Tintoretto’s ‘Saints Jerome and Andrew’ at the Accademia Galleries in Venice

Tintoretto (1518 – 31 May 1594) “Saint Jerome and Saint Andrew”

Tintoretto, Saint Jerome and Saint Andrew, at the Accademia Galleries in Venice, Italy

Saints Jerome Andrew Painting – Oil on canvas (230 x 150 cm) 1551

This painting by Tintoretto was originally housed in the Palazzo dei Camerlenghi, right next to the Rialto Bridge in Venice.

This palace was the seat of Venice’s financial magistrates and, whenever a new magistrate was appointed, he would contribute to the decoration of the palace by donating a painting depicting a saint corresponding to his own first name.

It was thus that the magistrates Andrea Dandolo and Girolamo Bernardo commissioned Tintoretto to paint this picture depicting the saints associated with their own first names: Saint Andrew and Saint Jerome.

Saints Jerome Andrew The dates on which they took up their respective posts around September–October 1552 have made it possible to date this painting to 1551, the time required for Tintoretto to complete it.

At the bottom of the painting are also depicted the coats of arms of the Dandolo and Bernardo families.

Saint Andrew holds his cross in a nonchalant manner.

Saint Jerome is depicted with the Bible, and at his feet lie his cardinal’s hat and the lion.

Tintoretto uses the cross here to create a vertical dynamic that lends the painting a sense of grandeur.

Saints Jerome Andrew