Federico Bencovich Probably Croatia circa 1667 - circa 1754 Gorizia

With Heim Gallery, London, 1966;
François Heim, Paris,1983.

London, Heim Gallery, Italian Paintings and Sculptures of the 17th and 18th Centuries, 1966, no. 23;
Kingston-upon-Hull, Ferens Art Gallery, Venetian Baroque and Rococo Paintings, 1967, no. 46.

Italian Paintings and Sculptures of the 17th and 18th Centuries, exhibition catalogue, London, Heim Gallery, 1966, p. 11, cat. no. 23, reproduced (as Piazetta);
Venetian Baroque and Rococo Paintings, exhibition catalogue, Kingston-upon-Hull, Ferens Art Gallery, 1967, cat. no. 46, reproduced (as Piazetta);
U. Ruggeri, “Piazzetta e la sua bottega”, in Critica d’Arte, vol. XLI, 1976, pp. 32-34 (as Piazzetta);
L. Jones, The Paintings of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, University dissertation, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1982, vol. II, p. 324, R 48 (as not by Piazzetta);
A. Mariuz, L’opera completa del Piazzetta, Milan 1982, p. 123, cat. no. A 74, reproduced (under ‘opere attribuite’; as not by Piazzetta);
U. Ruggeri, in Giambattista Piazzetta. Il suo tempo, la sua scuola, exhibition catalogue, 1983, pp. 82-83, cat. no. 22, reproduced (as an early work by Piazzetta).

Opinion on the attribution of this picture has been divided among scholars of Venetian 18th century painting since its appearance on the London art market in 1966.  It has been considered to be an early work of Giambattista Piazzetta, and has been published as such by Ruggieri (see literature below).  Other experts have had different thoughts, and we grateful to Dr. Lino Moretti for suggesting a convincing attribution to Federico Bencovich. As such this very impressive painting constitutes an important addition to the artist's oeuvre.

Bencovich belonged to a noble family who originated on the island of Brazza or of Lesina and had possessions in Dalmatia (hence the artist's nickname "il Dalmatino"). From 1695 he worked in the studio of Cignani in Bologna and probably met Crespi whose influence can be perceived in his work. He then moved to Venice where he met Lothar Franz von Schöborn, Prince-Bishop of Mainz for whom he executed four works for the Schloss of Pommersfelden: Hagar and Ishmael in the Desert, The Sacrifice of Iphigenia¹ and The Sacrifice of Isaac² and Apollo and Marsyas³. In all these paintings, just as the present work,  we find the intense dramatic effect created by the depiction elongated figures set in a strange, cold light so characteristic of this artist's earlier work. In 1717 he went to Vienna and in 1724 he was in Milan. Another turn in his career made him court painter to Friedrich Karl Schöborn, Prince-Bishop of Bamberg and Würzburg. At the end of his career Bencovich used lighter colours which allows us to assume that the present painting was painted in the late 1710's or in the 1720's.

1 Both 1715; Pommersfelden, Schloss Weissenstein.
2 1720; Zagreb, Strossmayer Gallery.
3 Untraced