SCHOOL OF PARMA, 16TH CENTURY | The Holy Family

Archduke Maximilian d'Este;
By whom given in the mid-19th century to an ancestor of Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma;
Thence by descent to Price Xavier of Bourbon-Parma, Paris, until at least 1962;
Thence by inheritance to Prince Carlos Javier Bourbon, Brussels;
By whom sold, London, Sotheby's, 12 December 2002, lot 48; for £60,000;
There acquired. 

S. Béguin, "A new painting by Niccolò dell’Abbate," in Apollo 1962, pp. 204-209, reproduced p. 204, fig. 1 (as Niccolò dell’Abate and datable to 1547-1552).

The panel is made of a single board with a slight vertical warp. The paint surface is clean and has been restored well. UV light reveals some scattered retouches, notably in the face and chest of the virgin which appear as parallel vertical repairs, possibly to restore old cracks in the panel, and scattered to a lesser degree elsewhere. The painting could conceivably be hung in its current state. In a carved wooden frame
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The provenance of this painting, reputedly coming from the Este family of Modena, appears to be substantiated by the fact that the painting is exactly the sort of work one might have expected to find in their collection: a Parmese picture, influenced by Correggio, Parmigianino, Bedoli, and Dosso Dossi.  The painting at the time of its restoration was attributed to Niccolò dell'Abate, an attribution first put forward by Béguin in 1962 (see Literature) which no longer seems plausible. She dated the painting to Dell'Abate's Bolognese period, between 1547 and 1552, a dating which seems just a fraction too late.  Furthermore she compares and illustrates a number of drawings and paintings, some of which have been since reattributed to Parmigianino. The painting's style seems more akin to the circle of Parmigianino, Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli and even Michelangelo Anselmi.  David Ekserdjian, who inspected the painting when it was offered in 2002 (see Provenance), suggested quite plausibly that the panel is by the same hand as an altarpiece in a Milanese private collection formerly attributed to Parmigianino and to Bedoli but which is most likely by the Maestro di Sant'Uldarico.¹ The present panel is undoubtedly by an artist working in Parma, and its Parmigianinesque qualities indicate that it almost certainly post-dates Parmigianino's return to the city in 1630. 

X-radiographs of the painting, first undertaken and published by Béguin (see Literature), reveal a number of changes made by the artist directly onto the panel.  There is an important pentimento in the position of the Christ Child, who initially faced outwards and was therefore far less dynamically posed.  The window too has been changed: it was originally rectangular, the opening narrower and taller.  The face and expression of the Virgin also appear to have been altered; her eyes were thought to have looked in a different direction and now the face has a less natural, almost mask-like appearance.  The male saint, probably Saint Joseph, draws his fingers up to his lips in an air of contemplation, a gesture which appears to have been covered up in the past with a beard.  It is not surprising that changes were made directly on the panel, for much of the painting appears to have been swiftly executed: the landscape displays a freedom reminiscent of Dosso Dossi, and the cameo on the Madonna's right shoulder has a quickly painted portrait of a man in profile. 





1. See M. di Giampaolo, Girolamo Bedoli 1500-1569, Florence 1997, pp. 144-5, no. 49, reproduced.