Stefania Mason presents "Two Mysterious Knights Galloping"

Stefania Mason analyzes two canvases titled Knights on Galloping Horses in their iconography and compares them with the known works of Jacopo Palma il Giovane, particularly focusing on the theme of horses and knights, which often appear in various of his compositions, tracing their figurative sources.

Of the two portraits of Knights on Galloping Horses, which appeared in Berlin in 1929 under the name of Andrea Schiavone with an assumed provenance from the city of Pordenone and attributed back to Jacopo Palma il Giovane, the history, original location, and commission from lawyer Girolamo Aviano, a nobleman from Vicenza and Venetian citizen, are reconstructed here through archival documentation.

A contemporary and “companion” of the painter, and a great admirer of the condottiero Bartolomeo d’Alviano, almost his namesake, Aviano commissioned Palma il Giovane for part of the fresco decoration of the interiors of his villa in Zugliano on the Breganze hills (Vicenza), which has been lost, and for the oil overdoors with portraits of illustrious knights, which have now reappeared in a prestigious private collection.

The two canvases are analyzed in their iconography and compared with the known works of the artist, particularly focusing on the theme of horses and knights, which often appear in various of his compositions, tracing their figurative sources.

Stefania Mason was a full professor of Modern Art History and director of the School of Specialization in Art History at the University of Udine.

Her studies, primarily focused on Venetian Renaissance art and the history of collecting, have led to numerous publications, the curation of exhibitions in Italy and Europe, and collaborations with important institutions such as the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles and INHA in Paris.

She is the president of the Scientific Council of the Fondazione Centro Studi Tiziano e Cadore.