(Born Venice, ?1518; died Venice, 31 May 1594). Venetian painter. His nickname derives from his father's profession of cloth dyer (tintore). He ranks second only to Titian among the Venetian painters of his time and had a prolific and successful career. Whereas most of Titian's later paintings were done for foreign patrons, Tintoretto worked mainly for Venetian clients and in particular was the dominant figure in supplying religious pictures for the city's churches and charitable institutions; he is only once recorded outside Venice (when he visited Mantua in 1580 in connection with a commission from the Gonzaga family) and the bulk of his work remains in the buildings for which it was painted. Little is known about his character or personal life, and his career up to the time he was about 30 is poorly documented.

Text source: The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford University Press)


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