Tintoretto

• 1. The Dyer's Son

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  Jacopo Robusti was born in Venice during the late months of 1518. His father, Battista, worked as a dyer, a trade that gave Jacopo his nickname Tintoretto, meaning little dyer or dyer's boy. The family likely originated from Brescia in Lombardy before settling in the Republic of Venice. Older historical studies once claimed the family came from Lucca, but modern research points to Brescia. Little is known about his early childhood or formal training. Early biographers Carlo Ridolfi and Marco Boschini wrote that he had only one brief apprenticeship under Titian. This relationship ended after just a few days when Titian angrily dismissed him. Ridolfi suggested jealousy played a role while Boschini blamed a personality clash. Their relationship remained rancorous for decades despite Tintoretto's continued admiration for the master. Titian actively disparaged Tintoretto along with his own followers.

• 2. The Slave And The Speed

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  In 1548 Tintoretto received a commission for a large decoration at the Scuola di S. Marco called the Miracle of the Slave. He realized this opportunity could establish him as a major artist and arranged the composition for maximum theatrical effect. The painting depicts a Christian slave saved by the evangelist Saint Mark who shattered bone-breaking implements meant to torture him. Critics like Pietro Aretino praised the figure of the slave but warned against hasty execution. The work became a triumphant success despite some detractors. Following this triumph, Tintoretto received numerous commissions including Saint Roch Cures the Plague Victims in 1549. These horizontal paintings were designed for side walls where viewers would see them from an angle. He composed them with off-center perspective so depth illusions worked best near the worshippers. Around 1560 he married Faustina de Vescovi, daughter of a Venetian nobleman. His speed allowed him to compete effectively against rivals like Paolo Veronese who arrived in Venice in 1551.

• 3. The San Rocco Cycle

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  Between 1565 and 1567 and again from 1575 to 1588 Tintoretto produced many paintings for the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. The first room he painted was Sala dell'Allbergo filled with scenes from the Passion of Christ. In 1564 four finalists including Federico Zuccaro and Paolo Veronese submitted modelli for a ceiling painting on Saint Roch in Glory. Instead of a sketch Tintoretto secretly installed a full-sized painting on the ceiling before presenting it as a fait accompli. He then offered the work as a gift perhaps knowing the foundation could not reject a donation. In 1565 he resumed work at the scuola painting the Crucifixion for which 250 ducats were paid. By 1576 he presented another centerpiece representing the Plague of Serpents gratis. The whole sum paid for the entire scuola throughout his career totaled only 2,447 ducats. Disregarding minor performances the building contains fifty-two memorable paintings described as vast suggestive sketches adapted for dusky half-light viewing. Adam and Eve, the Visitation, and the Adoration of the Magi stand among leading examples.

• 4. Palace And Fire

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  In November 1577 a fire destroyed many works inside the Doge's Palace where Tintoretto had already executed portraits like that of Doge Girolamo Priuli. After the blaze he started afresh with Paolo Veronese as his colleague. In the Sala dell'Anticollegio he painted four masterpieces including Bacchus with Ariadne crowned by Venus and the Forge of Vulcan for fifty ducats each excluding materials around 1578. Other commissions included Venice Queen of the Sea in the hall of the senate between 1581 and 1584. He also created nine large compositions chiefly battle pieces for the hall of the great council during those same years. The Capture of Zara from the Hungarians amid a Hurricane of Missiles followed between 1584 and 1587. His development of fast painting techniques called prestezza allowed him to produce many works while engaged on large projects. This speed combined with his use of assistants enabled him to create more paintings for the Venetian state than any competitor.

• 5. The Vast Paradise

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  The crowning production of Tintoretto's life was the vast Paradise painted for the Doge's Palace covering an area of roughly 23 meters wide and 9 meters high. It remains reputed to be the largest painting ever done upon canvas. While the commission was pending Tintoretto told senators he had prayed God might commission it so paradise itself could be his recompense after death. A large sketch submitted in 1577 now resides in the Louvre in Paris. Another second sketch with a different composition hangs in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. The commission was initially given jointly to Paolo Veronese and Francesco Bassano but Veronese died in 1588 before starting work. Tintoretto set up his canvas in the Scuola vecchia della Misericordia and worked indefatigably making many alterations. When nearly completed he took it to its proper place where assistants including his son Domenico finished much of the work. All Venice applauded the finished result though modern art historians consider it inferior in execution to the two sketches. They tendered a handsome amount which he is said to have abated something from showing a lack of greed.

• 6. Family And Workshop

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  Tintoretto married Faustina de Vescovi around 1560 and they had three sons named Domenico Marco and Zuan Battista plus four daughters who survived to adulthood. His daughter Marietta Robusti became highly regarded as a painter trained by her father alongside her half-brothers. As a girl she accompanied and assisted him at his work dressed as a boy. Eventually Marietta married a jeweller named Mario Augusta. Tradition suggests her heart-stricken father painted her final portrait among many others he made of her before she died in 1590 at age thirty. His son Domenico frequently assisted his father in preliminary work for great pictures and painted a multitude of works many on very large scales. At best these would be considered mediocre yet coming from Tintoretto's son they remain disappointing. He must still be regarded as a considerable pictorial practitioner in his own way. Tintoretto maintained friendships with writers like Pietro Aretino who became an important early patron while living mostly retired surrounded by casts.

• 7. Bold Brushwork And Light

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  Tintoretto's style features bold brushwork using long strokes to define contours and highlights. His paintings emphasize the energy of human bodies in motion often exploiting extreme foreshortening and perspective effects to heighten drama. Narrative content is conveyed by gestures and dynamism rather than facial expressions. An agreement exists showing a plan to finish two historical paintings each containing twenty figures including seven portraits within a two-month period. Sebastiano del Piombo remarked that Tintoretto could paint in two days what he himself took two years to complete. Annibale Carracci noted Tintoretto was equal to Titian in some pictures but inferior in others. The Venetians said he had three pencils one of gold another of silver and a third of iron. His final Last Supper becomes dramatic as human figures join angels while a servant stands in the foreground referencing the Gospel of John 13:14, 16. In restless dynamism his dramatic use of light and emphatic perspective effects make him seem a baroque artist ahead of his time.