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Giuseppe Macpherson (1726-c. 1780)

Tintoretto (1518-1594) c.1772-80

Watercolour on ivory | 7.0 x 5.6 cm (sight) (sight) | RCIN 421126

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  • Jacopo Robusti, called Il Tintoretto (1518-94), was one of the leading Venetian painters of his time. His nickname Tintoretto comes from his father's profession of cloth dyer (tintore). He worked mainly for Venetian clients, producing religious paintings for the city's churches and scuole (religious confraternities). His biographer, Carlo Ridolfi, stated that he trained with Titian, but was dismissed because Titian was jealous of his skills as a draughtsman. According to Ridolfi, he had inscribed on his studio wall 'The drawing of Michelangelo and the colour of Titian'. His working technique was described by his contemporary, Marco Boschini, as making small wax models which he arranged on a stage in order to compose the design and experiment with the effects of light and shade. His painting of St Mark Rescuing the Slave was initially rejected by the Scuola di S. Marco, which had commissioned it, and the resulting publicity helped establish Tintoretto as the most exciting young painter in Venice. In 1565, Tintoretto was elected to the confraternity of the Scuola Grande di S. Rocco and commissioned to paint a series of paintings for the scuola: The Crucifixion (1565) followed by the Road to Calvary, Christ before Pilate and Ecce Homo in c. 1566–7. According to Giorgio Vasari, the artist and biographer, Tintoretto obtained this commission by underhand means, by donating and installing the ceiling canvas of S. Roch in Glory in 1564. He gained a reputation for working fast, undercutting his rival's prices and even working for nothing to gain the commissions he wanted.

    This miniature is one of the collection of copies of 224 self-portraits by artists in the Uffizi Palace, Florence, that Lord Cowper, the art collector and patron, commissioned Giuseppe Macpherson (1726-1780) to paint. He presented the miniatures to King George III in two batches, in 1773 and 1786. Macpherson followed the original self-portraits quite closely, but copied only the head and shoulders. He inscribed the artists' names on the backs of the miniatures – several differ from those in the modern Uffizi catalogue, notably: Bazzi, Bellini, Campi, Annibale Carracci, Gabbiani, Masaccio, Metsys, Moroni, Pencz, Licinio, Schiavone and Spada. None of the miniatures is signed, apart from Macpherson's own self-portrait, which is inscribed: Giuseppe Macpherson / Autore della serie (Giuseppe Macpherson / Author of the series).Macpherson was born in Florence, the son of Donald Macpherson, a footman in the service of Alexander, 2nd Duke of Gordon. He was a pupil of Pompeo Batoni and painted miniatures and enamel portraits in Italy, France and Germany, finally settling in Florence. A James Macpherson is recorded in London and Paris in 1754 but it is not certain that this is the same person. He was described in 1776 as having a special talent for painting on enamel and as being 'almost the only painter in Europe who possesses this art to perfection'. He had a distinguished client list which included some of the crowned heads and dignitaries of Europe. In 1778, he was invited to add his own self-portrait to the famous painters in the grand duke's collection as it 'would do honour to Florence to enrich the collection with a work which shows that we still have some men of true merit' according to Giuseppe Pelli, director of the Uffizi at the time.

    Provenance

    Presented to George III by Lord Cowper

  • Medium and techniques

    Watercolour on ivory

    Measurements

    7.0 x 5.6 cm (sight) (sight)

  • Alternative title(s)

    Jacopo Robusti, called il Tintoretto (1518-1594)


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