Lot 115: Francesco Vecellio (Pieve di Cadore 1475-1559/60)

Saint Sebastian and the Infant Saint John the Baptist: a fragment oil on canvas 25 1/8 x 141/4 in. (63.8 c 36.2 cm.) PROVENANCE Charles Albert de Burlet, Basel. LITERATURE B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Venetian School, London, 1957, I, p. 194; II, fig. 931. NOTES This picture was first attributed by Bernard Berenson to Francesco Vecellio ( loc. cit. ) who worked in the studio of his younger brother, Titian. Trained by Giovanni Bellini, Francesco served in the Venetian army in circa 1508-9 and when he returned to painting he came under the influence of his brother, assisting him on occasion, for example, with the polyptych of The Virgin and Child Enthroned (Sedico, parish church); planned by Titian, but executed by Francesco it is probably his finest work. Throughout his career his style remained dependent on Titian's early work, sometimes incorporating the influence of other artists, as for example in the altarpiece of The Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints (S. Vito di Cadore, Venice), which recalls the work of Palma Vecchio. The present picture, which is the right part of a Sacra Conversazione, also shows besides the strong influence of his brother in the landscape that of Paris Bordone. The influence of the latter became more apparent in the work of Francesco after he left Venice in 1534 to look after the family's affairs in Pieve di Cadore.