FRANCESCO FONTEBASSO (VENICE 1707-1769)

Publishing Francesco Fontebasso's Triumph of David in 1964, Ridolfo Palluchini dated the painting to the 1750s, comparing it to the artist's fresco in Palazzo Contarini, Venice (loc. cit.). Egidio Martini, meanwhile, considered it to be later in date, executed at the end of Fontebasso's career in the 1760s (loc. cit.). A correct dating would appear to be somewhere between the two. This Triumph of David is close in style to the artist's two depictions of the Worship of the Golden Calf, one in a Venetian private collection and another painted in 1759 as part of a decorative cycle for the Prince Bishop of Trent, Felice Alberto d'Enno, for the Castello del Buonconsiglio, Trent (see Magrini, op. cit., p. 202, fig. 160 and pp. 180-182, fig. 158).