Tintoretto's portraits of Giovanni Grimani

An unprecedented and refined dialogue between some portraits of the patriarch Giovanni Grimani, collector of antiquities and patron of important artists of the sixteenth century, is the protagonist of the small but precious catalogue Tintoretto and Giovanni Grimani. Portraits in comparison, published by Marsilio Arte on the occasion of the exhibition curated by Toto Bergamo Rossi, Daniele Ferrara and Valeria Finocchi at Palazzo Grimani until 8 September 2024.

«The exhibition - underline curators Ferrara and Finocchi - marks a new stage in the path of "stitching" between the Palazzo Grimani of Santa Maria Formosa and its history, its collections, its role from the sixteenth century to today».
The Portrait of Giovanni Grimani attributed to Domenico Tintoretto, already in the museum collections thanks to the donation of Venetian Heritage, is paired with two other paintings by his father, Jacopo Tintoretto: the portrait of the patriarch Giovanni Grimani owned by the Schorr Collection in London and the portrait of the patriarch Giovanni Grimani, an oil on small scale, recently rediscovered in private collection by Galleria Colnaghi and exhibited for the first time to the public on the occasion of the exhibition. This unprecedented comparison, besides testifying to the iconographic development of the effigy of the Venetian prelate between the second half of the 16th century and the early years of the 17th, contributes to delineate a more accurate history of the Venetian portrait between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The catalogue, thanks to the rich illustrations and texts by Daniele Ferrara, Valeria Finocchi, Francesco Trentini and Giorgio Tagliaferro, It allows to update the iconographic and iconological reading of these portraits from an historical-artistic point of view. The biographical events, the historical-political context and the relationship between the client and Tintoretto offer the opportunity for a broader reflection on how the image of Giovanni Grimani has been defined through his effigy, carrier of different and sometimes allegorical meanings.