Master of Carmignano

Anonymous sale, Paris, Couturier & de Nicolay, December 15, 1992, lot 42

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work certainly feels unrestored, but it could be made very presentable without a lot of effort. Its old frame is in very good condition. The reverse still retains its original heavy backing, and although the frame itself may not be exactly period to the work, it certainly has some age. The work itself is unbroken. The paint layer is stable, except in the left side of the Madonna's black gown, where slight instability has arisen. Under ultraviolet light, restorations are visible in the lower right of the Madonna's gown and in a spot next to St John's left ankle. The work is dirty, but given what appears to be patina, it may be that the cleaning is less thorough than it could be to retain the attractive finish.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Luciano Berti first isolated the work of this anonymous Florentine hand in a 1952 article, Note brevi su inediti toscani, in which he published an Annunciation from the San Michele church in Carmignano.¹  In 2001 Federica Fiorillo attempted to reconstruct the artist's career, identifying similarities in the Master of Carmignano's early work to to that of Agnolo Gaddi, suggesting he may have trained in the Gaddi workshop.²  The Master of Carmignano's work shares Gaddi's predilection for the portrait-like depiction of figures, with intense countenances and naturalistic interactions, manifested here in the shared gaze of Saints John the Baptist and Anthony Abbot and the expressive side glances of Saints Catherine and Margaret.  In the Master of Carmignano's later works, however, Berti noted the influence of Lorenzo Monaco, an opinion later augmented by Miklos Boskovits in 1968 who affirmed a stylistic proximity to both Lorenzo Monaco and Mariotto di Nardo.³  

In the present panel, extraordinary care has been taken in the treatment of the figures' features, with a delightful contrast between the smooth, taut skin of the female figures; the weathered flesh of Saint John the Baptist and the finely wrinkled temples of Saint Anthony Abbot.  The characterization of Saint John is beautifully descriptive; the refined strokes of the open hair shirt, revealing the tanned skin stretched over the collarbone and sternum, the unkempt hair and beard, all denote the preacher's seclusion in the wilderness.  His hand is raised as if in mid-speech and he holds a scroll inscribed ECCE AGNUS DEI Q[V]ITOLLI which translates, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away [...the sins of the world]."  

The work perhaps most comparable with this panel is the Madonna and Child enthroned with Saints Anthony Abbot, Lucy, Dominic and Catherine and two Angels offered at Christie's London in 1993.⁴  The figures share the same distinctive physiognomy: the elongated ovular faces; the linear, straight noses, highlighted along the length of the ridge; the slender eyes with a stylized, arched brow, and upper lid, the iris outlined in black; and the small, pinched mouths, drawn with a fine, black line, perceptibly downward-turned, with lips molded and outlined above and below in brown.  The figure of Saint Anthony Abbot in both paintings could almost be the same model (though viewed in profile in the Christie's version), with the same grizzled beard, the moustache sitting proud from the jowls in a diagonal extending below the jaw and the same bald head with a small lock of hair remaining above the forehead. 

The attribution to the Master of Carmignano was first suggested on the basis of photographs by the late Prof. Miklòs Boskovits and, more recently, was independently confirmed by Prof. Andrea de Marchi upon firsthand inspection of the panel. 

1.  L. Berti, "Note brevi su inediti toscani" in Bollettino d'Arte, vol. 37, 1952, p. 175
2.  F. Fiorillo, "Il Maestro di Carmignano: un tentativo di ricostruzione" in Arte Cristiana vol. 89, 2001, p.333
3. Ibid., p.333, reproduced p. 344, fig. 11.
4.  Anonymous Sale, London, Christie's, 9 July 1993, lot 60.