ANNO 1540
ÆTATIS 26.
Paris Bordone (1500–1570), who “painted women with more of an eye on the fashion-plate than on the expression of their features,” is not the author of a Portrait of a Lady (No. 1180a), nor of the Portrait of a Man and a Child (No. 1180), which seems to be a Flemish rather than a Venetian picture. His Vertumnus and Pomona (No. 1178) is less representative than his Portrait (so called) of Jeronimo Croft (No. 1179). It takes its title from the inscription, “Spss. Domino Jeronimo Crofft ... Magior suo semper obsero ... Augusta,” which is written on the letter held in the right hand.
The last dying echo of the “fire” and poetry of Giorgione is seen in some of the works of Bonifazio Veronese (1487–1553), who was also a pupil of Palma. Bonifazio is now regarded as a single individual, although formerly the varying differences in his style of painting led certain critics to regard him as three different members of the same family. The varied grouping seen in the large canvas entitled Holy Family, with St. Francis, St. Anthony, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Elizabeth, and St. John the Baptist (No. 1171), and the colouring of this canvas, seem to prove its authenticity. The smaller picture of a Holy Family (No. 1172), with a similar pedigree and a Greek inscription, which includes the same saints, is a mediocre work. The Madonna and Child, with St. Joseph, St. John the Baptist, St. Paul, and St. Ursula (No. 1674d) is a poor picture.
From the studio of Bonifazio issued Jacopo Bassano (1510?–1592), whose Vintage (No. 1428) shows his predilection for introducing animals and kneeling peasants into genre pictures, the treatment of which is apt to be rugged. This did not prevent his at times painting striking and vigorous portraits. The Louvre contains a good example of this branch of his art in the Portrait of Giovanni da Bologna (No. 1429), which is at present not exhibited. The Animals entering the Ark (No. 1423), Moses striking the Rock (No. 1424), Cana of Galilee (No. 1425), Christ bearing His Cross (No. 1426), and the Descent from the Cross (No. 1427) are also credited to him in the Catalogue.
Leandro Bassano (1558–1623), his son, is represented in the La Caze collection by an Adoration of the Magi (No. 1430) and a Rustic Labour (No. 1431).
The vigorous, ambitious and late Venetian painter Tintoretto (1518–1594), who painted portrait-groups, religious subjects, and mythological compositions on a large scale, and brought his achievements to completion with extraordinary rapidity, is not adequately represented in this Gallery, in which, however, no fewer than eleven works pass under his name. His Susanna and the Elders (No. 1464) testifies to the increasing frequency with which painters or their patrons at that period preferred the representation of sensational incidents from the Apocrypha. The subject is unattractive, but the picture, which is in a very dirty state, is wonderfully painted.
The Paradise (No. 1465) is but a preliminary sketch for the colossal painting, measuring 84 ft. × 34 ft.,—the largest oil-painting by an old master in existence,—which Tintoretto painted for the end wall of the Sala del Maggior Consiglio in the Doge’s Palace at Venice. The Portrait of a Man holding a Handkerchief in his Hand (No. 1467) reveals his great power as a portrait painter.
The Portrait of Pietro Mocenigo (No. 1470), signed petrus mocenio senator, and the Portrait of a Venetian Senator (No. 1471), inscribed anno ætatis lvii mvii iacomo tentoreto . f, are among the pictures of the La Caze collection.
In Room XV., which is given up to self-portraits by artists, hangs a picture which passes as an authentic Portrait of Tintoretto (No. 1466) by himself. It is inscribed jacobvs tentoretvs pictor venetivs and ipsivs. f.