self-portrait by Titian
Pietro Aretino by Titian ….. Aretino was one of Titian’s closest friends and most passionate of admirers…. The poet took it upon himself to present the maestro’s work, in glorified terms, to the world… it was Aretino who originally applied the term “Pittore Divino” to Titian….. He wrote, “Titian in his supreme excellence is not just divine, as the world takes him to be, but absolutely godlike and without equal—-like a man who backs up the liveliness of his coloring with the consummation of draftsmanship in such a way that his creations look as though they were not painted, but real.”
MIchalangelo used Aretino as a model to paint the figure that is holding the flayed skin that is his self-portrait in The Last Judgment.
