Ubaldo Gandolfi San Matteo della Decima, near Bologna 1728 - 1781 Ravenna

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 10 July 1987, lot 121 (as attributed to Gaetano Gandolfi);
With the Walpole Gallery, London.

Biagi Maino dates this painting to circa 1767 by comparison with other works from around this date. The soft handling of paint, particularly evident in the draperies, may be compared to that in Ubaldo's altarpiece of Christ in glory with Saints Lawrence, Anthony of Padua, Ignatius of Loyola and Eligius, dated 1766, in the church of San Mamante, Medicina (Biagi Maino, see Literature, cat. no. 32, reproduced fig. 69). The figure of Saint Eligius finds a parallel in the present composition with the figure of Zacharias, both of them serving as repoussoir figures leading the viewer into the scene. The figures' refined elegance is shared by those in Ubaldo's pair of paintings executed in circa 1764 for Pier Antonio Odorici, treasurer of the Camera Apostolica (Christ and the woman from Canaan, Church of Santa Maria della Misericordia, Bologna; and Christ and the adulteress, Städische Kunstsammlungen, Augsburg; reproduced in colour in Bagni, see Literature, cat. no. 66, p. 78, and cat. no. 70, p. 82 respectively). The Odorici paintings, like the present work, are characterised by a colourful palette inspired by Venetian artists, in particular by Sebastiano Ricci. Ubaldo's trip to Venice, thought to have taken place at the beginning of the 1760s (and attested to by the 18th-century biographer Oretti), is likely to have influenced his use of colour for paintings from around this date are characterised by a softer palette.

A preparatory drawing for the composition, in black pen and ink wash, is in the Gabinetto di Disegni e Stampe, Uffizi, Florence (inv. 20445 F; reproduced in Bagni, op. cit., p. 86, cat. no. 74). The sheet was probably a presentation drawing made for the patron's approval for although it is free in handling, the compositional elements are already clearly defined. Among the minor changes visible in the final painting are; the extension of the Virgin's blue robe in the centre of the composition, and the removal of Zachariah's raised right hand.