BISON, Giuseppe Bernardino

Although Bison is known for his Venetian vedute and depictions of Italy in general, he painted other subjects, too. The present interior scene belongs to a genre developed in the 1610s in Antwerp by Frans Francken II and Jan Brueghel the Elder. By the middle of the century, David Teniers took up the subject at the request of Archduke Leopold-Wilhelm von Habsburg who wanted to record his very rich collection of paintings.

The present painting by Bison is clearly inspired by a seventeenth-century Flemish paintings which he knew from engravings.

The present painting is a important example of Bison´s mature work in tempera produced with a fluid luminous handling of paint together with an attention to detail and a spirit of fantasy.

In addition to Venetian vedute, Bison also painted a few Roman, Neapolitan and Florentine views. The present view shows the Piazza della Signoria looking towards the Palazzo Vecchio.

Bison was a versatile artist, excelling as a decorative scene painter for theatrical designs and decorative schemes for villas, and as an easel painter of Venetian vedute. He produced numerous small paintings in gouache of Venetian scenes including real views, scenes of everyday life and fantasy landscapes.

The gouache shown here depicts an accurate and detailed view of the entrance to the Arsenale, a large complex of shipyards and armouries, and for centuries the symbol of the military and economic power of the Venetian Republic.