
Poppy Harvey-Jones
Head of Sale
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Sold for £61,250 inc. premium
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Head of Sale
Provenance
Sale, Christie's, London, 8 July 2005, lot 84
Traditionally thought to have been born in Treviso, Francesco Bissolo is first recorded as working for the pre-eminent 16th century Venetian painter, Giovanni Bellini. He is mentioned as an assistant to Bellini on his work on the ceiling of the Sala del Maggior Consiglio in the Doge's Palace in 1492. He most probably remained with his master until about 1510 but his stylistic dependence on Bellini remained throughout his long career.
The extreme softness in the modelling of the figures in the present Madonna and Child with Saints is typical of Bissolo's oeuvre. This soft technique reveals an awareness of the work of the slightly younger artist, Palma Vecchio. Furthermore, Bissolo repeats the gesture of the Madonna reaching out to the donor that Palma uses in his Madonna and Child with Saints and a Donor now in the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza (inv. no. 309 (1934.36)) of circa 1518-20.