Bernardino Licinio (Bergamo, 1489 – Venice, 1565) – Holy Family with Saints

Epoch: sixteenth century

Oil on panel, 64.5X94 cm. This painting, datable between 1532 and 1535, depicts Our Lady nursing the Child, surrounded by Saints Augustine, John the Baptist, Jerome, and Andrew. Passed at auction at Sotheby’s in 1975, the painting has been the subject of extensive studies, with three cards signed by Rodolfo Pallucchini, Camillo Semenzato and Carlo Volpe, which confirmed its attribution. Scholars have emphasized the comparison with the well-known altarpiece of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice (1535), recognizing in this work a significant example of Licinio’s mature production. The work is accompanied by a study by Prof Giorgio Fossaluzza. Reference Bibliography – Pallucchini, R. Venetian Painting of the Renaissance. Venice: Neri Pozza, 1981. – Lucco, M. Bernardino Licinio and the Venetian Renaissance. Bergamo: Lubrina Publisher, 2002.