Editing Tintoretto

{{Short description|16th-century Italian painter of the Renaissance}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date= February 2019}}
{{Infobox artist
| name        = Tintoretto
| image       = Tintoretto-selfport.jpg
| image_size  = 
| caption     = [[Self Portrait (Tintoretto)|Self-portrait]], {{circa|1588}}; [[Louvre]], Paris
| birth_name  = Jacopo Robusti
| birth_date  = late September or early October 1518
| birth_place = [[Venice]], Republic of Venice
| death_date  = {{death date and age|df=y|1594|5|31|1518|10}}
| death_place = Venice, Republic of Venice
| nationality = Venetian
| field       = Painting
| movement    = [[Renaissance]], [[Mannerism]], [[Venetian School (art)|Venetian School]]
| works       = 
|module={{Infobox person|child=yes
| signature   = Tintoretto, Jacopo Robusti, gen. Jacopo Tintoretto 1518-1594 Signature.jpg}}
}}

'''Jacopo Robusti'''{{efn|According to historian Stefania Mason, the discovery and publication in 2004 of a "fanciful account" in a letter of 1678 to a Spanish art collector from his agent in Venice is responsible for a misconception that Jacopo's surname was ''Comin''. ''Robusti'' is the name that appears in his tax declarations and other official documents.<ref>Echols 2018, pp. 39–40, 227.</ref>}} (late September or early October 1518<ref name=Bernari-deVecchi_83>Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.</ref>{{snd}}31 May 1594), best known as '''Tintoretto''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|t|ɪ|n|t|ə|ˈ|r|ɛ|t|oʊ}} {{respell|TIN|tə|RET|oh}}; {{IPA|it|tintoˈretto|lang}}, {{IPA|vec|tiŋtoˈɾeto|lang}}), was an [[Italian Renaissance painter]] of the [[Venetian painting|Venetian school]]. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed with which he painted, and the unprecedented boldness of his brushwork. For his phenomenal energy in painting he was termed {{langnf|it|'''il Furioso'''|the Furious|i=no}}. His work is characterised by his muscular figures, dramatic gestures and bold use of perspective, in the [[Mannerist]] style.<ref>{{cite book|last= Zuffi|first= Stefano|title= One Thousand Years of Painting: An Atlas of Western Painting from 1000 to 2000 A.D. |year= 2004|publisher= Electa|location= Milan, Italy|page= 427|oclc=907045157}}</ref>

==Life==

===The years of apprenticeship===
Tintoretto was born in [[Venice]] in 1518. His father, Battista, was a dyer – {{lang|it|tintore}} in Italian and {{lang|vec|tintor}} in [[Venetian language|Venetian]]; hence the son got the nickname of Tintoretto, "little dyer", or "dyer's boy".<ref>Echols 2018, p. 39.</ref> Tintoretto is known to have had at least one sibling, a brother named Domenico, although an unreliable 17th-century account says his siblings numbered 22.<ref>Echols 2018, pp. 38–40.</ref> The family was believed to have originated from [[Brescia]], in Lombardy, then part of the [[Republic of Venice]]. Older studies gave the Tuscan town of [[Lucca]] as the origin of the family.

Little is known of Tintoretto's childhood or training. According to his early biographers [[Carlo Ridolfi]] (1642) and [[Marco Boschini]] (1660), his only formal apprenticeship was in the studio of [[Titian]], who angrily dismissed him after only a few days—either out of jealousy of so promising a student (in Ridolfi's account) or because of a personality clash (in Boschini's version).<ref>Echols 2018, p. 85.</ref> From this time forward the relationship between the two artists remained rancorous, despite Tintoretto's continued admiration for Titian. For his part, Titian actively disparaged Tintoretto, as did his adherents.<ref>Echols 2018, pp. 18, 85.</ref>

Tintoretto sought no further teaching but studied on his own account with laborious zeal. According to Ridolfi, he gained some experience by working alongside artisans who decorated furniture with paintings of mythological scenes, and studied anatomy by drawing live models and dissecting cadavers.<ref>Echols 2018, pp. 41, 85.</ref> He lived poorly, collecting casts, bas-reliefs, and prints, and practising with their aid. At some time, possibly in the 1540s, Tintoretto acquired models of [[Michelangelo]]'s ''[[Dawn (Michelangelo)|Dawn]]'', ''[[Day (Michelangelo)|Day]]'', ''[[Dusk (Michelangelo)|Dusk]]'' and ''[[Night (Michelangelo)|Night]]'', which he studied in numerous drawings made from all angles.<ref>Echols 2018, pp. 172–173.</ref> Now and afterward he very frequently worked by night as well as by day. His noble conception of art and his high personal ambition were both evidenced in the inscription which he placed over his studio ''Il disegno di Michelangelo ed il colorito di Tiziano'' ("Michelangelo's drawing and Titian's colour").<ref>Nichols, Tom. ''Tintoretto. Tradition and Identity''. Reaktion Books, 1999, p. 14.</ref>

