TITIAN (Tiziano Vecellio)
Pieve di Cadore circa 1480/90-Venice 1576
One of the greatest Venetian artists of the Cinquecento,
Titian trained in Venice with Gentile and Giovanni Bel-
lini and around 1508 entered into association with Gior-
gione, whose lyrical style he adopted. In the Assumption
(1516-1518) for Santa Maria dei Frari, Venice, he intro-
duced a monumental and richly coloristic manner. For
the duke of Ferrara he created a series of exuberant myth-
ological paintings, including the Bacchanal (1523-1525;
Madrid, Prado). Titian's portraits, such as Man with a
Glove (1523; Paris, Louvre) and Pope Paul HI (1543; Na-
ples, Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte) are admired for
their brilliant combination of pictorial and psychological
elements. He visited Rome between 1548 and 1551 and
traveled twice during these years to the court of Charles
V at Augsburg. Late masterpieces such as the Rape ofEu-
ropa (1559-1562; Boston, Isabella Stewart Gardner Mu-
seum) and The Crowning with Thorns (Munich, Alte Pi-
nakothek) are notable for their technical freedom and
emphasis on surface values.
PAOLO VERONESE (Paolo Caliari)
Verona 1528-Venice 1588
Veronese, best known for his grandiose civic and reli-
gious painting cycles, received his artistic training in Ve-
rona from Antonio Badile. The early fresco decorations
(1551) for the Villa Soranza near Castelfranco suggest a
knowledge of the art of Correggio, Parmigianino, and
Giulio Romano. Moving to Venice in 1553, Veronese
worked in the Sala del Consiglio dei Dieci, Palazzo Du-
cale, and began a series of projects for the church of San
Sebastiano including the Triumph of the Mordecai. Ve-
ronese's youthful production culminated in the mythol-
ogies and allegories painted in Palladio's Villa Barbaro
(now Volpe) at Maser in 1561. A noted portraitist, he im-
parted a serene, imposing air to his subjects, which are
enriched with fine details of color and texture, as can be
seen in the Portrait of a Woman (Paris, Louvre). His large
"feast paintings" include the Marriage at Cana (1562—
1563 ; Venice, Accademia) and Feast in the House of Levi
(1573; Louvre). They are remarkable for their skillful and
harmonious organization of large groups before stabiliz-
ing architectural backgrounds.
JEAN-ANTOINE WATTEAU
Valenciennes i684~Nogent-sur-Marne 1721
The son of a master tiler, Watteau trained with J.-A.
Gerin in Valenciennes in 1699. He went to Paris before
1702 and shortly thereafter met Claude Gillot. Watteau
worked with Gillot from 1703 to 1707 and was influenced
by his passion for the commedia dell'arte and theater, as
can be seen in Mezzetin (1718-1719; New York, Met-
ropolitan Museum of Art). From 1708 to 1709 Watteau
worked with the decorator Claude Audran III, who also
served as curator of the Rubens paintings in the Palais du
Luxembourg. Watteau's close study of this Flemish mas-
ter profoundly affected his own art. His patron, Pierre
Crozat, encouraged Watteau to study the drawings and
Venetian paintings in his collection. In this way the artist
began to combine Flemish and Venetian elements, de-
veloping a unique style characterized by rich, decorative
coloring, graceful figures, and a tender, poetic mood. In
1717 he was elected to the Academic in a special category
created for him, peintre de fetesgalantes. His major works
include Pilgrimage to the Island of Cythera (1717; Paris,
Louvre), which he presented to the Academie as his re-
ception piece, and Gersaint's Shop Sign (1720; Berlin,
Kunstamt Charlottenburg).BENJAMIN WEST
Springfield 173 8-London 1820
Born into an American Quaker family, West was en-
couraged early in his career by William Smith, provost
of the College of Philadelphia, whom he met in 1756.
West's ambitious early portraits of the 17505 display the
influence of the painter John Wollaston. In 1760 West
traveled to Italy, where he encountered the work of the
German Neoclassical painter Anton Raphael Mengs,
who was then active in Rome. Moving to England in
1763, West showed a picture in the first Royal Academy
exhibition of 1769. In 1771 he exhibited his most impor-
tant work, The Death of General Wolfe (1771; Ottawa,
National Gallery of Canada), which captivated the pub-
lic through its elevated and heroic presentation of a con-
temporary historical event. West succeeded Sir Joshua
Reynolds as president of the Royal Academy in 1792, and
between 1772 and 1811 held the post of historical painter
to King George III. During this time West executed nu-
merous works for Windsor Castle, including scenes
from early British history such as Queen Philippa Interced-
ing for the Burghers of Calais (1788; Detroit Institute of
Arts). Late in life he completed a series of very large can-
vases, including Christ Rejected by the Jews (1814; Phila-
delphia, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts).HERMANN WEYER
Coburg 1596-after 1621
Little is known of Weyer's life save that his father, Hans
Weyer, was a painter active in Coburg and his brother,
Hans the Younger, worked there as a portrait painter.
Hermann Weyer appears to have worked exclusively asARTISTS BIOGRAPHIES 355