(Bassano 1557 – 1622 Venice)
Diana and Actaeon,
signed lower centre: Leandro a Ponte Bass. Eques,
oil on canvas, 90.5 x 106 cm, framed

Provenance:
Aristocratic collection;
where acquired by the present owner

The present painting relates to a similar composition, with variants, of Diana and Actaeon in the Art Institute, Chigago (inv. no. 1592) which has been given to both Jacopo and Leandro Bassano (see Jacopo Bassano,
c. 1510-1592, ed. by B. L. Brown and P. Marini, exhibition catalogue, Bologna 1992, pp. 194–196).

Leandro was the son of Jacopo Bassano and like his brothers, including Francesco, he entered the workshop of his father. In 1588 Leandro was in Venice, where he enrolled in the painters’ guild and opened a workshop of his own. He was celebrated as a portrait painter and in 1595 he was named a knight of Saint Mark for his portrait of Doge Marino Grimani, now in the Gemäldegallerie, Dresden, after which he added the title of ‘Eques’ (knight) to his signature, also visible in the present painting. Such was Leandro’s status as an artist that he was invited by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II to come to Prague as court painter, however he refused the offer and remained in Venice.