Carlo Francesco Nuvolone

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 panel is unreinforced on the reverse. There is a very slight curve to the wood on the left side yet the paint layer is stable. The paint layer is extremely dirty and will respond well to cleaning. Under ultraviolet light no retouches are immediately apparent, yet there are discolored retouches and more noticeable losses here and there in the face and background. Retouches will be required throughout the picture but not to the point where it becomes unexpected or impinges on the quality of the piece. The condition is reasonable given the period, but will respond well to restoration.
"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 freely and rapidly painted bust portrait of a woman relates to another, larger panel of a Saint Catherine (or Allegory of Philosphy) by Carlo Francesco Nuvolone in a private collection, Milan (see F.M. Ferro, Nuvolone una famiglia di pittori nella Milano del '600, Soncino 2003, p. 221, cat. no. cf 188, illus., fig. 48).  That painting is octagonal in format and shows the same head of a woman, wistfully looking downwards and with the same distinctive diadem on her head, but also includes her hand holding a book and the figure of a young angel in the background to the right.  The soft applicaton of the paint and flickering brushwork, particularly evident in the hair of the figure, are typical of the work of Carlo Francesco Nuvolone.  The panel is inscribed on the reverse in an old hand "Panfilo Vechio [sic]" which suggests that the picture was in the past attributed to the artist's father Panfilo Nuvolone, better known as a painter of still lifes. 

We are grateful to Dr. Filippo Maria Ferro for confirming the attribution of the present painting to Carlo Francesco Nuvolone based on photographs.  He states that the artist favored the use of similarly sized panels for oil studies and notes the recent reappearance of two such works of almost the same size as the present painting with studies of the heads of female saints.