Lot 13
  • 13

Lombard School, early16th Century

Estimate
70,000 - 90,000 USD
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Description

  • Madonna standing in a landscape, nursing the infant Christ
  • signed with initials lower right: G.F.F.(O?)
  • oil on panel

Provenance

With Julius H. Weitzner, Inc., New York;
From whom purchased by the Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1962 (inv. no. 62.0238);
By whom sold through Carlos Conde, San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1978;
Ralph Vallone, Puerto Rico;
From whose estate purchased by the present owner in 2012.

Literature

J.S. Held, Museo de Arte de Ponce, Paintings of the European and American Schools, Ponce 1965, pp. 77-78 (as Gerolamo Giovenone);
D.S. Pepper, Bob Jones University Collection of Religious Art, Italian Paintings, Greenville, SC 1984, p. 138, under cat. no. 144 (as Piedmontese School, 16th century).

Condition

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 large painting is painted on a single piece of wood, which is quite remarkable given the scale of the work. There is an old reinforcement across the top and another across the bottom. The back of the wood has been treated with wax. The panel is more or less flat, and the paint layer is stable. The condition of the panel is certainly notable.The painting seems dirty. The right side shows a vertical strip of restoration about an inch wide. Given that there does not appear to be an addition on the reverse of the panel, this strip may have been originally unpainted. This restoration down the right side is not visible under ultraviolet light. There are a few isolated spots of retouching visible in the hair of the Madonna, in one spot in her breast, and in a few spots beneath her feet. There are other restorations beneath an older varnish that cannot be seen under ultraviolet light, but have been very well applied. It is likely that most of them are likely within the dark cloak of the Madonna and in other areas to a lesser degree. Although one cannot be exactly clear about this other retouching, it is very obvious that the condition is very healthy throughout this work.Although the work could be cleaned, it can also be hung in its current condition.
"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."

Catalogue Note

This panel depicting the Madonna standing in a landscape nursing the infant Christ has a companion painting depicting Christ as Man of Sorrows, now in the collection of Bob Jones University, Greenville, South Carolina (fig. 1).  The panels, which are very close in size, have comparable landscape settings with distant mountains, and similar vegetation in the foreground.  It is possible that these two paintings were part of a series or, perhaps, wings of an altarpiece.  Both these panels were with Julius Weitzner, New York at around the same period, further supporting their connection and common origin.

Thus far, and despite the initials on the present panel, the artist of these striking paintings has not been identified.  Both had been ascribed to Girolamo Giovenone, an attribution what was rejected by Federico Zeri in the 1960s.  The influence of Gaudenzio Ferrari (born circa 1475/80-15;46), an artist working in Piedmont and Lombardy, can be seen here in the facial types and handling of the landscape, particularly the foliage, and it is possible these panels were painted by an artist in his circle.

We are grateful to Mauro Natale for bringing the Bob Jones University painting to our attention in connection with the present panel.