Unknown paintings by Pace Pace in Dalmatia and a proposal for Gabriele Caliari

Certain facts about the painter Pace Pace could be summed up in a few sentences. He is first mentioned in the documents of Venetian Fraglia de’ pittori in 1594, as Pase Pase de Felippo Bontecchi. His name appears there for the last time in 1617. On 24 May 1598 Pace Pace acted as witness to the second draft of the last will of Benedetto Caliari (Verona, 1535/1536 – Venice, 1598), Paolo Veronese’s younger brother. On 15 June of the same year he witnessed the wedding of Paolo’s eldest son, Gabriele Caliari (Venice, 1568–1631) and Angela Galini. To Pace Pace’s meagre known catalogue, consisting of three paintings: Saint Sebastian, Christ Washing the Feet of the Disciples (both originally from the demolished church of Santa Croce, Venice) and The Virgin in Glory with Saints and the Souls in Purgatory (Santa Maria dei Carmini, Venice), and few drawings, four new pieces, executed in oil on panel, could be added. They were made in 1599 for the main altar in the Franciscan church Gospa od Anđela (Our Lady of the Angels) that is situated on the slope of the Sveti Ilija (Saint Elias) mountain, above the small town of Orebic on the Dalmatian Peljesac peninsula (Sabioncello). The altarpiece represents the Assumption of the Virgin, while the smaller panels depict Saint Francis, Saint Peter and a Franciscan Saint with the Donor, that is, Nicolai Flori (Nikola Cvitkovic) from Orebic. Pace’s paintings from Orebic reveal a strong influence of Gabriele Caliari, who might be the author of the painting representing The Virgin and Child with Saint Anthony the Abbot, Saint Francis and the Donors, located on the right lateral wall of the famous Cappella Giustinian in the Venetian church of San Francesco della Vigna.