art in venice, 1400–1600 803
civico, Musei del Vaticano) and an altar with figures by Pietro Lombardo for
the colleoni chapel in Bergamo are prominent examples.
titian, the only painter who continuously worked and wanted to work
far beyond Venice, repeatedly received commissions from the mighty, such
as from the emperors charles V and Philipp ii, Pope Paul iii, Francesco
Maria della rovere (Urbino), the Gonzaga (Mantua), and Alfonso d’este
(Ferrara). His fame soon also increased the reputation of his chosen home
as an art metropolis. tintoretto’s Gonzaga cycle, in which the painter was
prepared to accept some interference from Mantua, was in comparison
but a flash in the pan. At the same time, titian frequently tackled tasks
that he did not encounter in the metropolis due to the particular social
and political order. the equestrian statue of a ruler (charles V; Madrid,
Prado) and the full-figure portrait of outstanding personalities (Philipp ii;
Madrid, Prado) fall under this category. thereby, the genre of the full-
figure portrait shows that on terra firma outside of the metropolis, the
conventions were more relaxed. Veronese’s portraits of men and women,
such as those of Vicentine society, testify to this. thus, with his growing
success, titian could afford to limit himself to the commissions in Venice
that seemed most important and leave other potential commissions to his
omnipresent rivals, such as Jacopo tintoretto.
A research field that has not been tilled well enough is the painters’
workshops in which the directors were able to have a great number of
paintings executed in their name. the imitation of the painting style and
the painting technique of the workshop director by the assistants, among
them members of the family and experienced imitators, was tolerated by
customers with few exceptions. thus, extensive commissions which the
director of the workshop did not personally wish to fulfill could be real-
ized in a reasonable amount of time. the approximation of a personal style
and the formulation of a simplified—and thereby more easily imitated,
“reduced”—style facilitated the collective execution of large canvases for
more than just the Doge’s Palace or the scuole. the mastery of a recognized
style also meant that the financial success of a workshop was maintained
well beyond the death of the director. the inheritance and continued use
of designs also contributed. Such collaboration was prevalent in the works
of tintoretto and Veronese, even if differences arise today concerning the
extent of the respective artists’ or assistants’ participation. it is similar for
the sculptures coming out of the workshop of Jacopo Sansovino after the
mid-16th century. the personal execution was thus a special distinction
for the customer. A special case is titian’s late style, which was and is for
many, even in his time, strange and incomprehensible.