On 25 February the exhibition dedicated to Tintoretto opens at the Scuderie del Quirinale, part of an ambitious programme to revisit the artists that contributed to the wonderful and unique history of art in Italy.

T‘he most terrible brain of painting’ were the words used by Giorgio Vasari to describe Jacopo Robusti, better known as Tintoretto. He was the first artist who managed to overcome the mythical reputation of Titian in mid-16th-century Venice with a realism that influenced generations of Italian painters. The exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi, tries to illustrate the novelty of his poetry, so surprising for its time, through a visual journey that takes in all the themes tackled by the great Venetian master, from his huge religious canvases, to his profane works and his portraits. Fifty works are on show, displayed according to precise biographical criteria and accompanied by the words of writer Melania Mazzucco who helps visitors to appreciate the creative mechanism of one of the leading exponents of European art. The paintings on show include ‘Miracle of the Slave’, which opens the exhibition, ‘Finding of the Body of St. Mark’, painted for the Scuola Grande di San Marco, the magnificent canvases depicting ‘St Mary of Egypt’ and ‘Saint Mary Magdalen’ from the Scuola Grande di San Rocco and. the two versions of ‘The Last Supper’ from the churches of St. Paul and St. Trovaso.