Vice, Vagrancy and Villa Culture: Bonifacio de' Pitati's "Dives and Lazarus" in Its Venetian Context

Abstract

Bonifacio de' Pitati's Dives and Lazarus reflects pressing concerns with poor relief, sanitation and the responsibilities of the Venetian aristocrat in Renaissance Venice. This article seeks to establish the picture's correct position in Bonifacio's career and places it in the context of other, seldom discussed versions of the theme by Tintoretto, Jacopo Bassano, Benedetto Caliari and Ludovico Pozzoserrato. In re-embodying Christ's parable on the porch of a contemporary mainland villa, many of these works invite an analysis of contemporary attitudes to villa culture and the socio-economic structure of sixteenth-century lagoon life.