Tintoretto’s Genesis

In the early 1550s, Jacopo Tintoretto (1518–1594) made a series of large paintings depicting scenes from the Book of Genesis for the Scuola della Trinità, a charitable organization in Venice. Painted just as the artist was coming into his maturity, these canvases display a fusion of Michelangelo’s forceful conception of the figure, Titian’s renowned colorism, and Tintoretto’s own vigorous brushwork, dynamic compositions, and command of the workshop system. The paintings mark the beginning of Tintoretto’s rise as the powerhouse of Venetian Renaissance painting—a position he would hold for the next four decades.