giovanni di ser Giovanni Guidi, called Scheggia

Ushaw College, since the 19th century;
By whom sold ('Property of the Trustees of Ushaw College'), London, Sotheby's, 19 April 1989, lot 1 (as by Francesco d'Antonio), for £95,000;
Offered, London, Christie's, 10 July 1992, lot 40 (as by Francesco d'Antonio);
Anonymous sale ('Property from a Private Collection'), London, Sotheby's, 7 July 2004, lot 39 (as by Francesco d'Antonio), where acquired by the present owner.

B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance, Oxford 1932, p. 40 (as by Francesco d'Antonio);
B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Florentine School, London 1963, vol. I, p. 63 (as by Francesco d'Antonio);
S. Dell' Orso, in M. Natale ed., Pittura italiana dal '300 al '500, Milan 1991, p. 120, reproduced (as by Francesco d'Antonio);
L. Bellosi & M. Haines, Lo Scheggia, Florence-Siena 1999, p. 77, reproduced (as by Lo Scheggia).

"The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This large altarpiece is on a poplar panel with two joints. It has a certain amount of old worm damage, but is still strong and has fairly recently been impregnated with wax and resin, and more slender inserts have replaced the two cross bars. The joints have not caused any problems and the panel is remarkably undamaged in the entire lower part of the painting. The gold ground above has been completely replaced with new gilding also recently, leaving the halos untouched, and there may perhaps have been damage in the upper part, although it appears strong behind, but all is certainly now secure. The fine preservation of the drapery and every detail of the angels’ wings, their musical instruments and even the carpet of flowers in the foreground is quite remarkable. Only the blue robes of the kneeling angels are slightly thin, with the colour change in the robe of the second angel from the left at the top also slightly deteriorated. The reversing of the blue robe with a green lining for the Madonna, perhaps significant for other reasons, has meant that a richer lapis is used over her head and in the fine folds lower down. The one area where there has been widespread patchy old wear is in the flesh painting. The traditional greenish verdaccio ground has been uncovered in various heads without the upper layers of pinker modelling, with one or two stronger patches of vermilion stranded occasionally on some cheeks. However the faces of the angels on the left have remained rather well intact, with the full tempera modelling in little strokes from the warm shadows to the rosy highlights. There are a very few small retouchings, now slightly discoloured, for instance in the forehead of the angel at second from the right at the top, with an angled scratch in the figure below. The red drapery of the Madonna has a certain amount of minor strengthening touches in the craquelure. The fine preservation of much of the lower part of the painting stems from the quality of its traditional technique but also suggests that it has benefitted from stable surroundings over quite a long period before the recent restoration, with wear in the flesh painting having happened perhaps long ago. This report was not done under laboratory conditions."
"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 was for a long time attributed to Francesco d'Antonio, ever since Berenson's 1932 publication, and so it remained until 1999 when Luciano Bellosi and Magaret Haines first recognised it as a youthful work by Lo Scheggia; an attribution that was endorsed at the time of the 2004 sale by Dott. Andrea de Marchi (acknowledged in a saleroom notice at the time). Like many of the artist's early works it shows the influence of his elder brother, Masaccio, but also that of Fra Angelico. Both these painters also favoured the theme of The Madonna of Humility, in which the Virgin is shown seated on the ground, and the delicate flowers in the foreground of this panel are strongly reminiscent of those in Fra Angelico's Deposition, painted for the church of Santa Trinità in Florence.

From December 1420 and throughout the following year Lo Scheggia is recorded as a pupil of Bicci di Lorenzo although he was in regular contact with Masaccio's workshop, often collaborating with it, and indeed in 1427-28 he shared his brother's studio in Piazza Sant' Apollinare (now Piazza San Firenze). In 1430 he enrolled in the Compagnia di San Luca where he became known as 'Scheggia' (literally 'splinter'); a nickname given on account of his slight stature.

The strong influence of both Fra Angelico and Masaccio in the present panel would indicate, as Bellosi suggests, that this is a youthful work by Lo Scheggia, datable to the 1420s.