Was Titian really the greedy old master that history suggests? This lecture reveals how Venice’s greatest painter became Europe’s most sought-after artist through shrewd business strategies and an extraordinary royal partnership. When PhilipII inherited both the Spanish throne and Titian’s services, he commissioned a series of bespoke mythological paintings that would become the most luxurious art ever created. Through masterpieces like Venus and Adonis and Diana and Actaeon, we will explore how Titian developed tailor-made products for the world’s most powerful client – and discover why he waited until just two years before his death to send Philip II his first bill. The story builds to a dramatic confrontation in 1564, when Titian made his boldest business move yet – one that would redefine the relationship between artists and patrons forever.
Discover how Titian transformed from Venetian craftsman to international entrepreneur, creating the template for professional artistic practice that still influences the art world today.
Dr Carlo Corsato is a Venetian-born art historian specialising in Renaissance art and the cultural history of Venice. He works as a curator and in-house educator at the National Gallery, London, where he has developed innovative approaches to engaging diverse audiences with historic art. Carlo has been a Visiting Scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge and has lectured at the universities of St Andrews, Buckingham and the Courtauld Institute of Art. He also leads cultural tours for Martin Randall Travel and teaches for adult education institutions, including Venice in Peril, Morley College, and City Lit. His research focuses on early-modern art in Italy and Flanders, with particular expertise in Venetian painting and archival documentation. Carlo co-edited Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. Devotional Space, Images of Piety with Prof Deborah Howard—the first comprehensive monograph on the church—and has contributed to major exhibition catalogues including Titian: Love, Desire, Death. His groundbreaking research on Titian’s Magdalens, published in Titian: Themes and Variations, has reshaped understanding of the artist’s commercial practices. He also authored Lives of Titian and Lives of Tintoretto, making available in English crucial sources about these artists for contemporary scholarship.
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