Art e Dossier

In his youth, Tintoretto was attracted to the art of Andrea Schiavone and specifically his fluid and chromatically exuberant brushstrokes. In this painting there are also other cultural references, from Raphael to Pordenone to Titian. Each concept, however, is reabsorbed into an innovative layout characterized by dramatic furor and dynamism that were foreign to the work of his predecessors. The subject, that lends itself to a portrayal in terms of agitated gestures and forced poses was particularly congenial to the temperament and Mannerist language of the twenty-five year old Tintoretto.

This painting, done for the Scuola Grande di San Marco, was the artist’s first major public success. The subject is drawn from The Golden Legend by Jacopo da Varagine that Jacopo Sansovino had sculpted in a bronze bas-relief for St. Mark’s Basilica. The composition is centered on the flight of the audaciously foreshortened saint who hurtles from the sky and triggers a multitude of movements and gestures around the cleverly foreshortened nude body. Tintoretto used two light sources, the background light bathes the scene in a natural atmosphere, while the external light exalts the bodies and gestures of the protagonists in the foreground.

Tintoretto set Cain’s murder of Abel in a setting of lush nature that dominates the canvas from the foreground. He delivers feelings and emotions into the wooded landscape, emphasizing the violent drama of the action with luministic contrasts and daring poses. The dynamic play of the figures, centered on the contraposition of muscular masses is derived from Titian’s contemporary Michelangesque compositions. This painting was done for the Scuola della Trinità along with other scenes from Genesis. It is a brilliant example of the artist’s narrative skills and the ease with which he treated Biblical themes.

The scene is animated by a serene and subtly sensual atmosphere. The affair between Venus and Mars is consummated in a definitely Venetian setting. She is forced to hide her young lover dressed in helmet and armor and is frightened by the idea that the lively little dog could reveal his presence to her old husband, Vulcan. Tintoretto used a light and ironic narrative key, without stinting on demonstrations of his technical skill and intellectual sophistication (one example is the mirror reflecting Vulcan’s back). A vibrant light illuminates the soft flesh of the goddess and adds brilliance to the fine fabrics.

The Jesuit fathers had decided to commission Paolo Veronese to make the altarpiece for their church. According to Ridolfi Tintoretto promised that he would do it “in the exact same style as Paolo”, and he obtained the commission. If the glaring colors and bright luminosity of the painting reveal a closeness to Veronese’s style, the artist proved his autonomy and expressive freedom in the power impressed on the plastic figure of the Virgin and the flight of angels.

This is one of Tintoretto’s finest paintings, bathed in an atmosphere that is both fairytale-like and enigmatic. Susanna is grooming herself and admiring herself in the mirror while the two old men, dressed in loud colors and hidden by the lush plants, gradually approach her. The pale, diffuse light that for once replaces the artist’s preferred contrasting and darker tones, exalts the female body without impacting its integrity. The perspective acceleration towards the rear gives the composition its dynamism. The importance of the decorative details reflects Tintoretto’s interest in the works of his contemporary, Paolo Veronese.

Tintoretto began painting portraits early in his career. As he became more and more famous, the requests from the wealthy and powerful kept on growing. In this painting the renowned humanist, Alvise Cornaro, is portrayed very late in life. The artist cleverly illuminated only his face and hands, so that the figure barely emerges from the dark background, taking on an almost haunted look. His intellectual and moral superiority are concentrated in the lively gaze and severe pose.

Tintoretto donated this painting to the Confraternità di San Rocco of which he was a member, and it was placed in the central section of the ceiling of the salon on the piano nobile. Following the enthusiasm that the painting aroused, in 1577 he was authorized to painted the other canvases for the ceiling, the walls and the main altarpiece. The composition is constructed on the two longer diagonals: at the bottom is the tangle of snakes and human figures engaged in a desperate battle, while above we see the hosts of angels. An accentuated epic air characterizes the painting that was undoubtedly modeled along the lines of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment. The figures are depicted in the pangs of suffering, in the gestures of a desperate struggle, in the surge of flight. Marked contrasts between light and shadow and the cold palette heighten the sense of cosmic calamity.

Tintoretto painted this subject several times from his youth to his final years. The foreground of this painting focuses on the two beggars who were given food; they are set like coulisses at the edges of a large room taken up by an oblique table. Christ institutes the Eucharist and announces his betrayal causing a lively reaction among His apostles. In the background the servants are engaged in domestic tasks. A continuous alternation of tones, the many motifs and details enrich the tale, suggesting different states of mind. A quivering, unstable light strikes the flat surfaces as well as the fabrics and the utensils.

This is one of a series of eight paintings known as Gonzaga Cycle that the duke Guglielmo Gonzaga commissioned at two separate times for the ducal palace in Mantua to commemorate the salient episodes in the family’s history and the glorious deeds of its members. Here the painter presents the central moment of the battle, when the head of the army, with an authoritarian gesture orders the final assault on the enemy troops. In the painting characterized by a close-up vantage point and a broad panorama, we see the master’s proven ability to dominate large areas.

A master in “staging” dramatic events, Tintoretto also showed remarkable skill in creating elegiac or pastoral scenes, and this painting is a prime example. The scene is organized on two planes, inside a barn populated by lively figures and humble objects, illuminated by a supernatural light that shines in through the open roof. The artist does not place the Holy Family, which is in the upper part, together with the world of the peasants. Attention to the everyday aspect and the “truth” of some details contributed to the success of Tintoretto’s religious paintings even during the Counter-Reformation.

This is Tintoretto’s last self-portrait. Neglecting the tools of his art, he depicted himself full-face as a simple old man. What is striking about the face, framed by an unruly white beard is the modest and sad expression in the eyes. Ridolfi says that after having completed Paradise, the immense canvas in the Great Council room of the Ducal Palace, Tintoretto stopped working frenetically and “gave himself over to the contemplation of heavenly things.” Manet liked the painting so much that in 1854 he painted a copy of it that is now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon.