The Tribute Money,
oil on panel, 77 x 56.5 cm, unframed

Provenance:
Collection of the family Bagnési-Bellincini, Florence and Modena;
where acquired by the present owner, circa 1950

The present painting relates to Titian’s celebrated composition now in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, on panel, with the same measurements (see inv. no., gall.-no. 169; see: H. E. Wethey, Titian. The Religious Paintings, pp. 163-164, n. 147) which was commissioned by Alfonso I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, in 1516, and was probably used as the door of a cabinet for collection of coins and medals. The painting by Titian was then moved to Modena by Cesare d’Este at the end of the sixteenth century, and in 1746 it was acquired by August III of Saxony for his collection in Dresden.

It has been suggested that the present painting may have been executed after Titian’s original when it was in Modena (see provenance). The attention to naturalistic details, the strong lighting effects and colour contrasts suggest that the present painting may be by a Flemish artist.

The subject is taken from the Gospel of Matthew (22:21), when the Pharisees tried to trap Christ. The present composition combines the story in a single image: on the left, the figure of Christ, and on the right, the figure of the Pharisee.

Amongst the earliest-known copies of the composition there is a panel in the Monastery of Las Descalzas Reales, Madrid and another smaller panel in the Uffizi, Florence, attributed to the Ferrarese School, circa 1520. A copy by Domenico Fetti, depicted around 1620 is in the Walters Art Museum of Baltimore.