The Flagellation of Christ

1510

Born

1535

Venice: study with Bonifazio de Pitati

According to Carlo Ridolfi's biography, Jacopo comes to Venice to learn the secrets of the craft in the workshop of Bonifazio de Pitati, called Veronese (study under him is likely but not certain). Bonifazio instils in him a lasting appreciation of Titian; in Venice Bassano also sees the works of Pordenone and spends much of the 1530s painting there.

1539

His father's death and the return to Bassano

After the death of his father, Francesco the Elder (by other accounts, he had died as early as 1530), Jacopo returns to Bassano del Grappa, settles there for good and takes over the family workshop. He rarely leaves his home town afterwards.

c. 1540

Finds his own style

His early works show the influence of Mannerism, with elongated figures and bright, contrasting colour (he knew the popular etchings of Parmigianino); by 1540 he has acquired a manner of his own, based on observing nature, people and animals, with strong chiaroscuro. His pictures draw on the everyday life of small villages and the beauty of nature.

1546

Marries Elisabetta Merzari

Jacopo marries Elisabetta Merzari, a local woman; the couple will have eight children, five sons and three daughters, and four of the sons will become painters and join their father's workshop.

14 febbraio 1592

Died