia Rockwell Randall
UniCredit Group Produced by Cynthia Rockwell Randall and
Jodi M. Simpson
Printed and bound at Arnoldo Mondadori
Editore, Verona. Italy
Generous support for the catalogue is provided
by the Andrew W. Mellon Publications Fund
Available through
and by Scott and Isabelle Black.
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© 2009 by Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
New York, New York 10013
ISBN 978-0-87846-739-6 (hardcover)
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isbn 978-0-87846-740-2 (softcover)
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2008941173 FIRST EDITION
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