Portrait of a Man of Letters (possibly Giovanni Marcello)

The Portrait of a Man of Letters is one of Jacopo Bassano’s few portraits and the only one that he signed. The subject demonstrates that he is a learned gentleman through the open book that rests under one hand, the adjacent letter, and the glove he holds in the other hand. Balding, dressed in black, and set against an olive colored background, he seems lost in thought, perhaps pondering something that he has just read. The oriental carpet on the table appears in many of Bassano’s paintings and was probably one that he owned and used in his home or studio. The jewel-like colors and the tactile precision with which the color and texture of the carpet are depicted are typical of Bassano’s style. The man’s position behind the parapet was a somewhat archaic convention at this point in Italian art, but the almost golden light that bathes the sitter is typical of contemporary Venetian painting. Based on his appearance, it is possible that this is a portrait of Giovanni Marcello, a senator and captain in Verona who died in 1555.1

Jacopo da Ponte, known as Jacopo Bassano, was apprenticed to his father, also a painter, in the town of Bassano. Jacopo Bassano trained in Venice and traveled there frequently throughout his life. It is therefore not surprising that he was at first heavily influenced by the Venetian artist Titian. By the middle of the 16th century Bassano’s reputation placed him, along with Veronese and Tintoretto, as one of the most influential northern Italian artists.