Tiziano Vecellio

Italian Renaissance master Tiziano Vecellio, better known as Titian (c.1488-1576) was the leader of the Venetian school. He was skilled as a portraitist as well as a landscape artist, and also excelled in painting court, mythological, and religious subjects. The freedom of his brushstrokes and his passionate exploration of color were well ahead of his time, displaying a loose, impressionistic character. Titian inspired a vaste range of artists during his lifetime including Velàzquez, Rembrandt, van Dyck, and Rubens and later many modern artists including the Impressionists Monet and Renoir.