Council of Ten. Tintoretto was rewarded by a Broker's
patent, and between this and the "Paradiso," the work of his old age, he
executed a number of pictures for the Signoria. The only record of any
travels are confined to two journeys paid to Mantua, where he went in
the 'sixties and again in 1579 to see to the hanging of paintings done
for the Gonzaga, and of which the documents have been kept, though the
pictures have vanished. Tintoretto's last years were saddened by the
death of his beloved daughter, who had always been his constant
companion. He died in 1579 after a fortnight's illness and left a will,
which, together with that of his son, throws a good deal of light upon
the family history.

It is not easy to select from the vast quantity of work left by
Tintoretto. He is one of those painters whose whole life was passed in
his native city and who can only be adequately studied in that city.
Perhaps the first place in which to seek him, is the great church which
was the monument of his early prime. The "Last Judgment" was probably
inspired by that of Michelangelo, of which descriptions and sketches
must have reached the younger master, over whom the Florentine had
exercised so strong a fascination. Tintoretto's version impresses one as
that of a mind boiling with thoughts and visions which he pours out upon
the huge space. It depicts a terrible catastrophe, a scene of rushing
destruction, of forms swept into oblivion, of others struggling to the
light, of many beautiful figures and of a flood of air and light behind
the rushing water,--water which makes us almost giddy as we watch it.
The "Golden Calf" is a maturer production and includes some of the
loveliest women Tintoretto ever painted. We see too plainly the
planning, the device of concentrating interest on the idol by turning
figures and pointing fingers, but nothing can be imagined more supple
and queenly than the woman in blue, and the way the light falls on her
head and perfectly foreshortened arm shows to what excellence Tintoretto
had attained. The "Presentation" is a riper work. The drawing of the
flight of steps and of the groups upon them could not be bettered. The
little figure of the Virgin, prototype of the new dispensation, as she
advances to meet the representative of the old, thrills with mystic
feeling, yet the painter has contrived to retain the sturdy simplicity
of a child. The "St. Agnes," with its contrast of light and shade, of
strength m