Founded in 1478, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco became the richest and largest of the Venetian scuole, religious confraternities that functioned simultaneously as charitable organizations, mutual aid societies, and social clubs. (...)
Founded in 1478, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco became the richest and largest of the Venetian scuole, religious confraternities that functioned simultaneously as charitable organizations, mutual aid societies, and social clubs. Much of the city’s greatest Renaissance and Baroque artwork was commissioned by the leadership for the confraternities and the Scuola Grande di San Rocco was no exception. In keeping with a tradition of artistic patronage, in 1564 the Scuola San Rocco awarded a commission to Tintoretto for paintings to be included in a ceiling within the scuola building, which had been completed 15 years earlier. Tintoretto, a native Venetian, parlayed the single assignment into a series of paintings for the entire scuola, ultimately completing more than 50 paintings for the confraternity over the course of his lifetime. The works, depicting episodes from the New and Old Testaments of the Bible, are considered among Tintoretto’s finest.
