Rocco Scuola he reigns alone,
and there his "Crucifixion" is.

The Scuola and the church, in white stone, hide behind the lofty
red-brick apse of the Frari. The Scuola's facade has, in particular, the
confidence of a successful people. Within, it is magnificent too, while
to its architectural glories it adds no fewer than six-and-fifty
Tintorettos; many of which, however, can be only dimly seen, for the
great Bartolommeo Bon, who designed the Scuola, forgot that pictures
require light. Nor was he unique among Venice's builders in this matter;
they mostly either forgot it or allowed their jealousy of a sister art
to influence them. "Light, more light," is as much the cry of the
groping enthusiast for painting in this fair city, as it was of the
dying Goethe.

The story of Tintoretto's connexion with the Scuola illustrates his
decision and swiftness. The Scuola having been built, where, under the
banner of S. Rocco, a philanthropical confraternity might meet to confer
as to schemes of social amelioration, it was, in 1560, decided to invite
the more prominent artists to make proposals as to its decoration.
Tintoretto, then forty-two, Paul Veronese and Schiavone were among them.
They were to meet in the Refectory and display their sketches; and on a
given day all were there. Tintoretto stood aside while the others
unfolded their designs, which were examined and criticized. Then came
his turn, but instead of producing a roll he twitched a covering, which
none had noticed, and revealed in the middle of the ceiling the finished
painting of S. Rocco in glory. A scene of amazement and perplexity
ensued. The other artists, accepting defeat, retired from the field; the
authorities gazed in a fine state of confusion over the unconventional
foreshortening of the saint and his angel. They also pointed out that
Tintoretto had broken the condition of the competition in providing a
painting when only sketches were required. "Very well," he said, "I make
you a present of it." Since by the rules of the confraternity all gifts
offered to it had to be accepted, he thus won his footing; and the rest
was easy. Two or three years later he was made a brother of the Order,
at fifty pounds a year, in return for which he was each year to provide
three paintings; and this salary he drew for seventeen years, until the
great work was complete.

The task comprises the scenes in the life of the Virgin, in the lower
hall; the scenes in the life of Ch