Who was the richest painter in history?

We are in 1490 in Pieve di Cadore.

The powerful and well-known Vecellio family has been involved since 1200 with administration, power and art in the area on the border between the "Republic of Venice" and the possessions of the Habsburg monarchy.

Nine Vecellio devoted themselves to painting and Titian, who soon manifested his artistic talent, was entrusted to the teachings of Gentile Bellini and, still a child, moved to Venice.

In those years Venice was experiencing a period of stability and enviable wealth that attracted the great painters of the time, from Leonardo da Vinci to Michelangelo to Giorgione. Titian understood and absorbed their value.

Titian was not only a painter, but also a shrewd administrator of himself and his "company".

As a painter he did something that no one had ever done: he denied the primacy of drawing and affirmed the power of color as an emotion and a theatrical vision of life.

As an entrepreneur of himself he had a clear goal: to become the official painter of the "Serenissima" and for this purpose he renounced the call of Pope Leo X, who wanted him in Rome.

Shrewd investments and the wise choice of friendships they led Tiziano to become the supplier of the timber of "his" Cadore to the Venetian shipyards, in constant search of wood for their ships.

Titian became the richest painter of those times and of the entire history of art. He left no pupils, but his lesson on color spanned five centuries and found pupils all the greatest artists worthy of the name.