Portrait of Jacopo Tintoretto (1832/1842) by Pietro PaolettiMusei di Villa Torlonia
The Italian artist who rocked the Renaissance art world and became David Bowie’s favorite artist
Today, we know this iconic Renaissance master as ‘Tintoretto’ (1518 – 1594), but he was actually born Jacopo Comin, taking the name Tintoretto from his father's profession as a fabric dyer – or ‘tintore’ in Italian. With famous artworks like The Origin of the Milky Way and Susanna and the Elders, he became known for his speed of production, the boldness of his brushwork, and his inventiveness in composition.
Portrait of Tintoretto by Pietro Paoletti (From the collection of Musei di Villa Torlonia)
Ecce Homo or Pilate Presents Christ to the Crowd (1546 - 1547) by Jacopo TintorettoMASP - Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand
Ecce Homo or Pilate Presents Christ to the Crow by Tintoretto (From the collection of MASP - Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand)
While the artist started out admiring the work of these masters, he ultimately spent most of his career rejecting their styles with his own approach. His departure from the High Renaissance style can be seen in several works, such as his version of The Last Supper. In the work, Tintoretto portrays religious saints like common people rather than the untouchable figures they were typically depicted as. Also his point of view is off-center in comparison to other Renaissance interpretations of the scene, so instead of a pyramid formation, his subjects are sat in a diagonal line.
Giorgio Vasari, Tintoretto’s contemporary once said about his fellow artist that he had the “boldest, most extravagant, and obstinate brain” and that the composition of his paintings were “altogether different from and contrary” to other painters’ works. For Vasari, it seemed to him that Tintoretto created the art he himself would enjoy rather than what the art world expected.
The Supper at Emmaus (ca. 1542) by Jacopo TintorettoMuseum of Fine Arts, Budapest
The Supper at Emmaus by Tintoretto (From the collection of Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest)
After Titian's death in 1576, Tintoretto (age 58), along with the artist Paolo Veronese, became one of the leading painters in Venice, demonstrating the progress he made over the decades. Tintoretto designed and worked on a number of commissions for the Doge's Palace – the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of the former Venetian Republic. He also worked on an ongoing cycle of paintings for the Scuola di San Rocco, which are still in their original location.
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Doge's Palace ceiling
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His style
Tintoretto’s style was recognizable for the energy found within the dramatic scenes he captured, which was called “Il Furioso”, to describe the “fury” he painted with. Most of his paintings were large-scale narratives on canvas, that came to life through dramatic lighting and gestures.
The Risen Chirist and portraits of three Avogadors (c. 1606) by Jacopo e Domenico TintorettoDoge's Palace
The Risen Christ and portraits of three Avogadors by Tintoretto (From the collection of Doge's Palace)
Tintoretto’s style is usually thought to fall under Mannerism. Also known as the Late Renaissance, this artistic approach emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance, around 1520. Stylistically, in comparison to High Renaissance painting which emphasized proportion, balance and an ideal form of beauty, Mannerism went over the top, exaggerating these qualities in compositions that were asymmetrical or jarring to the viewer.
His works
Tintoretto has a catalog of works which have come to define the later Renaissance period, but demonstrate a radical departure from the classical style of that time. Some of his most famous paintings include The Last Supper, Susanna and the Elders, Vulcan Surprising Venus and Mars, Saint George and the Dragon, The Law and the Golden Calf, and Christ and the Adulteress.
Saint George and the Dragon (about 1555) by Jacopo TintorettoThe National Gallery, London
Saint George and the Dragon by Tintoretto (From the collection of The National Gallery, London)
The Origin of the Milky Way is another of his most known works and it depicts the god Jupiter allowing baby Hercules to suckle the milk from Juno’s breast to become immortal. Tintoretto paints Juno waking up and pushing Hercules and Jupiter away. Her milk sprays across the sky, thereby forming the Milky Way. The more obscure version Tintoretto was told was that Juno’s milk also sprayed down and as a result created the lily.
The painting now lives in London’s National Gallery and it’s description notes that “lilies were once present at the base of the painting, until a part of the original canvas was cut off”. So where did the lilies go? No one knows for sure, but it’s thought they disappeared around 1727. Some sources suggest it was damaged during the Thirty Years War and it was salvaged or it was purposely cut off by someone who didn’t know or like Tintoretto’s interpretation of the myth.
