BraceLand

Yesterday, I finally got down to see the Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Even though it was a complete mob scene, I’m glad I made it, and not just because it was ungodly hot out and the MFA is nicely air conditioned.

Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese were the premier painters in Venice during the Renaissance. Titian and Tintoretto hated each other (and Tintoretto seemed to be quite the asshole), and Veronese, who was a few years younger, sided with Titian whom he considered a mentor. The rivalry seemed to motivate all three painters as they competed for patrons and referred to each other’s works.

The paintings in the exhibit were grouped by theme which gave the viewer a sense of how the three artists played off each other. It was a much more interesting way to view the exhibit than it would have been if they were grouped by artist or chronologically.

Check out Tintoretto’s version of The Baptism of Christ:

Baptism of Christ, Tintoretto

And now Veronese’s:

I left thinking Veronese was my favorite–his use of color, and his attention to the human form were more my style than Titian or Tintoretto–but Tintoretto, tortured genius that he was, had some breathtaking works.

Besides being so visually pleasing, it was a crazy trip through the Renaissance era.  Isn’t it so crazy that people paid massive amounts of money to have people paint pictures of them?  It seems like everyone did it.  Can you imagine anything tackier nowadays than to enter someone’s house only to find a 12-foot tall painting of them?  And yet, without that patronage, these artists never would have flourished and museums wouldn’t be able to charge $25 to see their works.  Anyway, I would highly recommend everyone go see it, but it ends today.