Saint Mark's Body Brought to Venice

St Mark's Body Brought to Venice
Artist	Tintoretto
Type	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	398 cm × 315 cm (157 in × 124 in)
Location	Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

St Mark's Body Brought to Venice, The Abduction of the Body of Saint Mark or Translation of the Body of Saint Mark is a painting by Tintoretto. It was produced between 1562 and 1566 as part of a series of works on Saint Mark for the Sala Capitolare of the Scuola Grande di San Marco - the others were Miracle of the Slave and Finding of the body of St Mark. It is now held in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice.

The painting is notable for its striking, deep perspective background lines. The colours are darker in the near subjects, while the figures in the background are white, nearly transparent. The strange red sky is roiling with ominous clouds, riven with a thunderbolt, affording the painting a heavy, dynamic atmosphere. Tintoretto himself is portrayed within the work as the bearded man beside the camel.

Sources

• Gillo Dorfles, Stefania Buganza e Jacopo Stoppa, Arti visive. Dal Quattrocento all'Impressionismo, Atlas, 2001