Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site
Main
Page This family-friendly site celebrates Italian culture for the enjoyment of children and
adults. Site-Overview
Knights of Art -
Tintoretto
Visit
my Angels in Italian Art Page
Visit
my Canaletto and Venice Art Page On-line images of art at Web
Gallery of Art: It
was between four and five hundred years ago that Venice sat most proudly
on her throne as Queen of the Sea. She had the greatest fleet in all the
Mediterranean. She bought and sold more than any other nation. She had
withstood the shock of battle and conquered all her foes, and now she
had time to deck herself with all the beauty which art and wealth could
produce. Christ on the Sea of Galilee
by Tintoretto The
merchants of Venice sailed to every port and carried with them wonderful
shiploads of goods, for which their city was famous--silks, velvets,
lace, and rich brocades. The secret of the marvellous Tyrian dyes had
been discovered by her people, and there were many dyers in Venice who
were specially famous for the purple dye of Tyre, which was thought to
be the most beautiful in all the world. Then too they had learned the
art of blowing glass into fairy-like forms, as delicate and light as a
bubble, catching in it every shade of colour, and twisting it into a
hundred exquisite shapes. Truly there had never been a richer or more
beautiful city than this Queen of the Sea. It
was just when the glory of Venice was at its highest that Art too
reached its height, and Giorgione and Titian began to paint the walls of
her palaces and the altarpieces of her churches. In
the very centre of the city where the poorer Venetians had their houses,
there lived about this time a man called Battista Robusti who was a
dyer, or `tintore,' as he is called in Italy. It was his little son
Jacopo who afterwards became such a famous artist. His grand-sounding
name `Tintoretto' means nothing but `the little dyer,' and it was given
to him because of his father's trade. Tintoretto
must have been brought up in the midst of gorgeous colours. Not only did
he see the wonderful changing tints of the outside world, but in his
father's workshop he must often have watched the rich Venetian stuffs
lifted from the dye vats, heavy with the crimson and purple shades for
which Venice was famous. Perhaps all this glowing colour wearied his
young eyes, for when he grew to be a man his pictures show that he loved
solemn and dark tones, though he could also paint the most brilliant
colours when he chose. Portrait of Man in Armor by
Tintoretto Of
course, the boy Tintoretto began by painting the walls of his father's
house, as soon as he was old enough to learn the use of dyes and paints.
Even if he had not had in him the artist soul, he could scarcely have
resisted the temptation to spread those lovely colours on the smooth
white walls. Any child would have done the same, but Tintoretto's
mischievous fingers already showed signs of talent, and his father,
instead of scolding him for wasting colours and spoiling the walls,
encouraged him to go on with his pictures. As
the boy grew older, his great delight was to wander about the city and
watch the men at work building new palaces. But especially did he linger
near those walls which Titian and Giorgione were covering with their
wonderful frescoes. High on the scaffolding he would see the painters at
work, and as he watched the boy would build castles in the air, and
dream dreams of a time when he too would be a master-painter, and be
bidden by Venice to decorate her walls. Portrait of a Woman by
Tintoretto To
Tintoretto's mind Titian was the greatest man in all the world, and to
be taught by him the greatest honour that heart could wish. So it was
perhaps the happiest day in all his life when his father decided to take
him to Titian's studio and ask the master to receive him as a pupil. But
the happiness lasted but a very short time. Titian did not approve of
the boy's work, and refused to keep him in the studio; so poor,
disappointed Tintoretto went home again, and felt as if all sunshine and
hope had gone for ever from his life. It was a bitter disappointment to
his father and mother too, for they had set their hearts on the boy
becoming an artist. But in spite of all this, Tintoretto did not lose
heart or give up his dreams. He worked on by himself in his own way, and
Titian's paintings taught him many things even though the master himself
refused to help him. Then too he saw some work of the great
Michelangelo, and learned many a lesson from that. Thenceforward his
highest ideal was always `the drawing of Michelangelo and the colour of
Titian. The
young artist lived in a poor, bare room, and most of his money went in
the buying of little pieces of old sculpture or casts. He had a very
curious way of working the designs for his pictures. Instead of drawing
many sketches, he made little wax models of figures and arranged them
inside a cardboard or wooden box in which there was a hole to admit a
lighted candle. So, besides the grouping of the figures, he could also
arrange the light and shade. Baptism of Christ by
Tintoretto But,
though he worked hard, fame was long in coming to Tintoretto. People did
not understand his way of painting. It was not after the manner of any
of the great artists, and they were rather afraid of his bold,
furious-looking work. Nevertheless
Tintoretto worked steadily on, always hoping, and whenever there was a
chance of doing any work, even without receiving payment for it, he
seized it eagerly. It
happened just then that the young Venetian artists had agreed to have a
show of their paintings, and had hired a room for the exhibition in the
Merceria, the busiest part of Venice. Tintoretto
was very glad of the chance of showing his work, so he sent in a
portrait of himself and also one of his brother. As soon as these
pictures were seen people began to take more notice of the clever young
painter, and even Titian allowed that his work was good. His portraits
were always fresh and life- like, and he drew with a bold strong touch,
as you will see if you look at the drawing I have shown you --the head
of a Venetian boy, such as Tintoretto met daily among the fisher-folk of
Venice. From
that time Fortune began to smile on Tintoretto. Little by little work
began to come in. He was asked to paint altarpieces for the churches,
and even at last, when his name became famous, he was invited to work
upon the walls of the Ducal Palace, the highest honour which a Venetian
painter could hope to win. The
days of the poor, bare studio, and lonely, sad life were ended now.
