Landscape with Castles

A shoreline backed with split rock cliffs fills the foreground of this composition, while the church and other buildings of a town are shown in the central left. A meandering path climbs behind this town towards several castles seen in the background, all elements of a richly detailed landscape scene. The "pure" landscape was extremely rare in this period, and the duck in the lower left and the castle in the upper right appear to be cut off, therefore further research is needed to confirm the supposition that it was a fragment of a larger composition. Various theories exist regarding the painter of the work, with B. Berenson attributing the work to the Florentine painter Piero di Cosimo, and R. Offner attributing it to the Venetian painter Vittore Carpaccio. However, M. Bacci, in her book Piero di Cosimo, indicates that the landscape is clearly different from that of the Tuscan region, and that the architecture is also the type found in the Veneto region. These factors suggest that a Veneto region painter created the painting. Finally, E. Fahy has verbally conveyed the idea, reiterated by L. Puppi, that Montagna painted the work. This seems the most convincing of the attributions. In any event, further research will be needed on this fascinating work. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 14)