Titian

Sheila Hale has known and often lived in Venice since 1965 when she began work as a research assistant to John Hale. She is the author of a number of books including The Man Who Lost His Language. She is a trustee of Venice in Peril and lives in Twickenham.

'Crammed with new or expanded or re-thought information about this stubbornly mysterious giant. Impressive ... She shines a light on the mysterious conflict of energies that makes his genius so difficult to encapsulate. Hale is also an enthusiastic collector of characters and her descriptions of the band of Renaissance crackpots who constituted Titian's employers result in some of the book's most entertaining stretches' Sunday Times 'Evokes the sensuality of Titian's working methods and provides subtle insights into his enigmatic last paintings ... a scrupulous and exhaustive account that is informed by the latest scholarship, but admirably free of academic cant ... her book provides by far the richest account yet of Titian's interactions with the city's labyrinthine social fabric' Daily Telegraph 'Magnificent ... the elegance and energy of her narrative ... a born biographer's eye for detail. This is the first serious attempt for 100 years at encompassing Titian's life. Its combination of the eminently readable and the profoundly authentic is remarkable' Literary Review 'A huge and exceptional new study of the painter ... a superb portrait of the artist - an example of measured scholarship, judicious opinion, and telling framing detail' Guardian 'The depth of her research is both impressive and astonishing ... enriched by vivid anecdotes and gossipy snippets ... it all makes for compelling reading' Independent 'Scholarly, erudite, endlessly inquisitive and as clear as can be ... many of the bit-part players in the book are brilliantly vivid' Mail on Sunday 'Hale makes a splendid case here for the artist and his context intertwined, displaying a backdrop every bit as flashy and colourful as his most celebrated paintings... Hale's clear-eyed approach to her subject serves her particularly well in these instances, which illuminate both the man and his art' Independent on Sunday

'Crammed with new or expanded or re-thought information about this stubbornly mysterious giant. Impressive ... She shines a light on the mysterious conflict of energies that makes his genius so difficult to encapsulate. Hale is also an enthusiastic collector of characters and her descriptions of the band of Renaissance crackpots who constituted Titian's employers result in some of the book's most entertaining stretches' Sunday Times

'Evokes the sensuality of Titian's working methods and provides subtle insights into his enigmatic last paintings ... a scrupulous and exhaustive account that is informed by the latest scholarship, but admirably free of academic cant ... her book provides by far the richest account yet of Titian's interactions with the city's labyrinthine social fabric' Daily Telegraph

'Magnificent ... the elegance and energy of her narrative ... a born biographer's eye for detail. This is the first serious attempt for 100 years at encompassing Titian's life. Its combination of the eminently readable and the profoundly authentic is remarkable' Literary Review

'A huge and exceptional new study of the painter ... a superb portrait of the artist - an example of measured scholarship, judicious opinion, and telling framing detail' Guardian

'The depth of her research is both impressive and astonishing ... enriched by vivid anecdotes and gossipy snippets ... it all makes for compelling reading' Independent

'Scholarly, erudite, endlessly inquisitive and as clear as can be ... many of the bit-part players in the book are brilliantly vivid' Mail on Sunday

'Hale makes a splendid case here for the artist and his context intertwined, displaying a backdrop every bit as flashy and colourful as his most celebrated paintings... Hale's clear-eyed approach to her subject serves her particularly well in these instances, which illuminate both the man and his art' Independent on Sunday