===Early works===
[[File:Assedio di asola.jpg|thumb|left|''[[The Siege of Asola]]'' (1544–45), [[National Museum, Poznań|National Museum]], [[Poznań]]]]
[[File:Tintoretto - Self-Portrait as a Young Man.jpg|thumb|''Self-Portrait as a Young Man'', {{Circa|1548}}]]
The young painter [[Andrea Schiavone]], four years Tintoretto's junior, was much in his company. Tintoretto helped Schiavone at no charge with wall paintings, and in many subsequent instances, he also worked for nothing, and thus succeeded in obtaining commissions.<ref>Nichols, Tom. ''Tintoretto. Tradition and Identity''. Reaktion Books, 1999, pp. 103 and 241ff.</ref> The two earliest mural paintings of Tintoretto—done, like others, for next to no pay—are said to have been ''Belshazzar's Feast'' and a ''Cavalry Fight''. These have both long since perished, as have all his frescoes, early or later. The first work of his to attract some considerable notice was a portrait group of himself and his brother—the latter playing the guitar—with a nocturnal effect; this has also been lost. It was followed by some historical subject, which Titian was candid enough to praise.{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1001}}

One of Tintoretto's early pictures still extant is in the church of the [[Carmini|Carmine]] in Venice, the [[:File:Jacopo tintoretto, presentazione di gesù al tempio con ritratti dei confratelli, 1542 ca.jpg|''Presentation of Jesus in the Temple'']] ({{Circa|1542}}); also in S. Benedetto are the ''Annunciation'' and ''Christ with the Woman of [[Samaria]]''. For the Scuola della Trinità (the scuole or schools of Venice were confraternities, more in the nature of charitable foundations than of educational institutions) he painted four subjects from [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]]. Two of these, now in the [[Gallerie dell'Accademia]] in Venice, are ''Adam and Eve'' and the ''Death of Abel'', both noble works of high mastery, which indicate that Tintoretto was by this time a consummate painter—one of the few who have attained to the highest eminence in the absence of any recorded formal training.{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1001}} Until 2012, ''The Embarkation of St Helena in the Holy Land'' was attributed to Schiavone. But a new analysis of the work has revealed it as one of a series of three paintings by Tintoretto, depicting the legend of [[Helena, mother of Constantine I|St Helena]] and the Holy Cross. The error was uncovered during work on a project to catalogue continental European oil paintings in the United Kingdom.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22813704 |title=BBC News – Tintoretto painting uncovered at London V&A museum |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=7 June 2013 |access-date=21 January 2014}}</ref> ''The Embarkation of St Helena'' was acquired by the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] in 1865. Its sister paintings, ''The Discovery of the True Cross'' and ''St Helen Testing the True Cross'', are held in galleries in the United States.<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

===Saint Mark paintings===
In 1548 Tintoretto was commissioned to paint a large decoration for the Scuola di S. Marco: the ''[[Miracle of the Slave (Tintoretto)|Miracle of the Slave]]''. Realizing that the commission presented him with a singular opportunity to establish himself as a major artist, he took extraordinary care in arranging the composition for maximum effect. The painting represents the legend of a Christian slave or captive who was to be tortured as a punishment for some acts of devotion to the evangelist, but was saved by the miraculous intervention of the latter, who shattered the bone-breaking and blinding implements which were about to be applied.{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1001}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/t/tintoret/3a/index.html=rss |title=wga |publisher=Wga.hu |access-date=21 January 2014}}</ref> Tintoretto's conception of the narrative is distinguished by a marked theatricality, unusual colour choices, and vigorous execution.<ref name="Echols_7">Echols 2018, p. 7.</ref>
[[File:Tintoretto - Miracle of the Slave.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Miracle of the Slave (Tintoretto)|Miracle of the Slave]]'' (1548)]]
The painting was a triumphant success, despite some detractors. Tintoretto's friend [[Pietro Aretino]] praised the work, calling particular attention to the figure of the slave, but warned Tintoretto against hasty execution.<ref name="Echols_7"/> As a result of the painting's success, Tintoretto received numerous commissions. For the church of San Rocco he painted ''Saint Roch Cures the Plague Victims'' (1549), one of the first of Tintoretto's many ''laterali'' (horizontal paintings). These were large-scale paintings intended for the side walls of Venetian chapels. Knowing that the congregation would view them from an angle, Tintoretto composed the paintings with off-centre perspective so the illusion of depth would be effective when seen from a viewpoint near the end of the painting that was closer to the worshippers.<ref>Echols 2018, p. 12.</ref>

