From one of the 16th century’s largest and most productive north Italian families of painters, Francesco Bassano was one of four sons born to Jacopo Bassano. Jacopo was trained in Venice, and, after returning to Bassano, established an important workshop there. He became known by the name of the town, and together with his sons, Francesco, Giovanni Battista, Leandro, and Gerolamo, ran a large and well-organized operation.

In addition to altarpieces and other paintings of a religious nature, the Bassano workshop produced mainly works celebrating country life and nature as shaped by the work of farmers. These paintings were so well received that the younger men were required to paint endless new versions of them, frequently entire series. It is difficult to distinguish between their various hands, thus authorship of specific works is disputed.

In 1579 Francesco moved from Bassano to Venice, where he committed suicide in 1592.