馬西莫·斯坦喬內

With David Koetser, Zurich, 1973;
With Spencer A. Samuels Gallery, New York, until 1989.

S. Schütze and T. Willette, Massimo Stanzione, Naples 1992, p. 193, cat. no. A12, reproduced in color plate II, and figs. 109-110. 

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 work has probably not recently been restored, but nonetheless could remain in its current condition in many respects. Some of the golden robe in the lower right has blanched and should be reformed. This type of blanching can also be seen in the robe of the standing saint in the red gown in the center right. As the remainder of the picture looks respectable, it is not recommended that the work be cleaned. With a fresh varnish, some attention to the blanched areas and perhaps a continuation of the retouches to refine and correct this work, the picture would become considerably more presentable. Within the figures, the white colors of the shirt and turban of the king on the far right are probably the most damaged and restored. The white ermine of the kneeling king in the lower right has similarly developed some cracking. There is a fairly significant loss in the sky on the right side. However, these restorations can be considered quite modest for a work of this scale and period.
"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."

This grand Adoration of the Magi is an important work by the Neapolitan Baroque painter Massimo Stanzione. The picture may be dated to to the 1620s based on stylistic comparison with some of Stanzione's most important pictures of that period, namely his Adoration of Shepherds (Museo Nazionale di San Martino, Naples).¹  The figure of the Christ child is rendered in a highly similar manner to that same figure in the artist's Adoration of the Shepherds (Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao).²

Stanzione has employed a similar form of signature to other works in his oeuvre, in an abbreviated form of the title Eques Maximus, a title which Stanzione often used in an effort to elevate his role as an artist into the realm of the emerging professional elite.

1. See literature, Schütze 1992, cat. no. A9.
2. Ibid., cat. no. A11.