Jacopo Tintoretto, 'Christ washing the Feet of the Disciples', about 1575-80
About the work
Overview
After supper with his disciples, Christ rose and began to wash their feet (John 13:2–17). When Peter refused to allow this, Christ replied that if Peter would not allow him to wash his feet then he had no place with him. Peter then asked Christ to wash his hands and head as well, but Christ said those who were clean only needed to have their feet washed. He told the disciples that they should follow his example and wash one another’s feet. The episode illustrates the need for self-abasement and fraternal love, as well as for purification by Baptism and penance.
The picture was commissioned by the Scuola di Santissimo Sacramento for the chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament in S. Trovaso, Venice, where it hung opposite Tintoretto’s Last Supper (still in the chapel today).
The painting is very damaged and worn and the paint has darkened in many places. The checkered floor was schematically repainted in the nineteenth century.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Christ washing the Feet of the Disciples
- Artist
- Jacopo Tintoretto
- Artist dates
- about 1518 - 1594
- Date made
- about 1575-80
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 204.5 × 410.2 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1882
- Inventory number
- NG1130
- Location
- Room 9
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 17th-century Italian Frame
Provenance
Painted for S. Trovaso, Venice; removed from the church after 1715, perhaps around 1790, and sold to Sir Joshua Reynolds; certainly in the Hamilton Collection by 1835; bought for the Gallery at the Hamilton sale in 1882.
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Nicholas Penny, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings’, vol. 2, ‘Venice 1540–1600’, London 2008; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1584R. Borghini, Il riposo di Raffaello Borghini, Florence 1584
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1664M. Boschini, Le minere della pittura. Compendiosa informazione di Marco Boschini non solo delle pitture publiche di Venezia ma dell'isole ancora circonuicine, Venice 1664
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1674M. Boschini, Le ricche minere della pittura veneziana: Compendiosa informazione di Marco Boschini, non solo delle pitture publiche di Venezia, ma dell'isole ancora circonuicine, Venezia 1674
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1733A.M. Zanetti, Descrizione di tutte le pubbliche pitture della città di Venezia e isole circonvicine: O sia rinnovazione delle Ricche minere di Marco Boschini, colla aggiunta di tutte le opere, che uscirono dal 1674, Venice 1733
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1814Phillips, Original Pictures; a Catalogue of the Distinguished Collection of Valuable Original Pictures… the Property of A. Delahante… which will be Sold by Auction, by Mr H. Phillips, at His Great Rooms, No. 73 New Bond Street, on Thursday, the 2d Day of June 1814, London, 3 June 1814 - 4 June 1814
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1894B. Berenson, The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance, with an Index to Their Works, New York 1894
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1901H. Thode, Tintoretto, Bielefeld 1901
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1901A. Venturi, Storia dell'arte italiana, 11 vols, Milan 1901
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1901H. Thode, 'Tintoretto: Kritische Studien über des Meisters Werke', Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft, XXIV, 1901
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1915F.P.B. Osmaston, The Art and Genius of Tintoret, London 1915
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1923E. von der Bercken and A. Mayer, Jacopo Tintoretto, Munich 1923
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1925M. Pittaluga, Il Tintoretto, Bologna 1925
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1932B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and Their Works, with an Index of Places, Oxford 1932
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1932T. Borenius, 'A Great Tintoretto', The Burlington Magazine, LXI/354, 1932, pp. 99-104
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1936L. Mayer, 'Christ Washing His Disciples' Feet, by Tintoretto', The Burlington Magazine, LXIX/405, 1936, pp. 281-2
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1942E. von der Bercken, Die Gemälde des Jacopo Tintoretto, Munich 1942
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1948H. Tietze, Tintoretto. The Paintings and Drawings, London 1948
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1957B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and Their Works, with an Index of Places: Venetian School, 2 vols, London 1957
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1959Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Venetian School, London 1959
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1969A. Pallucchini, Tintoretto, Florence 1969
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1970P. de Vecchi, L'opera completa del Tintoretto, Milan 1970
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1975C. Gould, Delaroche and Gautier: Gautier's Views on the 'Execution of Lady Jane Grey' and on other Compositions by Delaroche, London 1975
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1976C. Wright, Old Master Paintings in Britain: An Index of Continental Old Master Paintings Executed before c.1800 in Public Collections in the United Kingdom, London 1976
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1979M.E. Cope, The Venetian Chapel of the Sacrament in the Sixteenth Century, New York 1979
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1979J. Mills and R. White, 'Analyses of Paint Media', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, III, 1979, pp. 66-7
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1979J. Plesters, 'Tintoretto's Paintings in the National Gallery: Part I', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, III, 1979, pp. 3-24
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1980J. Plesters, 'Tintoretto's Paintings in the National Gallery: Part II', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, IV, 1980, pp. 32-47
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1982R. Pallucchini and P. Rossi, Tintoretto: Le opere sacre e rofane, Milan 1982
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1982D. Rosand, Painting in Cinquecento Venice: Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto, New Haven 1982
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1983P. Hills, 'Piety and Patronage in Cinquecento Venice: Tintoretto and the Scuole del Sacramento', Art History, VI/1, 1983, pp. 30-43
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1987Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1987
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1992P. Choné, L'atelier des nuits: Histoire et signification du nocturne dans l'art d'occident, Nancy 1992
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1996M. Matile, 'Quadri laterali ovvero conseguenze di una collocazione ingrata: Sui dipinti di storie sacre nell'opera di Jacopo Tintoretto', Venezia cinquecento, VI, 1996, pp. 151-206
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2004P. Humfrey, The Age of Titian: Venetian Renaissance Art from Scottish Collections (exh. cat. National Gallery of Scotland, 5 August - 5 December 2004), Edinburgh 2004
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2007P. Hills, 'Titian's Fire: Pyrotechnics and Representations in Sixteenth-Century Venice', Oxford Art Journal, XXX/2, 2007, pp. 185-204
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2007M. Falomir Faus (ed.), Tintoretto (exh. cat. Museo Nacional del Prado, 30 January - 13 May 2007), Madrid 2007
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2008Penny, Nicholas, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, 2, Venice, 1540-1600, London 2008
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
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