Leandro Bassano Biography
Leandro da Ponte, known as Leandro Bassano, born on 10 June 1557 in Bassano del Grappa, was a famous Italian painter of the Mannerist period.
He belonged to a family of Venetian painters and his father Jacopo Bassano was also a painter. His brothers, including Francesco Bassano, were also devoted to painting. His grandfather was Francesco Bassano the elder, known as Bassano (1470-1539).
He paints portraits and subjects of various nature, and at the same time paintings of a religious nature. In 1578, when his older brother Francesco moved to Venice, Leandro became his father's main assistant and inherited from him the workshop near the famous Bassano Bridge (hence their surname). Only in 1582, his father allowed him to sign an altarpiece with him, the "San Rocco in Glory with Saints Job and Sebastian", and a few months later to sign as his own the "Circumcision" in the parish church of Rosà.
In 1592, Leandro moved to Venice to replace his brother Francesco in the workshop that had belonged to Tintoretto. From then on he distanced himself from family tradition, gaining notoriety for his portraits with marked contours and the use of chiaroscuro.
In 1596 he was commissioned to paint the portrait of the Doge Marino Grimani, which later caused him to be named Knight of Saint Mark.
Leandro Bassano died in Venice on 15 April 1622.
