Tintoretto - Saint Mark's body brought to Venice

• Title: Saint Mark's body brought to Venice
• Artist: Tintoretto (1518-1594)
• Date: 1566
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 398 x 315 cm

“St Mark’s body brought to Venice” represents the arrival of the Mark’s body, taken from Alexandria in Egypt (cf the camel), in 828, by two Venetian merchants. By this feat, Mark, one of the four evangelists, became the patron of Venice and his symbol, a winged lion, became the city’s emblem.

Tintoretto was nicknamed Il Furioso. His work was characterized by muscular figures, dramatic gestures and bold use of perspective. This painting exudes a heavy, dynamic atmosphere because of the dark colors of the near subjects versus the ghost-like figures on the side, the long flowing pavement line, the red sky with its ominous clouds.