* Jacopo Robusti, called Jacopo Tintoretto, and Studio Venice 1518 - 1594

The present lot, first published in 1982 (see Literature below), represents an important work in the oeuvre of Jacopo Tintoretto, stylistically similar to  the paintings of the same subject in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and in the Stanley Moss Collection, New York. Tintoretto incorporated this subject into the scheme for his most important and ambitious project, the decorations for the Scuola di San Rocco, where it formed part of the decorations for the Sala Grande (1579-81). The present work includes unmistakeable signs of the master, particularly in the handling of the figure of the old man carrying bread at the forefront of the composition, and of the old man leaning on a cane in the center of the composition. Also the broad application of paint in the fish still-life renders a shimmering quality characteristic of Tintoretto's autograph works. The lyrical vignette of the elaborately costumed women rushing to the hilltop, in the far left of the composition closely recalls elements of the Stanley Moss painting. The fantastical feeling of this composition and the interpretation of the biblical subject, are reminiscent of Tintoretto's early work, but the vast spatial treatment of the scene recalls his later paintings. The delicate palette, and use of coral pinks, greens and yellows recall Tintoretto's mastery of color and light from other works dateable to the 1560s such as Moses Drawing Water from a Rock, in the State Art Museum, Frankfurt.  Palluchini and Rossi (see the Literature below) postulate that parts of the background landscape were executed by another hand from Tintoretto's studio. Palluchini and Rossi suggest that the background is stylistically similar to the landscapes of Niccolo del'Abate, since the taste, style and more restrained coloration are different from Tintoretto's landscapes.