In 2023, the New York-based Foundation for Italian Art and Culture approached the Cincinnati Art Museum (CAM) with a project. Would it like to support the restoration of two works by one of Italy’s greatest painters of the Renaissance—Jacopo Tintoretto—and then show them? The paintings, part of a series based on stories from the book of Genesis, were in the Gallerie dell’ Accademia, Venice, where the restoration work would be done. For CAM, the chance to show The Temptation of Adam and Cain and Abel was irresistible; the museum said “yes” and suggested that the project should expand to include the Accademia’s third picture in the series, The Creation of the Animals. All date to the early 1550s. The three restored paintings will be shown along with drawings and a display illuminating the restoration process. For Americans, this exhibition is a rare treat. Tintoretto’s masterpieces were created in Venice, and even his works not painted on walls or ceilings rarely if ever leave home. —Peter Saenger

©