Tintoretto: A Rebel in Venice

A 2019 Sky Arts Documentary narrated by Helena Bonham Carter.

Tintoretto: A Rebel in Venice is a documentary film on the life and works of Tintoretto, directed by Giuseppe Domingo Romano and produced in 2019 by Sky Arts. The film about the furious and revolutionary genius who changed the history of art, created by Melania G. Mazzucco and narrated by Helena Bonham Carter, with the extraordinary participation of Peter Greenaway. The documentary was made on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the birth of the Venetian painter.

“The most fiercest brain that painting has ever had” - Giorgio Vasari
"A proto-rock star" - David Bowie

1576: the plague tears apart the Serenissima. Venice is invaded by the dead. Who can, flee. Nobles, traders, artists, anyone trying to save themselves. Everyone escapes, except Tintoretto. Born and raised in the lagoon city, the painter is the only one to have painted almost exclusively for his city, as well as being able to boast of having adorned an entire palace with his works, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, today considered his Sistine chapel.

Parallel to the story of the painter's life, the documentary follows the restoration process of two masterpieces by Tintoretto: “Maria in meditation” (1582 - 1583) and “Maria in reading” (1582 - 1583). Thanks to the support of Sky, an Italian team carried out a detailed analysis on the works and the restoration of the two paintings before being exhibited in the first monographic exhibition ever dedicated to Tintoretto in the United States, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, in correspondence of the 500th anniversary of his birth. The film is set in historical places where the experts were interviewed and where the works of Tintoretto featured in the film are kept.