JACOPO DA PONTE, CALLED IL BASSANO BASSANO DEL GRAPPA C.1510 – 1592AND FRANCESCO DA PONTE, CALLED FRANCESCO BASSANO THE YOUNGERBASSANO DEL GRAPPA 1549 – 1592 | The Gathering of Manna;Abraham and Melchizedek

William Beckford (1760–1844), Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire;
By inheritance to his daughter Susan, who married
Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton and 7th Duke of Brandon (1767–1852);
Thence by descent to William Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton (1845–95);
His sale (the Hamilton Palace sale), London, Christie's, 24 June 1882 (4th day), lot 396 (as a pair of wings of a triptych), for 580 Guineas to Agnew;
Sir Henry Hope Edwardes, 10th Baronet (1829–1900), Wootton Hall, Ashbourne, Derby:
His posthumous sale, London, Christie's, 27 April 1901, lot 17, for 85 Guineas to Agnew;
Anonymous sale ('a Joint Property'), London, Christie's, 10 December 1982, lot 24;
With H.P. Buchen, Berlin;
From whom probably acquired for the present collection.

The canvases have old and sympathetic linings that have not overly flattened the paint surface. There are some areas of wear but no major damages are visible bar some scuffs and small losses at the outer margins - a result of frame abrasion. Inspection under Ultra Violet light reveals a thick old varnish that fluoresces opaque - a window of the varnish has been cleaned over the distant landscape in the canvas signed by Jacopo. A few scattered retouchings are visible - the most significant areas of which are in the back of the woman leaning forward wearing white, and at the upper left margin of the canvas signed by Francesco. The canvasses appear to be on overall good condition - they are offered in matching carved and gilt frames in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Although one of the most important Italian painters of the sixteenth century, Jacopo Bassano was a very humble man, and declined all invitations to leave the small provincial city of Bassano, where he spent his entire career. The same was not true of his son Francesco il giovane, who, after training in his father's workshop between 1560 and 1570, left Bassano in 1578 to move to Venice, where he established a successful and lucrative workshop of his own. The two painters had by this date worked together on a number of commissions, including, for example, the altarpiece of The Circumcision signed by both artists and painted in 1578 for the cathedral at Bassano del Grappa.¹ Despite Francesco's move, father and son continued to maintain a close relationship, and worked together, for example, on Francesco's great commission of the paintings for the ceiling of the Council Chamber in the Palazzo Ducale in Venice. The present canvases depict two episodes from the Old Testament: Abraham is received in triumph by the High Priest Melchizedek (Genesis 14: 18–24), and in the companion, the Israelites are shown gathering the miraculous fall of manna that relieved them form starvation in the wilderness (Exodus 14:19–31). The original configuration of the two paintings is unclear, but it seems that rather than being independent works by father and son, they were jointly worked on by both.

William Beckford was a compulsive but consummate collector, as well as a patron and scholar of the arts. Orphaned when only nine years old, he inherited a fabulous fortune from his family's Jamaican plantations. His magnificent collection, eclectic and at times theatrical in taste, but including works of the very highest quality, was housed latterly at Fonthill Abbey, the great Gothic extravagance (since destroyed) built for him by James Wyatt between 1797 and 1812. Beckford preferred Italian art to that of the North, and these two paintings by Jacopo and Francesco Bassano typify his taste for Venetian paintings, particularly those of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.  These included Giovanni Bellini's Agony in the garden and Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan and Cima da Conegliano's Saint Jerome, all now in the National Gallery in London, and Bellini's Giovanni Mocenigo now in the Frick Collection in New York. These hung alongside celebrated works by Van der Weyden, Gerrit Dou, Filippino Lippi, Perugino and Velázquez, and three Claudes, including the famous 'Altieri' Claudes now at Anglesey Abbey. The present works were scheduled to be included in the sale of the contents of Fonthill between the 8 and 18 October 1822, as lots 66 and 67, to be conducted by Christie's on the premises, but postponed by the sale of the Abbey and many  of its possessions to John Farqar (1751–1826). The collection was later sold at Phillips in 1823 (by then no longer including these two pictures), and Beckford retired in reduced circumstances (but with many of his most treasured possessions) to Bath.

1 See A. Ballarin, Jacopo Bassano. Scritti 1964-1995, Padua 1995, vol. I, reproduced in colour fig. 112.