Francesco Fontebasso Venice 1707 - 1769

This painting is the only known bozzetto for Fontebasso's vast ceiling canvas for the Palazzo Contarini a San Beneto, Venice, where it is still visible in situ (see M. Magrini, Francesco Fontebasso, Vicenza 1988, pp. 210-14, cat. no. 217, reproduced fig. 69). The ceiling in Palazzo Contarini forms part of a decorative scheme on which Gaspare Diziani also worked and was apparently carried out shortly after 1748, the year in which Giulio Contarini married Eleonora Morosini. In this scheme, according to Magrini, 'il gusto decorativo del Fontebasso raggiunge una delle più alte espressioni' (Magrini, op. cit., p. 211). The shaped corners in the present work indicate the actual form of the ceiling and though the general disposition of figures within the picture space is the same, there are extensive differences in minor details between the two works (e.g. the figures lower left are replaced with a standard in the ceiling and the figures lower right are slightly changed).

The attribution to Fontebasso has been endorsed by Dottssa. Marina Magrini on the basis of a transparency (private communication, 29 April 2002).