Geronimo Foscarini, Procurator of St Mark's
manner of Jacopo Tintoretto (Venice 1518 - Venice 1594)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1570 - 1629
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1000 x 863 mm
Order this imageCollection
Osterley Park and House, London
NT 771272
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Geronimo Foscarini, Procurator of St Mark's, in the manner of Jacopo Tintoretto (Venice 1518 - Venice 1594). A three-quarter-length portrait of a man with a white beard, turned slightly to the left, gazing at the spectator, wearing a red velvet coat trimmed with ermine, who holds a piece of paper in his left hand; the man faces slightly to his right and look forward at the viewer. Pendant to Portrait of a Venetian Noble NT 771273 (L/OST/P/88). Jacopo Tintoretto (1519-1594) was the most prolific painter working in Venice in the later 16th century. His was the son of a cloth-dyer and his adopted nickname 'tintoretto', meaning 'the little dyer', advertised his artisan background. In addition to his religious and mythological works, Jacopo painted many portraits of prominent Venetians. He worked in a quick, abbreviated style and his intentional the lack of conventional finish was seen by some as careless and caused controversy among his contemporaries. The sitter in this work, identified by the inscription as Geronimo Foscarini, wears a crimson velvet robe and a richly patterned stole draped over his shoulder identifying him as a procurator, a Venetian civic official similar to a chancellor or senator. His position of authority is conveyed by his serious expression and his firm grip on the table containing a book known as a commissione dogale which contained the contracts of duty and conduct presented by doges to Venetian patricians elected to oversee the Republic's mainland and maritime territories. With its saturated colours and swift brushwork, this portrait recalls Tintoretto's later painting style of the 1570s-80s. While not as finely executed as autograph works by Tintoretto, the style and execution of the work appear to fit with a dating in the late 16th or early 17th century. [From V&A description]
Provenance
Given to the Victoria and Albert Museum by Miss Margaret Coutts Trotter in 1882; on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum
Makers and roles
manner of Jacopo Tintoretto (Venice 1518 - Venice 1594), artist