DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68745#0195
LATE WORK
upon a crowded wall. We see here the same arrangement of the
central group, elevated and seen from below. The faces of women
on the further side of the altar are on a low level, like those of
the guards in the ‘Crucifixion.’ It is interesting to compare this
with the same subject in San Rocco; in both the painter has kept
the proper ecclesiastical procedure of the acolytes holding back the
heavy mantle, and the other women waiting their turn upon the
steps, but the two compositions have little in common, and it is
when we look back at that far-off, youthful experiment in the
Carmine, that we meet the same subject, and yet feel what a
gulf lies between the two. How masterly and distinguished is
the one, how stiff and conventional the other. The old High
Priest in this later work is a peculiarly venerable and benevolent
figure, the Virgin holding her babe and stooping across the table,
stands among Tintoretto’s foremost creations for strength and
grace of pose, for ease, and sweet, natural gesture. The elastic
movement with which she sways under the light weight of the
child is so truly felt that the sensation appeals to all our tactile
perceptions. The painter is admirable here in breadth and sim-
plicity, and in the Renaissance setting, the statue in the niche, and
the woman and child on the right, drawn with classic feeling,
we are reminded of Mantegna as in no other of Tintoretto’s
works. Though this picture contains a great many figures there
is no look of crowding; they move in clear and ample space.
The repose of the composition is emphasized by the simple folds
of drapery, and the soft greenish colour connects it with several
paintings of this period.
The decoration of the old Church of the Madonna dell’ Orto was
completed in these later years by Cardinal Contarini’s commission to
paint an altarpiece for his family chapel, an order which resulted in
the 4 Miracle in the life of St. Agnes,’ which is painted in so light and
peaceful a manner that it is natural to separate it from the earlier
work in the Church. The legend of St. Agnes is a very favourite one.
She was a Christian maiden who suffered martyrdom in the reign
of Diocletian, a.d. 290. Sempronius, the son of a prefect, fell in
love with her and sought her hand in marriage, but she refused
him, having vowed herself to a life of virginity. The prefect,
indignant at her disdaining his son, had her denounced for her faith,
111
upon a crowded wall. We see here the same arrangement of the
central group, elevated and seen from below. The faces of women
on the further side of the altar are on a low level, like those of
the guards in the ‘Crucifixion.’ It is interesting to compare this
with the same subject in San Rocco; in both the painter has kept
the proper ecclesiastical procedure of the acolytes holding back the
heavy mantle, and the other women waiting their turn upon the
steps, but the two compositions have little in common, and it is
when we look back at that far-off, youthful experiment in the
Carmine, that we meet the same subject, and yet feel what a
gulf lies between the two. How masterly and distinguished is
the one, how stiff and conventional the other. The old High
Priest in this later work is a peculiarly venerable and benevolent
figure, the Virgin holding her babe and stooping across the table,
stands among Tintoretto’s foremost creations for strength and
grace of pose, for ease, and sweet, natural gesture. The elastic
movement with which she sways under the light weight of the
child is so truly felt that the sensation appeals to all our tactile
perceptions. The painter is admirable here in breadth and sim-
plicity, and in the Renaissance setting, the statue in the niche, and
the woman and child on the right, drawn with classic feeling,
we are reminded of Mantegna as in no other of Tintoretto’s
works. Though this picture contains a great many figures there
is no look of crowding; they move in clear and ample space.
The repose of the composition is emphasized by the simple folds
of drapery, and the soft greenish colour connects it with several
paintings of this period.
The decoration of the old Church of the Madonna dell’ Orto was
completed in these later years by Cardinal Contarini’s commission to
paint an altarpiece for his family chapel, an order which resulted in
the 4 Miracle in the life of St. Agnes,’ which is painted in so light and
peaceful a manner that it is natural to separate it from the earlier
work in the Church. The legend of St. Agnes is a very favourite one.
She was a Christian maiden who suffered martyrdom in the reign
of Diocletian, a.d. 290. Sempronius, the son of a prefect, fell in
love with her and sought her hand in marriage, but she refused
him, having vowed herself to a life of virginity. The prefect,
indignant at her disdaining his son, had her denounced for her faith,
111