Visual Analysis of The Origin of the Milky Way

By

Corinna Annalisa Scala

Jacopo Tintoretto, The Origin of the Milky Way, 1575. Oil on canvas, 147 x 166 cm. The
National Gallery, London
 Nestled in the Renaissance collection at the National Gallery, there is an unusual painting

of a woman's breast milk bursting into stardust. A woman is startled awake by a child, who is

held by a flying male figure. The addition of an eagle and two peacocks close to the two central

characters reveals the two adult figures as Juno and Jupiter. Symbolically, the eagle is associated

with the god Jupiter, the peacock a symbol for Juno. This attribution is confirmed by the title of

the painting, The Origin of the Milky Way, painted by Jacopo Tintoretto in 1575. It tells the

Greek mythological story of the birth of the Milky Way from the goddess Juno's breast milk.

Tintoretto’s rendition closely follows the story suggested in the myth of the Nursing of Hercules

written in the Geoponica, a Byzantine textbook on botany.1 In it, Jupiter desires his son Hercules

to become immortal, and has him secretly drink from Juno's breast while she is sleeping. She

awakes during this process, and her spilled breast milk created the Milky Way. 

Surrounding the main narrative scene are four cherubs who seem to float around the

painting. These cherubs are the same size as the baby Hercules and are painted in a similarly

plump form; each has unique and colourful wings, similar in colour and style to those of exotic

parrots. Each set of wings is a different set of colours and patterns. These cherubs, at first glance,

are an unusual addition as they do not fit with the mythological tale of the painting. While the

central figures actively participate in the narrative, the cherubs act as guides, inviting the

audience to follow the story playing out in the centre of the image. These cherubs are used as a

framing technique by Tintoretto as they all face towards the main scene. They serve as

intermediaries between the story and the audience. Despite the detailed elements in this artwork,

they all direct the viewer's attention to the central figures.

1
Erna Mandowsky. “The Origin of the Milky Way in the National Gallery.” in The Burlington 
Magazine for Connoisseurs 72, no. 419 (1938): 88–93.
 The narrative scene is centred on the goddess, waking up from her bed. Juno holds a

startled expression rising from her bed, her right hand pushing her up from the bed while her left

shoots straight up in the air, depicting her abrupt awakening. Juno is entirely nude; from her

naked breast, gold beams shoot out in opposite directions. The stream of gold rays leads toward

the sky, dissolving into golden stars. Next to Juno's left breast is the small figure of Hercules as a

child. He is portrayed with his back to the viewer, detaching from Juno's breast, where moments

ago he was breastfeeding. He is held by Jupiter, who is shown flying above the scene, occupying

up the top right corner of the image. While the previous two individuals are portrayed completely

nude, Jupiter is wrapped in a blue and red cloak from the waist down. Jupiter’s hair and cloak are

shown windswept, giving the impression that Jupiter is flying. Juno’s nudity contrasted against

her clothed counterpart highlights her vulnerability to Jupiter’s deceit, showcasing that she was

defenseless from his menacing plan.

These central characters are interwoven into a defining moment in the story; each figure's

action influences the other. The main figures face in the same direction, indicating the central

point of the composition. Juno gazes at baby Hercules, Hercules in turn, is looking at her breast.

Finally, Jupiter looks over Hercules' head to Juno's breast. Since all the central characters' gazes

are directed toward Juno's breast, it naturally becomes the focal point of the image, despite not

being at the true centre of the composition. It is from Juno's breast that the most important visual

narrative element emerges as Tintoretto depicts the transition of Juno's milk transforming into an

array of stars. Tintoretto shows all the stages of the formation of the Milky Way, allowing the

viewer to understand the whole story. 

The narrative of the artwork takes place in the mystical realm of the Olympic sky.

Therefore, there is no perspective in the background. Yet, the image feigns depth. Tintoretto
primarily manages to achieve this by carefully layering the painting into panels; he strategically

superimposed features to create depth in the piece. This works to mimic a three-dimensionality

to the artwork despite having no fixed perspective lines.