The Origin of the Milky Way (about 1575) by Jacopo TintorettoThe National Gallery, London
The Origin of the Milky Way by Tintoretto (From the collection of The National Gallery, London)
However, his most ambitious and memorable painting remains Paradise, which was painted for the Sala del Gran Consiglio, part of the Doges' Palace. It remains one of the most enormous paintings ever created, with a canvas that was 22.6 x 9.1 meters in size. The painting came about after a fire destroyed part of the Doge's Palace in 1577, including a 14th-century fresco by Guariento depicting the Coronation of the Virgin and a competition was held to replace it - Tintoretto won and work began sometime in 1588.
The oil painting is a collection of various religious stories and figures illuminated by a path of light. Critics are still divided as to whether the massive painting is a success, but the eccentric piece remains a talking point when referencing Tintoretto’s work.
Il Paradiso (1588 - 1594) by Jacopo e Domenico TintorettoDoge's Palace
Il Paradiso by Tintoretto (From the collection of Doge's Palace)
His legacy
Despite his success, Tintoretto had very few pupils, though it seems this was a conscious choice by the private artist. His son Domenico Tintoretto often helped his father in the preliminary work for large-scale pictures. His son also painted a multitude of works, many of them also on a very large scale. Critics were harsh towards Domenico’s works at the time, with many of his pieces being labeled as “disappointing” in comparison to his father (perhaps a little unfair when he was one of the most significant artists at the time!).
Tintoretto’s approach was seen as daring, but now he’s viewed ahead of his time. This legacy of course impacted the artists that came after him. For instance several of the Flemish Old Masters admired and were influenced by Tintoretto including Reubens, Van Dyck and Maerten de Vos, all of whom had his works as part of their collections.
A few centuries later it’s hard not to draw comparisons between Tintoretto’s loose brushwork to the uninhibited approach of the Impressionist painters of the 19th century. Parallels can also be drawn with post-Impressionist artists like Paul Cézanne or Cubist painter Pablo Picasso, where Tintoretto’s skewed perspectives and off-centre focus became a feature of these artists’ works.
Susanna and the Elders (1555/1556) by Jacopo Robusti, called TintorettoKunsthistorisches Museum Wien
Susanna and the Elders by Tintoretto (From the collection of Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien)
Tintoretto’s fan base has even extended beyond the art world. David Bowie owned a piece by the artist called The Angel Foretelling Saint Catherine of Alexandria of Her Martyrdom (circa 1570s). It was one of Bowie’s first art purchases, and it remained in his collection for more than 30 years. Bowie was so fascinated with Tintoretto that he even named his music label after him. In 2017, the late rockstar’s prized piece went on view to the public at Reubens House in Antwerp and in 2019 it will return home to Venice for the Biennale.
His later life
Tintoretto rarely ever traveled out of Venice and he lived a mostly reclusive life. Even when he wasn’t painting, the artist often retreated to his working room surrounded by casts and canvases. Supposedly he hardly ever let anyone else into this room – not even close friends. Tintoretto also kept his work methods secret, sharing his techniques only with his assistants.
Tintoretto died in 1594, after suffering severe stomach pains and fever, though a cause of death is still unknown. He was buried in the church of the Madonna dell’Orto in Venice, next to his daughter, Marietta, who had died in 1590 at the age of 30.
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Madonna dell’Orto church, Venice, Italy
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In the years following his death, Tintoretto’s art was continually praised in Venetian art circles and in the centuries that followed, several critics later “discovered” Tintoretto's work, giving it a new lease of life. Victorian art critic John Ruskin, for example, stumbled upon the artist’s work in 1845 on a visit to the Scuola di San Rocco. The critic came to rate Tintoretto above all other Renaissance painters and brought about a renewed appreciation of his work. This has continued, with many art historians coming to recognize Tintoretto’s art as epitomizing the Late Renaissance period and ahead of it time. Today, his work lives on in some of the biggest institutions in the world.
Christ and the Adulteress (around 1546 - 1547) by Jacopo TintorettoMuseo Diocesano Milano
Christ and the Adulteress by Tintoretto (From the collection of Museo Diocesano Milano)
