Page:Vasari - Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, volume 5.djvu/410

398 by him in those of his youth, the first being executed with a certain care and delicacy, which renders the work equally effective, whether seen at a distance or examined closely; while those of a later period, executed in bold strokes and with dashes, can scarcely be distinguished when the observer is near them, but if viewed from the proper distance they appear perfect. This mode of his, imitated by artists who have thought to show proof of facility, has given occasion to many wretched pictures, which probably comes from the fact that whereas many believe the works of Titian, done in the manner above described, to have been executed without labour, that is not the truth, and these persons have been deceived; it is indeed well known that Titian went over them many times, nay, so frequently, that the labour expended on them is most obvious. And this method of proceeding is a judicious, beautiful, and admirable one, since it causes the paintings so treated to appear living, they being executed with profound art, while that art is nevertheless concealed.

In a picture three braccia high and four broad, Titian painted the Infant Christ in the arms of the Virgin, and receiving the Adoration of the Magi; the work comprises numerous figures one braccio high, and is a very good one, as is another which he copied himself from this and gave to the Cardinal of Ferrara (the elder). Another work by this master, representing Christ derided by the Jews, was placed in a chapel of the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie at Milan. For the Queen of Portugal he painted a picture of Christ scourged at the Column; this, which is somewhat less than life, is very beautiful. For the High Altar in the Church of San Domenico, in Ancona, he painted a picture of Christ on the Cross, with Our Lady, San Giovanni, and San Domenico at the foot of the same; this also is very beautiful, and in the bold manner described above. The picture at the Altar of San Lorenzo, in the Church of the Crocicchieri at Venice, is by Titian; it represents the Martyrdom of San Lorenzo, with a building crowded with figures; in the midst of them lies the foreshortened figure of San Lorenzo on the Gridiron, beneath