Tintoretto The deliverance of Arsinoe, ca 1560, 153x251 cm, Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti) (1518-1594)

Description of Tintoretto’s painting Salvation of Arsinoe

The painting Salvation of Arsinoe was painted by the Venetian painter Jacopo Tintoretto in 1555-1556. It is currently kept in Dresden.

It is not known for certain what prompted Tintoretto to address the figure of Arsinoa and make her the central character in the narrative painting, if only because it is still not entirely clear which Arsinoa we are talking about. On the one hand, Arsinoe is an ancient Greek character mentioned several times in some Hellenistic myths.

On the other hand, Arsinoe is the younger sister of Cleopatra, the ruler of Egypt, who claimed the throne after her father’s death, for which she was subjected to all kinds of persecution and misfortune for the rest of her life. In the end, Cleopatra’s aspirations found their goal: her younger sister was killed. But that is not even the point.

The Venetian painter’s painting, in this case, does not depict any particular episode in the life of the persecuted Arsinoa, but rather takes her image as the basis, as well as the oppression of the girl’s misfortunes.

In the painting we see the raging sea, in the left corner of which there is a blackening tower, pointing to the heavens, with a fragile boat swaying in the wild wind. There are four people in it: a young man trying to cope with the capricious waves, a naked girl with her back turned to the viewer and, finally, Arsinoe herself, leaning against the richly armored knight, who has presumably become the deliverer of the two virgins described earlier.

This is not an artistic retelling of any myth or historical event: Tintoretto is merely creating an idyll imbued with heroism and romance, bound by the traditions of Renaissance art. Looking at the painting, the viewer is supposed to be transported to a land of reverie and sweet thoughts, unencumbered by the cares or anxieties of real life.

However, it is worth noting two points that stand out from this folding composition: first, the depiction of the striking contrast between Arsinoe’s naked body and the iron armor of the knight, and second, the striking similarity between the tones of the battle suit and the stone of which the tower is made.

One has the feeling that Arsinoe, so heroically rescued, does not yet know that she is exchanging a dungeon for a casemate: freed from the tower, she finds herself in a new and no less grave captivity. And comprehending this fact gives the viewer a chance to temper somewhat the initial escapist effect produced by the picture.