Simone Cantarini, called il Pesarese

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The canvas is lined and the paint layer is raised, cupped and unstable with evidence of minor losses. There is a recent damage to the torso of Christ. Under ultraviolet light small restorations to the Madonna's face and dress can be detected. The varnish is heavily degraded and discoloured. The painting is in a good original untouched condition with well preserved paint texture. Offered in a 19th century gilt wood frame with some losses."
"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."

This is an early work by Simone Cantarini and has only recently been rediscovered. Despite his youth, Cantarini demonstrates great confidence in his brushwork, especially in Christ's torso. Though the subject matter was one to which the artist would return often in his career, the present composition is unrecorded in his oeuvre and stands out in its simplicity and unusual pose of the child; it portrays Jesus in a more playful and tender light than some of Cantarini's other interpretations of the subject, for example the more messianic depiction of the Infant Jesus in the Virgin and Child and Saint Francis in the Hermitage, St Petersburg, inv. no. 61.¹ Although unknown in Cantarini's oeuvre, the composition was later used by Carlo Cignani (1628-1719) in a work in the Methuen collection, Corsham Court, though in Cignani's version the Madonna wears a different headress and clothing.²

We are extremely grateful to Professor Andrea Emiliani, Professor Renato Roli and Dottor Emilio Negro for all independently endorsing the attribution to the young Cantarini on the basis of photographs.



1. See M. Mancigiotti, Simone Cantarini, Milan 1975, p. 100, reproduced p. 101, plate 40.
2. See B. Buscaroli Fabbri, Carlo Cignani, Padua 1991, p. 106, no. 2, reproduced.