The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist, Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Catherine

This precious small copper reproduces the altarpiece painted by Paolo Veronese for the altar commissioned by the Giustiniani family in the church of San Francesco alla Vigna, Venice, and still in situ. The differences in colour, as well as the physiognomies and a few other details would indicate that the original prototype for this lot was the print made by Agostino Carracci after the large composition painted by Paolo. Prints by Agostino were easily available by the end of the 16th century, and some of them were also coloured.

The Greek letter tau on the mantle of Saint Anthony is absent in both the altarpiece and the print, and has been read not only as an attribute of the Saint, but also as a signature in monogram.