Tintoretto's Biography

Jacopo (Robusti) Tintoretto

Birth Year : 1518

Death Year : 1594

Country : Italy

Jacopo Robusti, called Tintoretto-the "little dyer"-because his father was a dyer by trade, was born in Venice. Tintoretto, who studied for a short time with Titian and then with Schiavone, admired the color of Titian and the drawing of Michelangelo. Tintoretto's intention was to combine color and drawing to create a new form of art. His personal, dramatic and imaginative painting was to become increasingly Mannerist in style as it grew more and more fluid through the years. He painted portraits, classical or mythological works, and religious canvases using Old Testament themes and subjects. His portraits are restrained and intimate, and glowing with color. His classical works are distinguished by their grace and by the dramatic elements in his poetic conceptions. Tintoretto's inventive genius shows best, however, in the many paintings he created to decorate the Palace of the Dogs, various Venetian churches, the Scuolo della Trinita, and the Scuolo di San Rocco. In these enormous compositions,