At the end of his long, prolific life, Titian was rumoured to paint directly on the canvas with his bare hands. He would slide his fingers across bright ridges of oil paint, loosening the colours, blending, blurring, and then bringing them together again. With nothing more than the stroke of a thumb or the flick of a nail, Titian's touch brought the world to life. The clinking of glasses, the clanging of swords, and the cry of a woman's grief. The sensation of hair brushing up against naked flesh. The sudd