Circle of Leandro Bassano (1557 - 1622) Winter Oil on canvas, 78.5 x 93.5 cm With frame, 86 x 102 cm Commonly known as Bassano from the name of their city of origin, Bassano del Grappa, the denomination was established by art critics during the modern age; that of the "Da Ponte" was a business enterprise ante litteram, family-run, active for about a century and a half. Started by Francesco the Elder in the very early years of the sixteenth century, it achieved great appreciation throughout northern Italy with the personality of Jacopo, from the second half of the fourth decade, and his brothers Giambattista and Gianfrancesco. After him, his sons Francesco the Younger, Giambattista, Leandro and Gerolamo will become interpreters of the family tradition. The compositions derive from a series conceived by Jacopo Bassano (1510-1592) and the stylistic characteristics suggest that the execution be referred to his school, whose epigones can be found in activity throughout the 17th century. In this case, it is a work from the early youth of Leandro Bassano, who we know was active in his father's workshop until his move to Venice in 1584 or, at the latest, in 1588. In that year, Leandro was in fact registered with the Fraglia of Venetian painters; in Venice, where he had been with his father in 1577-78, he began a successful career as an author of portraits and altarpieces, not without repeatedly returning to his father's inventions. The activities carried out by the characters refer to those typical of the winter season, well highlighted also by the bare trees and the snowy landscape in the background, separated scenically from the foreground. In other versions of the work, one can also see an isolated biblical scene, namely Christ carrying the cross, absent in the latter, where the details related to daily peasant life are maintained: the collection of wood, the family around the fire, the animals that connect the various parts of the painting and the panorama on the horizon sprinkled with snow. A characteristic that we find of the young Leandro is the accentuation of shadows in contrast with the liveliness of the colors and highlights, which stand out in the dark atmosphere of the winter night. The tonal richness, the luminous contrasts, the biblical-pastoral subject, the rural scenery fit perfectly into the context of Bassano school painting.