(Bassano del Grappa 1510-1592)
The Temptation of Saint Anthony
oil on canvas, 52 x 135 cm, unframed

Provenance:
Santa Maria Assunta, Civezzano, Italy;
probably sold in 1875;
Private collection, England;
European Private Collection

Literature:
C. Ridolfi, Le Maraviglie dell’arte ovvero le vite degli illustri pittori veneti e dello stato, Venezia 1648, pp. 384-385;
G. Verci, Notizie intorno alla vita e alle opere di pittori scultori e intagliatori della città di Bassano, Venezia 1775, p. 104;
S. Bettini, Le pale bassanesche di Civezzano, in “Rivista d’arte”, 1931, 13. 1931, pp. 528, 531 (as wereabout unknown);
L. Borgo, Jacopo Bassano’s “Temptation of St. Anthony, in “The Burlington Magazine”, 1975, 117. 1975, pp. 603-607, fig. 46 (as English private collection);
Jacopo Bassano c. 1510 – 1592, ed. by P. L. Brown, P. Marini, exhibition catalogue, Bassano del Grappa 1992, p. CLI-CLII, fig. 49;
La bottega dei fiorentini. Un secolo di pittura nella Valsugana del ‘600, ed. by V. Fabris, exhibition catalogue, Borgo Valsugana 2007, p. 22

The present painting is the predella for the altar-piece Saint Anthony Abbot with Saints Vigilius and Jerome, originally part of a cycle for the church of Santa Maria Assunta in Civezzano. This was executed by Jacopo and his son Francesco in the 1570s.

The cycle was originally composed of four altar-pieces, representing the Meeting at the Golden Gate, the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine, the Preaching of the Baptist and St Anthony Abbot with St Vigilius and Jerome. Each one had the relative predella; respectively the Madonna of Mercy, the Martydom of St. Catherine and the Beheading of the Baptist. The present painting is the fourth predella.

In 1648 Ridolfi described the complete cycle, including this fourth predella, “il Santo Abbate tentato dai diavoli”. This work was sold, probably in 1875, when the church was being refurnished, and was considered lost until its rediscovery in 1975 by Ludovico Borgo in a private collection (see literature).

The subject represents the second fight between the devils and St. Anthony, in which the Saint’s invocation of Christ was received.

Borgo says that: “the first proof of its authenticity is its predella shape and its width, which exceed that of the altar-piece by only four centimetres”. He ascribes the high quality of the painting to Jacopo’s hand alone, without Francesco’s assistance.

The painting shows a Titianesque tone, while the dark atmosphere is reminiscent of the late works of Jacopo, such as Entombment in the church of Santa Maria in Vanzo in Padua. The canvas also bears strong similarities to the predella of the Martyrdom of St Catherine in Civezzano, which has a similar landscape, typical of this artist.