Boston's Museum of Fine Arts has gathered works by three masters of the Venetian Renaissance, Titian, Tintoretto and Paolo Veronese, for a groundbreaking new show opening this week.
The exhibition will host nearly 60 works exploring the development of a distinctive Renaissance style in Venice during the 1500s and the rivalry between its three stars.
Opening on March 15, the event will showcase masterpieces from major US and European galleries, including the Louvre in Paris, the Prado in Madrid, the Uffizi in Florence and Vienna's Kunsthistoriches Museum.
However, a number of Venice's churches have also agreed to loan out some of their works - an unusual move that is expected to heighten interest in the exhibition.
Despite the age gap between Titian (c.1485-1576), Tintoretto (1518-1595) and Veronese (1528-1588) the three artists were all active at the same time during a period spanning nearly four decades.
The exhibit's organizers have sought to draw out the artistic interchange between the artists by considering similar works side by side.
One such juxtaposition is the classic Renaissance subject of the Supper at Eammaus, when Christ reveals his resurrection to two disciples.
The exhibition features two entirely different interpretations of the same scene, one by Titian, completed in 1533, and the other by Tintoretto (1542).
The former is a calm, gentle piece, showing Christ blessing the food and demonstrating Titian's interest in texture and detail, such as the folds on the tablecloth at supper.
In contrast, Tintoretto's work is an energetic, dynamic scene, with numerous gesticulating figures and a sense of underlying turbulence.
Another such juxtaposition highlights the growth of the portrait as a concept in the 1500s, with a painting of young men from each of the three artists. The Veronese work, completed in 1553, has clearly been
influenced by the Tintoretto work of nine years earlier, both showing full-length portraits of young, bearded men in their 20s standing in the same three-quarter pose and garbed in nearly identical clothing.
The official image of the exhibition is Titian's stunning Venus With A Mirror, completed in 1555 when the master was about 70.
The luxurious painting, awash with rich reds and golds, depicts Venus as a courtesan, reflected in a mirror held by angels.
A painting by Veronese from around 30 years later pays clear tribute to the Titian's masterpiece. Entitled Venus At Her Toilette, the painting depicts another beautiful blonde, nude gazing into a mirror held by a cupid.
'Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice' is on show in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts until August 16, after which it travels to the Louvre in Paris.
