JACOPO DA BASSANO BIOGRAPHY
Jacopo Dal Ponte, also known as Jacopo da Bassano, was born in Bassano del Grappa in 1510.
Son of Francesco Il Vecchio, well-known painter of the time, Jacopo begins his artistic career right in his father’s workshop where he paints in 1530 the “Nativity Scene of Valstagna”, following the principles of the Venetian School and Mannerism.
In that year he leaves his father’s workshop and heads to Venice at the Bonifacio DE’ Pitati school where he stays for five years.
In Venice Jacopo Bassano, while remaining faithful to Mannerism, is influenced by the techniques of Lorenzo Lotto and Tiziano Vecellio. He then begins depicting landscapes and human forms with such a light that further accentuate all details. In the more mature paintings, one notices clearly an art that becomes more attentive to shapes, thus creating vibrant, imaginative and never repetitive compositions, with chromatic and luminous effects. An example is the painting of the Garden of Eden, in Bassano del Grappa, where Adam and Eve are portrayed with animals resting in the foreground enveloped by a rich landscape. In 1540 Jacopo returns to his hometown to attend Confraternities and continue his pictorial activity. Jacopo da Ponte remained in Bassano all his life, where he died in 1592, moving to neighbouring countries only for assignments.
And it is precisely in Bassano del Grappa, inside the Civic Museum, where the largest group of artwork by Jacopo Dal Ponte is preserved.
By visiting the Hall you can study all the artistic phases of the Master.