Follower of Rogier van der Weyden

With Galerie Matthiesen, Berlin (according to a label on the reverse);
With Galerie Tanner, Zurich, 8 July 1929, sold for CHF 13,500.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The panel and frame were originally from the same piece of oak. At some stage the painting panel has been cut away from the frame . Two splits can be seen descending from the arched top and there is one ascending from the bottom. There are repairs to the once integral frame, bottom and top. The paint surface is stable. There are minor restorations to the sky and to the brick wall in the background. There is a discoloured and degraded varnish."
"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."

The composition of this painting is a combination of two types of Madonnas both originating from Rogier van der Weyden. The positioning of the breastfeeding Madonna and the seated Child is taken from a lost work by Rogier, known through various versions and copies, such as the one which was in 1935 with Demotte, New York.¹  The type of the full-length seated Madonna and Child is taken from the so-called Dúran-Madonna in the Museo del Prado, Madrid (inv. no. 2722).²

This lot is sold with a photostat certificate, dated July 1929 by Dr. Walter Hugelshofer, attributing this work to the Master of Frankfurt.

 

1. See D. de Vos, Rogier van der Weyden. Das Gesamtwerk, Antwerp 1999, pp. 378-9, cat. no. B19, reproduced p. 379.
2. Idem, pp.189-91, cat. no. 5, reproduced p. 190.