Restored in 2004 with funding from an anonymous donor in honor of Frederick Ilchman.

Thanks to a successful restoration, this once-overlooked painting is now recognized as a masterpiece of Tintoretto’s late period and as one of the most poetic works in his entire oeuvre. Tintoretto painted a suggestive landscape reminiscent of the Venetian lagoon — a setting that would have held particular significance to the patrons of the work, the members of the bargemen’s guild. The arrangement of Christ and Saint John is a striking departure from most depictions of the Baptism, in which the two men generally stand side by side. By elevating Saint John, Tintoretto quite appropriately humbles Christ, and the Baptist’s gesture of pouring water over Christ’s head appears both elegant and natural. Tintoretto makes brilliant use of contrasts in lighting by illuminating Christ’s body while John’s remains mostly in shadow.

In this work, the ever-competitive Tintoretto emulated his greatest rivals in Venetian painting. The arms of both Christ and John enact the eloquent gestures of Veronese, while the hushed and reverential mood and caressing brushstrokes resemble the late work of Titian. The combination of muscular protagonists and humble piety, however, is Tintoretto’s alone.

This remarkable canvas featured prominently in the exhibition “Tintoretto: Artist of Renaissance Venice,” held first at the Palazzo Ducale in Venice (September 7, 2018–January 6, 2019) and then at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (March 24–July 7, 2019). The exhibition was curated by Save Venice Chairman Frederick Ilchman and independent scholar Robert Echols, in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Tintoretto’s birth.

The work was restored by conservator Gino Marin, with the guidance of project director Fiorella Spadavecchia of the Superintendency of Fine Arts of Venice.

For select projects, conservation dossiers in Italian containing limited textual and photographic documentation may be available for consultation by appointment at the Venice office of Save Venice and the Rosand Library & Study Center. For inquiries, please contact us at venice@savevenice.org.

Jacopo Tintoretto (c. 1518/19–1594)
Baptism of Christ
1580-82, oil on canvas
283 x 162 cm

Tintoretto Exhibition Opens at National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

National Gallery of Art: Press Release for the Exhibition “Tintoretto: Artist of Renaissance Venice”

National Gallery of Art: Exhibition Page

Frederick Ilchman, “Two Altarpieces of John the Baptist by Jacopo Tintoretto” (2004)

Dalla Costa, Thomas, Robert Echols, and Frederick Ilchman, eds. Tintoretto in Venice: A Guide. Venice: Marsilio, 2018.

Echols, Robert and Frederick Ilchman. Tintoretto: Artist of Renaissance Venice. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2018.