TASSO, TORQUATO (1544–1595). Italian poet, writer, and theorist, active in Ferrara. Tasso was born in Sorrento and educated in law and philosophy at the universities of Padua and Bologna. Soon thereafter, he entered in the service of Cardinal Luigi d’Este and later Luigi’s brother Duke Alfonso II. While in their service, Tasso wrote the Aminta (published in 1573), one of the greatest examples of Renaissance pastoral drama, and the Gerusalemme liberata (published in 1581), an epic romance that celebrates the d’Este family’s ancestry. Tasso suffered from mental illness, which caused his imprisonment in 1577 after a violent outburst in front of Lucrezia d’Este and a stay in the Hospital of Santa Anna from 1579 to 1586. Upon his release, he moved to Mantua where he enjoyed the protection of Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga. He spent the last years of his life moving from city to city. He died in Rome in the Monastery of San Onofrio.
TEMPERA. A painting medium composed of pigments that are mixed with egg, glue, or casein. Until the introduction of oils in the 15th century, tempera was the medium used for panel painting, normally applied over a smooth coat of white gesso. The advantage of tempera is that it is fast drying and produces brilliant colors and clear, sharp outlines. The disadvantage is that it is an opaque medium that does not lend itself to transparent effects. Once oils were introduced, many 15th- and 16th-century masters used oil overlays over a tempera underpainting to achieve both the luminosity of oil paints and the precision of tempera.
TEMPIO MALATESTIANO, RIMINI (SAN FRANCESCO; beg. 1450). Meant as a pagan shrine, this temple was one of the pieces of evidence used by Pope Pius II in 1462 against Sigismondo Malatesta to prove his impiety. A church dedicated to St. Francis already existed on the site where the Tempio Malatestiano now stands, then used by the Malatesta as their mausoleum. Sigismondo charged the Veronese architect Matteo de’ Pasti to renovate the existing structure by adding two chapels to function as his own memorial and that of his mistress Isotta degli Atti. In the process, Pasti destroyed frescoes painted in the 14th century by Giotto. In 1450, a jubilee year, Sigismondo went to Rome to participate in the celebrations and there he met Leon Battista Alberti who criticized Pasti’s work, so Sigismondo invited him to submit his own plans. The new designs were accepted and Pasti carried out the rest of the commission under Alberti’s direction through correspondence from Rome.
Sigismondo wanted his body and that of Isotta to have their final resting place in sarcophagi inserted into niches in the building’s façade alongside that of famous men, including the Greek humanist Gemistus Pletho whose body Sigismondo recovered when he led the Venetian army against the Turks in Morea (1465). For this, Alberti used a series of arched niches that provide a rhythmic repetition, calling to mind the aqueducts of the ancient Romans. The greatest challenge Alberti faced in this project was how to apply a classicized façade onto a medieval structure where the height of the nave is greater than the aisles. He found the solution in the triumphal arches of the ancients. He looked to the arches of Constantine in Rome and Augustus in Rimini for inspiration. The ancient motif is suitable to a funerary structure as it can be related to the concept of triumph over death—in this case not in the religious sense, however, but as a result of the deceased’s deeds. The arches of Alberti’s façade are surmounted by a large pediment broken by another partially built arch that is flanked by pilasters at either side—an Albertian invention.
The project was halted in 1461 when Sigismondo had his fallout with the pope that resulted in his public excommunication and casting to hell in front of St. Peter’s in the following year. We know from Alberti’s written instructions to Pasti and a medal struck when the cornerstone was laid that Alberti intended to include a large dome over the choir. Alberti, a great admirer of Filippo Brunelleschi, utilized the same principles of design his predecessor had introduced to the field of architecture. His classically inspired structure, emphasis on the rhythmic repetition of forms, and sober approach are all Brunelleschian elements.
TERBRUGGHEN, HENDRICK (1588–1629). Terbrugghen was born in Deventer, Holland, and taken to Utrecht as an infant. He went to Italy in c. 1603, and spent a decade in Rome and visiting Milan and other major cities. He returned to Utrecht in 1614 where he became one of the leading figures among the Utrecht Caravaggists. His Calling of St. Matthew (1621; Utrecht, Centraal Museum) borrows heavily from Caravaggio’s painting of the same subject in the Contarelli Chapel, Rome (1599–1600, 1602). The diagonal formed by the light entering the room, the theatrical costumes, eyeglasses worn by the elderly man, and crude types, all stem from Caravaggio’s work. His Bagpipe Player (1624; Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz Museum) was inspired by Caravaggio’s young, sensuous boys, while the cascading of figures in his St. Sebastian Attended by St. Irene (1625; Oberlin, Allen Memorial Art Museum) borrows compositionally from the Italian master’s Entombment (1603–1604; Vatican, Pinacoteca).
