Jacopo Tintoretto (1518/19-1594) was one of the most important Venetian painters of the XNUMXth century and was famous for his dynamic narrative scenes and authoritative portraits.
On the occasion of the 27th anniversary of the artist's birth, The Met presents the celebratory Tintoretto: Portrait Paintings and Study Drawings. The exhibition can be visited until 2019 January XNUMX.
Characterized by their immediacy, penetrating observation and startling modernity, Tintoretto's small-scale informal portrait heads are an innovative aspect of his portraiture, and one that has been little studied. Seen together for the first time, these portrait studies reveal Tintoretto's famed quickness (prestezza) as a painter, capturing both the spirit and the look of the sitter.
“Tintoretto created intensely powerful portraits and the opportunity to look at these brilliant studies side by side allows us to recognize and appreciate the urgency and extraordinary skill in these paintings,” said Max Hollein, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art .
Facets of artistic practice in Tintoretto's workshop will come to light in the exhibition's exploration of the relationship between Jacopo and his son Domenico. Central here will be a series of bold figure drawings and a painting in the Museum's collection, The Finding of Moses, the long-debated attribution of both father and son to both father and son will play a key role in discussing this thriving workshop.
The exhibition was made possible by Robert Lehman Foundation and from Placido Arango Fund.
Celebrating Tintoretto: Portrait Paintings and Studio Drawings is organized by Andrea Bayer, Interim Deputy Director for Collections and Administration at the Met and Jayne Wrightsman Curator in the Department of European Paintings and Alison Manges Nogueira, Associate Curator of the Robert Lehman Collection.
