Carlo Maratti

Possibly painted for Niccolò Maria Pallavicini, Rome, circa 1685-90.

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 painting has been quite recently restored and in its frame, could be hung as is. The canvas has been lined. The paint layer is clean and has been varnished and retouched. Amongst other restorations there seem to be two structural damages which have been restored; one addresses a vertical break in the canvas running through the left forearm of the woman and through her thighs and above and below her limb; the other runs through the buttocks of the putti on the right and also though his left elbow. In addition to the retouches addressing his damages, there are spots of retouch in the other putti on the left, spots in the chest and the right arm of the female nude and here and there in small spots elsewhere. The restoration has been well applied. No further restoration is required and the varnish is appropriate. The condition could be considerably better, but the picture looks well as is.
"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 painting will be included in Dr. Stella Rudolph's forthcoming catalogue raisonné on the works of Carlo Maratti, to be published in 2010.  She considers it to be a mature work by the artist and dates it to circa 1685-90.  She has also requested this painting for an exhibition on the works of Maratti that she will be curating following the publication of her book.

Maratti painted two other different depictions of Venus and Cupid, one now in Schleissheim Palace, Germany and another in a private collection.¹ A work of this subject was painted for Niccolò Maria Pallavicini, the artist's most important patron in Rome however, according to Dr. Rudolph, it is not clear which of these three known versions is the former Pallavicini picture.

1.  See S. Rudolph, Niccolò Maria Pallavicini. L'Acesa al Tempio della Vertù attravesro il Mecenatismo, Rome 1995, p. 61, reproduced fig. 37 (Schl painting), and pp. 62-3, reproduced in color p. 10 (private collection painting).