Adoration of the Magi

da Ponte Jacopo called Jacopo Bassano

(Bassano del Grappa 1510 - 1592)

The painting can be identified as one of the two Adoration of the Magi reported in the collection in the mid-17th century. Generally attributed to the Bassano workshop, the painting has been definitively attributed to Jacopo with convincing arguments. To the left of the composition, ample space is given to the figures of the servants, who are bustling about arranging the gifts: porcelain, gold and silver placed prominently on the left. A landscape with a view of the city of Bassano del Grappa provides a striking backdrop to this representation. The work is of high quality and can be dated to around 1576. Due to its compositional scheme, it has been recognised as the prototype for later versions of this theme.

Object details

Commentary

The question of the attribution of the work is complex. The painting can be identified as one of the two Adoration of the Magi mentioned by Manilli as being in the Villa di Porta Pinciana in 1650, one attributed to Jacopo Bassano and the other more generically to the Bassano workshop. In the 1790 inventory, the two versions are still mentioned with these attributions and in the Fideicommissary Inventory of 1833 the one identifiable as this painting still appears as a work by Jacopo Bassano. Venturi (1893) maintained the attribution to the painter, while Longhi (1928) read in the “glittering” Adoration of the Magi the extensive involvement of Francesco Bassano alongside his father. Arslan (1931 and 1960), followed by De Rinaldis (1948) and Della Pergola (1955), attributed the execution to Francesco alone. Alberton Vinco da Sesso (1986) at first accepted Arslan’s proposal, but then removed the painting from Francesco’s catalogue, attributing it to Jacopo (1992). Ballarin (1988) considered it an autograph by Jacopo, dating it to around 1576, while Rearick (1992) considered it to be a work by Leandro Bassano executed around 1580. Recently, Donati (2017) published it with an attribution to Jacopo alone, while Corsato (2009-2010) stressed the difficulty of defining the degree of intervention of one or the other of the Bassano family members, leaning however towards identifying the hand of Leandro alongside his father Jacopo in the painting. The scholar noted how in devotional works of this type, the Bassano family themselves sought stylistic homogeneity, often making it difficult to identify which of the original Bassano del Grappa painters was involved. On the other hand, the existence of a replica of the painting already in the Alfonsi antiquarian gallery in Vicenza (Faggin 1998), considered by Corsato to be of inferior quality, would indicate that the Borghese Adoration predates the painting, the result of a more supervised execution by the more experienced Jacopo or his son Francesco, who was by then autonomous.

The biblical episode of the Adoration of the Magi was well suited to the Bassano expressive language, based on realism and the narrative character of the theme. There are at least twenty-five known replicas, identical or with variants, of this subject (see Donati 2017).

The painting shows a harmonious concatenation of movements of the various groups of characters, from the protagonists to the various extras in the procession, including animals and servants carrying a variety of gleaming ornaments. A glimmer of light illuminates objects and bodies with precious glints, while the background is a vibrant Titian landscape with a broad and concise pictorial style. Note the presence of the peacock, symbol of rebirth or awakening, in relation to the theme depicted (see Di Monte 2008).

Elisa Martini