Art News

‘Hidden’ Tintoretto Goes on Public Display for the First Time

DORSET.- A hidden painting by Jacopo Tintoretto, the last of the three great Venetian Renaissance painters, has gone on public display for the first time and can be seen at Kingston Lacy in Dorset. The painting has spent most of the last 30 years in storage but, following a major programme of cleaning and restoration, ‘Apollo (or Hymen) crowning a Poet and giving him a Spouse’ can be seen at last. However, as well as giving vivid new life to the painting and confirming its origins, the cleaning has raised as many questions as it answers and The National Trust is asking you to help solve its mysteries. Their art experts believe that the painting depicts Apollo, or possibly the god of marriage, Hymen, placing a crown on an unknown figure, probably a poet who is holding a book. Mythical figures surrounding them include the god Hercules and a woman believed to be the intended spouse.