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

The Brazen Serpent

1575-76
Oil on canvas, 840 x 520 cm
Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice

This painting is on the ceiling of the Sala Superiore.

The terror of the poisonous snakes of the desert is thwarted by the magic serpent of bronze that Moses carries aloft on the cross. Venice at the time was ravaged by the plague, which in two years would wipe out a quarter of the city's residents.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.