This up-to-date, well-illustrated, sensitive introduction to the life and works of one of the giants of Western painting also surveys the golden age of Venetian painting from Bellini to Veronese and its place in the history of Western art. Bruce Cole, a respected scholar and author of numerous books on Italian Renaissance art, begins with the life and work of Giovanni Bellini, who was the foundation stone of Venetian Renaissance painting. He continues with the paintings of Giorgione and the young Titian whose work embodied the new Venetian style. With Titian's maturity as an artist came his undisputed leadership in Venetian painting. Cole discusses and explains many of Titian's major works - portraits, religious paintings, and nudes - from various points of view.