Francesco Ii Bassano

FRANCESCO DA PONTE, CALLED FRANCESCO BASSANO IL GIOVANE THE YOUNGER BASSANO DEL GRAPPA CIRCA 1549 - 1592 VENICE measurements note 84 by 126 cm.; 33 by 49 1/2 in. inscribed with an old inventory number lower left: 127 oil on canvas CATALOGUE NOTE The composition is known in a number of versions and variants painted by Jacopo Bassano and his sons. The best known version is a painting today in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, which Arslan dates circa 1580-82 (see E. Arslan, I Bassano, vol. I, Milan 1960, p. 361).

FRANCESCO DA PONTE, CALLED FRANCESCO BASSANO ILGIOVANE BASSANO DEL GRAPPA CIRCA 1549 - 1592 VENICE THE LAMENTATION OVER THE DEAD CHRIST 15,000—20,000 GBP 84 by 126 cm.; 33 by 49 1/2 in. inscribed with an old inventory number lower left: 127 oil on canvas The composition is known in a number of versions and variantspainted by Jacopo Bassano and his sons. The best known version is apainting today in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, which Arslan datescirca 1580-82 (see E. Arslan, I Bassano, vol. I, Milan 1960, p.361).

Black chalk heightened with white chalk on blue paper; bears attribution in pen on the recto : le Bassan , and in pencil on the backing sheet together with two sets of numbering in brown ink: R. 11 2 d ; 3-2-5. PROVENANCE Bears the mark (L.474), previously associated with Pierre Crozat, and now considered by Nicolas Schwed to be that of Joseph Gulston, London (1745-1786); with Galerie Terrades, Paris; acquired 2001 CATALOGUE NOTE Throughout his drawn oeuvre, Francesco Bassano seems to have favoured the use of black chalk heightened with white chalk, as in the present sheet, to create a suggestion of flickering light. Francesco's father Jacopo had a very personal and highly individual graphic style, and frequently employed colored chalks, a technique that Francesco used only very rarely. Francesco's distinctive drawing style, though close to Jacopo's tradition, is softer and more atmospheric The eldest and most talented of Jacopo Bassano's sons, Francesco collaborated closely with his father until 1579, when he transferred his studio to Venice. There the successful family tradition was to continue for almost a century and a half. Although the workshop, which was active in both Bassano and Venice, did not itself function long after 1650, followers and imitators persisted in Italy and elsewhere until circa 1700. Fewer drawings than paintings by the Bassano family survive, but Jacopo nonetheless seems to have understood the importance of preserving his drawings for the bottega and during the 1560s, when his sons began to learn their trade, he actively sought to maintain his stock of drawings. At this time Jacopo often added dates and inscriptions, and many drawings were pasted onto rolls of canvas, which not only guaranteed their preservation but also ensured that they could easily be consulted for reference. After Jacopo's death in 1592, thirteen such rolls of drawings, as well as a great number of portfolios of loose drawings, were inventoried with the contents of the artist's bottega. The present drawing is stylistically close to many other chalk studies by Francesco, and very similar to a number of figures in paintings by both Jacopo and Francesco, but it cannot be directly linked to any known work.

PROVENANCE: Possibly Mrs Legge, London, until 1966 With Julius Weitzner Anonymous sale, Phillips, London, 4 July 2000, lot 14 EXHIBITED: London, Hallsborough Gallery, Autumn exhibition, 1966, no.2 At the time of the 2000 sale at Phillips, Professor Alessandro Ballarin confirmed the attribution of the present work upon firsthand inspection of the painting and also dated the picture to circa 1573-4. He compared it to Francesco Bassano's Christ on the Road to Calvary, now in the Louvre, which he dates to 1572.

FRANCESCO DA PONTE, CALLED FRANCESCO BASSANO THE YOUNGER (1549-1592) - ORPHEUS CHARMING THE ANIMALS - PROPERTY OF A MIDWESTERN PRIVATE COLLECTOR
Mis: 37 1/2 by 49 1/4 in.; 95.7 by 125.1 cm.
oil on canvas

PROVENANCE
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, July 31,1953, lot 127 (as Bassano), for 38 Guineas to Klein; Dr. and Mrs. Michael W. Freeman, thence by descent to the present owner.

CATALOGUE NOTE
The composition exists in versions by both Francesco and Leandro Bassano, and is one of the rare mythological subjects treated by the family. A version of the composition was in the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, and was engraved for the Theatrum Pictorium, the catalogue David Teniers made of the collection.