Around 1555 he painted the ''[[Assumption of the Virgin (Tintoretto)|Assumption of the Virgin]]'', an oil-on-canvas painting for the church of [[Santa Maria della Sanità, Milan|Santa Maria dei Crociferi]].<ref>{{Cite book|author=Presentazione di Carlo Bernardi|title=L'opera completa del Tintoretto|year=1970|publisher=Rizzoli|pages=98|location=Milano|language=it}}</ref>
[[File:Jacopo Tintoretto - St Mark's Body Brought to Venice.jpg|thumb|''[[St Mark's Body Brought to Venice]]'' ({{Circa|1564}})]]
[[File:Jacopo_Tintoretto_-_The_Apotheosis_of_St_Roch_-_WGA22492.jpg|thumb|''St Roch in Glory'' (1564)]]
In 1551, [[Paolo Veronese]] arrived in Venice and quickly began receiving the prestigious commissions that Tintoretto coveted. Unwilling to be overshadowed by his new rival, Tintoretto approached the leaders of his neighbourhood church, the [[Madonna dell'Orto]], with a proposal to paint for them two colossal canvases on a cost-only basis.<ref>Echols 2018, pp. 14–17.</ref> He had already painted the ''Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple'' ({{circa|1556}}), one of his major works, for the church; it repeats a subject that had earlier been painted by Titian, but in place of Titian's classically balanced composition is a startling visual drama of figures arranged on a receding staircase.<ref>Echols 2018, p. 15.</ref> Tintoretto now intended to create a sensation by painting for the Madonna dell'Orto the two tallest canvases ever painted during the Renaissance.<ref name="Butterfield">Butterfield 2007.</ref> He settled down in a house near the church, looking over the [https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=venice+fondamenta+dei+mori&sll=45.434117,12.33902&sspn=0.322349,0.617294&ie=UTF8&ll=45.445216,12.332448&spn=0.000629,0.001206&t=h&z=20 Fondamenta de Mori], which is still standing.<ref>Nichols, Tom. ''Tintoretto. Tradition and Identity''. Redaktion Books, 1999, p. 101.</ref>

Depicting the ''Worship of the Golden Calf'' and the ''Last Judgment'', the {{convert|14.5|m|ft|1|abbr=off}} tall paintings (both {{circa|1559}}–60) were widely admired, and Tintoretto gained a reputation for his ability to complete the most massive projects on a limited budget. Thereafter, Tintoretto habitually competed against rival painters by producing paintings quickly at a low cost.<ref>Nichols, T.  (2003). "Tintoretto family". Grove Art Online.</ref> In about 1564, Tintoretto painted three additional works for Scuola di S. Marco:  the ''[[Finding of the body of St Mark]]'', the ''[[St Mark's Body Brought to Venice]]'', and ''St Mark Rescuing a Saracen from Shipwreck''. 

About 1560, Tintoretto married his second wife, Faustina de Vescovi, daughter of a Venetian nobleman who was the ''guardian grande'' of the [[Scuola Grande di San Marco]].<ref>Echols 2018, p. 53.</ref><ref name=Bernari-deVecchi_83/>

===Scuola di San Rocco===
Between 1565 and 1567, and again from 1575 to 1588, Tintoretto produced a large number of paintings for the walls and ceilings of the [[Scuola Grande di San Rocco]]. The subterfuge by which he won the commission has been called "the most notorious incident of Tintoretto's career".<ref name="Echols_21">Echols 2018, p. 21.</ref> In 1564, four finalists—Tintoretto, [[Federico Zuccaro]], [[Giuseppe Salviati]], and Paolo Veronese—were invited by the Scuola to submit ''[[modelli]]'' for a ceiling painting on the subject of ''Saint Roch in Glory'' to decorate the hall called the Sala dell'Albergo. Instead of a sketch, Tintoretto produced a full-sized painting, secretly installed it on the ceiling, and presented it as a ''fait accompli'' on the day of the competition. Tintoretto then announced that he was offering the painting as a gift—perhaps conscious that a bylaw of the foundation prohibited the rejection of any gift.<ref name="Echols_21"/>

