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

Allegory of the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista

c. 1564
Oil on canvas, 90 x 190 cm
Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice

Among the sixteen allegories around the central painting on the ceiling of the Sala dell'Albergo are five allegorical figures of the Scoule Grandi of Venice. These and the other allegorical figures of the Cardinal Virtues are portrayed in forced and artificial poses and attitudes of truly Mannerist origin. They were particularly studied by Tintoretto in preliminary drawings.

In the Allegory of the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista, the eagle looms over the figure of the Saint who is leaning back and engrossed in reading.