1295 - DOMENICO ROBUSTI, KNOWN AS IL TINTORETTO

DOMENICO ROBUSTI, KNOWN AS IL TINTORETTO (attributed to) Portrait of a Venetian Senator Oil on canvas, 112x90 cm The painting depicts an elderly, bald man with a long white beard, portrayed in half-length within a sober architectural setting, opening onto a view of buildings with a dome and bell tower. The figure wears the typical “dogalina,” a senatorial robe, complemented by a peacock-blue velvet stole. In his left hand, he holds a book enclosed in a leather case, while on his right hand he wears a gem-set ring, a further sign of wealth. His direct and stern gaze, together with the figure’s frontal and solemn composition, gives the image the character typical of an official representative portrait, intended to celebrate the authority and public role of the depicted subject, whose identity remains unconfirmed at this time. The fairly generic stylization, executed within the framework of an aestheticized portraiture naturalism—already in the style of the seventeenth century—suggests that the work can be attributed to Domenico Tintoretto. Bibliography: See P. Rossi, *Tintoretto. I Ritratti*, Milan 1994 M. Falomir, “La ritrattistica di Tintoretto,” in M. Falomir, ed., *Tintoretto*, exhibition catalog, Madrid, 2007.