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Provenance

Possibly Bortolo Dafino (Bartolomeo Da Fin), Venice, by 1648.[1] Frederick Richards Leyland [1831-1892], London; (his estate sale, Christie's, London, 28 May 1892, no. 107, as by Giolfino); (Charles Fairfax Murray, London);[2] sold to Robert Henry [1850-1929] and Evelyn Holford [1856-1943] Benson, London and Buckhurst Park, Sussex;[3] sold 1927 with the Benson collection to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); sold 1949 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[4] gift 1961 to NGA.

[1] The painting is often identified as the one described in 1648 by Carlo Ridolfi, writing about the Dafino collection, as "un Bachetto con vaso in mano, di Giorgione" ("a young Bacchus holding a vase in his hand, by Giorgione"); Carlo Ridolfi, Le maraviglie dell'arte, ouero Le vite de gl'illustri pittori veneti, e dello stato, 2 vols., Venice, 1648: 2:201.

[2] The buyer's name was kindly supplied by Christie's Archives, London (e-mail of 23 October 2013, in NGA curatorial files).

[3] Sebag-Montefiore, Charles, "R.H. Benson as a Collector," in Jehanne Wake, Kleinwort Benson. The History of Two Families in Banking, Oxford, 1997: 486. This listing of the painting indicates it was purchased at the Leyland sale. Murray was possibly acting for the Bensons, but Christie's documents the sale price as 267 Pounds (see note 2), and Benson records have a purchase price of 700 Pounds (letter, 2 February 1976, Peter Wake [Benson's grandson] to Anna Voris, quoting Benson's records of prices he paid; in NGA curatorial files).

[4] Fern Rusk Shapley, Catalogue of the Italian Paintings, 2 vols., Washington, D.C., 1979: 1:54-55. See The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2201.

Exhibition History
1912
A Collection of Pictures of the Early Venetian School and Other Works of Art, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1912, no. 18 (no. 29 and pl. XXV of illustrated catalogue titled Early Venetian Pictures and Other Works of Art).
1927
Loan Exhibition of the Benson Collection of Old Italian Masters, City of Manchester Art Gallery, 1927, no. 27.
1940
Four Centuries of Venetian Paintings, Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, 1940, no. 9, repro.
Bibliography
1914
Benson, Robert Henry. Catalogue of Italian Pictures at 16 South Street, Park Lane, London and Buckhurst in Sussex. London, privately printed, 1914: no. 75.
1956
Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1951-56. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida and Fern Rusk Shapley. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1956: 30, no. 7, repro.
1959
Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 142, repro.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 12.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 5, repro.
1968
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XV-XVI Century. London, 1968: 43, fig. 100.
1974
Fehl, Philipp. "The Worship of Bacchus and Venus in Bellini's and Titian's Bacchanals for Alfonso d'Este." Studies in the History of Art vol. 6 (1974):51, 52 repro.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 22, repro.
1979
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:54-55; 2:pl. 30.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 203, no. 245, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 43, repro.
1988
Sebag-Montefiore, Charles. "Three Lost Collections of London." National Art Collections Fund Magazine 38 (Christmas 1988): 54.
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