Celebrating Tintoretto
Portrait Paintings and Studio Drawings
Jacopo Tintoretto, one of the most celebrated and preeminent Venetian painters of the sixteenth century, is widely known for his large-scale narrative scenes and thoughtful, prolific portraits. In celebration of the five hundredth anniversary of Tintoretto’s birth, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art honors the late artist’s legacy through an exhibition centered on an innovative, lesser known aspect of Tintoretto’s portraiture – small scale, informal studies characterized by intricate, intense observation and impressive modernity. Each work in focus captures both the aura and spirit of the painting’s respective sitter, while being rendered with striking quickness of hand. The first of its kind, this exhibition brings together ten prominent portrait studies from international museums and private collections around the world, drawing each into a larger discussion of Tintoretto’s portraiture and unique approach to painting – a must see exhibition that will leave you with a newfound appreciation for sixteenth century, western European painting.