(Bassano del Grappa 1557–1622 Venice)
Susanna and the Elders,
oil on canvas, 104 x 156 cm, framed

Provenance:
Sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 15 March 1961, lot 4 (as Francesco Bassano);
Collection Konsul Alfred Weiss, Vienna;
Sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 1 December 1970, lot 7 (as Francesco Bassano);
Sale, Lempertz, Cologne, 24 November 1971, lot 6 (as Leandro Bassano);
Private collection, Vienna

The present painting is registered at the Fototeca Zeri as Francesco Bassano (see Zeri no. 44529).

We are grateful to Bernard Aikema for suggesting the attribution of Leandro Bassano after examination of the painting in the original.

We are also grateful to Giuliana Ericani for tentatively suggesting an alternative attribution to Francesco Bassano with the help of Jacopo Bassano on the basis of a high-resolution digital photograph.

The present painting is comparable to other paintings by the artist in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, datable to circa 1595, and in the Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, datable to between 1600 and 1610. A further painting treating the same subject matter and dated to the 1590s was formerly conserved in the Brass Collection in Venice (see E. Arslan, I Bassano, Milan, 1960, vol. 2, fig. 310). Another similar version was sold at Dorotheum, Vienna on 12 October 2011 (lot 418). Jacopo Bassano’s signed painting of Susanna and the Elders now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts Nimes is considered the ‘prototype’ for this subject.

Leandro was the son of Jacopo Bassano. He entered the workshop of his father when very young and soon developed a style of painting strongly based on drawing. Leandro used fine brushwork, with cool, light colours, smoothly applied in well-defined areas, unlike his father, who painted with dense and robust brushstrokes. From 1575 Leandro’s participation in the workshop increased, and he became his father’s principal assistant after Francesco Bassano il giovane moved to Venice in 1578. In 1577/78 he was taken to Venice by Jacopo. His ability was soon recognized, and in circa 1580 he painted several altarpieces, some signed jointly with his father, for parish churches around Bassano del Grappa. Venetian influence is evident in his early portraits, painted in the manner of Tintoretto, and Girolamo Campagna. He moved from Venetian models to being influenced by Emilian painting, especially that of Bartolomeo Passarotti. Finally, he established his own style, which is characterized by a new naturalism that recalls the scenes of money-changing painted by Flemish artists.

In 1588 Leandro joined Francesco in Venice, where he enrolled in the painters’ guild and opened a workshop of his own. His fame as a portrait painter increased and in 1595 he was named a knight of St Mark for his impressive portrait of Doge Marino Grimani (Dresden, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister), after which he added the title of ‘Eques’ (knight) to his signature. Leandro maintained contact with the family workshop at Bassano del Grappa at least until 1592. In the late 1580s he contributed to the development of naturalistic and allegorical subjects, especially in the cycle of the Months (nine in Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum; two in Prague, Hradčany Castle). These detailed scenes, rich in figures and landscape vignettes, are described with a fresh sensibility, reflecting the Mannerist influence of Paolo Fiammingo, who was then working in Venice. In the religious paintings of his late period the colours are smooth, like porcelain, and applied precisely, often restricted to a range of greys, browns and black and the insistent psychological portrayal of the various characters confers an austere and serene quality to the works.

Leandro was ambitious and pleasure-loving. His devotion to Venice, however, caused him to refuse an invitation from Emperor Rudolf II to come to Prague as court painter.

Saleroom notice
We are grateful to Alessandro Ballarin for suggesting an alternative attribution to Gerolamo Bassano (Bassano del Grappa 1566–1621 Venice).