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拍品專文
This beautifully preserved and recently rediscovered Mocking of Christ is a powerful demonstration of Jacopo Bassano’s innovative nocturnal compositions, exemplifying the artist’s mastery of dramatic illumination, psychological intensity, and bravura painterly execution. Particularly striking, as observed by Mattia Vinco—who first recognized the painting as an autograph work by Jacopo—is the virtuoso handling of the soldier’s green garment behind Christ, painted with boldly informal brushstrokes that anticipate the experimental techniques of Bassano’s late period and recall the expressive freedom of Titian’s final works (M. Vinco, unpublished study, 2024).
The subject, drawn from Luke (22:63-65) and Matthew (27:27-31), was frequently treated by Jacopo Bassano, his sons, and their studio; however, as Vinco notes, this exact compositional arrangement is otherwise unknown in their extensive corpus. Only two works partially approximate it: a horizontally oriented canvas formerly in the Spencer Collection at Althorp, Northamptonshire (Fototeca Zeri, no. 40507), and a related workshop drawing preserved in the Biblioteca Marucelliana, Florence (I disegni dei secoli XV e XVI della Biblioteca Marucelliana di Firenze, Rome, 1990, no. 343). Vinco further highlights three distinctive elements setting this composition apart from Bassano’s more frequently encountered variants: the tormentor immediately behind Christ, aggressively leaning forward and grasping a staff; the figure kneeling at lower left; and, notably, the central youth whose candle dramatically illuminates the nocturnal scene (M. Vinco, 2024).
Recent scholarship, especially Alessandro Ballarin’s pivotal reassessment of Bassano’s workshop, has restored Jacopo’s primacy in such complex nocturnal paintings, correcting earlier misconceptions regarding the role of his son Francesco (A. Ballarin, ‘La bottega di Jacopo Bassano negli anni Settanta: un tentativo di bilancio con qualche esempio’, Jacopo Bassano. Scritti 1964-1995, Cittadella, 1995, pp. 335-359). Contemporary accounts, such as Lorenzo Marucini (1577), praised Jacopo explicitly as the 'inventor of true nocturnes' on both canvas and pietra di paragone (L. Marucini, Il Bassano, Venice, 1577; see A. Ballarin, ‘La vecchiaia di Jacopo Bassano: le fonti e la critica’, Jacopo Bassano. Scritti 1964-1995, 1995, p. 67). Likewise, Karel van Mander, visiting Rome around 1575, described Jacopo’s candle-lit Passion scenes, noting the artist’s virtuoso handling of illumination and narrative drama (A. Ballarin, op. cit., p. 67).
Vinco persuasively situates the present canvas among Jacopo’s documented masterpieces from the mid-1570s, citing stylistic affinities with the altarpiece of Saint Martin and the Beggar (formerly Valmarino, Treviso) and the Baptism of Saint Lucilla (Museo Civico, Bassano del Grappa; A. Ballarin, op. cit., figs. 102-103). Alessandro Ballarin tentatively proposed a slightly later dating (1585-1592), contemporaneous with Jacopo’s altarpiece at Poggiana (written communication, 4 April 2025).
We are grateful to Mattia Vinco for proposing the attribution to Jacopo Bassano and for providing his unpublished study (available upon request) on which this catalogue entry is based. We are also thankful to Alessandro Ballarin for endorsing the attribution on the basis of digital images.
The subject, drawn from Luke (22:63-65) and Matthew (27:27-31), was frequently treated by Jacopo Bassano, his sons, and their studio; however, as Vinco notes, this exact compositional arrangement is otherwise unknown in their extensive corpus. Only two works partially approximate it: a horizontally oriented canvas formerly in the Spencer Collection at Althorp, Northamptonshire (Fototeca Zeri, no. 40507), and a related workshop drawing preserved in the Biblioteca Marucelliana, Florence (I disegni dei secoli XV e XVI della Biblioteca Marucelliana di Firenze, Rome, 1990, no. 343). Vinco further highlights three distinctive elements setting this composition apart from Bassano’s more frequently encountered variants: the tormentor immediately behind Christ, aggressively leaning forward and grasping a staff; the figure kneeling at lower left; and, notably, the central youth whose candle dramatically illuminates the nocturnal scene (M. Vinco, 2024).
Recent scholarship, especially Alessandro Ballarin’s pivotal reassessment of Bassano’s workshop, has restored Jacopo’s primacy in such complex nocturnal paintings, correcting earlier misconceptions regarding the role of his son Francesco (A. Ballarin, ‘La bottega di Jacopo Bassano negli anni Settanta: un tentativo di bilancio con qualche esempio’, Jacopo Bassano. Scritti 1964-1995, Cittadella, 1995, pp. 335-359). Contemporary accounts, such as Lorenzo Marucini (1577), praised Jacopo explicitly as the 'inventor of true nocturnes' on both canvas and pietra di paragone (L. Marucini, Il Bassano, Venice, 1577; see A. Ballarin, ‘La vecchiaia di Jacopo Bassano: le fonti e la critica’, Jacopo Bassano. Scritti 1964-1995, 1995, p. 67). Likewise, Karel van Mander, visiting Rome around 1575, described Jacopo’s candle-lit Passion scenes, noting the artist’s virtuoso handling of illumination and narrative drama (A. Ballarin, op. cit., p. 67).
Vinco persuasively situates the present canvas among Jacopo’s documented masterpieces from the mid-1570s, citing stylistic affinities with the altarpiece of Saint Martin and the Beggar (formerly Valmarino, Treviso) and the Baptism of Saint Lucilla (Museo Civico, Bassano del Grappa; A. Ballarin, op. cit., figs. 102-103). Alessandro Ballarin tentatively proposed a slightly later dating (1585-1592), contemporaneous with Jacopo’s altarpiece at Poggiana (written communication, 4 April 2025).
We are grateful to Mattia Vinco for proposing the attribution to Jacopo Bassano and for providing his unpublished study (available upon request) on which this catalogue entry is based. We are also thankful to Alessandro Ballarin for endorsing the attribution on the basis of digital images.