帕斯庫力諾·迪·尼科洛 - 或稱帕斯庫力諾·韋內托，或帕斯庫力諾·達·威尼斯

Fossoli collection, Florence, 1797;
Prince Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte,  King of Holland, Paris, 1815;
Prince Jérôme Bonaparte, Paris;
His sale, London, Christie's, 11 May 1872, lot 317
H. Graves, London;
Charles Butler, Warren Wood, Essex;
Charles Butler, London, 1947;
With Frank Partridge & Sons Ltd, London, by 1964;
Eric Bradley, London;
With P. de Boer, Amsterdam, by 1957;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 25 June 1969, lot 49;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 7 July 1972, lot 78;
Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 13 December 2000, lot 75.

Canterbury, Ricemans, Art for Science, 1964.

R. Palluchini, "Giunte al Catalogo di Pasqualino", in Arte Veneta, 1957, p. 199.
"Pasqualino di Nicolò", in Dizionario Enciclopedico dei Pittori e degli Incisori Italiani, F. Russoli ed., 3rd edition, Milan 1990, pp. 356 - 357.

The following condition report has been provided by Karen Thomas of Thomas Art Conservation LLC., 336 West 37th Street, Suite 830, New York, NY 10018, 212-564-4024, info@thomasartconservation.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. Despite uneven condition overall, the well-preserved passages such as the red garment and the landscape setting allow this picture to present well. The blue paint in Mary's mantle has suffered, possibly in part due to an age-related degradation resulting in lightening of the pigment, and the broad retouching knitting it back together has a greenish cast. Thin glazes, such as the shadows in the hair and flesh of the child and the delicate blush of color on the fruit held by the Madonna, are somewhat rubbed. There appear to be at least two campaigns of restoration: one primarily addressing small scattered losses clearly visible under ultra-violet illumination and another, more difficult to distinguish beneath the highly fluorescing varnish, focusing mostly on Mary's blue mantle. The vertically-grained wood panel appears to retain its original thickness, but it has been trimmed down in size and strips of wood glued to the perimeter. Two cross battens attached to the back do not appear to be original.
"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."

Pasqualino’s impressive and exquisitely painted Madonna and Child was described by Rodolfo Palluchini in 1957 as undeniably the best work in the artist’s corpus: "è certamente questa l'opera di più alta qualità che oggi si conosce di Pasqualino".¹  The quality of its execution is so high that, were it not for the prominent signature, Palluchini suggests one might indeed confuse it with the hand of Cima da Conegliano.²  Pasqualino’s paintings show a close concordance with the work of Cima, yet he is sufficiently independent in style for his unsigned works to be distinctly identifiable.  As Peter Humfrey asserts, while the artist was doubtless a pupil or assistant of Cima, he was not employed in his workshop to execute the master’s designs, unlike Giovanni da Udine and Andrea Busati, but rather was entrusted with independent commissions.³

Only two dated works by the artist are known to us, the Madonna and Child with Saint Mary Magdalene of 1496 in the Museo Correr, Venice, and the Madonna and Child with Saint John the Baptist of 1502 now in a private collection.⁴  The present painting is perhaps best compared with the earlier picture in which the heavy, volumetric drapery forms are offset by the delicate features and gestures of the figures and the refined, crystalline landscape beyond.  The composition, while individual, is reminiscent of Cima’s Virgin and Child before a Landscape (fig. 1) at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia (inv. no. cat.176), dating to circa 1485 – 1486 and with which Pasqualino would doubtless have been acquainted.  The position of the Madonna here, the inclination of her head, the grip of her right hand and the Christ Child’s left foot, planted firmly on his mother’s knee, all recall Cima’s earlier invention.  In keeping with Bellinian convention, the Madonna and Child are positioned behind a parapet, accentuating their elevated status in contrast to their viewer. Between graceful fingers, the Madonna holds a small quince, symbolizing rebirth and renewal, and a prophetic sign of Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection.

 

1.  R. Palluchini, under Literature, op. cit.
2.  Ibid.
3.  P. Humfrey, “Pasqualino Veneto (Pasqualino da Venezia)”, in Grove Dictionary of Art, J. Turner ed., vol. 24, London and New York 1996, p. 231.
4. For the Private collection picture see R. Pallucchini,‘Un’altra aggiunta a Pasqualino Veneto”, in Storia dell’Arte, vol. 38-40, 1980, pp. 215–16.