DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68745#0240
TINTORETTO
quite another design. The opportunity of contrasting the worn
body of the saint with the beautiful ones of the temptresses has
evidently fascinated him, and again he has diverted himself by
inventing every sort of bestial hobgoblin and horrible animal, and
investing them with expressions of cruelty and brutal sensuality.
For many of the female demons he uses the model of the ‘ Susanna
at the Bath.’ Sometimes they offer blandishments, gifts, crowns
and sceptres, then they become threatening and ferocious. Many
of the renderings are comparatively cold and tentative; then
again he catches fire, and the feeling is tremendous. Emotion
seems torn out of the man and flung upon the paper. Grace and
seduction, appeal and rescue are all conveyed by a few rough
strokes, strokes almost wild in their sweep and swirl, that leave
us hardly able to grasp the means he employs in speaking to us
so intensely.
We find the model at last for the ‘St. Anthony’ in San
Trovaso in a design for ‘ Hercules seeking Cerberus.’ Pluto sits
on one side, the triple dog’s head is below, the beautiful
recumbent figure turning round must be meant for Proserpine.
It is in the Hercules, bursting through the throng, that the
painter has seen an ideal for his saint, as he spurns temptation
and turns in a passion of confidence to the vision of the Father,
strong to save. There are other sketches, as the ‘Rescue of
the Saracen,’ or the single figure of St. Sebastian wThich we can
trace almost unaltered. ‘ Christ raising the Widow’s Son ’ has
a fine architectural background of a Venetian piazza, and may
be an experiment for one of the San Rocco series; others seem
to connect themselves with the gods and goddesses of the Ducal
Palace. One of Diana and her nymphs recalls the ‘ Muses ’ at
Hampton Court. Among the richest and most effective are
nine versions of ‘ Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter.’ The
figures are painted in with such force, and the indications of
landscape background have such radiance and are so complete in
suggestion that many of these sketches have the power and
impressive quality of a great picture. ‘ The Adoration of the
Magi ’ is full of an inward feeling of awe and reverence in the
attitude of the three kings, while the flickering joy of the little
cherubs overhead is amply conveyed by scarce three touches and
138
quite another design. The opportunity of contrasting the worn
body of the saint with the beautiful ones of the temptresses has
evidently fascinated him, and again he has diverted himself by
inventing every sort of bestial hobgoblin and horrible animal, and
investing them with expressions of cruelty and brutal sensuality.
For many of the female demons he uses the model of the ‘ Susanna
at the Bath.’ Sometimes they offer blandishments, gifts, crowns
and sceptres, then they become threatening and ferocious. Many
of the renderings are comparatively cold and tentative; then
again he catches fire, and the feeling is tremendous. Emotion
seems torn out of the man and flung upon the paper. Grace and
seduction, appeal and rescue are all conveyed by a few rough
strokes, strokes almost wild in their sweep and swirl, that leave
us hardly able to grasp the means he employs in speaking to us
so intensely.
We find the model at last for the ‘St. Anthony’ in San
Trovaso in a design for ‘ Hercules seeking Cerberus.’ Pluto sits
on one side, the triple dog’s head is below, the beautiful
recumbent figure turning round must be meant for Proserpine.
It is in the Hercules, bursting through the throng, that the
painter has seen an ideal for his saint, as he spurns temptation
and turns in a passion of confidence to the vision of the Father,
strong to save. There are other sketches, as the ‘Rescue of
the Saracen,’ or the single figure of St. Sebastian wThich we can
trace almost unaltered. ‘ Christ raising the Widow’s Son ’ has
a fine architectural background of a Venetian piazza, and may
be an experiment for one of the San Rocco series; others seem
to connect themselves with the gods and goddesses of the Ducal
Palace. One of Diana and her nymphs recalls the ‘ Muses ’ at
Hampton Court. Among the richest and most effective are
nine versions of ‘ Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter.’ The
figures are painted in with such force, and the indications of
landscape background have such radiance and are so complete in
suggestion that many of these sketches have the power and
impressive quality of a great picture. ‘ The Adoration of the
Magi ’ is full of an inward feeling of awe and reverence in the
attitude of the three kings, while the flickering joy of the little
cherubs overhead is amply conveyed by scarce three touches and
138