Portrait of Doge Girolamo Priuli

In such portraits as this, Tintoretto prepared the way for Netherlandish portrait painting of the 17th century. The style as a whole is very sketch-like. The sometimes hatched brushwork is characteristic of portraits executed by Tintoretto from life on the canvas. Zigzag brushstrokes indicate the eyebrows, red dots of colour in the corners of the eyes, and very fine highlights on the pupils bring the sitters gaze to life. The edge of the white fabric cap or rensa, shown as a wavy line, suggests the narrow fit and pressure of the cornu, the Doge’s cap, and thus, indirectly, of his office.