Michelangelo & Titian: A Tale of Rivalry & Genius
William E. Wallace
Princeton University Press (February 2026)

An “interesting story of their long-term mutual regard and reciprocal creativity” 

Rivalries between and among great artists are inevitable, and usually for the same reasons. Some relationships are platonic and best viewed as competition; others are ugly, nasty, and hostile…and would occur no matter what was (and wasn’t) said or done. In the case of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) and Titian Vecellio (c. 1488/1490-1576), theirs was what William Wallace characterizes as an “interesting story of their long-term mutual regard and reciprocal creativity.”

They spent very little time together, but they admired each other’s work and were well-aware of the other’s reputation, closest friends, clients, students, benefactors, and protectors. They continue to be viewed as two of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance. Only a few others include Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), and Raphael da Urbino (1483-1520).

With consummate skill, Wallace carefully establishes a rich and lively context for each of several dozen especially significant events throughout this unique and compelling “story.” Here is a guide to  a few of them that I prepared for you, one that will help you to focus on key developments, themes, and issues:

o Florence and Eight of War (81-82; 48-54, 65-66, and 81-83)
o Influences of Titian’s works on Michelangelo (95-96)
o Michelangelo’s patrons, friends, and acquaintances shared with Titian (109-125)
o Influence of Michelangelo’s work on Titian (112, 130-131-133-134)
o Titian’s personal meetings with Michelangelo (2-10, 66-68, and 97-99)
o Michelangelo’s artistic dialogue with Titian (ix-x, 8-9, 55-62, 85, 87-88, 107-112, 117-118, 129-131, 144-148, and 150-157)

o Michelangelo’s relationship with Titian (ix-x, 10-11, 34-35, and 100-102)
o Michelangelo in Rome (22-24 and 97-98, and 103-104)
o Titian in Rome (2-10, 97-102, and 104-134)
o Influence of Titian’s works on Michelangelo (89, 91, 95-96, 109)
o Titian’s rivalry and artistic dialogue with Michelangelo (157, 158, and 60)
o Titian’s Encounters with Michelangelo’s Work (ix-x, 8-9, 55-62, 87-88, 107-112, 117-118, 129-131, and 144-146)

I selected these passages to guide and inform –and expedite — your journey as you learn about the nature and extent, as well as the thrust and flavor of “two rivals and geniuses” who spent very little time together but spent a great deal of time thinking about each other.

Differences between them? Michelangelo was six to eight years older, more cautious, introverted, and had a much wider range of interests to accommodate his near-insatiable curiosity. Yes, Titian was younger, more deferential, more extroverted, and probably livelier in conversation. He concentrated almost entirely on painting.

Here’s a hypothetical situation: If both were to visit Johannes Guttenberg in his shop in order to check out the first printing press, Michelangelo would be curious to know how it was designed, how it worked, what would improve its performance, etc. He’d request a demonstration. Titian would immediately concentrate on how he should paint it.

When I was a child, I viewed books as my “magic carpets” that could take me anywhere throughout history…or into the future aboard a rocket ship…or down a rabbit hole or accompanying dwarves “off to work” in a diamond mine. William Wallace has just enabled me to visit Venice, Florence, and Rome during the Italian Renaissance. I was able to tag along with him as he shared encounters with great artists and their associates and, like the best of travel guides, thoroughly briefed me on various cultures and communities.

I conclude this brief commentary with excerpts from the conclusion of his brilliant Michelangelo and Titian:

“The entire artistic and literary community of Florence gathered to memorialize Michaelangelo’s death in 1564. Duke Cosimo de’ Medici underwrote the extravagant exequies and Leonardo Buonarroti, Michelangelo’s nephew and heir, paid for the expensive funerary monument erected in Santa Croce.”

“At Titian’s death in August 1576, the artistic community of Venice made elaborate plans to pay equal respect to their most famous artist, modeled on those honoring Michelangelo. But unfortunately, Titian died during a virulent outbreak of plague and nothing came of these efforts. Titian was buried not in Venice’s Pantheon of San Giovanni e Paolo but hurriedly in the lesser basilica of Santa Maria Glorioso dei Frari, where his grave was marked by a simple floor tile.”

“The respective funerary monuments of  the two greatest artists of the Renaissance tell a tale of their posthumous reputations, but not the interesting story of their long-term mutual regard and reciprocal creativity — a tale of genius and rivalry, a tale of titans.”

That task remained for William Wallace, and he completed it with the style, grace, and substance worthy of his eminent subjects.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out another: Paul Strathern’s The Artist, the Philosopher, and the Warrior: The Intersecting Lives of Da Vinci, Machiavelli, and Borgia and the World They Shaped, (Bantam Books, 2009).