(Vicenza 1470–1521) The Virgin and Child in a vast landscape, oil on panel, 72 x 65 cm, original frame decorated with polychromy and gilding, 

We are grateful to Everett Fahy, formerly in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, for identifying the artist. We also thank Luke Syson, National Gallery, London, Dr. Sylvia Ferino-Pagden, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, and Prof. Mauro Natale, Geneva, for their assistance in researching this painting.

Literature: comp. G. Gerola, Francesco Verla e gli altri pittora della sua famiglia, Rome 1908; T. Borenius, The Painters of Vicenza, London 1909; L. Puppi, “Francesco Verla”, in: Rivista dell’Istituto Nazionale d’Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte, N. S., 9, 1960/61, pp. 266–97 .

In identifying this painting by one of the rarest artists of the Terra Ferma, Everett Fahy has succeeded in making an important rediscovery for the genesis of Umbrian painting. The painting has long been considered to be a work by Perugino and his workshop. From the latter’s large circle of students, Pinturicchio has been suggested as a possible author. In terms of style, the painting is reminiscent of the great traditions of Umbrian masters active around the turn of the century (the composition resembles the type invented by Perugino and adapted by Pinturicchio), but the linear rendering of the drapery and the faces also reveal more northern influences. For instance, the posture of the Christ Child is similar to the type used by Bartolomeo Montagna, such as in his altarpiece The Virgin Enthroned, with St Homobonus, a Beggar, St Francis, the Beatified Bernardo da Feltre, and St Catherine (San Marco, Lonigo, c. 1515). It seems that Verla was trained in Montagna’s workshop in Vicenza. Verla was first mentioned as a painter in Vicenza in 1499. In all of his works, an influence from Mantegna’s school, which had prevailed in Montagna’s workshop, manifests itself. However, it was Perugino who had the most decisive impact on Verla’s work. A document dating from 1503 suggests that Verla sojourned in Rome. There is no further evidence about the artist’s whereabouts until 1508, but Verla’s works dating from after that time reveal a distinct dependence on Perugino’s art, so that it can be assumed that Verla was employed in Perugino’s workshop or stayed in Rome and Perugia over a lengthy period. His first major documented work shows that he was completely under his master’s spell: the frescoes for the Sarego Pagallo Chapel in S. Bartolomeo in Vicenza (1509) quote the latter’s Decemviri Altar, while a lunette from 1512 in S. Francesco in Schio is a simplified copy after Perugino’s polyptich for St Peter’s (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon). His altarpiece in Velo d’Astrico makes reference to Perugino’s painting for Santa Maria degli Angelis. Influences from Perugino’s other students can be observed here as well, such as in the colouring, which is reminiscent of Antonio del Massaro, called Il Pastura (several works by Verla are still attributed to Pastura today). The trees in the background, however, indicate Verla’s roots in the Veneto school, since they correspond with the types invented by Bellini. Verla is the only painter from that region who broke with Venetian conventions and can be regarded as an exponent of Umbrian painting in Northern Italy.
 

We are grateful to Everett Fahy, for suggesting the attribuition to Francesco Verla. Comparative Literature: G. Gerola, Francesco Verla e gli altri pittora della sua famiglia, Rom 1908; T. Borenius, The Painters of Vicenza, London 1909; L. Puppi, Francesc