PITTORE VENETO DEL XVI SECOLO

Episodes of the True Cross Oil on panel, 23.5X43.5 cm (2) The paintings are collectively attributed to Francesco Verla (Villaverla, 1470 - Rovereto, 1521) and it is likely that the panels were part of a polyptych as predellas. The images describe two episodes from the Legend of the True Cross handed down by Jacopo da Varagine's Golden Legend in the 13th century. Verla was first documented in Vicenza in 1499 and in Rome in 1503 before returning to the Veneto shortly afterwards. He worked in Vicenza, Schio, Trento and Rovereto where he probably died between 1521 and 1522. He probably trained in Montagna's workshop in Vicenza, where he is first mentioned as a painter. The influence of the school of Mantegna, which persisted in Montagna's workshop, can be seen in all his works, but the influence of Perugia, which he learned during his stay in Rome in 1503, is equally evident. His first documented work, still with a strong Montagna imprint, are the frescoes in the Sarego Pagallo Chapel in San Bartolomeo in Vicenza which, datable to 1509, offer a possible chronological foothold for the panels under examination.