“The dramatic canvases of Jacopo Tintoretto (1518/1519–1594), with their muscular, expressive bodies, are some of the most distinctive of the Italian Renaissance. His drawings, however, have received less attention as a distinctive category in his oeuvre. Drawing in Tintoretto’s Venice is the first exhibition since 1956 to focus on the drawing practice of this major artist. It will offer a new perspective on Tintoretto’s evolution as a draftsman, his individuality as an artist, and his influence on a generation of painters in northern Italy.
Organized to mark the five-hundredth anniversary of the artist’s birth, this exhibition brings together more than seventy drawings and a small group of related paintings. It places Tintoretto’s distinctive figure drawings alongside works by contemporaries such as Titian, Veronese, and Bassano, as well as by artists—Domenico Tintoretto, Palma Giovane, and others—working in Venice during the late sixteenth century, whose drawing style was influenced by Tintoretto’s. The exhibition also features a particularly engaging group of drawings that have recently been proposed as the work of the young El Greco during his time in Italy.” — The Morgan Library & Museum
Tintoretto (1518/19–1594), Seated Male Nude, ca. 1549. Black and white chalk, squared, on blue paper. Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. 5385. © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY.
Titian (1488–1576), Embracing Couple, ca. 1568–70, charcoal and black and white chalk on faded blue paper. The Syndics of the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge. © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Tintoretto (1518/19–1594), Venus and Vulcan, ca. 1545, black chalk, pen and brown ink with brown and gray wash, bpk Bildagentur / Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin /Art Resource, NY. Photography by Jorg P. Anders.
Tintoretto (1518/19–1594), Holy Family with the Young St. John, ca. 1549–50, oil on panel. Yale University Art Gallery, Maitland F. Griggs, B.A. 1896, Fund and Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Class of 1913, Fund.
Tintoretto (1518/19–1594), Study of a Man with Raised Arms, ca. 1562–66, charcoal, heightened with white, on blue paper, squared for transfer, The British Museum, London. ©The Trustees of the British Museum.
Tintoretto (1518–1594), Studies of Three Men, for the Last Supper at San Trovaso, ca. 1563–64, black and white chalk. bpk Bildagentur / Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, Germany / Art Resource, NY. Photography by Volker-H. Schneider.
Tintoretto (?) and Workshop (1518/19–1594), Study of Michelangelo’s Samson and the Philistines (recto and verso), ca. 1560–70, charcoal and black chalk with white opaque watercolor on blue paper, The Morgan Library & Museum, Thaw Collection, 2005.234. Photography by Janny Chiu.
Tintoretto (1518/19–1594), Study for Return of the Prodigal Son, ca. 1574–76, charcoal (and black chalk?) with white chalk, on blue paper. Gabinetto Fotografico delle Gallerie degli Uffizi.
Tintoretto (1518/19–1594), Study for a Man Climbing into a Boat (recto), 1578–79, charcoal, squared in charcoal. The Morgan Library & Museum. Gift of J.P. Morgan, Jr. The Morgan Library & Museum, IV, 76. Photography by Graham S. Haber, 2012.
Domenico Tintoretto (1560–1635), Reclining Female Nude, ca. 1590, black and white chalk on blue paper. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, NY.
Domenico Tintoretto (1560–1635), Miracle of the Slave, ca. 1611–12, oil over charcoal, squared for transfer. The British Museum, London. © The Trustees of the British Museum.
Attributed to El Greco (ca. 1541–1614), Last Supper, ca. 1575, brown wash with white opaque watercolor, over black chalk, on light brown paper. The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of János Scholz, 1981.96. Photography by Janny Chiu, 2018.
Palma Giovane (1544–1628), Christ Carried to the Tomb, ca. 1610, brush and brown and white oil paint over black chalk on oatmeal paper. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, Purchased as the Gift of Helen Porter and James T. Dyke, 2007. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Drawing in Tintoretto’s Venice was curated by John Marciari, Charles W. Engelhard Curator of Drawings and Prints.
Images courtesy The Morgan Library & Museum.
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