Le Christ lavant les pieds des disciples

Tintoretto painted this around 1548 for a parish church in Venice, San Marcuola, and he built it to be seen from the side. It hung on a side wall, where worshippers came at it from a sharp angle, so he threw the floor into a steep perspective of checkered tiles that only settles when you stand off to one edge. Christ kneels at the far right, almost tucked into the corner, washing the feet of the disciple Peter, while the other apostles are spread loosely across the room, some still pulling off their shoes. There is a dog by the table, a canal and Venetian rooftops out the back. Tintoretto was young then and out to be noticed, and he pushed the picture's holiest moment almost off to the edge rather than setting it in the middle.