THE MERCHANTS CAST OUT OF THE TEMPLE

The Bassano are three generations of painters named da Ponte, though traditionally known after the name of their home town, Bassano del Grappa, situated at the Véneto, at the foot of the Dolomite Alps. The pioneer was Francesco "The Elder", a painter with a somewhat archaistic style, who was the first one to apprentice his son Jacopo, the most outstanding figure of the dynasty.

In his turn, Jacopo apprenticed his four sons (Francesco and Leandro being the most distinguished of them), together with numerous assistants in his large workshop. The works produced there were very much in demand by Venetian customers as well as by kings and collectors all over Europe.

In his turn, Jacopo apprenticed his four sons (Francesco and Leandro being the most distinguished of them), together with numerous assistants in his large workshop. The works produced there were very much in demand by Venetian customers as well as by kings and collectors all over Europe.

Technical information:
Catalogue Nr. 28
Size: 1,49 x 2,33m.
Oil on canvas
Date: 1568-69



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Jacopo da Ponte, called "Bassano" (1510/1515-1592)
Italian School 16th century

The last years of the 1560's marked a new direction in his paintings. He left aside mannerist principles (the elongated proportions of his figures became more balanced and the climate more peaceful) and adopted a very personal style, strongly anchored in naturalism and with marked contrasts of light and shadow, which, to a certain extent, has made him being considered as a forerunner of Baroque artistic trends.

Jacopo is known for the iconography innovation consisting of incorporating numerous bucolic and pastoral elements in his religious paintings. In the course of time he specialised in this kind of depictions, and biblical scenes produced in his large workshop were usually accompanied by peasants, shepherds, flocks, farm animals and household equipment (in this painting, for instance, there are sheep and an eggs basket on the foreground).

Different members of the Bassano family made different versions of the biblical passage "The merchants cast out of the Temple". In the present one, Jacopo has located the scene in a large architectural space - simulating Jerusalem Temple - with arches and classic columns, where the crowd of merchants is fidgeting. Many of them are to leave the temple by the right door, impelled by the choleric figure of Christ, in the background, rather out of place in his role of main character of the scene.