Defendente Ferrari

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. This large piece of wood has no reinforcements on the reverse, but four vertical grooves in the original panel indicate that reinforcements used to be here, at any rate. The panel is stable, the paint layer is healthy. No restorations are visible under ultraviolet light and while presumably if the picture were cleaned some restorations would be removed, a light cleaning and some dressing up of some old restorations may well suffice. The picture seems to be in healthy state and although there are some restorations, they do not seem to have been applied in any significant amount.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This depiction of Saint Jerome was part of a predella for a large altarpiece, and there are a number of other similar pictures within Ferrari's oeuvre.  Indeed, this particular saint seems to have been a favorite of the artist, his circle (and presumably his patrons); Jerome appears frequently in the artist's work.  The figural composition of Jerome in the present painting relates almost exactly to that of the saint in a larger shutter-wing panel in Ferrari's polyptych of 1531 in the Abbey of Sant' Antonio di Ranverso, near Rivoli (see S Baiocco and P Manchinu, Arte in Piemonte : Il Rinascimento, Turin 2004, p. 106, fig. 153).  The present panel, however, is painted in a much more elegant fashion, and would appear to antedate that painting by some years, mostly like to the mid 1520's.