Abundant Harvest and Fishing for Trouble

h, Jacopo, if you had my drawing and I had your color, I would defy the devil himself to enable Tit-ian, Raphael, and the rest to make any show beside us, " exclaimed Tintoretto as he discussed contemporary painting with his friend Jacopo da Ponte, known as Bassano for his hometown Bassano del Grappa, near Venice. At the foot of the Alps and surrounded by chestnut woods, this small town once on the crossroads between Italy and Germany, held a special fascination, compounded over the years by aging frescoed walls and other relics of a vibrant arts community preferred by this artist over the opulent court of Emperor Rudolph, where he was invited to live. Except for traveling to Venice to study under Veronese and later to paint in the Ducal Palace, Bassano lived and worked in Bassano del Grappa all his life, well-loved, especially by the poorest residents, who benefi ted from his generosity. This attachment to the local scene was perhaps why he was slighted by Vasari, who in his Lives of the Artists , only mentioned him in passing. His paintings were " very beautiful, " the famed artist and biographer deigned, " dispersed throughout Venice, and they are held in high esteem—especially the little works with animals of all kinds. " Ever so briefl y, Vasari captured a specialty of Bas-sano's thriving Venetian workshop: biblical themes treated as genre in domestic scenes with animals. Least known of the 16th-century masters, Jacopo Bas-sano was the son of one artist and the father of four. He received his early lessons at home from his father, Fran-cesco the Elder, a provincial painter, and retained some attachment to these humble roots, despite his grasp of art developments of his day, among them mannerism and the engravings of Dürer and Parmigianino. He led the Bassano School—a family of artists, including in addition to his sons, his son-in-law, grandson, and great-grandson—with a distinctive style and considerable output. So many used the name Bassano that distinguishing the work of individual members and admirers became a challenge for historians. " During my voyage to Bassano, " wrote Giovanni Tiepolo in the 18th century about St. Valentine Baptizing St. Lucia, " I saw a miracle—a black cloak which seemed to be pure white. " Tiepolo was taken by the luminosity of color, another hallmark of Bassano's work. Using fewer colors than his contemporaries and keeping …