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

St Jerome and St Andrew

c. 1552
Oil on canvas, 235 x 145 cm
Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

The works of Tintoretto after the middle of the 16th century demonstrate still more clearly the search for strong sculptural effects achieved by use of chiaroscuro, a complex scenographic spatial representation and the use of clear, bright colour in direct contrast to the more subdued harmonies of Titian's 'magica alchimia cromatica'. The work 'St Jerome and St Andrew' is a major example of these tendencies. It was commissioned for one of the rooms of the Magistrato del Sale in the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi at Rialto by Andrea Dandolo and Girolamo Bernardo, magistrates who left office between September and October 1552.

The search for a Manneristic figural rhythm within the overall compositional plan is evident. The figure of St Andrew takes up the whole of the small space to the left of the cross, leaving more room for St Jerome alongside the curvilinear outline of the rock. The scenic effect of the figures constrained in a small space is given unity and the poetic sense of an intense spiritual life by the expressive force of light which brings out all the gradations of colour.




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