Workshop Of Leandro Del Ponte, Known As Leandro Bassano (1557–1622) Adoratio Of The Shepherds

Workshop of Leandro del Ponte, known as Leandro Bassano (Bassano del Grappa 1557 – 1622)

Adoration of the Shepherds

Oil on Canvas, 75 x 88 cm

With the frame 62 x 97

The Adoration of the Shepherds examined here fits fully into the successful iconographic tradition developed and spread by the Dal Ponte workshop, one of the longest-running and most prolific pictorial dynasties of the Venetian Renaissance. The work, attributable to the circle of Leandro dal Ponte known as Leandro Bassano, interprets a subject that enjoyed extraordinary success within the family workshop, so much so that it has been replicated in numerous versions now preserved in museum and private collections in Europe and beyond. The origins of this artistic epic have their roots in the Bassano of the fifteenth century, when Jacopo di Berto, a tanner from Gallio, settled in 1464 in Contra’ del Ponte, giving rise to the surname destined to become famous. It was his son Francesco, known as the Elder, who started the painting business, organizing a lively and versatile workshop, more artisanal than cultured, but already perfectly integrated into the local economic fabric. With the next generation, and in particular with Jacopo Bassano, the Dal Ponte family's painting made a decisive qualitative leap: art became more intense, poetic, and profoundly innovative, while maintaining a strong connection with the dimension of everyday life. It is in this climate that an unmistakable figurative language was born, characterized by a “mystery of everyday life” capable of merging sacred and domestic, devotion and rural reality. Jacopo's sons – Francesco the Younger, Giambattista, Leandro and Gerolamo – assimilated and developed this visual heritage, transforming the workshop into a true artistic enterprise with an international scope. Their works, from large sacred paintings to nocturnes and pastoral scenes, won over illustrious collectors from across the European continent. The canvas under examination clearly reflects this production context. The composition, set in a rustic stable open to the landscape, organizes the figures according to a tried and tested scheme: the Virgin, placed in the center, leaning delicately towards the Child, while the shepherds, captured in attitudes of humble wonder, crowd the scene together with the animals. From a stylistic point of view, the work faithfully takes up models and solutions of the first Dalpontian Nativities, suggesting a dating within the production of Jacopo's sons. This Adoration of the Shepherds is therefore a significant piece of a history spanning over a century, which concluded with the last replicas made by Jacopo Apollonio based on his grandfather's models. An epic in images that, starting from the province of Veneto, was able to establish itself on an international scale, leaving a lasting impression on the history of European painting.