TESSERAE. Small pieces of stone or glass cut into squares and used to create mosaics. Tesserae of different colors are glued to the wall, ceiling, or floor to form an image or decorative pattern and the spaces between them are then grouted to produce an even surface. This method was devised in the ancient era to decorate interior domestic and public spaces with mythological or political scenes. With the adoption of Christianity as the official faith of the Roman Empire, the subjects of the mosaics changed from mythological to religious. Brilliantly colored tesserae were applied to the wall surfaces of churches to create images that awed the faithful and instructed them on Christian doctrine. The glitter produced by the tesserae, especially those cut from colored glass, provided a splendorous backdrop for the mass. These types of mosaics continued to be produced well into the Proto-Renaissance era. Examples include Jacopo Torriti’s apse mosaics in the Basilica of St. John Lateran (c. 1291) and at Santa Maria Maggiore (c. 1294), Rome, Coppo di Marcovaldo’s mosaics covering the vault of the Baptistery of Florence (second half of the 13th century), and Giotto’s Navicella, the scene when Christ walks on water to save St. Peter from drowning, once placed in the courtyard façade of Old St. Peter’s (c. 1307, destroyed) See also COSMATESQUE STYLE.
THE TEMPEST (c. 1500–1505; Venice, Galleria dell’ Accademia). Painted by Giorgione, the subject of The Tempest is not completely understood. The Venetian collector and connoisseur Marcantonio Michiel recorded in 1530 in his journal that he saw the painting in the house of fellow collector Gabriel Vendramin, noting that it represents a gypsy and soldier in a landscape. The woman, whoever she may be, is nude and sits on a white sheet while nursing her baby. In the background, a thunderbolt appears among the thick, dark clouds where a storm is brewing. Her anxiety over the weather conditions is read clearly in her facial expression. Regardless of the subject, the work is a masterful representation of figures in a landscape with an atmosphere so thick that the viewer can almost feel the dampness in the air. Giorgione granted the scene an ethereal quality, typical of his mature style, by applying to it a lush, soft brushwork. The profusion of earth tones and greens dotted with deep reds stem from the palette of Leonardo da Vinci who visited Venice in 1500 where Giorgione was active. The Tempest is the earliest known work to portray a sensuous, voluptuous female nude in the landscape, a subject that will be repeated many times by the members of the 16th-century Venetian School.
THERESA OF AVILA, SAINT (1515–1582). Saint Theresa, a native of Avila in the Castilian region of Spain, decided to pursue the religious life at a young age. In 1536, she entered the Carmelite convent of Avila where she began to experience visions that at first caused her great concern, but soon a spiritual adviser helped her recognize that these were mystical occurrences. In the 1560s she began a reformation campaign of the Carmelite Order by establishing new convents all over Spain. She met bitter opposition until, in 1580, Gregory XIII persuaded King Philip II of Spain to give recognition to her new Order of the Discalced Carmelites. While engaged in these efforts, St. Theresa wrote her Autobiography (1565), The Way of Perfection (1573), and Interior Castle (1577), all meant as instructional manuals and considered today to be among the most notable examples of mystic literature. Her writings inspired Gian Lorenzo Bernini to render her experiencing one of her mystical moments in the Cornaro Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome (1645–1652). In 1622, Gregory XV canonized St. Theresa and, in 1970, she was declared a Doctor of the Church, the first woman to receive such an honor.
THOMAS AQUINAS, SAINT (c. 1225–1274). Saint Thomas Aquinas is considered one of the greatest representatives of Scholasticism. He was born near Aquino, Italy, to a noble family related to the royal house of France and he entered the Benedictine Monastery of Monte Cassino at the age of five. In 1239, he attended the University of Naples and five years later joined the Dominicans in that city. His family was so opposed to his decision that they kidnapped and imprisoned him for 15 months in an attempt to persuade him to renounce his religious calling. Their efforts were futile as, once released, the saint rejoined the Dominicans and taught for them in Naples, Orvieto, Rome, and other major Italian cities. Pope Gregory X invited St. Thomas to discuss the reunion of the Greek and Latin churches at the General Council of Lyons, but he died on his way there. He was canonized in 1323 by Pope John XXII, and declared one of the Doctors of the Church in 1567. His writings, which include the Summa Theologica, Quaestiones Disputatae, and Summa contra Gentiles, became the basis for modern Catholic theology.