In 1565, he resumed work at the scuola, painting the ''Crucifixion'', for which a sum of 250 ducats was paid. In 1576 he presented gratis another centre-piece—that for the ceiling of the great hall, representing the ''Plague of Serpents''; and in the following year he completed this ceiling with pictures of the ''Paschal Feast'' and ''Moses striking the Rock'' accepting whatever pittance the confraternity chose to pay.{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1002}}
[[File:0 Murano, Battesimo di Gesù - Tintoretto - église S. Pietro Martire.JPG|thumb|upright|''Baptism of Jesus'', [[San Pietro Martire, Murano]]]]

[[File:Tintoretto Venetian admiral (detail).jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Detail of ''Portrait of a Venetian admiral'' (1570s, [[National Museum, Warsaw|National Museum]] in [[Warsaw]]) where the original undercoat shines through the bold brushstrokes.<ref name=Bastek/>]]
The development of fast painting techniques called ''prestezza'' allowed him to produce many works while engaged on large projects and to respond to growing demands from clients.<ref name=Anderson/> This, and his use of assistants, enabled Tintoretto ultimately to produce a greater number of paintings for the Venetian state than any of his competitors.<ref>Ilchman, Frederick, and Linda Borean (2009). ''Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice''. Surrey: Lund Humphries. p. 45. {{ISBN|9781848220225}}.</ref>

Tintoretto next launched out into the painting of the entire scuola and of the adjacent church of [[San Rocco, Venice|San Rocco]]. In November 1577, he offered to execute the works at the rate of 100 ducats per annum, with three pictures being due each year. This proposal was accepted and was punctually fulfilled, the painter's death alone preventing the execution of some of the ceiling subjects. The whole sum paid for the scuola throughout was 2,447 ducats. Disregarding some minor performances, the scuola and church contain fifty-two memorable paintings, which may be described as vast suggestive sketches, with the mastery, but not the deliberate precision, of finished pictures, and adapted for being looked at in a dusky half-light. ''Adam and Eve'', the ''Visitation'', the ''Adoration of the Magi'', the ''Massacre of the Innocents'', the ''Agony in the Garden'', ''Christ before Pilate'', ''Christ carrying His Cross'', and (this alone having been marred by restoration) the ''Assumption of the Virgin'' are leading examples in the scuola; in the church, ''Christ Curing the Paralytic''.{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1002}}

[[File:Tintoretto, Jacopo - Christ at the Sea of Galilee.jpg|left|thumb|''Christ at the Sea of Galilee'' ({{Circa|1575–1580}})]]
It was probably in 1560, the year in which he began working in the Scuola di S. Rocco, that Tintoretto commenced his numerous paintings in the [[Doge's Palace, Venice|Doge's Palace]]; he then executed there a portrait of the Doge, [[Girolamo Priuli (1486–1567)|Girolamo Priuli]]. Other works (destroyed by a fire in the palace in 1577) succeeded—the ''Excommunication of [[Frederick Barbarossa]] by [[Pope Alexander III]]'' and the ''Victory of [[Battle of Lepanto|Lepanto]]''.{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1002}}

After the fire, Tintoretto started afresh, [[Paolo Veronese]] being his colleague. In the Sala dell Anticollegio, Tintoretto painted four masterpieces—''Bacchus, with Ariadne crowned by Venus'', the ''Three Graces and Mercury'', ''Minerva discarding Mars'', and the ''Forge of Vulcan'', which were painted for fifty ducats each, excluding materials, c.&nbsp;1578; in the hall of the [[senate]], ''Venice, Queen of the Sea'' (1581–84); in the hall of the college, the ''Espousal of St Catherine to Jesus'' (1581–84); in the Antichiesetta, ''Saint George, Saint Louis, and the Princess'', and ''St Jerome and St Andrew''; in the hall of the great council, nine large compositions, chiefly battle-pieces (1581–84); in the Sala dello Scrutinio the ''Capture of Zara from the Hungarians in 1346 amid a Hurricane of Missiles'' (1584–87).<ref>Echols 2018, p. 137.</ref>{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1002}}

