Entry of the animals in the Ark

Francesco Bassano the Younger's Entry of the Animals into the Ark, painted in 1570 and now in the Louvre's Department of Paintings, depicts the moment from Genesis when Noah leads the animals into the Ark two by two before the Flood. This subject, which Jacopo Bassano had established as one of the Bassano workshop's most celebrated compositions in a version of around 1570, gave Francesco and his brothers the opportunity to display the family's mastery of animal painting — lions, elephants, camels, horses, cattle, birds, and domestic animals rendered with naturalistic accuracy and variety. The Louvre's holding of this version places it among the great collections of European painting, where it represents the Venetian Late Mannerist tradition's contribution to the history of animal painting as a specialised genre. Francesco's 1570 date suggests this is an early work produced in close collaboration with or under the influence of his father Jacopo.

The composition's primary challenge is the orderly yet visually exciting procession of diverse animals into the Ark's entrance, requiring the workshop to demonstrate its command of animal anatomy across an extraordinary range of species. Francesco — or the collaborative workshop effort — organises the animals in a diagonal procession that creates visual depth while showcasing individual species rendered with observational precision.