2-995-398 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Pietro Aretino in the Studio of Tintoretto, 1822. Scene depicting an interaction between the artist Tintoretto (left), and the literary critic and satirist Pietro Aretino, two cultural figures of sixteenth century Venice. Tintoretto feigns violence towards Aretino, whom he had invited to his studio to sit for a portrait, by holding a gun below his face. Aretino momentarily fears danger before recognising the gesture as Tintoretto's playful revenge for Aretino's criticism of his work.