Creation of the Animals

Tintoretto worked fast, took commissions cheaply, and occasionally installed finished paintings before anyone had agreed he should. He won the Scuola Grande di San Rocco competition by delivering a completed ceiling panel instead of the requested sketch, then gave it to the confraternity as a gift, which made refusing him awkward. The paintings match the temperament. Figures fly in from odd angles, light rakes across crowds, perspective plunges. He is said to have hung small wax models in boxes to work out lighting, which would explain the theatrical staging. Venice gave him his subject matter and his competition, Titian above all. He decorated San Rocco over more than two decades, filling walls and ceilings with scenes from the life of Christ that are best seen where they still hang. The Last Supper of 1594 pushes the drama further than almost anything painted that century.