I must thank Dr. Georg Gronau for his very fair reply, published in these pages[[168]] (to my article in the Nineteenth Century on the subject of Titian's age[[169]]). He has also most kindly pointed out two pieces of contemporary evidence which had escaped my notice, and although neither of these passages is conclusive proof one way or the other, they deserve to be reckoned with in arriving at a decision.
Dr. Gronau formulates the evidence shortly thus:
| Vasari in 1566 or 1567 |
says | Titian is over 76 |
| The Spanish Consul in 1567 | " | " " 85 |
| Titian himself in 1571 | " | he is " 95 |
and he adds that this new piece of evidence—viz. the letter of the Spanish Consul to King Philip—instead of helping us, only makes the confusion worse.
What then are we to think when yet another—a fourth—contemporary statement turns up, differing from any of the three just quoted? Yet such a letter exists, and I am happy in my turn to point out this fresh piece of evidence, in the hope that instead of making the confusion worse, it will help us to arrive at some decision.
On October the 15th, 1564, Garcia Hernandez, Envoy in Venice from King Philip II., writes to the King his master that Titian begged that His Majesty would condescend to order that he should be paid what was due to him from the court and from Milan.... For the rest the painter was in fine condition, and quite capable of work, and this was the time, if ever, to get "other things" from him, as according to some people who knew him, Titian was about ninety years old, though he did not show it, and for money everything was to be had of him.[[170]]
In 1564 then the Spanish Envoy writes that Titian was said to be about ninety. Let us then enlarge Dr. Gronau's table by this additional statement, and further complete it by including the earliest piece of evidence, the statement of Dolce in 1557 that Titian was scarcely twenty when he worked at the Fondaco de' Tedeschi frescoes (1507-8). The year of Titian's birth thus works out:
| Writing in | 1557 | Dolce | makes out Titian was born about | 1489 |
| " | 1566-7 | Vasari | " | 1489 |
| " | 1564 | Spanish Envoy | " | 1474 |
| " | 1567 | Spanish Consul | " | 1482 |
| " | 1571 | Titian himself | " | 1476 |
Now it is curious to notice that the last three statements are all made in letters to King Philip, either by Titian himself, or at his request by the Spanish agents.
It is curious to notice these statements as to Titian's great age occur in begging letters.[[171]]