===''Paradise''===
{{main|Il Paradiso}}
[[File:(Venice) Jacopo Tintoretto - Gloria del Paradiso - Sala del Maggior Consiglio.jpg|300px|thumb|''[[Il Paradiso|Paradise]]'']]
The crowning production of Tintoretto's life was the vast ''Paradise'' painted for the Doge's Palace, in size {{convert|9.1|x|22.6|m|ft|1|abbr=off}}, reputed to be the largest painting ever done upon canvas. While the commission for this huge work was yet pending and unassigned Tintoretto was wont to tell the senators that he had prayed to God that he might be commissioned for it, so that paradise itself might perchance be his recompense after death.{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1002}}

Tintoretto competed with several other artists for the prestigious commission. A large sketch of the composition he submitted in 1577 is now in the [[Louvre Museum]], Paris. In 1583, he painted a second sketch with a different composition, which is in the [[Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza]], Madrid.<ref>Echols 2018, pp. 30, 215.</ref>

The commission was given jointly to [[Paolo Veronese|Veronese]] and [[Francesco Bassano the Younger|Francesco Bassano]], but Veronese died in 1588 before starting the work, and the commission was reassigned to Tintoretto.<ref>Echols 2018, pp. 214–215.</ref> He set up his canvas in the [[Scuola della Misericordia]] and worked indefatigably at the task, making many alterations and doing various heads and costumes direct from life.{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1002}}

When the painting had been nearly completed he took it to its proper place, where it was completed largely by assistants, his son [[Domenico Tintoretto|Domenico]] foremost among them. All Venice applauded the finished work; Ridolfi wrote that "it seemed to everyone that heavenly beatitude had been disclosed to mortal eyes."<ref name="Echols_216">Echols 2018, p. 216.</ref> Modern art historians have been less enthusiastic, and have generally considered the ''Paradise'' inferior in execution to the two sketches.<ref name="Echols_216"/> It has suffered from neglect, but little from restoration.

Tintoretto was asked to name his own price, but this he left to the authorities. They tendered a handsome amount; he is said to have abated something from it, an incident perhaps more telling of his lack of greed than earlier cases where he worked for nothing at all.{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1002}}

== Pupils ==
Tintoretto had very few pupils; his daughter, [[Marietta Robusti|Marietta]], his two sons, and [[Maerten de Vos]] of [[Antwerp]] were among them. Marietta had been a frequent companion with Tintoretto in her childhood and became an accomplished artist. His son [[Domenico Tintoretto]] frequently assisted his father in the preliminary work for great pictures. He painted a multitude of works, many of them of a very large scale. At best, they would be considered mediocre and, coming from the son of Tintoretto, are disappointing. In any event, he must be regarded as a considerable pictorial practitioner in his way.{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1003}} 

=== Influence ===
There are reflections of Tintoretto to be found in the Greek painter of the [[Spanish Renaissance]] [[El Greco]], who likely saw his works during a stay in Venice,<ref>Davies, David, Xavier Bray, and John Huxtable Elliott (2004). ''El Greco''. London: National Gallery. pp. 10, 32. {{ISBN|1-85709-933-8}}.</ref> and studied them well enough that they influenced his painting style. 

== Personality ==
[[File:(Venice) Casa di Tintoretto.jpg|thumb|House of Tintoretto, "Fondamenta dei mori", in Cannaregio, Venice]]
Tintoretto scarcely ever travelled away from Venice.<ref>Nichols, Tom. ''Tintoretto. Tradition and Identity''. Redaktion Books, 1999, p. 13.</ref> His early biographers write of his intelligence and fierce ambition; according to [[Carlo Ridolfi]], "he was always thinking of ways to make himself known as the most daring painter in the world."<ref name="Butterfield"/> 

He loved all the arts and as a youth played the [[lute]] and various instruments, some of them of his own invention, and designed theatrical costumes and properties. He was well versed in mechanics and mechanical devices also. 

While being a very agreeable companion, for the sake of his work he lived in a mostly retired fashion; even when not painting he habitually stayed in his working room surrounded by casts. Here he hardly admitted anyone, even intimate friends, and he kept his work methods secret, shared only with his assistants. He was full of pleasant witty sayings, whether to great personages or to others, but he himself seldom smiled.{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1003}}

Tintoretto maintained friendships with many writers and publishers, including [[Pietro Aretino]], who became an important early patron.<ref>Echols 2018, p. 44.</ref>

