Jacopo Comin, or Jacopo Robusti, who became known as Tintoretto (meaning “little dyer” after his father’s trade), was one of the most successful Venetian painters in the generation after Titian.
Although a well-respected and prolific painter, little is known of Tintoretto’s life. Born in Venice, the eldest of 21 children, his early years were often spent in his father’s dyeing shop. There, he allegedly drew charcoal drawings on the walls, coloring them with his father’s dyes, which is how he earned his nickname. Another name he gained later was “Il Furioso,” for the fury and speed with which he painted. Working extremely quickly, he used his imagination more than careful planning.
Legend has it that when he was 15, he was apprenticed to Titian, then in his 50s, but was dismissed within days because of rivalry. Other interpretations suggest that the notoriously difficult Tintoretto walked out on Titian after a row; still others say that he had only been in the studio for ten days when Titian sent him home—for disobedience, or because of Titian’s jealousy of the boy’s precocious talents. When he opened his own workshop just a few years later, he expressed his intention to synthesize “Michelangelo’s design and Titian’s color” in an inscription on the wall. However, his plan to reproduce the brilliant compositional methods of Michelangelo and the bold coloring of Titian was never achieved; instead his experimentation with dynamic perspectives and special lighting effects resulted in energetic and powerfully rhythmic and lyrical large paintings.
Through his creation in 1548 of Saint Mark Rescuing a Slave, a large, crowded composition that captures a moment in time and incorporates bold foreshortening and vivid color, his reputation was made. His paintings convey a more intense, exaggerated style than any other contemporary Venetian artists and he became known for his lively compositions and portrayals of figures in motion. He worked exclusively in Venice, and after two fires in the Doge’s Palace in 1574 and 1577, he and Veronese were the main artists commissioned to renew the interior. He painted a huge work, Paradise, for the main hall. To aid his figure drawings, he used wax models of statues from the Medici family tombs, even working with them at night by candlelight to achieve his dramatic and unusual depictions of light. As his popularity and commissions increased (mainly for the state or local churches), he employed a large number of assistants, including his sons, Domenico and Marco, and his daughter, Marietta. His extravagant compositions formed what has been called Venetian Mannerism.
Key Works
The Maundy Thursday (Christ Washing the Feet of His Disciples) 1547, MUSEO DEL PRADO, MADRID, SPAIN
Saint George and the Dragon c.1560, NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON, UK
Leda and the Swan c.1560, GALLERIA DEGLI UFFIZI, FLORENCE, ITALY
The Baptism of Christ c.1570, MUSEO DEL PRADO, MADRID, SPAIN
The Origin of the Milky Way c.1575, NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON, UK
BRUEGEL
c.1525–1569 • (NORTHERN) HIGH RENAISSANCE
The Peasant Wedding
c.1568 OIL ON WOOD
114 × 164 CM (45 × 64½ IN)
KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
In a barn, sitting under a canopy, the bride grins foolishly while the man who is probably the groom is intent on gobbling his food. One man pours beer and two others carry bowls of broth on a makeshift tray. At the back, gatecrashers try to enter, a musician looks hungry and a child in an over-sized hat licks a plate. Yet in all the activity, Bruegel’s composition does not seem congested.
The last, and one of the greatest, of the 16th-century artists from northern Europe, Pieter Bruegel the Elder was a painter and printmaker known for his landscapes and satirical peasant scenes. Although he was nicknamed “Peasant Bruegel” because of his subject matter, he was a highly educated man with a broad knowledge of myth and legend.
As with many artists of this period, there is little documentation for Bruegel’s early life. He was probably born in Breda, now in the Netherlands, and until 1559, spelled his name “Brueghel.” Apprenticed to Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502–50), a leading artist, sculptor, architect and designer of tapestry and stained glass, in 1551 Bruegel was accepted as a master in the Antwerp Painters’ Guild. The following year, he traveled to France, Italy and Switzerland, visiting Palermo, Naples, Rome and the Alps and producing several drawings and paintings, mostly of landscapes, while there. His prints and paintings were detailed, atmospheric and spacious—clearly inspired by the places he had seen, rather than by the Italian artists, as they are different from anything produced in Italy at that time.
By 1555, Bruegel was back in Antwerp, designing engravings; between 1555 and 1563, he designed more than 40, taking advantage of the popularity of Bosch’s style. He also began producing scenes of peasant life in the moralistic manner of Bosch, but without the fantasy, emphasizing the ridiculous and the vulgar through lively, witty and compassionate compositions. The peasants he painted working, feasting and merrymaking became vehicles through which he could highlight human failings and follies. In 1563, Bruegel married and moved to Brussels. At that point, his career changed direction. Although he continued to design engravings, he began working primarily as a painter.
In 1565, he was commissioned by his friend and patron, Nicolaes Jonghelinck, a wealthy merchant, to produce a series of paintings entitled The Months. Only five of the 12 works survive: Hunters in the Snow (January), The Gloomy Day (February), Haymaking (July), The Corn Harvest (August) and The Return of the Herd (November). With his colorful and descriptive style, Bruegel developed an original and invigorating style of story-telling. In the 1560s, he was influenced by Italian Renaissance art and simplified his work, including fewer and larger figures and situating them closer to the viewer. After his death, his sons became artists, although neither achieved their father’s greatness.
Key Works
Landscape with the Fall of Icarus c.1558, MUSÉES ROYAUX DES BEAUX-ARTS DE BELGIQUE, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
Netherlandish Proverbs 1559, STAATLICHES MUSEUM, BERLIN, GERMANY
The Fight between Carnival and Lent 1559, KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
The Hunters in the Snow 1565, KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
VERONESE
1528–1588 • (VENETIAN) HIGH RENAISSANCE, MANNERISM
The Wedding Feast at Cana
1562–3 OIL ON CANVAS
677 × 994 CM (266½ × 391¼ IN)
MUSÉE DU LOUVRE, PARIS, FRANCE
In the Bible, Jesus’ first public miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding feast at Cana. In this immense painting, intended for the Benedictine Convent on San Maggiore, the feast takes place against a monumental Venetian architectural backdrop inspired by Palladio. In each of the 130 figures, every face is different and colors glow like jewels. Veronese has included a self-portrait in white playing the viola; beside him are Titian and Tintoretto.
Besides Titian, there were two other great Venetian painters in the 16th century. One was Tintoretto, the other was Paolo Caliari, known as Veronese. Recognized for his imposing narrative paintings, with their dramatic and magnificent settings, Veronese’s Mannerist style and handling of color and texture were sumptuous and powerful.