This panel originally formed the lid of an inheritance chest. This was constructed to hold the marble bust of Angelo Probi who died in 1474. He was ambassador to Venice for the King of Naples. The portrait therefore probably shows his son who muses sadly on his father’s fate.

The inscription on the marble ledge records that it is the work of Giovanni Bellini, the Venetian. Bellini adds the words ‘NON ALITER’, meaning ‘not otherwise’. This is perhaps a claim to his skill as a portraitist, someone who can preserve accurately forever what age and death destroys.

Inscriptions / Translations:  Signed and dated : OPUS BELLINI IOANNIS VENETI/NONALITER

Notes:  Exhibited: 'Art Treasures of Great Britain', Manchester, UK, 1857 (no.90); 'Old Masters', Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK, 1893 (no.154); New gallery, 'Venetian Art', 1894-5 (no.2); 'Old Masters', Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK, 1902 (no.41); Burlington Fine Arts Club, 'Early Venetian Pictures', 1912 (no.13); Burlington Fine Arts Club, 'Pictures and other objects of art selected from the collection of Mr. Robert Holford, 1921-2 (no.9); Mattiesen's gallery, 'Venetian Paintings and Drawings', 1939 (no.6); 'Mostra di Giovanni Bellini', Venice, Italy, 1949 (no.81); 'De Venetiaanse Meesters', Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 26 July 1953 - 11 October 1953 (no.15); 'De Venetiaanse Meesters', Brussels, Beglium, October 1953 - December 1953; 'Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition', Manchester Art Gallery, UK, July 1957 - October 1957

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