TINTORETTO
(b. 1518, Venezia, d. 1594, Venezia)

The Presentation of Christ in the Temple (detail)

1550-55
Oil on canvas
Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

Tintoretto painted The Presentation of Christ in the Temple for the right-hand interior wall of the choir of the church of Santa Maria Assunta del Crociferi (today the Chiesa dei Gesuiti) in Venice. The pictorial ornamentation of Santa Maria Assunta dei Crociferi was in part commissioned and was tended by the minor lay confraternities of the vicinity who saw to the upkeep of the altars and tombs in the church. The Scuola dei Botteri (Confraternity of Coopers) commissioned The Presentation of Christ in the Temple. Their memorial slab in the Chiesa dei Gesuiti still shows the emblem, a small cask, that is visible on the steps of The Presentation of Christ in the Temple.