A Boy with a Bird

1525

Marries Cecilia, the mother of his sons

Cecilia, a barber's daughter from Pieve di Cadore, had been Titian's housekeeper and for some five years his mistress, and had already borne him two sons, Pomponio and Orazio. In 1525, when she fell seriously ill, Titian married her to legitimise the children; Cecilia recovered, and the marriage was a happy one.

1525

Married: Cecilia Soldano

1527

Aretino, Sansovino and the “triumvirate”

In March 1527 the satirist Pietro Aretino arrived in Venice: he became friends with Titian and with Jacopo Sansovino, and the three were popularly known as “the triumvirate”, becoming the centre of the city's artistic establishment. Aretino enlisted both in pursuing the patronage of Federico II Gonzaga, and by the autumn of 1527 the Marquis of Mantua had received from Titian a portrait of Aretino (lost); important commissions and an introduction to Emperor Charles V followed.

1529

First meeting with Emperor Charles V in Parma

Thanks to the patronage of Federico Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, in 1529 at Parma Titian obtained an audience with Emperor Charles V, who promised him his patronage.

1530

The death of his wife Cecilia

In August 1530 Titian's wife Cecilia died. He remarried, but little information is known about his second wife; she was possibly the mother of his daughter Lavinia.

1530–1539

The young Tintoretto in Titian's workshop

According to Tom Nichols, the very young Tintoretto, brought to Titian's studio by his father, probably entered the workshop between 1530 and 1539, but only for a very brief time. According to Ridolfi, after being cast out of the studio he resolved to become a painter by studying the canvases of Titian and the reliefs of Michelangelo, and wrote on his wall the motto “Michelangelo's design and Titian's colour”.