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| Artist | Attributed to studio of Bassano family (Italian painters, active 16th-17th centuries) |
| Previous attributions | Previously attributed to Bassano, Jacopo, il vecchio (Italian painter and draftsman, ca. 1510-1592) Previously attributed to Tintoretto, Jacopo (Italian painter, 1519-1594) |
| Title | Portrait of Silba Cappello |
| Date | 1572 (dated) |
| Material | oil on canvas |
| Measurements | 91 x 79 cm (estimate) |
| Inscription | front ul 'Jacopo de Ponte fec Bassano/Silva Capello 1572' |
| Description | Jacopo da Ponte, known as Bassano after his birthplace of Bassano del Grappa, was one of the pre-eminent Venetian artists of his day. Although he established a reputation as a fine portraitist, in his later years most of the portraits that emerged from his studio were painted by his sons Francesco, Giambattista and Leandro. Nothing is known about the sitter, Silba (or Silva) Cappello, but judging from his costume, he was a Venetian senator. |
| Subject | portrait (Silba Cappello); figure |
| Collection | Beecroft Art Gallery, Westcliff-on-Sea |
| Current accession number | SOUAG:B64 |
| Acquisition details | Bequeathed by Walter G. Beecroft 1961. |
| Provenance | Earl of Clare sale, Christie's, 29 June 1889, lot 62, as 'A Venetian Senator' by Tintoretto, bought by Trafford for £8; Kenneth Graham, Duke Street, London, by 1954; purchased by Walter G. Beecroft, 12 February 1954, as 'Portrait of Silva Cappello in a red cloak', for £70. |
| Notes | Christie's stencil '553a'; (partial) label '.c.s.,L.'; handwritten label 'T.38'. Jacopo da Ponte (Bassano)'s sons, Francesco, Giambattista and Leandro all contributed to his workshop in varying degrees. In the 1580s portraits by Bassano became very scarce. Stylistically it is consistent with other portraits from the studio of Bassano and it is suggested that this attribution be retained. The inscription is almost certainly by a later hand; when Jacopo Bassano signed his works, he used a monogram. It has also proven impossible to find biographical information on Silba (or Silva) Capello, who, to judge from his costume, was a Venetian gentleman, possibly a senator. However, the last dealer (Kenneth Graham) notes on the receipt that 'This painting has been cleaned and the above inscriptions found genuine by the hand of Bassano'. This seems unlikely given Jacopo Bassano's use of a monogram rather than a signature, whilst Leandro signed his pictures with the Latin form of his name (Leander Bassanensis). |
| Rights status | Copyright Southend Borough Council |
| Author | Dr Rachel Sloan |
