DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68745#0138
TINTORETTO
these arrows are fixed. In the common martyrdoms of S.
Sebastian, they are stuck into him here and there like pins . . .
but Tintoret had no such ideas about archery
He must have
seen bows drawn in battle, like that of Jehu when he smote
Jehoram between the harness: all the arrows in the saint’s body
lie straight in the same direction, broad-feathered and strong-
shafted, and sent apparently with the force of thunderbolts. ...
The face, in spite of its ghastliness, is beautiful, and has been
serene; and the light, which enters first and glistens on the plumes
of the arrows, dies softly away upon the curling hair, and mixes with
the glory upon the forehead.’ The saint being represented as dead
puts Tintoretto at fault here, as in the legend he was not killed
by the arrows, but was afterwards put to death by the sword.
Overhead, we look once more at‘ Adam and Eve.’ Eve leans
back in a thick mass of foliage, with a sunbeam striking athwart
her white limbs. She is a ripe, voluptuous beauty, who holds out
the apple to the man who, half in shade and finely modelled, is
gently pushing her hand away. The branches of the apple-tree
are painted with the utmost care: at the feet of Eve an evil-
looking serpent glides away. This is a simply designed panel,
but the oval is perfectly filled, and the lines are arranged in a sort
of symmetrical pattern. The colour has the warm and ruddy
glow of a typical Venetian picture. The outlines blend and
mingle with the surrounding gloom, so that the arrangement is
determined by alternating waves of light and shadow. It is
freely and softly painted, and though it cannot compare with the
rendering of the same subject in the Accademia, and does not
look as if Tintoretto had given it much time or interest, it is
a sensuous and emotional piece of wrork. The next, ‘Moses
Striking the Rock,’ is one of the most complete of the whole
series. In these earlier panels we can clearly trace the connexion
with the ‘ Crucifixion ’ and the ‘ Marriage of Cana,’ the colour
being brown, transparent and low in tone. The composition is
admirable; Tintoretto has contrived to make the water the most
prominent feature. At a touch it bounds forth, living, life-giving.
We can believe the story that Pietro of Cortona, standing under
it, exclaimed, ‘ Surely I am seized with fear; it seems as if real
water were about to fall on me.’ All eyes and arms stretch
76
these arrows are fixed. In the common martyrdoms of S.
Sebastian, they are stuck into him here and there like pins . . .
but Tintoret had no such ideas about archery
He must have
seen bows drawn in battle, like that of Jehu when he smote
Jehoram between the harness: all the arrows in the saint’s body
lie straight in the same direction, broad-feathered and strong-
shafted, and sent apparently with the force of thunderbolts. ...
The face, in spite of its ghastliness, is beautiful, and has been
serene; and the light, which enters first and glistens on the plumes
of the arrows, dies softly away upon the curling hair, and mixes with
the glory upon the forehead.’ The saint being represented as dead
puts Tintoretto at fault here, as in the legend he was not killed
by the arrows, but was afterwards put to death by the sword.
Overhead, we look once more at‘ Adam and Eve.’ Eve leans
back in a thick mass of foliage, with a sunbeam striking athwart
her white limbs. She is a ripe, voluptuous beauty, who holds out
the apple to the man who, half in shade and finely modelled, is
gently pushing her hand away. The branches of the apple-tree
are painted with the utmost care: at the feet of Eve an evil-
looking serpent glides away. This is a simply designed panel,
but the oval is perfectly filled, and the lines are arranged in a sort
of symmetrical pattern. The colour has the warm and ruddy
glow of a typical Venetian picture. The outlines blend and
mingle with the surrounding gloom, so that the arrangement is
determined by alternating waves of light and shadow. It is
freely and softly painted, and though it cannot compare with the
rendering of the same subject in the Accademia, and does not
look as if Tintoretto had given it much time or interest, it is
a sensuous and emotional piece of wrork. The next, ‘Moses
Striking the Rock,’ is one of the most complete of the whole
series. In these earlier panels we can clearly trace the connexion
with the ‘ Crucifixion ’ and the ‘ Marriage of Cana,’ the colour
being brown, transparent and low in tone. The composition is
admirable; Tintoretto has contrived to make the water the most
prominent feature. At a touch it bounds forth, living, life-giving.
We can believe the story that Pietro of Cortona, standing under
it, exclaimed, ‘ Surely I am seized with fear; it seems as if real
water were about to fall on me.’ All eyes and arms stretch
76