(Bassano del Grappa 1557–1622 Venice)
An Allegory of August,
signed lower left, on the toolbox: LEANDER. BASS.,
oil on canvas, 148.5 x 220 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection

The present painting relates to the composition by Leandro Bassano in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (inv. no. 4295).

The work conserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum belongs to a cycle of Allegories of the Months, once in the collection of Archduke Leopold William and now partly in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (Die Gemäldegalerie des Kunsthistorischen Museums in Wien, Vienna 1991, p. 28, pl. 92-93), and two in the Gallery of Prague Castle. According to Arslan the cycle is dated to 1580–1590 (see E. Arslan, I Bassano, Milan 1960, vol. 1, p. 274).

The present large painting reflects characteristics that align Leandro with the overall style of the Bassano family, for example the use of chiaroscuro, the rich palette of colours and an abundance of narrative details, such as the variety of carpenter’s tools displayed in the right foreground.

Leandro belonged to an extensive family of artists and he trained alongside his brothers in the workshop of his father Jacopo Bassano (1510–1592). In 1588 he established himself in Venice where he was registered with the guild of painters and where he had his own studio. Following the death of both his father and his elder brother Francesco, Leandro continued to work in the style of the Bassano family, before progressing to develop a style of his own, which can be identified by his use of sharper outlining and a lighter palette. He became celebrated as a portraitist and thanks to his Portrait of Doge Marino Grimani (now Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, inv. no. 281), he was honoured in 1595 with investiture as a Knight of San Marco, subsequently he added the title ‘Eques’ to his signature. His fame was such that he was invited to Prague as court painter by Emperor Rudolph II, but Leandro turned this offer down, preferring to stay in Venice.