Tintoret scarcely ever travelled out of Venice. He loved all the arts, played in youth the lute and various instruments, some of them of his own invention, and designed theatrical costumes and properties, was versed in mechanics and mechanical devices, and was a very agreeable companion. For the sake of his work he lived in a most retired fashion, and even when not painting was wont to remain in his working room surrounded by casts. Here he hardly admitted any, even intimate friends, and he kept his modes of work secret, save as regards his assistants. He abounded in pleasant witty sayings whether to great personages or to others, but no smile hovered on his lips. Out of doors his wife made him wear the robe of a Venetian citizen; if it rained she tried to indue him with an outer garment, but this he resisted. She would also when he left the house wrap up money for him in a handkerchief, and on his return expected an account of it; Tintoret's accustomed reply was that he had spent it in alms to the poor or to prisoners. In 1574 he obtained the reversion of the first vacant broker's patent in a fondaco, with power to bequeath it-an advantage granted from time to time to pre-eminent painters. For his phenomenal energy in painting he was termed “Il Furioso." An agreement is extant showing that he undertook to finish in two months two historical pictures each containing twenty figures, seven being portraits. The number of his portraits is enormous; their merit is unequal, but the really fine ones cannot be surpassed. Sebastiano del Piombo remarked that Robusti could paint in two days as much as himself in two years; Annibale Caracci that Tintoret was in many pictures equal to Titian, in others inferior to Tintoret. This was the general opinion of the Venetians, who said that he had three pencils-one of gold, the second of silver and the third of iron. The only pictures (if we except his own portrait) on which he inscribed his name are the “Miracle of Cana” in the church of the Salute (painted originally for the brotherhood of the Crociferi), the “Miracle of the Slave," and the “Crucifixion" in the Scuola di S. Rocco; the last was engraved in 1589 by Agostino Caracci. Generally he painted at once on to the canvas without any preliminary. Some of his dicta on art have been recorded as follows by Ridolfi: “the art of painting remains increasingly difficult"; “painters in youth should adhere to the best masters, these being Michelangelo and Titian, and should be strict in representing the natural forms”; “the first glance at a picture is the crucial one"; “black and white, as developing form, are the best of colours”; “drawing is the foundation of a painter's work, but drawing from life in the nude should only be essayed by well-practised men, as the real is often wanting in beauty.”
Of pupils Robusti had very few; his two sons and Martin de Vos of Antwerp were among them. Domenico Robusti (1562-1637), whom we have already had occasion to mention, frequently assisted his father in the groundwork of great pictures. He himself painted a multitude of Works, many of them on a very large scale; they would at best be mediocre, and, coming from the son of Tintoret, are exasperating; still, he must be regarded as a considerable sort of pictorial practitioner in his way.
We conclude by naming a few of the more striking of Tintoret's very numerous works not already specified in the course of the article. In Venice (S. Giorgio Maggiore), a series of his later works, the “Gathering of the Mauna," “Last Supper," “Descent from the Cross," "Resurrection," “Martyrdom of St Stephen, " “ Coronation of the Virgin,” “Martyrdom of St Damian "; (S. Francesco del Vigna) the “Entombment”; (the Frari) the “Massacre of the Innocents"; (S. Cassano) a “Crucifixion," the figures seen from behind along the hill slope; (St Mark's) a mosaic of the “Baptism of Christ"-the oil-painting of this composition is in Verona. In Milan (the Brera), “St Helena and other saints." In Florence (Pitti Gallery), “Venus,” “Vulcan" and “Cupid." In Cologne (Wallratf-Richarts Museum), “ Ovid and Corinna.” In Augsberg (the town-hall), some historical pictures, which biographers and tourists alike have unaccountably neglected-one of the siege of a fortified town is astonishingly fine. In England (Hampton Court), “Esther and Ahasuerus," and the “Nine Muses"; (the National Gallery), “The Origin of the Milky Way," a memorable tour deforce, “Christ washing Peter's Feet," a grand piece of colour and execution, not greatly interesting in' other respects, also a spirited smallish work, “St George and the Dragon.”