 The furthest plane is the background of the composition that, in this case, includes only a

light blue cloudy sky. The backdrop contains long sweeping brush strokes giving the background

a distant feel. After the sky, the elements layered in are the eagle and the peacocks, one above

the other. Located beneath the figure of Jupiter is a flying eagle clutching a lightning bolt,

symbolising the might of Jupiter. The eagle has rough ruffled strokes adding a tactile, windswept

feel to the bird. The lightning bolt is an intense, fiery colour and is severely intertwined,

potentially alluding to the emotions in the painting. To the lower right of the eagle are two

beautiful male peacocks, symbols of the goddess. These peacocks are not painted in the same

manner as the eagle. The peacocks are not depicted flying or moving so they do not have the

same loose brushstrokes and are instead intensely detailed and maintain a textured brush stroke

that augment their realistic appearance. Through the different techniques of depicting the birds

we can tell that Tintoretto purposely uses looser brush strokes to give objects movement. 

Next is the bed, which acts as the middle ground of the composition. Most of the

significant elements inhabit this plane, including the three central figures, and the clouds. The

interwovenness gives the composition dimension and depth. Although part of the background,

the bed stands out as it is painted in vibrant colours. The bed and bedpost connect with the

clouds located at the margins of the painting. Situating the bed as a floating element in the sky,

the bed is closer to the audience toward the centre of the image. It is evident by the richness of

the bedding that it is the goddess’ bed. The bedpost of the bed takes up most of the top left

quadrant of the painting is a brilliant gold colour and is decorated with precious jewels such as
pearls and rubies. The bedding includes a white under sheet that contains pearl tassels, a blue

blanket, and a red cover sheet. The red cover sheet has an elaborate pattern and pearls on it,

showcasing Tintoretto’s masterful details. The bed also assists in telling the development of the

story. The bed’s disarrayed state tells of the goddess's abrupt rise from her bed. Additionally, the

fall of the blue and red blankets shows the trajectory of the goddess's steps. The composition is

built up from a deliberate palette which moves from cooler tones in the background such as

intense blue to grey in the sky, to warmer tones in the foreground from white and gold through to

orange and scarlet in the draperies. Allowing the warmer elements to stand out compared to the

cool background.

The last layer of the artwork includes the cherubs that stand in front of the rest of the

image, separating them from the narrative. Each cherub holds a different object in its hands,

typically associated with Cupid, such as bows and arrows. The first cherub is located between

Jupiter and the two peacocks and holds a net toward the goddess. This net is held over the

peacocks, symbols of Juno, which symbolise the deceit of Jupiter. The two cherubs located in the

bottom right and left corners of the painting are surrounded by dark clouds that are holding up

Juno’s bed. The cherub in the right corner is wearing a red sash tied around his waist, holding a

bow. The cherub in the left corner is wearing a gold sash and holding an arrow and a torch.

Although the torch has a brightly lit flame, it does not produce any light. The last cherub is

located under the right side of the goddess and is holding a chain and an arrow. As these objects

are directed toward the figure of Juno and Jupiter, they indicate discord between the pair as they

are not in love. Thus, giving the viewer another visual aid in understanding the story of the

painting. 
  The painting's brushstrokes deliberately assist in giving the artwork motion and life. The

brushstrokes of the image are swifter in the human elements and looser in the planetary elements.

In the textiles and the figure of Juno, the brushstrokes are heavily detailed. Carefully capturing

Juno's anger at Jupiter's betrayal, through Juno's shocked expression, position, and the state of

her bed give the sense of an abrupt action. In particular, the "flying elements” of this image seem

to provide the painting with motion, such as in the windswept cape of the gliding Jupiter that

beautifully drapes up toward the cloud to lift Jupiter up. As well as in the loose and lightly

blended brushstrokes in the wings of the cherubs and eagle as if to capture them mid-flap, giving

the figures weightlessness. Lastly, the shooting rays of breast milk transform across the painting

into rays of gold to stars, showing the transforming narrative in a brushstroke. Tintoretto

manages to capture an entire story in a single painted moment. He masterfully tells the myth of

the Nursing of Hercules through the careful depictions of the visual components of the

composition. This painting is not static and is instead a moment of the story unfolding.
 Bibliography

Mandowsky, Erna. “The Origin of the Milky Way in the National Gallery.” The Burlington 
Magazine for Connoisseurs 72, no. 419 (1938): 88–93.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/867195.