Tintoretto had no longer to struggle with poverty and neglect. His house
was a beautiful palace looking over the lagoon towards Murano, and he
had married the daughter of a Venetian noble, and lived a happy,
contented life. Children's voices made gay music in his home, and the
pattering of little feet broke the silence of his studio. Fame had come
to him too. His work might be strange but it was very wonderful, and
Venice was proud of her new painter. His great stormy pictures had
earned for him the name off `the furious painter,' and the world began
to acknowledge his greatness. But
the real sunshine of his life was his little daughter Marietta. As soon
as she learned to walk she found her way to her father's studio, and
until she was fifteen years old she was always with him and helped him
as if she had been one of his pupils. She was dressed too as a boy, and
visitors to the studio never guessed that the clever, handsome boy was
really the painter's daughter. Self-portrait by Tintoretto There
were many great schools in Venice at that time, and there was much work
to be done in decorating their walls with paintings. A school was not
really a place of
education, but a society of people who joined themselves together in
charity to nurse the sick, bury the dead, and release any prisoners who
had been taken captive. One of the greatest of the schools was the `Scuola
de San Rocco,' and this was given into the hands of Tintoretto, who
covered the walls with his paintings, leaving but little room for other
artists. But
it is in the Ducal Palace that the master's most famous work is seen.
There, covering the entire side of the great hall, hangs his `Paradiso,'
the largest oil painting in the world. At
first it seems but a gloomy picture of Paradise. It is so vast, and such
hundreds of figures are crowded together, and the colour is dark and
sombre. There is none of that swinging of golden censers by white- robed
angels, none of the pure glad colouring of spring flowers which makes us
love the Paradise of Fra Angelico. St. Nicholas by Tintoretto But
if we stand long enough before it a great awe steals over us, and we
forget to look for bright colours and gentle angel faces, for the
figures surging upwards are very real and human, and the Paradise into
which we gaze seems to reveal to our eyes the very place where we
ourselves shall stand one day. At
the time when Tintoretto was painting his `Paradiso,' his little
daughter Marietta had grown to be a woman, and her painting too had
become famous. She was invited to the courts of Germany and Spain to
paint the portraits of the King and Emperor, but she refused to leave
Venice and her beloved father. Even when she married Mario the jeweller,
she did not go far from home, and Tintoretto grew every year fonder and
prouder of his clever and beautiful daughter. Not only could she paint,
but she played and sang most wonderfully, and became a great favourite
among the music-loving Venetians. St. Mark Saving a Saracen from
a Shipwreck by Tintoretto But
this happiness soon came to an end, for Marietta died suddenly in the
midst of her happy life. Nothing
could comfort Tintoretto for the loss of his daughter. She was buried in
the church of Santa Maria dell' Orto, and there he ordered another place
to be prepared that he might be buried at her side. It seemed, indeed,
as if he could not live without her, for it was not long before he
passed away. The last great stormy picture of `the furious painter' was
finished, and all Venice mourned as they laid him to rest beside the
daughter he had loved so well.
Return to: Stories of the Italian Painters
by Amy Steedman
