Few individuals have had a greater influence on the development of Western painting than the 16th-century Venetian artist Titian. His vibrant colours and exciting brushwork have made his work a constant inspiration to artists, from Rubens to the Impressionists and beyond. Every generation has found something new to admire in his astonishing technique, which enabled him to produce fresh interpretations of the most familiar religious and mythological stories as well as portraits and landscapes.