GIOVANNI BELLINI (follower of/MARCO BELLO? Venice, c. 1470 - Udine, 1523) (Venice, c. 1430 - 1516) Circumcision Oil on panel transported on canvas, 78.5X112.5 cm Provenance: Milan, Lattuada Collection Rome, Christie's, 27 May 1987, lot 435 (as attributed to Filippo da Verona) Italy, private collection The painting bore an attribution to Girolamo da Santacroce formulated by Francesco Porzio in 1984, while Rodolfo Pallucchini referred it to Filippo da Verona in 1985. The composition reflects that used by Giovanni Bellini in the signed work belonging to the National Gallery in London from the Orléans Collection in Paris (inv. 1455; oil on panel, 74.9x102.2 cm). Having said this, it must be stated that the London canvas cannot be considered fully autograph, considering that countless versions are known to us, demonstrating that the master's 'first idea' was replicated with more or less variants by several of his collaborators (cf. A. Tempestini, I collaboratori di Giovanni Bellini, in Saggi e Memorie di Storia dell'Arte, XXXIII, 2009, p. 55, fig. 71-77), it being understood that they all display sumptuous robes and a pictorial texture of the very early 16th century. Returning to the London version, the scene is set against a dark background evoking an interior space, which is also taken up in those of Berlin and Rovigo, while other versions such as those of Bergamo, New York and this one under examination, the event is set in a bright landscape. Returning to the problem of attribution, Peter Humfrey's suggestion of recognising the hand of Marco Bello rests on a comparison with the only certainly autograph work of his preserved in Rovigo, which, signed 'OPVS MARCI BELLI DISCIPULUS IOANNIS BELLINI', can reasonably be assumed to follow the London version by a little, perhaps around 1500. The same can be said of another 'indoor' version belonging to a private collection in Treviso (cf. Bellini e i Belliniani dall'Accademia dei Concordi di Treviso, edited by Giandomenico Romanelli, Venice 2017, p. 111), which is tentatively, but quite plausibly, attributed to Marco. Assuming, moreover, that some of Bellini's followers then transferred the scene from a dark setting, evocative of the interior of the Temple, to one of a verdant landscape leading to a chain of distant blue mountains, it can be assumed that the work under examination can be attributed to Marco Bello and dated around 1505. The work is accompanied by expert reports by Francesco Porzio, Rodolfo Pallucchini (in photocopy) and a written communication to the owners by Peter Humfrey.