BARTOLOMEO BASSANTE (Brindisi, ca. 1614-Naples, 1648)

The Death of Abel

Ca. 1630-1640 Oil on canvas 65 x 53.5 cm RELATED LITERATURE:

HERNÁNDEZ PERERA, J. “Bartolomé Bassante y el Maestro del Anuncio de los Pastores”, Archivo Español de Arte, XXX, Madrid, 1957, pp. 211-222. PÉREZ SÁNCHEZ, A. E. Pintura italiana del siglo XVII en España. Madrid: Fundación Valdecilla, 1965, pp. 375-376. SPINOSA, N. Pittura napoletana del `600. Milano: Longanessi, 1984. ––––––. «La pittura del seicento nell'Italia meridionale», La Pittura in Italia. Il seicento. Milán: Electa, 1989, p. 494. Pintura napolitana. De Caravaggio a Giordano. Exhibition catalogue. Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura, 1985. BRIGANTI, G. “La Natività del Bassante nella chiesa di San Giacomo degli Spagnoli”, Scritti di storia dell'arte in onore di Raffaello Caussa. Naples: Electa, 1988, pp. 179-180.

There are few references to this artist although he is mentioned as a pupil of Ribera, whom he imitated to the point that his works were mistaken for his master’s. The lack of information on Bassante’s life and work has led to attempts to identify him with the Master of the Adoration of the Shepherds.

Of the few certain attributions to his hand, the best known is the canvas in the Museo del Prado of The Adoration of the Shepherds which is clearly signed and was previously in the collection of Isabella Farnese (fig. 1). Aside from that work only one of the other paintings given to the artist is signed. The Prado canvas is thus exceptionally important and its stylistic analysis reveals the artist’s proximity to the forms of Neapolitan artists such as Solimena and Stanzione. It also shows how he moved away from Ribera’s forms and style (as referred to in older sources) and came closer to other painters of the time such as Antonio de Bellis and Cavallino.

The Death of Abel can be related to the canvas in the Prado and is also very close to The Meeting of David and Abigail attributed by Federico Zeri to Giovanni Battista Spinelli, of which only a black and white photograph is known to the present author (Fototeca Zeri, inv. 51643) (fig. 2).

2

Fig. 1. Bartolomeo Bassante. The Adoration of the Shepherds. Undated. Oil on canvas, 99 x 131 cm. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado (P-000047).

Fig. 2. Attributed to Giovanni Battista Spinelli, The Meeting between David and Abigail. Undated, present whereabouts unknown. Fototeca Zeri (inv. 51643).

3