In art, St. Thomas is portrayed often. In the Triumph of St. Thomas of c. 1340, painted for the Church of Santa Caterina in Pisa and attributed to Francesco Traini or Lippo Memmi, he receives wisdom from Christ, the Evangelists, and the philosophers of the ancient world, including Plato and Aristotle. The most important episodes of his life are the subject of the decorations by Filippino Lippi in the Carafa Chapel at Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome (beg. 1489). He also figures prominently in the Strozzi Chapel at Santa Maria Novella (1355–1357), the Dominican church of Florence, as one of the most notable representatives of the order.
TINTORETTO (JACOPO ROBUSTI; 1518–1594). Leading master of the Venetian School, along with Titian and Paolo Veronese. Tintoretto is a nickname that resulted from his father’s profession as a fabric dyer (in Italian, tintore). Carlo Ridolfi, who wrote Tintoretto’s biography in 1642, informs that the artist was apprenticed to Titian who influenced him and with whom he had a turbulent relationship that led to his eventual expulsion from the master’s studio. His works are known for their dynamism and spontaneity that at times lead to the raw canvas peeking through his pictorial surfaces. Tintoretto, in fact, is said to have worked with very large brushes that allowed him to apply the colors swiftly. Also characteristic of his style is the mixing of deep reds with black for application in the shaded areas, which add a visual richness to his scenes.
The work that established Tintoretto’s reputation is the commission he received from the Scuola di San Marco, one of the six large confraternities in Venice. This was his St. Mark Freeing a Christian Slave (1548; Venice, Galleria dell’ Accademia) for the Scuola’s meeting hall, where a slave is punished for having visited the saint’s relics in Alexandria without his master’s consent. He and the foreshortened St. Mark who comes to his rescue form two parallel diagonals that rapidly recede into space, one of Tintoretto’s favored compositional arrangements. The astonished figures who witness the miracle twist and turn in dynamic poses as do the draperies in response to their movements. When the painting was unveiled, Titian’s pupils criticized it to the point that the discouraged Tintoretto removed the work. It was not until 1562 that he returned it to the Scuola and then received two further commissions that continued the story of St. Mark, patron saint of the confraternity and also of Venice.
The first of these works, the Transport of the Body of St. Mark (1562–1566; Venice, Galleria dell’ Accademia), relates how the saint’s body was rescued from his tormentors, who wished to burn it. A major storm broke out that impeded them from carrying out the desecration, which allowed Christians to recover the body for proper burial. Among the rescuers is Tommaso Rangone from the Scuola, who arranged for the commission, and Tintoretto himself. To enhance drama, a stormy sky lurks above the scene and water runs down the stairs of a nearby building. The Discovery of the Body of St. Mark (1562–1566; Milan, Brera) takes place centuries later when Venetians travel to Alexandria to recover the saint’s body from the Saracens. As they remove corpses from their sarcophagi, Mark appears to them to prevent further desecrations, his raised hand on the vanishing point of perspective. Rangone is again included, here kneeling at the saint’s feet. In these works, the rapid recession and heavy foreshortenings are even more pronounced, the brushwork has become much looser, and the drama has intensified.
The success of these paintings led in 1564 to a commission from the members of the Scuola di San Rocco—a Crucifixion for the Sala dell’ Albergo in their meeting hall. This scene was a tremendous undertaking as it measures 40 feet in width and offers a panoramic view of Golgotha populated by a large number of figures. Soldiers pull up the crosses of the thieves who were crucified alongside Christ, others engage in a game of dice to see who will win the Savior’s garments, and the Virgin faints in the foreground. The scene is noisy and filled with action and emphasizes the human aspect of Christ and his followers, not their divinity. Tintoretto eventually was asked to render close to 50 scenes from the Old and New Testament in the Scuola’s Sala Grande and the ground floor. These include the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Last Supper, Christ before Pilate, and Road to Calvary, works that offer innovative interpretations of traditional scenes. Like the Crucifixion, these paintings are filled with pronounced diagonals and extreme foreshortenings, resulting in vigorous compositions that stress the mundane aspects of the lives of the religious protagonists.
