Giovanni Battista (1576) Bissoni Sold at Auction Prices

Giovanni Battista Bissoni (1576-1634)

A scene of exorcism with inscription '.a in S.Benedo. di Pad a. di Gio:batta Bisson Pittore Celebre dell'anno 160.' black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash heightened with white (slightly oxydized) on grey-blue paper, arched 334 x 189 mm. PROVENANCE Zaccaria Sagredo (L. 2103b), his mount with numbering 'S.V. no:115' and 'S.V. no:170' ( verso ). NOTES The inscription indicates that the drawing is a design for a picture in the Church of S. Benedetto in Padua. Bissoni studied with Francesco Apollodoro and Dario Varotari and worked all his life in Padua producing pictures for numerous local churches. Some pictures are reproduced in R. Pallucchini, La pittura veneziana del seicento, Milan, 1981, p. 83 and figs. 208-11.