than he had done on that of the "Grand
Canal;" which remark caused Giorgione so much vexation, that he would
scarcely permit himself to be seen until the whole work was completed,
and Titian had become generally known as the painter; nor did he
thenceforward hold any intercourse with the latter and they were no
longer friends.

In the year 1508, Titian published a wood-engraving of the "Triumph of
Faith;" it comprised a vast number of figures: our first Parents, the
Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Sybils, the Innocents, the Martyrs, the
Apostles, and Our Saviour Christ borne in triumph by the four
Evangelists, and the four Doctors, followed by the holy Confessors;
here Titian displayed much boldness, a fine manner, and improving
facility. I remember that Fra Bastiano del Piombo, speaking on this
subject, told me that if Titian had then gone to Rome, and seen the
works of Michael Angelo, with those of Raphael and the ancients, he
was convinced, the admirable facility of his coloring considered, that
he would have produced works of the most astonishing perfection;
seeing that, as he well deserved to be called the most perfect
imitator of Nature of our times, as regards coloring, he might thus
have rendered himself equal to the Urbinese or Buonarroto, as regarded
the great foundation of all, design. At a later period Titian repaired
to Vicenza, where he painted "The Judgment of Solomon," on the
Loggetta wherein the courts of justice are held; a very beautiful
work. Returning to Venice, he then depicted the facade of the Germain;
at Padua he painted certain frescos in the Church of Sant' Antonio,
the subjects taken from the life of that saint; and in the Church of
Santo Spirito he executed a small picture of San Marco seated in the
midst of other saints, whose faces are portraits painted in oil with
the utmost care; this picture has been taken for a work of Giorgione.

Now, the death of Giovan Bellino had caused a story in the hall of the
Great Council to remain unfinished; it was that which represents
Federigo Barbarossa kneeling before Pope Alessandro III., who plants
his foot on the emperor's neck. This was now finished by Titian, who
altered many parts of it, introducing portraits of his friends and
others. For this he received from the senate an office in the Exchange
of the Germans called the Senseria, which brought him in three hundred
crowns yearly, and which those Signori usually give to the most
eminent painter o