By the early 1590s, Tintoretto began to mix the mundane with the otherworldly, as his Last Supper at San Giorgio Maggiore (1592–1594) demonstrates. Here, translucent angels witness the event from above, servants clear the dishes, a cat attempts to steal a morsel, and a dog chews on a bone. To this period also belongs Tintoretto’s Paradise (1588–1592) in the Great Council Hall at the Doge’s Palace, Venice. A large fresco in this room by the Paduan painter Guariento da Arpo, rendered in the early 14th century and depicting the Coronation of the Virgin, was destroyed in 1577 by fire. Tintoretto was asked to replace it with a large complex scene that included some of the same elements as Guariento’s earlier work, specifically a Christ and Virgin in the center of the composition and the Virgin Annunciate on the upper left to reference the founding of Venice on 25 March, the Feast of the Annunciation. Surrounding the main figures are the Evangelists, saints, prophets, and angels, with St. Michael holding the scales used to judge the souls on the upper right. The Great Council Hall was the meeting room where the patricians who ruled the city made their political decisions, so the work reminded these men to judge wisely and to look to Christ and the Virgin for divine inspiration.
Tintoretto was as accomplished a painter of mythologies and allegories as of religious works. His Susanna and the Elders (c. 1555–1556; Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum), the Origin of the Milky Way (c. 1570; London, National Gallery), and Ariadne, Bacchus, and Venus (1576; Venice, Doge’s Palace) demonstrate that he was as adept at rendering erotic female nudes as Titian. Tintoretto proved to be a major force in the development of Baroque art. His sharp oblique arrangements, heavy foreshortenings, and noisy, active scenes became common elements of the Baroque repertoire. See also LAST SUPPER, SAN GIORGIO MAGGIORE, VENICE.
TITIAN (TIZIANO VECELLIO; c. 1488–1576). Titian was born in Pieve di Cadore on Venetian territory. He first trained with Giovanni Bellini and later Giorgione, whose Sleeping Venus (c. 1510; Dresden, Gemäldegalerie) and Fête Champetre (c. 1510; Louvre, Paris) are believed by some to have been collaborations with Titian. By c. 1510, Titian became an independent master, catering to some of the most important patrons of the period, including Emperor Charles V, who knighted the artist, and Charles’ son, King Philip II of Spain.
Titian’s Noli me tangere (c. 1510; London, National Gallery) is one of his earliest works and shows the influence of Giorgione, particularly in the lush application of paint, the emphasis on earth tones, olive greens, and deep reds, the sensuous seminude body of Christ, and the pastoral landscape. Titian’s Man with Blue Sleeve (c. 1511–1515; London, National Gallery), believed by some to be a self-portrait and by others to represent the poet Ludovico Ariosto, also belongs to his formative years, and yet represents a major innovation in the field of portraiture in that it shows the man in an animated pose with body in profile, head turned, eyes gazing intently at the viewer, and a foreshortened arm resting on a parapet with elbow jutting into the viewer’s space—elements that until then did not figure in the history of portraiture, at least not collectively. Also innovative is the placement of the figure against a dark, undefined background to relegate all focus on his persona.
Portraiture became one of Titian’s strongest suits. His Young Englishman (c. 1540–1545; Paris, Louvre) and Ranuccio Farnese (1542; Washington, National Gallery) depict two aristocrats, the one unidentified and the other a member of the family of Pope Paul III. Titian also depicted the pope himself in 1543 (Toledo, Cathedral Museum). In these works, the master captured not only the appearance of his sitters but also their character. The Englishman is aloof, his gloves, gold chain, and ring stressing his elevated status; young Ranuccio is a shy, innocent 12-year-old boy; and the pope is a stern, authoritarian figure, his papal ring prominently displayed to assert his position of power. In 1548, Titian spent nine months in Germany working for Charles V. His Charles V on Horseback (1548; Prado, Madrid) follows the precedent of ancient equestrian imperial portraits that equate the ability to ride with that of commanding an army. With this work, Titian established the official portrait type for members of the Spanish court, a format that both Peter Paul Rubens and Diego Velázquez would later adopt.
