In this book, biographical accounts by several of Titian's contemporaries, including Giorgio Vasari and Pietro Aretino, trace the long, fascinating, and prolific life of this master of the Italian Renaissance. As the most important member of the sixteenth-century Venetian school, Titian (ca. 1488-1576) reached a level of professional success rivaled only by Raphael, Michelangelo, and, at a later date, Rubens. He was sought after by a range of patrons from Venice and its possessions, as well as northern Italian princes and, eventually, the papacy. Titian's painting methods, particularly his use of color, would influence not only painters of the Renaissance but also future generations of Western artists.