Il problema della pala Gattamelata e gli esordi di Giovanni Bellini

In 1985 Colin Eisler brought together a series of panels painted in the Bellini workshop, known to have once been a sin- gle ensemble, which he suggested formed part of the celebrated altarpiece produced in 1459-1460 by Jacopo, Gentile and Giovan- ni Bellini for the Gattamelata chapel in the Basilica del Santo in Padua. Though problematic, the hypothesis has found widespread agreement, generating an inevitable shift in the early chronology of Jacopo’s sons. The article seeks to highlight the difficulties, first and foremost stylistic, in Eisler’s proposal. The author believes that Eisler’s reconstruction of the Santo provenance can be ruled out, instead hypothesizing that the work may be associated with the high altar of the church of San Giobbe in Venice.