Luis de Morales Badajoz (?) circa 1520 - 1586 (?) Badajoz

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The oak panel is cradled. The paint surface is stable. The thin paint layer in the background has shrunk revealing a filigree of pale cracks. This layer has been extensively retouched out. There are discoloured retouchings to the flesh of Christ , reducing a pitted paint layer visible here. There are abraded shadows behind the column . The hair of Christ has been augmented by restoration along with abraded shadows of the chin and further shadows on the body. The varnish is discoloured , its removal would enhance the overall tonality."
"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 is known in at least two other versions, one of which (of larger dimensions) is at Kingston Lacy, Dorset,¹ and the other, which appears to be trimmed along all four margins, is now lost².

1. See K. Maclarnon, "William Bankes and his collection of Spanish Paintings at Kingston Lacy", in The Burlington Magazine, vol. CXXXII, no. 1043, February 1990, p. 119, reproduced p. 116, fig. 51.
2. See I. Bäcksbacka, Luis de Morales, Helsinki 1962, p. 176, no. 67, reproduced fig. 111.