Titian: His Life and Works in 500 Images

Art historian Hodge delivers a comprehensivesurvey of the life, art, and cultural milieu of ItalianRenaissance painter Titian. Born Tiziano Vecellio around 1488, thepainter moved to Venice with his family when he was nine andapprenticed as a mosaic maker. Learning from such well-knownartists as Giorgione, he used the “intense pigments” available inVenice in paintings notable for their lush color and “freedom ofstyle and approach” (for example, he often animated religiousiconography with a sense of movement, portraying the Madonna in a”contrapposto,” or twisted, position). After establishing hissubject’s biographical information, historical context, andartistic influences in the book’s first half, Hodge examinesTitian’s paintings in roughly chronological order, unpacking thethemes, style, and significance of famous works (Flora, The Venusof Urbino) and lesser-known pieces (Portrait of a Young Woman).While some of the background-including information on Venice’ssystem of constitutional monarchy-can feel like filler, Hodge’sstylistic analyses are cogent, and welcome context is provided viareproductions of paintings by Titian’s instructors, Gentile andGiovanni Bellini; his rival, Sebastiano del Piombo; and hisadmirers, including Tintoretti and Manet. Art students willespecially appreciate this primer on a key Renaissance artist. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (US) JULY 2024I’ve enthused before about this really rather excellent series, which gives you more bangs for your buck than you honestly have any right to expect. Here, Susie Hodge provides a concise but thorough account of Titian’s life and the progress of his work before moving on to a gallery of specific works, each accompanied by a short descriptive caption. As ever, the quality of the reproduction is more than enough to see what you’re looking at and for, enhanced by a decently heavy paper stock that doesn’t swallow the colour or simply feel cheap in the hand. I honestly don’t know how they do it – I really thought the cover price might have hit the £20 mark by now, but it’s well off that. Henry Malt, ArtBookReview January 2025

Susie Hodge has an MA in the History of Art by Research from the University of London. She has written many books on art history and writes articles and booklets for art magazines and museums including the V&A, Tate and the Royal Academy.