Oil on canvas, 149cm by 224cm.
The painting was probably commissioned by Giovanni Simone Zorzi for the Chapel of the Palazzo del Podesta in Bassano del Grappa.
He may have taken it to Venice when he left Bassano in November 1538.
It was at the Casa Widmann in Venice by 1648 and was bought by Brownlow, 9th Earl of Exeter (1725-1793), from a Signor Vitturi in 1768 whilst on his second Grand Tour.
The earl’s notes record that: ‘Lord Exeter bought it in his gondola at night!’
Jacopo dal Ponte, known as Jacopo Bassano, was born in Bassano del Grappa near Venice.
He was a pupil in the large Venetian workshop of Bonifazio Veronese (1487-1553), but was mainly active, throughout his long life, in Bassano, where he painted landscapes and genre scenes.
