|
The assumption that the slave on the ground is a concealed self-portrait of Tintoretto seems to be very plausible. Besides the facial similarity, this theory is supported by the perspective of the foreshortening which both hides the artist's almost dwarfish stature and makes it a theme. The blinding with which the slave is threatened would have seemed a particularly terrible punishment to Tintoretto, as a painter. Seen from left to right, the still-life of the tools arranged in a striking zigzag pattern precisely reproduces the order in which the failed attempts to torture the slave were made.
|
