The Annunciation to the Shepherds

Details

Giambattista da Ponte, called Giambattista Bassano (1553-1613)
The Annunciation to the Shepherds
oil on canvas
30½ x 253/8 in. (80 x 64.7 cm.)

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis. All sold lots not cleared by 2.00p.m. on Monday 6 November 2000 will be removed to the warehouse of:- Cadogan Tate Ltd., Fine Art Services, Cadogan House, 2 Relay Road, London, W12 7SJ. Telephone: 44(0)20 8735 3700. Facsimile: 44(0)20 8735 3701. Lots will be available for collection following transfer to Cadogan Tate, every week-day from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. An initial transfer and administration charge of 3 pounds and 20 pence and a storage charge of 1 pound and sixty pence per lot per day will be payable to Cadogan Tate. These charges are subject to VAT and an insurance surcharge. (Exceptionally large pictures will be subject to a surcharge).

Lot Essay

The prototype, now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, was painted by Giambattista's father Jacopo. Both Francesco Bassano and Jacopo's sons made several versions of the composition. The present version is closest to the one in the Muesso Civico in Padua (inv. no. 323) by Giambattista's brother, Leandro. However, as Professer Rearick has pointed out (letter 18 Febuary 1996), the youth in profile at the far right whose depiction has the character of a portrait does not appear in any other version. He suggests that it might be a portrait of the patron who commissioned the canvas.

Professor Rearick also recognised the hand of Giambattista and dates the picture to circa 1590-1595. Although Giambattista was influenced by his siblings' work his pictures are 'softer, more pictorial, with a colour range that emphasizes beige, ivory, and fawn in a lighter harmony'.

We are grateful to Professor Roger Rearick for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.

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