The Last Supper By Jacopo Tinteretto Essay, Research Paper

Jacopo Tintoretto (1518-1594) was considered to be the greatest Mannerist painter in Venice (University of Chicago, 1969). Often viewed poorly by contemporaries of the time; Tintoretto was expelled from the Titian school after just 10 days. His painting The Last Supper along with other works was never fully accepted by the prominent families of Venetian life. (Turner, 1996). He painted his versions of The Last Supper at least eight times, beginning in 1547 (Turner, 1996). Like other Renaissance painters of the time, his work was primarily of religious content; however, his hasty brushstroke technique called prestezza was not viewed well by many Venetian contemporaries (Turner, 1996).

In the versions of The Last Supper that would appear in the Scuola de Sacramento, Tintoretto placed the protagonist or main action where it would be easiest for the congregation to view it; even if this had the main action occurring on the corner of the canvas. He would always take into account the place where the painting would be hanging. Another common practice of Tintoretto s was his fondness of using a dark priming on his canvas without preliminary heightening with white . This style was criticized by Goethe, (University of Chicago, 1969, p.11).

This primer background appears in all of The Last Supper versions; however, the layout of the painting changes slightly until the final work in 1592. Here the focal point changed from the Betrayal to the Institution of the Eucharist. The table acts as an alter and the apostles as the congregation to form a church . (Turner, 1996) The 1566 version has Jesus proclaiming that one of his own people would betray him. Differing, the 1592 revision shows him holding the Eucharist in the first usage of his body symbolized by bread. Jesus is not even the center attention of the painting and there is much action by poor townspeople on the side. Not only are the apostles not individualized but also the regular people are present, showing Tintoretto s belief that under God man is the same regardless of social position (Turner, 1996).

In Tintoretto s painting Christ at the Sea of Galilee , we again see his signature jolted brushstrokes and the odd illuminating colorings over the black primer background. The painting seems almost unfinished; a common criticism his work received (Turner, 1996). We also see the apostles in the boat as almost faceless. They are rather a mass; which is in congruency with Tintoretto s belief that the men should be viewed as a group rather than individualized (Turner, 1996). In contrast to Davinci s Last Supper of 100 years earlier, rather than individualize the apostles, these apostles become a group in order to stress their shared social and spiritual characteristics (Turner, 1996, p.7). As well as containing more action, in The Last Supper of 1592, the people are common and dressed as contemporary Venetians. They are not the aristocracy, as other painters would have shown. The moral intention of Tintoretto s formal manipulations distances his work from contemporary Mannerism (Turner, 1996, p.8).

In contrast, Titians Madonna with Members of the Pesaro Family shows, not poverty stricken people, but rather portraits of the aristocracy who commissioned the painting on their knees before the Madonna and child. There is no social commentary here. Further, this former teacher of Tintoretto, Titian, does not paint with the same unfinished look of Tintoretto s prestezza style. Interestingly, both painters broke classical rules of composition by placing the key figures out of the center of their paintings.

Another contemporary of Tinteretto s, was a Spanish painter, sculptor, and architect who is regarded as the first great genius of the Spanish School (Nicolas Pioch, 1996). He was known as El Greco (the Greek); but his real name was Domenikos Theotocopoulos (1541-1614).

In 1566 he is referred to in a Cretan document as a master painter; soon afterwards he went to Venice (Crete was then a Venetian possession), then in 1570 moved to Rome. The miniaturist Giulio Clovio, whom he met there, described him as a pupil of Titian, but of all the Venetian painters Tinteretto influenced him most. (Nicolas Pioch, 1996).

El Greco is considered to be the last mannerist painter, and was heavily influenced by Tintoretto s work. In The Burial of Count Orgaz (1586), El Greco creates a scene where the real world and the spiritual world combine, which is reminiscent of any of the Last Suppers by Tinteretto. However El Greco juxtaposes the two worlds, whereas in Tinteretto s work, the two worlds interact with one another.

In The Adoration of the Shepherds (1612-14), we see El Greco incorporate a dark background; which Tinteretto was known to do. Again he combines the material world, and the spiritual world, however this time there is interplay between the two worlds. Lastly, the light in this scene is most likely emanating from Christ. All three of these elements can be found in Tinteretto s Last Supper, painted exactly 20 years earlier.

After completing The Last Supper of 1592 Jacopo Tintoretto died. His passing and the completion of this piece marked the end of the mannerism.

Encyclopedia Britannica. (Vol.22). (1969). Chicago, IL: William Benton Publishing.

Pioch, Nicholas (1996). Web Museum, Paris. Greco, El. Retrieved September 10, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/greco/

Turner, Jane (Ed). (1996). The Dictionary of Art. (Vol31.) London: Macmillan Publishing Limited.