Movement, Style, School or Period:
Mannerism, Venetian School

Date and Place of Birth:
1519, Venice

Jacopo Robusti's father, Giovanni Battista Comin, was a Venetian craftsman who dyed cloth, a profession which went by the name tintore in Italian. Hence the nickname "Tintoretto," which followed Jacopo around for the rest of his life and means "the little dyer." ("Tintoretto" also has a nice ring to it, as opposed to, say, "The Venetian Mannerist painter 'Skippy'. ")

Life:
While little is known of his early life, let alone training, Tintoretto was reported to be a student of Titian's, at least for a brief period. The two really had little use for one another and painted for different clientages. Where Titian enjoyed an upscale, international audience, Tintoretto stuck close to his roots and painted for the middle-class local crowd. Titian's palette was clearly an influence, though, and Tintoretto was his worthy successor as "top painter in Venice."

He is said to have worked mainly from little wax and clay figures, strategically composed and lit within a type of box (this would account for his dynamic lighting and foreshortening). Few drawings or oil sketches of his survive, and their absence supports the theory that he usually painted "on the fly." As he was never documented turning down work, Tintoretto ran a large, bustling workshop. His most trusted assistants were his sons, Domenico and Marco and, marvelously, his daughter, Marietta.

Tintoretto was not well liked by contemporary Venetian artists, who often accused him of underhanded bidding and social climbing. They were primarily scornful of the haste in which he typically worked. This was thought to diminish the craft of painting, thus lowering the status of artists - and, indeed, Tintoretto's output varied dramatically in quality. Whether his speedy execution was the result of a superior creative intellect or the need to turn a quick buck is still a matter of debate.

More than any other Venetian artist, Tintoretto embraced the emotional aspects of Mannerism (he was a huge fan of Michelangelo, whose influence can clearly be seen). He is best known today for his bold use of color and the superlative manipulation of light and shadow in his paintings.

Important Works:

The Miracle of St. Mark Freeing the Slave, 1548
St. George and the Dragon, 1555-58
Crucifixion, 1565; part of the Scuola di San Rocco series, 1565-87
The Origin of the Milky Way, 1570
The Woman Who Discovers the Bosom, ca. 1570

Date and Place of Death:
May 31, 1594, Venice