Die Auferstehung Christi

When Tintoretto took on this altarpiece in 1565, the Church had just tightened its rules on sacred images. The Council of Trent, which had wrapped up two years before, wanted the Resurrection shown a sober way, with Christ standing firmly beside the tomb rather than floating free of it. Tintoretto ignored that. His Christ soars straight up out of the grave in a burst of light, feet clear of the ground, exactly the hovering figure the reformers had warned against. It was made for the high altar of the church of San Cassiano in Venice, paid for by the confraternity that looked after that altar, with two saints set below, Cassiano the bishop on one side and Cecilia beside a small organ on the other.