''Scenes from Tebaldeo's Eclogues'' is a set of four small square oil on panel paintings by

Andrea Previtali Andrea Previtali (c. 1480 –1528) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active mainly in Bergamo. He was also called Andrea Cordelliaghi. Biography Previtali was a pupil of the painter Giovanni Bellini. In Bergamo, he painte ...

, executed between 1505 and 1510, now in the

National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

. They show scenes from the Ferrarese writer

Antonio Tebaldeo Antonio Tebaldeo (1463–1537) was an Italian poet. He figured among the writers of the time who engaged in the discussion concerning the nature of literary Italian. Life Tebaldeo was born at Ferrara. He changed his family name (Tebaldi) to ...

eclogue An eclogue is a poem in a classical style on a pastoral subject. Poems in the genre are sometimes also called bucolics. Overview The form of the word ''eclogue'' in contemporary English developed from Middle English , which came from Latin , whi ...

on the life of Damon of Athens, featuring his friend Thyrsis and Damon's love for Amaryllis. They were probably originally part of a piece of furniture for a rich Venetian noble family. Mauro Zanchi, ''Andrea Previtali il colore prospettico di maniera belliniana'', Ferrari Editrice, 2001, pages 17-21. Previtali's master

Giovanni Bellini Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 26 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his father ...

also produced furniture with scenes from the same book. Whilst still misattributed to Giorgione due to their pastoral content and style, they were acquired for their present owner in 1938 by its director Kenneth Clark at a high price, leading to the 'Giorgione Controversy'. However, comparison with the background landscape in ''Madonna and Child'' ( Detroit Institute of Arts), an undated work signed by Previtali, confirmed that the four London works were in fact also by Previtali.

References

{{16C-painting-stub Paintings by Andrea Previtali Collections of the National Gallery, London 1510 paintings