HELSINKI.- The Sinebrychoff Art Museum is showing paintings by a 16th-century Italian Renaissance master. This exhibition of works by Jacopo Bassano (c. 1515–1592) produced by the Museum is the first monographic presentation of his art in Europe outside of Italy. Although less well-known to the public than his great contemporaries Titian, Jacopo Tintoretto and Paolo Veronese, Jacopo Bassano is one of the most important representatives of the Venetian Renaissance.

“We are profiling this highly original master specifically through the paintings that made him popular in his time. His works were praised by contemporary critics and were in great demand on the art market,” says Museum Director Kirsi Eskelinen.

The artworks in the exhibition date from the 1550s to 1570s. Extensive international cooperation has resulted in an exhibition comprising a total of 34 of Jacopo Bassano’s works. This is the first time that some of them have been shown in a monographic exhibition of his oeuvre. It also includes some extremely rare coloured-chalk sketches on loan from the Louvre and the Gallerie degli Uffizi. Other partners in the exhibition include the Gallerie dell’Accademia, Galleria Borghese and Museo Civico di Bassano del Grappa in Italy, and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

The exhibition publication, Jacopo Bassano – Renaissance Painter of Venetian Country Life, is authored by leading Bassano researchers. The exhibition is curated by Kirsi Eskelinen, PhD, and Dr Claudia Caramanna, both researchers specializing in Jacopo Bassano.

Innovator and skilled depictor of animals

Jacopo Bassano created a new biblical-pastoral genre in painting. These works from the 1560s depict events from the Bible set in an idyllic rural landscape, with animals and shepherds as central elements. The landscape in the background is from Monte Grappa, a mountain in Jacopo’s home region. During the 1570s, depictions of details of everyday life became so prominent in the paintings that it is hard to identify the biblical subject.

“A key feature of the paintings was the landscape, which was filled with peasants, their animals, and everyday chores. The animals, in particular, exemplify Jacopo’s virtuoso painting skills, and, as it were, serve as his signature,” Eskelinen says.

The biblical-pastoral paintings brought Bassano’s workshop increased success. Its output was organized strictly and efficiently in order to meet the high demand. The paintings re-used earlier compositions, as well as the same posture and figure motifs. They also kept to the standard sizes preferred by clients. The biblical-pastoral paintings and various series of paintings, for instance, depicting the four seasons, were among the most popular works.

Bassano’s family business appealed to the royal courts of Europe and to commoners

Jacopo Bassano plied his trade in the workshop founded by his father, Francesco il Vecchio (c. 1470/1475–1539), in their hometown of Bassano on the mainland periphery of the city-state of Venice, from which Jacopo adopted his surname. He took over management of the workshop after his father’s death. In the traditional Venetian manner, it was a family business in which Jacopo was assisted by his four sons Francesco (1549–1592), Leandro (1557–1622), Giambattista (1553–1613) and Gerolamo (1566–1621).

Under Jacopo’s leadership the workshop thrived and, besides traditional paintings, produced frescoes, altar paintings and portraits, as well as undertaking a variety of decorative tasks. It was situated far away from the artistic centre, Venice, as a consequence of which its output became quite diverse, unlike the workshops of the great masters in Venice, which focused solely on paintings. One of the four ledgers from Bassano’s workshop, Libro secondo, has been preserved to this day, and hence the workshop’s output and clientele are well documented. The ledger has also made it possible to accurately date Jacopo’s works.

Jacopo Bassano was the workshop’s master, whose handiwork his sons imitated meticulously. The sons learned to reproduce their father’s most popular motifs, with several different versions being made. The exhibition also features works painted by the sons. It is difficult to distinguish paintings by Jacopo from those of his offspring, nor was that the intention, rather, the workshop specifically aimed at a uniform style. Jacopo made numerous paintings together with his sons.

“It appears that Jacopo also deliberately promoted his sons’ artistic careers by co-signing their first important commissions. The master’s signature guaranteed the quality of the paintings while, at the same time, Jacopo set his seal on the boys as continuers of his own work,” Eskelinen says.

The Bassano name became known abroad, too, as far away as the courts of Europe. The workshop’s clientele included both the nobility and commoners. The Bassanos’ workshop operated uninterrupted until the death of Jacopo’s grandson and successor Jacopo Apollonio in 1654.

Material analysis reveals blue pigment

The initial impetus for the exhibition was two paintings by Jacopo Bassano in the Sinebrychoff Art Museum’s collections: Virgin and Child with John the Baptist and Saint Anthony Abbot (c. 1561-62) and John the Baptist Gathering Flowers for His Parents (c.1559–1560). These have now undergone further study and the Finnish National Gallery’s Conservator Suvi Kervinen has conserved Virgin and Child with John the Baptist and Saint Anthony Abbot for this exhibition.

“This is perhaps the finest Italian Renaissance painting in Finland. It also has a very exciting provenance, since it belonged to a King of France’s Bourbon dynasty, as is evidenced by the coat of arms on the frame,” Eskelinen says.

Hanne Tikkala, Senior Researcher at the Finnish National Gallery, carried out technical analyses of both of these works. Her research revealed the reason for the brown colouring of John the Baptist Gathering Flowers for His Parents – the blue used in it had been completely lost over time. The painting uses smalt (cobalt glass), which was commonly employed as a blue pigment in the 16th century. The originally bright blue would have been visible very widely in the painting. So we know that its overall hue was quite different from that seen by viewers today.

“The material analysis has produced some very important information. Knowing about the existence of the blue also alters our interpretation of these works. This is a discovery of international significance, since the blue pigments used by Jacopo have not previously been studied in this way. Degradation of the blue can also be seen in three other works in the exhibition,” Eskelinen says.

The conservation and technical analysis of the works by Jacopo Bassano from the Finnish National Gallery’s collection are revealed to the public in greater detail in a video in the exhibition. This features a digital reconstruction of John the Baptist Gathering Flowers for His Parents made by the Finnish National Gallery’s photographer Aleks Talve, in which the blue has been made visible to match the results of the material analysis.

The importance of this exhibition and the committed involvement of our partners are also reflected in the fact that the lending museums – Musei Civici di Vicenza, National Gallery, Prague and Museo Civico di Bassano del Grappa – have also conserved the works now on loan here.