Portrait of Jacopo Sansovino

Tintoretto probably painted this portrait for the funeral ceremonies held in honour of Sansovino by the Florentine Accademia. He took the small likeness he had painted dal vivo (from life) as his model, and adapted it to suit the occasion: the dead man’s features are made flatteringly younger, the bust enlarged to the size of a pedestal, and the inscription of Sansovino’s name is added. The overall result was a portrait very much in the nature of a memorial.