== Marriages and children ==
[[File:Tintoretto - Portrait of a Lady (Marietta Robusti), ca. 1550.jpg|thumb|''Portrait of a Lady'' by Tintoretto is of his daughter, Marietta]] 
In about 1560, Tintoretto married his second wife, Faustina de Vescovi, daughter of a Venetian nobleman who was the ''guardian grande'' of the [[Scuola Grande di San Marco]].<ref>Echols 2018, p. 53.</ref><ref name=Bernari-deVecchi_83/> Faustina and he had many children, of whom three sons ([[Domenico Tintoretto|Domenico]], Marco, and Zuan Battista) and four daughters (Gierolima, Lucrezia, Ottavia, and Laura) survived to adulthood.<ref name="Echols_54">Echols 2018, p. 54.</ref> She appears to have been a careful housekeeper and able to mollify her husband. Faustina made him wear the robe of a Venetian citizen when outdoors. If it rained, she tried to make him wear an outer garment that he resisted. When he prepared to leave the house, she would wrap money up for him in a handkerchief, expecting a strict accounting upon his return. Tintoretto's customary reply was that he had spent it on alms for the poor or for prisoners.{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1003}}

Before his marriage to Faustina, Tintoretto had a daughter, [[Marietta Robusti]], whose mother is not known. She became highly regarded as a painter, having been trained as an artist by Tintoretto, as he would later with her half-brothers Domenico and Marco.<ref name="Echols_54"/> Marietta was a portrait painter of considerable skill, as well as a musician, vocalist, and instrumentalist. Few of her works are now traceable. As a girl, she used to accompany and assist her father at his work, dressed as a boy.<ref name="Echols_54"/> Eventually, Marietta married a jeweller, Mario Augusta. Tradition suggests that as she lay in her final repose at the age of thirty, her heart-stricken father painted her final portrait among the many her father painted of her.{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1002}}

=== Death ===
[[File:Madonna dell'Orto (Venice) - Tintoretto's tombe.jpg|thumb|His grave, in the [[Madonna dell'Orto]] ]]
After the completion of the ''Paradise'' Tintoretto rested for a while, and he never undertook any other work of importance, although there is no reason to suppose that his energies were exhausted if he had lived a little longer.{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1002}} In 1592, he became a member of the ''Scuola dei Mercanti''.<ref>Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 84.</ref>

In 1594, he was seized with severe stomach pains, complicated with fever, that prevented him from sleeping and almost from eating for a fortnight. He died on 31 May 1594. He was buried in the church of the Madonna dell'Orto by the side of his favourite daughter [[Marietta Robusti|Marietta]], who had died in 1590 at the age of thirty. 

In 1866, the grave of the Vescovi—his wife's family—and Tintoretto was opened, and the remains of nine members of the joint families were found in it. The grave was then moved to a new location, to the right of the [[choir (architecture)|choir]].{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1002}}

==Style==
[[File:Accademia - San Luigi, san Giorgio e la Principessa - Tintoretto 899.jpg|thumb|upright|''Saint George, Saint Louis, and the Princess'' (1553)]]
Tintoretto's style of painting is characterized by bold brushwork and the use of long strokes to define contours and highlights.<ref>Echols 2018, pp. xiii, 10.</ref> His paintings emphasize the energy of human bodies in motion and often exploit extreme foreshortening and perspective effects to heighten the drama. Narrative content is conveyed by the gestures and dynamism of the figures rather than by facial expressions.<ref>Echols 2018, p. xiii.</ref>

An agreement is extant showing a plan to finish two historical paintings—each containing twenty figures, seven being portraits—in a two-month period of time. [[Sebastiano del Piombo]] remarked that Tintoretto could paint in two days as much as himself in two years; [[Annibale Carracci]] that Tintoretto was in many of his pictures equal to Titian, in others inferior to Tintoretto. This was the general opinion of the Venetians, who said that he had three pencils—one of gold, the second of silver and the third of iron.{{sfn|Rossetti|1911|p=1003}}[[File:Jacopo Tintoretto - The Last Supper - WGA22649.jpg|thumb|''[[Last Supper (Tintoretto)|The Last Supper]]'' (1594)|left]]Tintoretto's pictorial wit is evident in compositions such as ''Saint George, Saint Louis, and the Princess'' (1553). He subverts the usual portrayal of the subject, in which Saint George slays the dragon and rescues the princess; here, the princess sits astride the dragon, holding a whip. The result is described by art critic [[Arthur Danto]] as having "the edginess of a feminist joke" as "the princess has taken matters into her own hands ... George spreads his arms in a gesture of male helplessness, as his lance lies broken on the ground ...It was obviously painted with a sophisticated Venetian audience in mind."<ref>Danto, Arthur C. (16 April 2007). "A Mannerist in Madrid". ''The Nation''. pp. 34–36.</ref>

