São Roque em Glória

In 1564 the confraternity of San Rocco in Venice held a competition for the painting to fill the centre of their new boardroom ceiling. They invited several leading artists, Veronese and Federico Zuccaro among them, and asked each for a sketch. When the members met to judge, they found Tintoretto had ignored the terms. Instead of a drawing he had painted the whole thing, full size, and already had it fixed into the ceiling. Asked to explain, he said this was simply how he worked, and that if they did not want it he would give it to them for free. He got the commission, and over the next 20-odd years he covered the whole building with his paintings. San Rocco was the saint Venetians prayed to against plague, and the brotherhood existed to help its victims; the figure rising into the light overhead is the protector they were trusting with their lives.