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Tintoretto, II, or Giacomo Robusti

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a distinguished Italian painter, was born at Venice, according to Ridolfi, in 1512. After being instructed in the rudiments of design, he became a pupil of Titian, with whom he studied for a short time only; it being generally stated that Titian dismissed him, being jealous of his talents and progress. He was not discouraged, but resolved to become the head of a new school. Over his door he wrote, "Michael Angelo's design, and the coloring of Titian." He made a special study of light and shade, and of the human form both by living models and by anatomy. Though he possessed many excellences, his sovereign merit consisted in the animation of his figures. He flourished for a long period, and retained his powers to a great age, dying at Venice in 1594. His three greatest pictures, according to his own estimate and that of others, are, The Crucifixion, in the College of San Rocco; The Last Supper, now in the Church of Santa Maria della Salute; and 11 Servo, or the Venetian Slave, condemned to martyrdom by the Turks, invoking the protection of St. Mark. Some of his works are of enormous size, the Crucifixion being forty feet long, the Israelites worshipping the Golden Calf and the Last Judgment each about sixty feet high. One of his last productions was his Paradiso, in the hall of the great council chamber of San Marco. Tintoretto wrought so fast, and at so low a price, that few of the other painters in Venice could secure employment. The churches and halls of the different communities are overloaded with his productions. See Spooner, Biog. Dict. of the Fine Arts, s.v.