Titian’s religious works are just as innovative as his portraits. His Assumption of the Virgin (1516–1518; Venice, Santa Maria dei Frari) was his first public commission and depicts a scene that up to that point had been represented in a rather formulaic manner. Titian injected life into it by conveying the excitement of the apostles as they witness the Virgin Mary’s ascent to heaven. Some point up, others hold their hands in prayer, and others still comment to each other on the event. The scene is imbued with a celebratory tone, appropriate as it preambles Mary’s coronation as queen of heaven. Titian’s Madonna of the Pesaro Family (1519–1526; Venice, Santa Maria dei Frari) follows the format established by Giovanni Bellini of placing the Madonna and Child on an elevated throne flanked by columns and set against a landscape. However, the artist here introduced a new twist. Mary’s throne is now at an angle to form a sharp diagonal, granting a sense of dynamism to the work, and the Christ Child is a playful toddler who lifts his mother’s veil over his head to play peek-a-boo. Titian’s Mary Magdalene (c. 1535; Florence, Palazzo Pitti) is a far cry from Donatello’s emaciated figure (1430s–1450s; Florence, Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo). Instead, she is a sensuous nude with long, flowing hair that does little to cover her nudity. His Pietà of c. 1576 (Venice, Galleria dell’ Accademia; completed by Palma Giovanne) he painted for his own tomb in the Church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. While it follows the format established by Michelangelo in his Roman Pietà (1488/1499–1500) with the body of Christ sprawled on his mother’s lap, here again Titian composed a more energetic scene. The distressed St. Jerome, a self-portrait, crawls toward Christ to touch his lifeless hand, and Mary Magdalen runs with her right arm elevated as if to announce to the world that the Savior has died.
Titian was also a masterful painter of mythological and allegorical scenes. His Sacred and Profane Love (1514; Rome, Galleria Borghese) relates to Giorgione’s Fête Champetre in which the sensuous female nude is placed within a pastoral landscape. The three mythologies he created for Alfonso I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, to be placed in his Camerino d’Alabastro depict erotic bacchanals (scenes related to Bacchus) set in luscious landscapes. The scenes are based on the ekphrases written by Philostratus, the ancient writer of the third century, of paintings he saw in a villa in Naples. Titian’s most famous work of this genre is the Venus of Urbino (1538; Florence, Uffizi), a painting based on Giorgione’s Sleeping Venus. His Danaë (1554; Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum), painted for Philip II, also belongs to the reclining nude type established by Giorgione, yet the pose of the figure with bent knees depends also on Michelangelo’s Leda and the Swan (destroyed), a work that exerted tremendous influence in the Renaissance.
Titian was already recognized as a genius in his own time. The impact of his style and innovations continued beyond his lifetime. The Carracci Reform owes much to his artistic example. Rubens and Velázquez together studied the many works by Titian in the Spanish royal collection and adopted his animated brushwork, luscious colors, golden light, and dynamic arrangement of figures. Pietro da Cortona and Nicolas Poussin were among the artists in Rome to establish the Neo-Venetian style, which was based on the art of Titian. Of the masters of the 16th century, Titian stands out as among the most influential and inventive. See also PIETÀ, ST. PETER’S, ROME.
TOLENTINO, NICCOLÒ DA (c. 1350–1435). Lombard condottiere in the service of Pandolofo Malatesta, Lord of Fano and Cesena, who rewarded Niccolò for his services by appointing him Count of Stacciola, a title Pope Eugenius IV confirmed in 1431. Niccolò also served the Visconti of Milan and Queen Joanna of Naples, and he commanded the pontifical army for which he received the Lordship of Borgo Sansepolcro. In 1432, he led the Florentines to victory in the Battle of San Romano against the Sienese, as depicted in one of Paolo Uccello’s Battle of San Romano panels (1430s; London, National Gallery). In 1434, Niccolò was captured by the Visconti, who threw him into a ravine. He died of his wounds in Borgo Valdi di Taro in the following year. The Florentine Republic honored Niccolò posthumously with a state funeral and a monument in the Cathedral of Florence. Executed by Andrea del Castagno in 1456, the monument was carried out as a fresco that simulates marble statuary. Here Niccolò sits on his horse, the picture of the able army commander. At his sides are his coat-of-arms and the marzocco, the heraldic lion of Florence. The monument complements Uccello’s Sir John Hawkwood (1436) also in the cathedral. Together, they served to denote that Florence showered those willing to serve the Republic with the highest honors.
TOMB OF POPE JULIUS II, SAN PIETRO IN VINCOLI, ROME (beg. 1505). In 1505, Pope Julius II summoned Michelangelo to Rome to work on his tomb. It is not clear where Julius intended it to be placed; some art historians have suggested the crossing (where the nave and transept cross) of New St. Peter’s. Not only is the intended location unknown, but the details of the commission in general are sketchy. Michelangelo’s original design called for a large freestanding monument with three levels and some 40 life-sized figures. The lower level was to include niches filled with statues of Victories flanked by bound and struggling male captives who, according to Giorgio Vasari, were to represent the provinces conquered by the pope. Others have suggested that they were to symbolize the liberal arts bound and dying after losing their greatest patron. On the second level, Moses, St. Paul, and allegorical representations of the Neoplatonic active and contemplative lives were to be included. The third level, Vasari informs, was to feature bronze reliefs, putti, and the pope’s sarcophagus supported by allegorical figures of heaven and earth, the one smiling at the thought of Julius’ attainment of salvation and the other crying over his loss. The actual body of the pope would be kept in a crypt below the monument.
