Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Don't Miss
Sala Grande Superiore
Tintoretto's Old Testament ceiling scenes read like a modern comic: you can al-
most hear the 'swoop!' overhead as an angel dives down to feed ailing Elijah.
Meanwhile, eerie illumination ominously strikes subjects in dark New Testament
wall scenes. When Tintoretto painted these scenes, the plague had just taken
50,000 Venetians, and the cause and cure were unknown. With dynamic lines
pointing to glimmers of hope on still-distant horizons, Tintoretto created a moving
parable for epidemics through the ages.
Sala Albergo
Every surviving Venetian artist wanted the commission to paint the building ded-
icated to San Rocco (St Roch), patron saint of plague victims, so Tintoretto
cheated. Instead of offering sketches like rival Paolo Veronese, Tintoretto dedic-
ated a complete
tondo
(ceiling panel) to the saint, knowing such a gift couldn't be
matched.
Tintoretto's newly restored
St Roch in Glory
is surrounded by representations of
the four seasons and the saving graces of Felicity, Generosity, Faith and Hope.
Feeble Hope is propped up on one elbow - still reeling from the tragedy of the
plague, but miraculously alive.
Assembly Hall
Downstairs are works by other Venetian A-list artists, including Titian, Giorgione
and Tiepolo. But Tintoretto steals the scene with the Virgin Mary's life story, start-
ing on the left wall with
Annunciation,
where the angel surprises Mary at her sew-
ing. The cycle ends with a dark, cataclysmic
Ascension,
unlike Titian's glowing ver-
sion at I Frari.
