Tiziano Vecellio (1485-1576)

Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (c. 1488/90 - 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian, was an Italian painter🎨 during the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno, then in the Republic of Venice.

During his lifetime he was often called da Cadore, from Cadore, taken from his native region.

Recognized by his contemporaries as "The Sun Amidst Small Stars" (recalling the famous final line of Dante's Paradiso), Titian was one of the most versatile of Italian painters, equally adept with portraits, landscape backgrounds, and mythological and religious subjects.

Cristoforo Stati | Orpheus with Violin, 1600-1601 | Art in Detail

Orpheus by Italian sculptor Cristoforo Stati /Cristofano da Bracciano (1556-1619), famous for taming beasts with his music, is here shown entertaining himself, his body swaying to the sound of the lira da braccio.

The statue was carved for the Palazzo Corsi, Florence. | © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Franciabigio | The Last Supper / L'Ultima cena, 1514

The frescoes with the Last Supper are among the most interesting artistic monuments in Florence.

As a result of the suppressions of religious orders which took place in the 18th and 19th century, a great many Florentine convents have been turned into museums.

In them visitors can directly experience the art of the several excellent painters who in various periods have sought to express the beguiling spirituality of the Last Supper which Christ took with His disciples.

Franciabigio | Renaissance painter

Franciabigio (1482-1525) was a Florentine artist, who closely associated with, though had a distinct style from, his colleague Andrea del Sarto (1486-1531). He was born Francesco di Cristofano, but was called Marcantonio Franciabigio or Francia Bigio. Some of his works now known were once attributed to his contemporary Raphael (1483-1520). He was highly praised for his painting of frescoes.

Paul Horton, 1958 | Storyteller artist

Paul Horton was born in Harborne, Birmingham. "- Looking back on my childhood it seems I was always drawing and painting, I think it was my destiny to become an artist. By the mid-seventies I was taking my art very seriously and studied Life Drawing and History of Art at Bournville School of Art, I also began exhibiting my work at regular intervals. 

I was awarded a Certficate of Merit in 1976 by the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists which gave me my first critical acclaim and in a strange way seemed to seal my fate adding to my determination and desire to become a professional artist.

Johan Zoffany | The Tribuna of the Uffizi, 1772-1778

In the summer of 1772 Zoffany set off for Florence with £300, letters of introduction and a commission from the Queen to paint highlights of the Grand Duke of Tuscany's collection shown within the Tribuna of the Uffizi Palace.

The inspiration for the commission could have been the Cabinet of Paintings (Royal Collection, now given to Formentrou), then attributed to Gonzales Coques, which hung in Queen Charlotte's work-room at Kew.

Gianluca Mantovani, 1974 | Figurative painter

Italian painter Gianluca Mantovani was born in Livorno, where he lives and works.

In 2004, driven by the innate passion for drawing and reached a level of personal maturity, begins to engage in the self-taught oil painting.

Livorno, the city of Macchiaioli, introduced him initially to Impressionism: the first works in fact strongly affected by these characteristics but his artistic research and experimentation led him to approach other styles, until he meets his teacher Bruno Di Maio.

James Wiens | Abstract painter

James Wiens is a professional artist who grew up in British Columbia. This avid outdoorsman uses his paintings to express his love of landscapes and nature. He also uses them as a mean of communication through which he expresses his feelings to his viewers. What inspire his paintings are the dramatic mountains and rivers that surround his place of residence. Wiens joined the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver where he studied and graduated with a diploma in painting and printmaking. He has combined his formal education with the work ethic he gained on his family farm to advance his professional career as an artist.