In 1506, for unknown reasons, the pope halted the project and Michelangelo returned to Florence to continue work on the Battle of Cascina in the Palazzo Vecchio (1504–1506). Julius died in 1513 and his heirs asked Michelangelo to change the freestanding monument to the more traditional wall tomb format. The lower level would still feature niches, Victories, and captives, but now with significantly fewer figures. The pope’s body would be placed in a sarcophagus on the second level, not a crypt, and his effigy would either be raised from or lowered into it by angels. Moses, Paul, and the active and contemplative lives were to surround the sarcophagus while a Virgin, Child, and standing saints would surmount it. Michelangelo worked on this new scheme for three years, completing the figure of Moses, the Dying Slave, and the Bound Slave; these last two are now in the Louvre in Paris. In 1527–1528, he also carved one of the Victories (Florence, Palazzo Vecchio) and began work on four more captives (Florence, Accademia).
By 1532, the work was still unfinished and Julius’ heirs took Michelangelo to court where the details of a third design were fleshed out. The wall tomb format was retained, but now with only four captives and one Victory, a bier with reclining effigy flanked by Moses and another seated figure in the center of the second tier, and a standing Virgin and Child contained in an arch surmounting the structure. As the tomb stands today (1545) at San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome, Julius’ titular church, Moses is in the center of the lower tier, flanked by Leah and Rachel who respectively personify the active and contemplative lives. The reclining effigy with two seated figures occupies the middle tier, and a standing Virgin and Child are above them. The four captives begun in 1527–1528 were neither completed nor included in the final design. These provide insight into Michelangelo’s creative process as they seem to be struggling to free themselves from the stone. Though the tomb as built is quite disappointing, especially when evaluated vis-à-vis Michelangelo’s original scheme, Moses stands out as one of the most powerful figures the artist created. His commanding presence and intense gaze befit the portrayal of the man who led the Israelites out of slavery.
TOMB OF THE CARDINAL OF PORTUGAL, SAN MINIATO, FLORENCE (1460–1466). Created by Antonio Rossellino as the final resting place for Cardinal Prince James, cousin to the king of Portugal, who died in Florence of tuberculosis at the age of 25. In his honor, a chapel was built in the Church of San Miniato where the tomb acts as the centerpiece. Antonio here followed the prescription for wall tombs established by his brother Bernardo when rendering the Tomb of Leonardo Bruni (c. 1445) in the Church of Santa Croce, Florence. An effigy of the cardinal lies on a bier above the sarcophagus. Surmounting the tomb are the Virgin and Child who smile tenderly at the cardinal as they ready to receive him in heaven. Antonio’s design is more dynamic than his brother’s. Gone are the restrictive architectural details of the Bruni tomb, which allows the free movement of the soaring angels above the cardinal. Two more angels stand at either side of the sarcophagus and gaze at him with kindness, as if to suggest that the man’s suffering has ended and he will now reap his just rewards in heaven. The chapel’s décor includes a ceiling in glazed terracotta by Luca della Robbia and an altarpiece by the Pollaiuolo brothers. The works of these masters, created in brilliant colors, provide a stark visual contrast to the light marble surfaces of Antonio’s tomb. See also SWEET STYLE.
TORRITI, JACOPO (active c. 1270–1300). Italian painter and mosaicist active in Rome. Torriti obtained important commissions from Pope Nicholas IV, including the mosaics for the apses of St. John Lateran (c. 1291) and Santa Maria Maggiore (c. 1294), Rome. His work in the Lateran is barely recognizable as it was later almost completely reworked. At Santa Maria Maggiore he rendered the Coronation of the Virgin. This mosaic combines Byzantine, Gothic, and ancient elements, which sets it apart from other works created during this period. Christ and the Virgin are shown enthroned, surrounded by a heavenly sphere. The gold striations of the draperies and profusion of gilding throughout belong to the Byzantine (Maniera Greca) tradition, the subject itself stems from French Gothic sculpture prototypes, and the acanthus motifs around the figures are classical. Also classical are the fifth-century fragments showing a river god and a Roman sail ship that Torriti inserted into the mosaic. Torriti is also credited with the frescoes of the Creation on the vault of the Upper Church of San Francesco in Assisi (1290s), the attribution based on their stylistic similarities to the artist’s Roman works.
