Famous people

Tiziano Vecelli, better known under the name of Titian, was one of the preeminent artists of the Renaissance, a renowned Venetian painter and a superb portraitist. Museum-goers do not cease to admire the use of colour and astounding vibrations of light, for which his works have been treasured all around the world over the centuries. From his first painting, "The Three Frescos in Padua", Titian rose to the height of being appointed the official painter of the Republic of Italy. His most celebrated pieces of art include "The Holy Trinity", "Emtombment", "Pope Paul III", "Self Portrait", "Man in the Red Cap", "Pietro Aretino", "Venus d'Urbino", "King Francis", "Charles V on Horseback" and "Three Ages of Man."

Although renowned chiefly for his innumerable erotic adventures, Giovanni Giacomo Casanova de Seingalt was more than just the world's most famous womanizer - he was a soldier, spy, diplomat, writer, prisoner and businessman. His foremost literary work is his autobiography titled simply "History of My Life." Not only does it give a captivating, if not very trustworthy account of his amorous affairs with as many as 122 ladies, but it also offers a thorough portrait of life and customs in the 18th century. Casanova additionally wrote novels, such as a 5 volume "L'Icosameron" and "Ne Amori Ne Donne, Ovvero La Stalla Ripulita", a satirical pamphlet on Venetian nobility, published poetry and translated the "Iliad", but overall these efforts were not successful.

Said about the city:
"My beautiful, my own
My only Venice - this is breath! Thy breeze
Thine Adrian sea-breeze, how it fans my face!
Thy very winds feel native to my veins,
And cool them into calmness!" ("The Two Foscari")

The great English Romantic poet, George Gordon Noel Byron or Lord Byron was born in London. As popular a figure as he was, his poetry seized the heart and imagination of Europe. Lord Byron gave literature a new "Byronic hero" - a rebellious youth who dwells on some unforgivable past incident. It was not until Byron wrote his poetic travelogue, "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" (1812-18), a collection of verses on his travels across Europe, that he experienced true success and appreciation. Through his career, he published many pieces of poetry that include "The First Kiss of Love" (1806), "The Giaour" (1813), "The Corsair" (1814), "She Walks in Beauty" (1814), "Prometheus" (1816), "Manfred" (1817), "Beppo" (1818) as well as "Cain" (1821). However, his magnum opus is considered to be a narrative poem entitled "Don Juan" (1819-24).

Said about the city:
"This was Venice, the flattering and suspect beauty-this city, half fairy tale and half tourist trap, in whose insalubrious air the arts once rankly and voluptuously blossomed, where composers have been inspired to lulling tones of somniferous eroticism."

He was a Germany-born novelist, essayist and cultural critic, recognized as one of the great writers the 20th century produced. His fame is based on two works, "Der Tod in Venedig" (1912; "Death in Venice") filmed in 1971 by Luchino Visconti, and "Der Zauberberg" (1924; "The Magic Mountain"), for which he won the Nobel Prize in 1929. Among his other works the following are noteworthy: "Buddenbrooks" (1901), the novella "Tonio Kroger" (1902), "Kongliche Hoheit" (1909), "Von Deutscher Republik" (1923), "Mario und der Zauberer" (1930; "Mario and the Magician") as well as the collossal "Joseph und Seine Bruder" (1933-42; "Joseph and his Brothers"). "Doktor Faustus" (1947) was Mann's last distinguished novel.

Amazingly productive and consequential as a composer of symphnic-operas (or "music dramas"), in which he included striking chromaticism and atonality, Wagner was, moreover, a comductor, music theorist and essayist. His famous operatic work, "Der Ring des Nibelungen" or the "Ring" cycle (1876), considered the most challenging artistic effort ever, consists of four pieces of music ("Das Rheingold," "Die Walkure," "Siegfried" and "Die Gotterdammerung") and took no less than 22 years to finish. Wagner composed many outstanding operas such as "Der fliegende Holländer" ("The Flying Dutchman"), "Tristan und Isolde" ("Tristan and Isolde") and the comedie, "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" ("The Mastersingers of Nuremberg"). His final one is titled "Parsifal."