Workshop Of Francesco Bassano, XVII Century, Allegory Of Winter

Workshop of Francesco Bassano, XVII century

Allegory of Winter

Oil on canvas, cm 107.5 x 171.5

Concordantly known as Bassano from the name of its city of origin, Bassano del Grappa, the name was fixed by art critics during the modern age; that of "Da Ponte" was a company before litteram, family run, active for about a century and a half. Initiated by Francis the Elder, in the first years of the sixteenth century, achieved great appreciation throughout northern Italy with the personality of Jacopo, starting from the second half of the fourth decade, and the brothers of these Giambattista and Gianfrancesco. After him, his sons Francesco il Giovane, Giambattista, Leandro and Gerolamo will be the interpreters of family tradition. The compositions are derived from a series conceived by Jacopo Bassano (1510-1592) and the style characters suggest that its execution is related to his school, whose epigones are found in activities throughout the seventeenth century. The scene here represented does not seem to represent a simple landscape but rather an Allegory of winter, very frequent subject regarding the production of the workshop Bassano. The activities carried out by the characters are reminiscent of those typical of the winter season, well highlighted even by the bare trees and the snowy landscape in the background, separated from the scenic point of view compared to the first floor. In other versions of the work you can also see an isolated biblical scene, namely the Christ carrying a cross, absent in this last one, where you keep the details related to everyday peasant life: the collection of wood, the family around the fire, the animals that bind the various parts of the painting and the panorama at the horizon sprinkled with snow. The production of Bassano’s workshop is characterized by the accentuation of shadows in contrast with the vivacity of colors and lights, which stand out in the dark environment of winter night. The rich tones, the bright contrasts, the biblical-pastoral subject, the rural setting fit perfectly into the context of the painting school bassanesca.