The writer who has done by far the most to establish the fame of Tintoret at the height which it ought to occupy is Ruskin in his Stones of Venice and other books; the depth and scope of the master's power had never before been adequately brought out, although his extraordinarily and somewhat arbitrarily used executive gift was acknowledged. Ritlolfi (Meraviglie dell'Arte) gives interesting personal details; the article by Dr janitschek in Kunst und Kuustler (1876) is a solid account. For an English reader the most handy narrative is that of W. R. Osler (Tintoretto, 1879), in the series entitled “The Great Artists." Here the biographical facts are clearly presented; the aesthetic criticism is enthusiastic but not perspicuous. Other works deserving of mention are: L. Mesnard, Etude sur Tintoret (1881); T. P. Stearns, Four Great Venetians (1901); H. Thode, Tinioretto (1901); Stoughton Holborn, Jacopo Robusti (1903).
(W. M. R.)
TIPASA. (1) A town and commune on the coast of Algeria, in the department of Algiers, 30 m. W. of the capital. Pop. of the commune (1906), 2725. The modern town, founded in
1857, is remarkable chiefly for its pleasant situation and sandy
beach. The road stead is exposed to the N.E. and N.W. There
is a mole about 90 ft. long and anchorage in six fathoms. A
considerable trade is done. The Roman city of Tipasa was
built on three small hills which overlooked the sea. Of the
houses, most of which stood on the central hill, no traces remain;
but there are ruins of three churches-the Great Basilica
and the Basilica Alexander on the western hill, and the Basilica
of St Salsa on the eastern hill—two cemeteries, the baths,
theatre, amphitheatre and nymphaeum. The line of the ramparts
can be distinctly traced and at the foot of the eastern
hill the remains of the ancient harbour. The basilicas are
surrounded by cemeteries, which are full of coffins, all of
stone and covered with mosaics. The basilica of St Salsa,
which has been excavated by S. Gsell, consists of a nave and two
aisles, and still contains a mosaic. The Great Basilica served
for centuries as a quarry, but it is still possible to make out the
plan of the building, which was divided into seven aisles. Under
the foundations of the church are tombs hewn out of the solid
rock. Of these one is circular, with a diameter of 60 ft. and
space for 24 coffins.
Tipasa was founded by the Phoenicians, was made a Roman military colony by the emperor Claudius, and afterwards became a municipium. Commercially it was of considerable importance, but it was not distinguished in art or learning. Christianity was early introduced, and in the third century Tipasa was a bishop's see. Most of the inhabitants continued heathens until, according to the legend, Salsa, a Christian maiden, threw the head of their serpent idol into the sea, whereupon the enraged populace stoned her to death. The body, miraculously recovered from the sea, was buried, on the hill above the harbour, in a small chapel which gave place subsequently to the stately basilica. Salsa's martyrdom took place in the'4th century. In 484 the Vandal king Huneric (477-484) sent an Arian bishop to Tipasa; whereupon a large number of the inhabitants fled to Spain, while many of the remainder were cruelly persecuted. After this time the city disappears from history; and, whether or not its ruin was caused by the Arabs, they seem to have made no settlement there.
(2) Another town which in Roman times was called Tipasa is in the department of Constantine, Algeria, 55 m. due south of Bona, 3140 ft. above the sea; it is now called Tifesh. The chief ruin is that of an extensive fortress, the walls of which are 9 ft. thick.
TIP-CAT (also called Cat and Cat and Dog), a pastime which
consists in tapping with a stick a short billet of wood with
sharpened ends upon one of these ends, so that it jumps in the air,
and then hitting it to the greatest possible distance. There are
many varieties of the game, but in the most common the batter,
having placed the billet, or cat, in a small circle on the ground,
tips it into the air and hits it to a distance. His opponent
then offers him a certain number of points, based upon his
estimate of the number of hops or jumps necessary to cover
the distance. If the batter thinks the distance underestimated
he is at liberty to decline the offer and measure the distance in
jumps, and score the number made. The game is one or more
hundreds.
TIPPERA (Tripura), a native state and also a British district
of India, in Eastern Bengal and Assam. The state, which is
known as HILL TIPPERA (q.v.), represents that portion of the
raja's territory that was never conquered by the Mahommedans
The dynasty, which is of great antiquity, was converted to
Hinduism many centuries ago; but the people still profess an
aboriginal religion, similar to that of the neighbouring hill
tribes. The raja owns an estate of 570 sq. m., yielding an
income of more than £40,000, in the British district, where he
ranks as an ordinary zamiudar. His residence is at Agartalla,
just within the boundary of Hill Tippera.
The British district of Tippera, with administrative headquarters at Comilla, has an area of 2499 sq. m. It has a fiat and open surface, with the exception of the isolated Lalmai range
