The Risen Christ with Saint Andrew and donors

By 1584 Jacopo Tintoretto was in his mid-60s and running one of the busiest workshops in Venice, often painting beside his son Domenico, and this altarpiece for the church of San Giorgio Maggiore is one of those shared efforts. It was made for the Morosini family. At the top the risen Christ lifts free in a burst of light. Below him, Saint Andrew leans in to present a row of kneeling donors. They are real Venetians. The man at prayer is Vincenzo Morosini, who served the Republic as a provincial governor, a commander of the lagoon defences, and finally Procurator of Saint Mark, among the highest offices a citizen could reach. Portraits like these, folded into a sacred scene, were how such families secured a lasting place beside the altar where mass was said. The pale upward rush of light around Christ is the part scholars most often give to Jacopo's own hand.