Art: Renaissance in Bassano

In the small (pop. 11,774) town of Bassano del Grappa, at the foot of the Venetian Alps, Italian art lovers were paying their respects last week to a long-neglected figure of the Renaissance. His name was Jacopo da Ponte, and he lived from about 1515 to 1592, painting frescoes and altar pieces for palazzi and churches. As “Jacopo Bassano,” he was once ranked with such contemporary greats as Titian and Tintoretto. But by later generations his fame had clouded, and he was considered just a gifted but uneven craftsman of the Venetian School. The exhibit in Bassano’s Civic Museum showed why.

Instead of the name of just one painter, “Bassano” had been the property of half a dozen. Jacopo’s father Francesco was a painter of Madonnas and Christ childs for mountain churches, had passed the art on to his son. In turn, all four of Jacopo’s sons were painters: Francesco. Leandro, Girolamo, Giambattista. One daughter, Silvia, married a painter; another daughter, Marina, had a son and grandson, both of whom became painters. All were influenced by Jacopo, and all used the adopted name Bassano.

Jacopo started them off as apprentices at the age of 15, spent years teaching them the fine points of his art. Sometimes, the old master would collaborate with them, sign paintings jointly. Son Francesco borrowed his father’s talent for animated figures, turned out huge, animal-studded landscapes. Son Leandro experimented with new color tones. Sons Girolamo and Giambattista painstakingly copied Jacopo’s style stroke for stroke. And still other imitators crept in, copying both father and sons. Before long, critics and collectors were thoroughly confused; no one could be sure which paintings were Jacopo’s and which the work of his admirers.

During the 19th century, scholars set out to unravel the puzzle and have been at it ever since. Last week’s show held 60 paintings of the “Bassano School,” gathered from all over Italy by Licisco Magagnato, curator of Bassano’s museum. Experts had spent a year winnowing out 22 paintings as Jacopo’s alone, and these showed the old man’s greatness. Each of his fine religious scenes had the delicate balance and glowing, almost phosphorescent colors that his contemporaries so admired. One painting, St. Valentine Baptizing St. Lucia, showed two cupids pouring golden rays on a group of somberly garbed figures.

Writing of this painting’s luminous quality some 150 years after Jacopo’s death, the 18th century’s Giovanni Tiepolo reported: “During my voyage to Bassano. I saw a miracle—a black cloak which seemed to be pure white.”

After modern-day journeys to Bassano, Venetian critics were just as enthusiastic, spoke of reserving a section of the next Venice Biennale for Jacopo. Wrote Venice’s Il Gazzettino: “Jacopo realized a personal vision that does not give ground even when confronted with the greatest of 16th century Venetian artists.”