It’s an immense task to try to capture the essence of God’s creation, although one artist made a powerful attempt.
God Fills the World
A painting that highlights Tintoretto’s dynamic style was completed for the School of the Holy Trinity in Venice: his “Creation of the Animals” (1550–1553). The painting is large, at 8 1/2 feet wide. It depicts the Biblical story of God filling the world with an abundance of animals.The artist painted a scene of great action and tremendous power. The upper and lower sections of the canvas are dark and barren, barely more than a void. The composition swirls with an exciting rhythm as the Creator, in a halo of light, appears out of the darkness.
Then, God gets to work.
The Divine Creator wears a wrap of brilliant red, which flows and snaps excitedly around him. He floats over the ground near shore, with a foot against a large tree.
Like an archer, God seems to bend the bow of a small tree, shooting his finger like an arrow. As he extends a hand, fish and birds explode forward as if in a race. He has only to have a thought and they come to life, immediately rushing to fill every corner of the earth. The animals are painted in dynamic lines, rushing to fulfil their roles in the newly created world.
The sea is filled with marine animals of every kind: sturgeon, salmon, and red mullet (a species of goatfish found in the Mediterranean). Their eyes seem to communicate an understanding of where they are going: They are enriching the world of humanity.
Most unexpected of all is an animal thought to exist only in myth—a unicorn. The mythical creature, mouth open, seems to be straining to be set free into man’s world. Amazingly, unicorns are mentioned in the King James Version of the Bible and were well known in ancient classical culture. The tusk of another mammal, the narwhal, was sought and valued in Tintoretto’s time and in previous centuries as a medicinal cure.
On this day of creation, the world is being populated by wonderful creatures for man. The Divine Creator must have been pleased with what he had just made.
“And God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:25)
Tintoretto’s Adept Brushwork
The School of the Holy Trinity in Venice commissioned Tintoretto in 1550 to do a cycle of paintings inspired by the stories of Genesis. The paintings highlighted his technique of painting with swift brushstrokes.“In this work, Tintoretto also emphasizes his famously rapid brushwork, which picks out the multitudes of animals, God’s beard, and the furls of his cloak with quick flicks of white,” according to Taylor & Francis.
And he learned from the best. The work of Michelangelo and Titian guided him throughout his career. The artist greatly admired Michelangelo’s genius of depicting the human figure. He studied Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling, especially the figures of God creating the sun, the moon, and Adam. Tintoretto learned how to use brilliant color from his Venetian master, Titian.
In fact, Tintoretto installed an inscription over his studio to remind him of the source of his inspiration: “Michelangelo’s drawing and Titian’s color” (“Il disegno di Michelangelo ed il colorito di Tiziano”).
In a bow to both of his masters in this painting, Tintoretto dynamically portrays the sacred human body with a joyful nod to the natural world. The “Creation of the Animals” is now at the Academic Gallery in Venice.