TRACERY. Gothic ornamental stonework carved to form geometric patterns, most commonly trefoils and quatrefoils. In the earliest examples of Gothic architecture, tracery was confined mainly to the upper parts of pointed windows. In later Gothic structures, tracery can also be found in other parts of the building, including buttresses, gables, spires, interior walls, and choir screens.
TRAINI, FRANCESCO (active 1321–1363). Italian painter from Pisa. To him are attributed the frescoes (1330s) in the Campo Santo adjacent to the Cathedral of Pisa depicting the Triumph of Death, an attribution questioned by some art historians who give the work instead to Buonamico Buffalmacco. Also attributed to Traini is the Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas of c. 1340 painted for the Church of Santa Caterina in Pisa (some believe the work to have been painted by Lippo Memmi) where the saint is shown receiving wisdom from Christ, the Evangelists, and the philosophers of the ancient world, including Plato and Aristotle. Traini’s only signed work is the St. Dominic Polyptych in the Museo Nazionale, Pisa, dated to 1344–1345, a painting that shows St. Dominic with book and lily in hand, surrounded by scenes from his life.
TRANSEPT. The transverse arms of a cruciform church, usually facing north and south. Since the transept precedes the apse, the most sacred part of the church, it becomes a space where religious decorations that inspire devotion can be included. Examples are Cimabue’s frescoes (after 1279) from the Passion, Apocalypse, and lives of Sts. Peter and Paul in the transept of the Upper Church of San Francesco, Assisi, and Pietro Lorenzetti’s (1325–1330) Passion scenes in San Francesco’s Lower Church. At times, transepts also contain chapels with holy relics or tombs, among the most notable Renaissance examples being Filippo Brunelleschi’s Old Sacristy (1421–1428) and Michelangelo’s New Sacristy (1519–1534), both radiating from the transept in the Church of San Lorenzo, Florence, which function as the funerary chapels of members of the Medici family.
TRANSFIGURATION. Christ took his disciples Peter, James, and John up to Mount Tabor to pray. When they arrived, Christ’s face began to shine like the sun and his clothes became as white as snow. The brightness that emanated from him was meant to reveal his divinity to his followers. Moses and Elijah appeared at his side, the one to denote the Old Law of the Jews and the other to represent the prophets who foretold the coming of Christ. At the same time, the voice of God was heard to proclaim Christ as his son. With this, the Passion was foretold. The scene was depicted by Fra Angelico in 1438–1445 in one of the monk’s cells in the San Marco Monastery, Florence. The most famous Transfiguration is Raphael’s version in the Vatican Pinacoteca (1517), moved above his tomb in the Pantheon in 1520, the year when Gerard David painted his version, now in the Church of Our Lady, Bruges.
TRIPTYCH. An altarpiece composed of three panels that are hinged together so the outer wings can close over the larger central panel. The first triptychs of the Renaissance appeared in Tuscany in the 13th century. These were used for personal devotion in the home and were portable so they could be moved as needed, for example, into a sick or birthing room. Since they needed to be portable, these triptychs were of small dimensions, they stood on a base, and had a latch so they could be securely closed to prevent any damage while being moved. The image featured in these early altarpieces was normally an enthroned Virgin and Child surrounded by saints and angels in the central panel. Oftentimes, a Nativity and Crucifixion occupied the lateral panels to reference the incarnation of Christ and his sacrifice for the good of humanity. An early example is the Bigallo Triptych (1312–1348; Florence, Museo del Bigallo) by Bernardo Daddi. Eventually, the scale of triptychs increased and the subjects became more varied, as in, for example, Roger van der Weyden’s Calvary Triptych (c. 1438–1440; Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum) and Hans Memlinc’s Last Judgment Triptych (1473; Danzig, Muzeum Pomorskie). Hieronymus Bosch used the format to render strange depictions of human folly, among them The Hay Wain Triptych (c. 1490–1495; El Escorial, Monasterio de San Lorenzo) and the Garden of Earthly Delights (c. 1505–1510, Madrid, Prado).
TRISTÁN, LUIS (1580–1624). Spanish painter trained by El Greco in Toledo. Tristán is documented in El Greco’s studio in 1603, and he is known to have been in Italy from 1606 to 1613 where he catered to some of the same clients as his master. Though his style is clearly indebted to El Greco’s elongated forms and Tintoretto-like palette, Tristán injected a greater sense of naturalism into his images. His works include the main retable for the Church of Yepes (1616), the altarpiece he created for the Jeronymite Convent in Toledo (1620), now dispersed in various museums around the world, and the Adoration of the Shepherds, part of the retable of Santa Clara (1623; Toledo; Museo de Santa Cruz).