A comparison of Tintoretto's final ''The Last Supper''—one of his nine known paintings on the subject—<ref>Schjeldahl, Peter (April 1, 2019).  "All In: The vicarious thrill of Tintoretto".  ''The New Yorker''.  p. 77</ref> with [[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s [[The Last Supper (Leonardo)|treatment of the same subject]] provides an instructive demonstration of how artistic styles evolved over the course of the [[Renaissance]]. Leonardo's is all classical repose. The disciples radiate away from [[Christ]] in almost-mathematical symmetry. In the hands of Tintoretto, the same event becomes dramatic, as the human figures are joined by [[angels]]. A servant is placed in the foreground, perhaps in reference to the [[Gospel of John]] 13:14–16. In the restless dynamism of his composition, his dramatic use of light, and his emphatic perspective effects, Tintoretto seems a [[baroque]] artist ahead of his time.
[[File:Francesco gherardini tintoretto.jpg|thumb|upright|''Portrait of Marquis Francesco [[Gherardini family|Gherardini]]''  (1568), Ca' Rezzonico Museum, Venice]]

Tintoretto was Venice's most prolific painter of portraits during his career.<ref name="Echols_145">Echols 2018, p. 145.</ref> Modern critics have often described his portraits as routine works,<ref>[[Roberto Longhi]] called them "unmemorable"; [[John Pope-Hennessy]] is described as dismissing them as the work of "a mere 'facepainter'". Echols 2018, p. 238.</ref> although his skill in depicting elderly men, such as ''Alvise Cornaro'' (1560/1565), has been widely admired.<ref>Echols 2018, pp. 156–157.</ref> According to art historians Robert Echols and Frederick Ilchman, the many portraits from Tintoretto's studio that were executed largely by assistants have hampered appreciation of his autograph portraits which, in sharp contrast to his narrative works, are understated and somber.<ref name="Echols_145"/> [[Lawrence Gowing]] considered Tintoretto's "smouldering portraits of personalities who seemed consumed by their own fire" to be his "most irresistible" works.<ref>Gowing, Lawrence (1987). ''Paintings in the Louvre'' New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang. p. 266. {{ISBN|1-55670-007-5}}.</ref>

He painted two self-portraits. In the first ({{circa|1546}}–47; [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]]), he presents himself without the trappings of status that were customary in self-portraits that came before. The image's informality, the directness of the subject's gaze, and the bold brushwork visible throughout were innovative—it has been called "the first of many artfully unkempt images of the self that have come down through the centuries."<ref>Echols 2018, p. 2.</ref> The second self-portrait ({{circa|1588}}; [[Louvre]]) is an austerely symmetrical depiction of the aged artist "bleakly contemplating his mortality".<ref>Echols 2018, p. 146.</ref> [[Édouard Manet]], who painted a copy of it, considered it "one of the most beautiful paintings in the world."<ref>Echols 2018, p. 148.</ref>

==Legacy==
In 2013, the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] announced that the painting ''The Embarkation of St Helena in the Holy Land'' had been painted by Tintoretto (and not by his contemporary [[Andrea Schiavone]], as previously thought) as part of a series of three paintings depicting the legend of St Helena and the Holy Cross.<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

