The original source of biographical material relating to Titian is in
Vasari's "Lives of the Painters," the best edition of which is the
Foster translation, annotated with critical and explanatory comments by
E. H. and E. W. Blashfield and A. A. Hopkins. The most complete modern
biography is that by Crowe and Cavalcaselle, in two large volumes
(published in 1877), but as this is now out of print, it can be
consulted only in the large libraries. Some of the conclusions of these
writers have been challenged by later critics, Morelli and others, and
should not be accepted without weighing the new arguments. The volume on
"Titian: A Study of his Life and Work," by Claude Phillips, Keeper of
the Wallace Collection, London, is in line with the modern methods of
criticism, and is written in a delightful vein of appreciation. The two
parts of the book, The Earlier Work and The Later Work, correspond to
the two monographs for "The Portfolio," in which the work was first
published.
In the general histories of Italian art, valuable chapters on Titian are
contained in Kugler's "Handbook of the Italian Schools" (to be read in
the latest edition by A. H. Layard) and Mrs. Jameson's "Early Italian
Painters" (to be read in the latest revision by Estelle M. Hurll). A
monograph on Titian is issued in the German Series of Art Monographs,
edited by H. Knackfuss.
Interesting suggestions upon the study of Titian's art will be found in
the following references: In Mrs. Oliphant's "Makers of Venice;" in
Berenson's "Venetian Painters of the Renaissance;" in Symonds's volume
on Fine Arts in the series "Renaissance in Italy." Burckhardt's
"Cicerone" has some valuable pages on Titian, but the book is out of
print. A List of Titian's work is given in Berenson's "Venetian
Painters."