TRIUMPH OF DEATH, CAMPO SANTO PISA (1330s). A fresco of huge proportions attributed to Francesco Traini, though some have suggested that the work is by Buonamico Buffalmacco, a Florentine master active in 1315–1336. The panoramic view offered by the scene is closely tied to Pietro Lorenzetti’s Allegory of Good and Bad Government (1338–1339; Siena, Palazzo Pubblico), yet the atmosphere here is of death and desolation appropriate to the fresco’s setting—the Campo Santo, an enclosed cemetery attached to the Cathedral of Pisa considered sacred because, according to legend, it contains dirt brought from the Holy Land. In the fresco, aristocratic youths on horseback come across three decomposing corpses. The women turn away in horror, while one of the men holds his nose in a traditional gesture of decay. To the left, an old hermit unrolls a scroll that proclaims the foolishness of those who engage in pleasure and of the inevitability of death. To the right, men and women in an orange grove occupy themselves with music to sooth their anxieties over the temporality of life, while next to them angels and demons struggle for souls over a pile of corpses. The fresco was badly damaged during World War II and had to be detached from the wall, revealing the sinopie underneath. These show an energy of rendering and spontaneity lacking in the final scene.
TRIUMPH OF MORDECAI, SAN SEBASTIANO, VENICE (1556). Rendered by Paolo Veronese, this ceiling painting was part of a series of works for the Church of San Sebastiano in Venice that included an altarpiece and organ shutters. The scene is from the Book of Esther and recounts the event celebrated during the Jewish feast of Purim. Mordecai was Esther’s adoptive father and uncle and he refused to bow to Haman, King Ahasuerus’ officer. Haman wanted revenge, so he plotted the assassination of Mordecai and destruction of his people, the Jews. Esther invited her consort Ahasuerus and Haman to a banquet and there revealed the plot. Haman was executed in the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai, and Mordecai was appointed the king’s new officer and showered with honors. The scene Veronese depicted shows the procession that took place to celebrate Mordecai’s triumph. Veronese took the viewer’s point of view into consideration by rendering the scene using a di sotto in sù technique. As a result, we see the undersides of the horses and figures. The remarkable illusionism in this work became a source of inspiration for the ceiling paintings of the Baroque era.
TRIUMPH OF VENICE, HALL OF THE GREAT COUNCIL, DOGE’S PALACE, VENICE (c. 1585). This work, created by Paolo Veronese for the ceiling of the Hall of the Great Council in the Doge’s Palace, is sometimes also called The Apotheosis of Venice because it shows an allegorical representation of the city being taken up to heaven. The scene is rendered through the use of the di sotto in sù technique and consists of three parts. In the topmost portion is the enthroned Venice modeled after the Virgin Mary, with scepter in hand and surrounded by Virtues, rising in all her glory. She is flanked by the towers of the Venetian Arsenal, a symbol of the city’s military power, and above her hovers a winged Victory who crowns her. In the central portion of the painting, the Venetian citizenry witness the momentous occasion. Below the balcony on which the figures stand is the Venetian army. In the center of this lower level, the lion of St. Mark, patron saint of Venice, is clearly discerned. The scene, then, commingles allegorical, political, and religious elements to denote clearly the glory and might of Venice, and its enjoyment of divine protection.
TRIUMPHAL ARCH. In the Roman era, triumphal arches were monuments used to commemorate the great deeds of emperors and military leaders. They usually consisted of a single arch supported by a heavy pier at either side, the whole structure then capped by a quadrangular attic onto which a commemorative inscription was added to explain the reasons for its construction. After a successful military campaign, the person honored would enter Rome triumphantly by passing through the arch in grand procession. In the Early Christian era, the triumphal arch motif was used to separate the apse of a church from the nave as symbolic reference to the triumph of Christianity over paganism. In the Proto-Renaissance, the triumphal arch became a surface where religious scenes that instructed the faithful could be rendered, as Giotto’s fresco of the Annunciation on the triumphal arch of the Arena Chapel in Padua (1305) denotes. In the Early Renaissance, architects began utilizing the triumphal arch motif for the façades of religious buildings. Filippo Brunelleschi was the first to do so in the Pazzi Chapel in Santa Croce, Florence (1433–1461). Leon Battista Alberti followed suit with the Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini (beg. 1450) and at Sant’ Andrea, Mantua (beg. 1470).