Montagna seems to have been trained in Venice, but was active chiefly in Vicenza.

This wonderful little picture, highly praised by Berenson and others, has been related stylistically by some to the altarpiece with SS. Monica and Mary Magdalene in the Gallery at Vicenza. Certainly the influence of Venetian art, particularly Giovanni Bellini and Antonello da Messina, is strongly felt in the picture's clarity of light, monumental composition, and tender feeling. The donor may be Francesco Gonzaga, 4th Marquess of Mantua.

Provenance

Palazzo Sparieri-Beltrame, Verona; Miss henriette Hertz; Drr Alfred Mond; Violet, Lady Melchett, sold Sotheby's March 1946; Sir Thomas Merton.


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