Artist Report

Personal life

Name of Artist: Jacopo Robusti (Tintoretto)

Birth Date: c. 1518 (exact date unknown)

Birth Place: Venice, Italy

What later life events (marriage, children, deaths, etc.) had a major influence on the
artist? (Your response should be a minimum of 100 words and complete sentences.)

It seems that Tintoretto was born to be an artist. His father, was a cloth dyer and
so the nickname Tintoretto was passed to his son as little dyer. His father had seen an
artistic interest in his son at a young age and its said that his father had him train in a
workshop of a lesser-known artist to help hone-in his skills. Tintoretto later was
apprenticed by master painter Titian. Not much is known about Tintorettos childhood,
but it was well known that he knew of the work of Venices prominent painters and other
Italian masters. Its said that he sough to combine Michelangelos drawing style with
Titians use of color while developing his own style (Biography.com).

Time Period

Describe what prevailing style of art was popular when the artist first started? (Your
description should be at least three complete sentences in length.)

When Tintoretto first began painting, Italian artists like Leonardo da Vinci and
Michelangelo were painting High Renaissance art. High Renaissance art moved away
from early renaissance in a way that religious beings looked real but still divine. Early
renaissance artists focused on making beings appear so human and it would be hard to
differentiate them from normal beings. High Renaissance painters focused on their
figures having an undeniable and intense spirituality (Pallucchini, Rodolfo).

What new style did the artist start, or get involved in?

Tintoretto is one of the prominent painters in the Mannerism movement.

Mannerism art style was moving away from realistic humanoid bodies and exaggerating
proportion, balance and ideal beauty. The result was an obsession with style and
technique in figural composition and this outweighed the importance and meaning of the
subject matter. (Pallucchini, Rodolfo)
What important historical events happened during the artists lifetime that influenced one
or more pieces? (Your response should be a minimum of 100 words and complete
sentences.)

Tintoretto was painting in the Renaissance era of Italy. Many of Tintorettos

paintings were religious and he was commissioned by the Catholic Church to make these
beautiful spiritual and religious pieces. Catholicism, especially in Italy, had a strong
influence on the works of Tintoretto. Specifically the popular piece The Last Supper by
Leonardo da Vinci, Tintoretto made his own rendition of The Last Supper which
features many more figures, both mortal and angel. The central figure is not Jesus, unlike
Leonardos painting and the table instead of being balanced and horizontal is diagonal
and plunging into a dark room. The figures are elongated and there is some normalcy
with a cat smelling a bread basket and a dog at the feet of an apostle. Marilyn Stokstad in
Art History (vol. 2, rev. ed.,1999) writes that the painting expresses intense spirituality
using Mannerist style devices: deep colors, bright highlights, and elongated figures.

Select one piece that your artist did

Name of the piece: Crucifixion- Jacopo Tintoretto

Copy and paste your artists painting here:

What is it about?

This was Tintorettos rendition of the crucifixion of Christ.

Why did you choose this piece? (Two or more complete sentences, minimum)

Its a piece that is often painted, especially by renaissance and religious painters,
but each crucifixion piece is very different. I noticed it was one his final pieces in his
lifetime. It is a good representation of Mannerist art style and it is grandiose in real life
(518 cm x 1224 cm). It has so much detail in every inch and its an extraordinary piece.

Name two elements of design that the artist used in this piece:

-Tintoretto plays a lot with the usage of light to help emphasize certain aspects of the
painting, such as Jesus halo.
-Tintoretto is known for his use of dark colors in most all of his paintings.

Name one principle of design that the artist used in this piece:

-The design principle of emphasis is used, Tintoretto uses this principle by using lighter
colors to build a glowing halo around Jesus head. The halo extends around him and
under his arms, making it look almost like wings.

When you first looked at this piece what was your reaction to it? (Two or more complete
sentences, minimum)

My first reaction to this piece was complete awe. When I pasted it into this
document, I had to shrink it, I found myself trying to enlarge the painting as large as I
could but would end up with resolution issues. I wanted to look at every detail. Its a little
disturbing, its violent and graphic. Possibly a little hard to look at when I first saw it. I
hope to one day see it in real life. If I were to see it in real life I would be able to examine
the brush strokes and the texture of the painting.

Did your reaction change as you studied this piece? Explain.

The longer I was able to study it and look for my elements and principle of
design, I was able to appreciate it more. I still felt sad that I had resolution issues, I
gained more respect for it and found myself thinking it was less grotesque than when I
originally looked at it.

Sources

List two sources you used to gather your information

Zirpolo, Lilian H. The a to Z of Renaissance Art. Scarecrow Press, 2009. The A to Z

Guide Series. EBSCOhost, libprox1.slcc.edu/login?
 url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=337398&site=eds-live.

Pallucchini, Rodolfo. "Tintoretto." Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia Britannica,

Inc., 05 Aug. 2009. Web. 19 Jan. 2017.

Tintoretto." Biography.com. Ed. Biography.com Editors. A&E Networks Television, 02

Apr. 2014. Web. 19 Jan. 2017.

Journey, Evy. "Italian Renaissance: Tintoretto's Last Supper." Journey On a Limb. N.p.,
21 Dec. 2015. Web. 19 Jan. 2017.

Glover, Michael. "Great Works: The Crucifixion 1565 (518cm X 1,224 Cm), Tintoretto."
The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 21 Apr. 2011. Web. 19
Jan. 2017.