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.
The condition of this work is extremely good. The copper panel is flat and undamaged. There is one restored scratch to the paint layer immediately to the right of the head of the Madonna that is slightly visible to the naked eye. There do not seem to be any restorations throughout the remainder of the picture, although remnants of the old varnish still remain visible under ultraviolet light.
"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 beautiful painting on copper has thus far defied attribution, though it was clearly produced by a painter conversant in both Northern and Venetian trends of painting. Art historians have in recent years suggested the names of a variety of painters, including Paolo Veronese, Pietro Candido, Lambert Sustris and Johann Rottenhammer, but a consensus has yet to be reached. The composition ultimately derives from a
Pietà designed by Michelangelo Buonarotti for his friend, Vittoria Colonna, marchioness of Pescara. It is not known whether Michelangelo executed the eventual painting but his drawing, dated to
circa 1546, survives today in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston (inv. no. 1.2.o.16, fig. 1). The design for the Virgin’s pose, with her raised arms outstretched and face turned upward toward heaven, enjoyed great popularity, and was employed by Alessandro Allori, Marcello Venusti and Battista del Moro, among others.
Michelangelo sets his scene at the base of the cross, and Christ’s body is slumped in the lap of the Virgin’s, who supports his weight, as two putti brace his arms over her raised knees. In the present painting, the artist instead places the figures before Christ’s tomb. Christ is seated on a stone plinth, his torso and arms supported by two angels, represented here in adult form, and the Virgin, no longer sustaining his weight, is shown on a higher plane, at the mouth of the tomb. In its present incarnation, the composition relates more closely to an engraving of the Pietà by Battista del Moro, now in the Ortalli collection, Biblioteca Palatina, Parma (inv. no. 1565).1
1. P. Marini, H. Burns, L. Magagnato et al., Paladio e Verona, exhibition catalogue, Verona 1980, p. 270, cat. no. XI,23, reproduced p. 269, fig. XI,23.
