“For in only one Titian one can see all the fields of painting perfectly gathered together, otherwise divided among many (we do not say this against other painters): no one has ever surpassed him, neither in invention nor in disegno. And in the field of color, no one even came close to him. Titian, therefore, deserves only one praise for the use of perfect color, which is not due to any of the ancient painters, and if it belongs to any of them, it is lacking, to varying degrees, in the case of all modern painters. Therefore, I say, Titian walks with a step equal to nature, each of his figures is alive, and moving, and the body pulsates. In his works, Titian did not show off the vain beauty of color but used the right colors, he did not introduce affective ornaments, but masterful concreteness, not a lack of elegance, but softness and fusion as in nature. And in his works light and shadow constantly fight with each other and play, and lose themselves and perish just as in nature itself.”
[Lodovico Dolce ”Dialogo della pittura intitolato l’Aretino, 1557]
Flora, by Tiziano