In 2019, honouring the anniversary of the birth of Tintoretto, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in cooperation with the Gallerie dell'Accademia organized a travelling exhibit, the first in the United States. The exhibition features nearly 50 paintings and more than a dozen works on paper spanning the artist's entire career and ranging from regal portraits of Venetian aristocracy to religious and mythological narrative scenes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2019/tintoretto-the-artist-of-venice-at-500.html|title = Tintoretto: Artist of Renaissance Venice}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="150" heights="150">
File:Jacopo Tintoretto - The Supper at Emmaus - WGA22423.jpg|''The Supper at Emmaus'' (1542 or 1543)
File:Jacopo Tintoretto 030.jpg|''[[The Deliverance of Arsinoe]]'' (c.&nbsp;1560)
File:Jacopo Tintoretto - Marriage at Cana - WGA22470.jpg|''Marriage at Cana'' (1561), [[Santa Maria della Salute]]
File:Jacopo Tintoretto - Finding of the body of St Mark.jpg|''[[Finding of the body of St Mark]]'' (c.&nbsp;1564), [[Pinacoteca di Brera]]
File:Jacopo Tintoretto - The Origin of the Milky Way - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[The Origin of the Milky Way]]'' (1575)
File:Jacopo Tintoretto - Judith and Holofernes - WGA22661.jpg|''Judith and Holofernes'' (c.&nbsp;1577), [[Prado Museum]]
File:Tintoretto and lukrecja.jpeg|''Tarquin and Lucretia'' (c.&nbsp;1578), [[Art Institute of Chicago]]
File:Jacopo tintorettto, fuga in egitto, 1583-87.jpg|''The Flight into Egypt'' (c.&nbsp;1582)
File:Madonna with Child,Tintoretto.jpg|alt=|''Madonna with Child and Donor'', [[National Museum of Serbia]], Belgrade
File:Tintoretto - Prayer in the Garden.jpg|''The Prayer in the Garden''
File:Tintoretto - The Raising of Lazarus.jpg|''The Raising of Lazarus''
File:Tintoretto - St Mary Magdalen.jpg|''St Mary Magdalen''
File:Tintoretto - St Mary of Egypt.jpg|''St Mary of Egypt''
File:Tintoretto - The Baptism of Christ.jpg|''The Baptism of Christ''
</gallery>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=
<ref name=Anderson>{{cite book |author1=Jamie Anderson |author2=Jörg Reckhenrich |author3=Martin Kupp |title=The Fine Art of Success: How Learning Great Art Can Create Great Business |year=2011 |chapter=Prestezza – A New Way to Paint |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-11-19992-53-0 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S_9F0aE1jPwC&q=tintoretto+technique&pg=PT40}}</ref>

<ref name=Bastek>{{cite web |author=Grażyna Bastek |title=Admirał młodzieńcem podszyty |url=http://www.muzeum.krakow.pl/Wystawa.585.0.html?&cHash=06c498fea3fc45c85776e0efea9e69d8&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=26&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=6601 |work=Ośrodek Kultury Europejskiej EUROPEUM |access-date=20 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328071424/http://muzeum.krakow.pl/Wystawa.585.0.html?&cHash=06c498fea3fc45c85776e0efea9e69d8&tx_ttnews[backPid]=26&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=6601 |archive-date=28 March 2014}}</ref>
}}

==Sources==
* Bernari, Carlo, and Pierluigi de Vecchi (1970). ''L'opera completa del Tintoretto''. Milano: Rizzoli. {{OCLC|478839728}} (Italian language)
* {{Cite journal
  | last = Butterfield
  | first = Andrew
  | title = Brush with Genius
  | journal = New York Review of Books
  | volume = 54
  | issue = 7
  | publisher = NYREV, Inc.
  | date = 2007-04-26
  | url = http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20111
  | access-date = 2007-04-18}}
* Echols, Robert (2018). ''Tintoretto: Artist of Renaissance Venice''. Yale University Press. {{ISBN|9780300230406}}.
* Nichols, Tom (2015) [1999]. ''Tintoretto: Tradition and Identity'', revised and expanded second edition. London: Reaktion Books {{ISBN|978 1 78023 450 2}}.
* [[Carlo Ridolfi|Ridolfi, Carlo]] (1642). ''La Vita di Giacopo Robusti'' (''A Life of Tintoretto'')
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Tintoretto, Jacopo Robusti|volume=26|pages=1001–1003|first=William Michael|last=Rossetti|author-link=William Michael Rossetti}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Jacopo Tintoretto}}
*{{Art UK bio}}
*[http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/t/tintoret/ Works] at Web Gallery of Art, the most complete gallery of the web
*[http://www.jacopotintoretto.org JacopoTintoretto.org] 257 works by Tintoretto
*[http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/tintoretto.html Artcyclopedia – Tintoretto's paintings]
*[http://www.pubhist.com/person/2551/tintoretto Works and literature] on PubHist
* [http://www.art-drawing.ru/gallery/category/588-tintoretto-jacopo Jacopo Tintoretto. Pictures] [http://www.art-drawing.ru/biographies/brief-biographies/1456-jacopo-tintoretto and Biography]
*[https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2019/tintoretto-the-artist-of-venice-at-500.html Tintoretto: Artist of Renaissance Venice, exhibition at National Gallery of Art, March 4 – July 7, 2019]
{{Tintoretto}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1518 births]]
[[Category:1594 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century Italian painters]]
[[Category:16th-century Venetian people]]
[[Category:Italian Mannerist painters]]
[[Category:Painters from Venice]]
[[Category:Tintoretto| ]]
[[Category:Italian male painters]]
[[Category:Painters from the Republic of Venice]]
[[Category:Italian Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Catholic painters]]