Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese

Yesterday, Queenee and I saw the “Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice” at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Holland Cotter fears there may not be many more big art shows for a while. We were lucky enough to be able to go on a member's day, so the show was not crowded and we were able to move at a reasonable pace and not have to elbow our way around and through the galleries.

The show is hung by subject, not by date, and similar works are side-by-side or very close to each other, allowing the viewer to see the similarities and the differences. Many of the Tintorettos in particular stand out, because he used very heavy shadowing, almost outlining his subjects. However, not all his paintings are so obviously different from Titian and Veronese; some are similar in their technical execution, though his compositions are his own, full of diagonals and action. He seems to have been the wild man of the three.

Veronese was the quieter, gentler prodigy, taken under Titian's wing. Titian and Tintoretto had a true rivalry, but Veronese was more amenable and seemed less threatening to Titian, though Veronese's talent was unquestionably great.

Titians colors are luminous, especially his reds, and the visibility of brush strokes in his later works is so different from the invisible marks in the early work. In one painting, The Supper at Emmaus, the detail on the tablecloth is amazing — not the folds, but the actual pattern of the cloth. You need to be fairly close to even notice it. I'm not a fan of fussiness, but this doesn't seem fussy, it is part of the completeness and tranquility of the painting. The Tintoretto of the same title next to it seems harsh and violent by comparison.

An interesting part of the exhibit involves the restoration of Tintoretto’s Nativity. The painting is in a small, darkened room, along with x-ray images of the underpainting and speculation on what that painting was, why that particular canvas was reused, how the Nativity painting was made and changed, and more. A film crew was there, so something may show up on tv about this painting and what is being revealed by conservation science.

It's a wonderful show, made up almost exclusively of Titians, Tintorettos and Veroneses. The single Bellini at the start of the show is meant to illustrate the move from painting on wood panels to painting on canvas, which allowed painters to paint larger works and not have to paint on site. It's hard to pick a favorite room, but the portrait room is stunning.