PROVENANCE: E.D. Levinson, New York; Julius Weitzner, New York, 1954; BJU, 1954.

Paris Bordone grew up in a noble family and received a formal education. After displaying an inclination and talent for art, he entered the school of Titian. After improving his skills and learning the style of Titian, he went on to study with the other artistic genius of Venice, Giorgione. While Bordone could well emulate the styles of both masters, he ultimately showed the greatest influence from his first master, Titian. He could imitate the manner of this artist so well that many of his paintings have been mistaken for Titian’s, which is the case for the present Christ the Redeemer.

Bordone’s portrait-like presentation of Christ is similar to portraits of scholarly gentlemen or philosophers, such as the later Venetian example in our collection by Giambattista Tiepolo. Thus, Christ’s portrayal with a book not only provides a literal portrayal of Christ, the Word, with the eternal Word of God, but also a portrait of the superior scholar.