Titian Vecellio, often referred to as Titian, was one of the greatest Renaissance painters, combining High Renaissance and Mannerist ideas to develop a style well ahead of his time. He dominated Venetian art with a creativity that allowed the city to rival the previously acknowledged artistic centers of Florence and Rome and he painted some the most important and eminent personalities of the time including Emperors, Kings, and Popes. He also painted a range of religious and mythological subjects, sometimes on a vast scale. During a long and prolific career, his work developed from traditional Renaissance imagery to increasingly energetic canvases that rejected balanced compositions and replaced them with asymmetry and dynamic subjects. (The Art Story)